“What Is a Christian? Part 49” by Romans
We are continuing in our Series, "What Is A Christian?" Last we began a focus on prayer as a vital aspect of being a Christian. Let's review and examine what the Word of God in both the Old and New Testament has to tell us about the value and necessity of prayer in the life of a believer.
Last week, I mentioned that I would be going over 12 points from both the Old and New Testaments that highlight the value and necessity of prayer in the life of a believer: Before I get to those points, I would like, first, to share with you a verse that I omitted last week due to time. It is something that not only casts a shadow over our prayers, but it essentially derails whatever our petition might be, and we need to be soberly aware of it. It is found in Chapter 66 in the Book of Psalms. There we read, “ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).
Albert Barnes says of this: “If I regard iniquity in my heart - literally, “If I have seen iniquity in my heart.” That is, If I have indulged in a purpose of iniquity; if I have had a wicked end in view; if I have not been willing to forsake all sin; if I have cherished a purpose of pollution or wrong.
The meaning is not literally, If I have “seen” any iniquity in my heart - for no one can look into his own heart, and not see that it is defiled by sin; but, If I have cherished it in my soul; if I have gloated over past sins; if I am purposing to commit sin again; if I am not willing to abandon all sin, and to be holy.
The Lord will not hear me - That is, He will not regard and answer my prayer. The idea is, that in order that prayer may be heard, there must be a purpose to forsake all forms of sin. This is a great and most important principle in regard to prayer. The same principle is affirmed or implied in Psalms 18:41; 34:15; Proverbs 1:28; 15:29; 28:9; Isaiah 15:1-9; Jeremiah 11:11; 14:12; Zechariah 7:13; John 9:31.
It is also especially stated in Isaiah 58:3-7. {These verses speak of Israel's distortion and abuse of fasting, their strife and infighting, and their neglect of the poor.” The principle is applicable: (a) to secret purposes of sin; to sinful desires, corrupt passions. and evil propensities; (b) to acts of sin in individuals, as when a man is pursuing a business founded on fraud, dishonesty, oppression, and wrong;
(c) to public acts of sin, as when a people fast and pray Isaiah 58:1-14, and yet hold their fellow-men in bondage; or enact and maintain unjust and unrighteous laws; or uphold the acts of wicked rulers; or countenance and support by law that which is contrary to the law of God; and (d) to the feelings of an awakened and trembling sinner when he is professedly seeking salvation.
If there is still the love of evil in his heart; if he has some cherished purpose of iniquity which he is not willing to abandon; if there is any one sin, however small or unimportant it may seem to be, which he is not willing to forsake, he cannot hope that God will hear his prayer; he may be assured that he will not. All prayer, to be acceptable to God, must be connected with a purpose to forsake all sin.”
Here, now, are 12 Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments that highlight the value and necessity of prayer in the life of a believer. These verses emphasize the importance of prayer in maintaining a strong relationship with God, seeking guidance, expressing gratitude, and receiving comfort and strength.
First, in the Old Testament we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
God spoke these words at the dedication of the Temple. I personally believe in America’s current state of unprecedented division, that those of us who profess to be Christian, would do well to read these words, and apply them to their own lives. It has been recognized that, across the board, believers have allowed politics to divide them from fellow believers who do not subscribe to their same political affiliations. This is not the unity Jesus and the original Apostles strived to achieve among members of the Body of Christ.
Matthew Henry, writes of these verses, “God expects that his people who are called by his name, if they have dishonoured his name by their iniquity, should honour it by accepting the punishment of their iniquity. They must be humble themselves under his hand, must pray for the removal of the judgment, must seek the face and favour of God; and yet all this will not do unless they turn from their wicked ways, and return to the God from whom they have revolted.
National mercy is then promised, that God will forgive their sin, which brought the judgment upon them, and then heal their land, redress all their grievances. Pardoning mercy makes ways for healing mercy, Psalm 103:3; Matthew 9:2.
III. He promised to perpetuate Solomon's kingdom, upon condition that he persevered in his duty, 2 Chronicles 7:17-18. If he hoped for the benefit of God's covenant with David, he must imitate the example of David. But he set before him death as well as life, the curse as well as the blessing.
1. He supposed it possible that though they had this temple built to the honour of God, yet they might be drawn aside to worship other gods, 2 Chronicles 7:19. He knew their proneness to backslide into that sin. 2. He threatened it as certain that, if they did so, it would certainly be the ruin of both church and state.
(1.) It would be the ruin of their state, 2 Chronicles 7:20. “Though they have taken deep root, and taken root long, in this good land, yet I will pluck them up by the roots, extirpate the whole nation, pluck them up as men pluck up weeds out of their garden, which are thrown to the dunghill.”
(2.) It would be the ruin of their church. This sanctuary would be no sanctuary to them, to protect them from the judgment of God, as they imagined, saying, The temple of the Lord are we, Jeremiah 7:4. “This house which is high, not only for the magnificence of its structure, but for the designed ends and uses of it, shall be an astonishment, it shall come down wonderfully (Lamentations 1:9), to the amazement of all the neighbours.”
The next verse I would like cite regarding the vital aspect of prayer in a believer’s life is Psalm 34:17: “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles."
The Sermon Bible writes of this: “One idea is embodied in these two sentences. According to a very common construction in the book of Psalms and in the book of Proverbs, and in other books of Holy Scripture, the latter sentence simply repeats the declaration of the former, in order to increase the emphasis and the force, for the "broken heart" is the same as the "contrite spirit," and the Lord being "nigh" is the same as the Lord "saveth."
I. Consider the broken heart and contrite spirit. The heart before us may be considered to be like a piece of fine mechanism disordered or some work of art fractured, or like flesh when worn and wasted and bruised and mangled. God is looking at the broken heart and crushed spirit, and as He looks at it He sees all the natural susceptibilities of sorrow awakened.
The heart may be broken (1) by the consciousness and the remembrance of sin; (2) by fears and perplexities which are not explained simply by sin, and which are not explained by external circumstances; (3) by some tremendous outward affliction, like that of the widow or the widower. To such a heart God is nigh, and such a spirit God seeks to save.
II. Look at the position which God occupies in relation to the broken heart and crushed spirit. (1) He is nigh in knowledge. He knows the broken heart better than it knows itself. (2) He is nigh in ministration and salvation.
III. The doctrine of this passage instructs us (1) to check all morbid craving for creature help and fellowship; (2) to avoid thinking, feeling, and acting as though God were a distant help; (3) to remember that the resources of God are available in the hour of greatest need. (4) Guided by this passage, do not let feelings of despondency and despair creep into your spirit and take possession of it. (5) A broken heart and crushed spirit are named as not uncommon things. (6) God’s being nigh is mentioned as something ordinary also.” S. Martin, Sermons, p. 35.
The next verse we are going to look at is Psalm 145:18 which further fine-tunes our calling upon God: “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth."
Of this, Albert Barnes writes, “Psalms 145:18
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him - There is a sense in which he is “nigh” to all, for he is everywhere present; but there is a special sense in which he seems to be near to us; in which he manifests himself to us; in which he gives us evidence of his presence. It is in prayer, in praise, in his ordinances - in his gracious interpositions in our behalf - in the peace and joy which we have in communion with him.
To all that call upon him in truth - In sincerity; not hypocritically; worshipping him as the true God, and with a sincere desire to obtain his favor. Compare the notes at John 4:24. We can have no hope that God will hear us unless we are sincere in our worship. He sees the heart, and he will act toward us as we are, and not as we profess to be.”
The Bible is a Book unlike any other book ever written. It not only tells us what God has done, what He is doing and what He will do, but it also shares with us His thoughts about His people. Our next verses tell us His thoughts, and then further define and fine-tune what He says our approach should be to Him when we pray to Him:
We find it in Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Even thought the specific context of God speaking these words the return of ancient Israel from captivity, centuries before Christ was born, we, as Christians, as wild olive branches, can apply it to ourselves because we have been grafted in to the natural olive tree of Israel, as Paul described us symbolically in Romans 11. Paul also wrote, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). These verses of peace and an expected end, and of seeking and finding God absolutely apply to us as modern-day Christians.
Of this, Alexander MacLaren writes, “That which is indeed God's word is a good word, and therefore it will be made good, and not one iota or tittle of it shall fall to the ground. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? This will make their return out of captivity very comfortable, that it will be the performance of God's good word to them, the product of a gracious promise. 2. This shall be in pursuance of God's purposes concerning them (Jeremiah 29:11):
I know the thoughts that I think towards you. Known unto God are all his works, for known unto him are all his thoughts (Acts 15:18) and his works agree exactly with his thoughts; he does all according to the counsel of his will. We often do not know our own thoughts, nor know our own mind, but God is never at any uncertainty within himself.
We are sometimes ready to fear that God's designs concerning us are all against us; but he knows the contrary concerning his own people, that they are thoughts of good and not of evil; even that which seems evil is designed for good. His thoughts are all working towards the expected end, which he will give in due time.
The end they expect will come, though perhaps not when they expect it. Let them have patience till the fruit is ripe, and then they shall have it. He will give them an end, and expectation, so it is in the original.
(1.) He will give them to see the end (the comfortable termination) of their trouble; though it last long, it shall not last always. The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, will come. When things are at the worst they will begin to mend; and he will give them to see the glorious perfection of their deliverance; for, as for God, his work is perfect. He that in the beginning finished the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both, will finish all the blessings of both to his people. When he begins in ways of mercy he will make an end. God does nothing by halves.
(2.) He will give them to see the expectation, that end which they desire and hope for, and have been long waiting for. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, nor the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith, the end which he has promised and which will turn for the best to them. 3. This shall be in answer to their prayers and supplications to God, Jeremiah 29:12-14.
(1.) God will stir them up to pray: Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go, and pray unto me. Note, When God is about to give his people the expected good he pours out a spirit of prayer, and it is a good sign that he is coming towards them in mercy. Then, when you see the expected end approaching, then you shall call upon me. Note, Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer: and when deliverance is coming we must by prayer go forth to meet it.
When Daniel understood that the 70 years were near expiring, then he set his face with more fervency than ever to seek the Lord, Daniel 9:2-3. (2.) He will then stir up himself to come and save them (Psalm 80:2): I will hearken unto you, and I will be found of you. God has said it, and we may depend upon it, Seek and you shall find. We have a general rule laid down (Jeremiah 29:13): You shall find me when you shall search for me with all your heart.
In seeking God we must search for him, accomplish a diligent search, search for directions in seeking him and encouragements to our faith and hope. We must continue seeking, and take pains in seeking, as those that search; and this we must do with our heart (that is, in sincerity and uprightness), and with our whole heart (that is, with vigour and fervency, putting forth all that is within us in prayer), and those who thus seek God shall find him, and shall find him their bountiful rewarder, Hebrews 11:6. He never said to such, Seek you me in vain.”
Our next verse describing prayer as a vital aspect of being a believer is found in Daniel 9:3: "So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes."
We know that Daniel prayed three times a day, even when he knew that an irreversible decree had been signed to throw anyone to the lions who prayed to anyone else but the king. But here we also receive further fine-tuning about how we should approach God in prayer. If the sackcloth and ashes were literal for Daniel, and I believe they were, I also believe they were a sincere indication of humility that we would
do well to substitute for them when we come before God.
Of this, Matthew Henry writes, “Now observe, (1.) The intenseness of his mind in this prayer; I set my face unto the Lord God to seek him, which denotes the fixedness of his thoughts, the firmness of his faith, and the fervour of his devout affections, in the duty.
We must, in prayer, set God before us, and set ourselves as in his presence; to him we must direct our prayer and must look up. Probably, in token of his setting his face towards God, he did, as usual, set his face towards Jerusalem, to affect his own heart the more with the desolations of it.
(2.) The mortification of his body in this prayer. In token of his deep humiliation before God for his own sins, and the sins of his people, and the sense he had of his unworthiness, when he prayed he fasted, put on sackcloth, and lay in ashes, the more to affect himself with the desolations of Jerusalem, which he was praying for the repair of, and to make himself sensible that he was now about an extraordinary work.”
Our next verse, tonight, is found in Proverbs 15:29: “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous."
I want to share with you the insightful comments of The Preacher’s Homiletical: “GOD NEAR AND FAR OFF. I. God is not far from the wicked in a local sense. The most wicked man upon the face of the earth lives and moves and has his being by reason of his relation to that God whom he practically ignores. The power of life that he possesses is not self-originated, and although we do not know exactly how he lives in God, we know that in this sense he is near to Him, for “He is not far from everyone of us” (Acts 17:27).
But— II. God is far from the wicked in a moral sense. There is often a wide moral distance between those who are locally near each other. The father who lives and toils for his children, and eats with them at the same table may be as far from them morally as he is near to them locally. Judas lived for three years with the Son of God—often shared the same hospitality and partook of the same meal. There was a local nearness to Christ but a wide moral gulf between the Master and the professed disciple. This moral distance between God and the wicked is the subject of the first clause of this verse. Notice
—1. The cause of this distance. The ungodly man cherishes purposes and desires which are directly opposed to the will and purpose of God. God has one view of life and the ungodly man has another. That which God esteems of the highest moment is lightly esteemed by a wicked man. This being so, there can be no sympathy between the creature and his Creator—a great gulf is fixed between them.
2. The wicked man is to blame for remaining at this distance from God. God invites him to bridge the chasm. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). He rolls upon him the responsibility of the separation. “Say unto them, As I live,” saith the Lord God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way, and live” (Ezekiel 33:11).
3. This distance, if not annihilated, will increase with time and continue through eternity. Sinful habits and desires, if yielded to, grow harder to overcome—a man never stands still in the way of transgression. And no local change from one world to another can have any effect upon the moral distance. It is not to be bridged by change of place but by change of character. Either the man must turn to God or be ever getting farther from Him.
But— III. There is a sympathy between God and the righteous man which keeps the Divine ear open to his prayer. As we have before noticed, the foundation of sympathy is likeness of character, and those who have sympathy with each other have open ears for the reception of each other’s thoughts and desires. The godly man has an open ear for the commands and promises of his God, and God, in return, “heareth the prayer of the righteous.”
There is a like-mindedness between the righteous God and a righteous man—a oneness of desire and purpose—that makes the words of each acceptable to the other. 1. God’s ear is the first that is open to the prayer of the righteous. The sentinel watching on the height for the first streaks of dawning day has a view of the objects around him before those in the valley are able to perceive them.
They are unable to see what he sees, because they are still shut in by the darkness. But if this sentinel had power to pierce the darkness of night, he would not even have to wait for day in order to discern all that lies around him. God is such a sentinel over the children of men.
Others are dependent upon the light that comes from words before they discern the desires of others, but God can see into the darkest corner of the human soul—can discern the unuttered desire of the heart long before it shapes itself into words. God’s ear is open to hear before the man’s mouth is open to pray. He “understandeth his thought afar off,” knows it before it has even shaped itself into a petition, or even into a desire in the man’s own heart, and consequently long before it is known to any other creature.
2. No power outside the righteous man can come between his prayer and God’s ear. When we present a prayer or express a desire to any human benefactor, it is possible that some opposing influence may prevent our suit from being favourably received. A third person may come between, and by misrepresentation or by other means, may hinder our request from receiving impartial consideration. But God’s first-hand knowledge of all His children makes it a blessed certainty that all their requests will enter His ear and receive impartial treatment at His hands.”
Our next fine-tuning verse is in the New Testament. We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:6: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Matthew Henry provides a thorough review of this verse in his Commentary. He writes, “We must not be proud and vain-glorious in prayer, nor aim at the praise of men. And here observe,
1. What was the way and practice of the hypocrites. In all their exercises of devotion, it was plain, the chief thing they aimed at was to be commended by their neighbours, and thereby to make an interest for themselves. When they seemed to soar upwards in prayer (and if it be right, it is the soul's ascent toward God), yet even then their eye was downwards upon this as their prey. Observe,
(1.) What the places were which they chose for their devotions; they prayed in the synagogues, which were indeed proper places for public prayer, but not for personal. They pretended hereby to do honour to the place of their assemblies, but intended to do honour to themselves. They prayed in the corners of the streets, the broad streets (so the word signifies), which were most frequented…
Their pride in choosing these public places, which is expressed in two things: [1.] They love to pray there. They did not love prayer for its own sake, but they loved it when it gave them an opportunity of making themselves noticed... It is that they may be seen of men; not that God might accept them, but that men might admire and applaud them;
(4.) The product of all this, they have their reward; they have all the recompence they must ever expect from God for their service, and a poor recompence it is. What will it avail us to have the good word of our fellow-servants, if our Master do not say, Well done? But if in so great a transaction as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can take in so poor a consideration as the praise of men is, it is just that that should be all our reward.
They did it to be seen of men, and they are so; and much good may it do them... Note, Those that would approve themselves to God by their integrity in their religion, must have to regard to the praise of men; it is not to men that we pray, nor from them that we expect an answer; they are not to be our judges, they are dust and ashes like ourselves, and therefore we must not have our eye to them: what passes between God and our own souls must be out of sight.
2. What is the will of Jesus Christ in opposition to this. Humility and sincerity are the two great lessons that Christ teaches us; Thou, when thou prayest, do so and so (Matthew 6:6); thou in particular by thyself, and for thyself. Personal prayer is here supposed to be the duty and practice of all Christ's disciples.
Observe, (1.) The directions here given about it. [1.] Instead of praying in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, enter into thy closet, into some place of privacy and retirement. Isaac went into the field (Genesis 24:63), Christ to a mountain, Peter to a housetop. No place amiss in point of ceremony, if it do but answer the end.
Note, Secret prayer is to be performed in retirement, that we may be unobserved, and so may avoid ostentation; undisturbed, and so may avoid distraction; unheard, and so may use greater freedom; yet if the circumstances be such that we cannot possibly avoid being taken notice of, we must not therefore neglect the duty, lest the omission be a greater scandal than the observation of it.
[2.] Instead of doing it to be seen of men, pray to thy Father who is in secret; to me, even to me, Zechariah 7:5-7:6. The Pharisees prayed rather to men than to God; whatever was the form of their prayer, the scope of it was to beg the applause of men, and court their favours. “Well, do thou pray to God, and let that be enough for thee. Pray to him as a Father, as thy Father, ready to hear and answer, graciously inclined to pity, help, and succour thee.
Pray to thy Father who is in secret.” Note, In secret prayer we must have an eye to God, as present in all places; he is there in thy closet when no one else is there; there especially nigh to thee in what thou callest upon him for. By secret prayer we give God the glory of his universal presence (Acts 17:24), and may take to ourselves the comfort of it.
(2.) The encouragements here given us to it. [1.] Thy Father seeth in secret; his eye is upon thee to accept thee, when the eye of no man is upon thee to applaud thee; under the fig-tree, I saw thee, said Christ to Nathaniel, John 1:48. He saw Paul at prayer in such a street, at such a house, Acts 9:11. There is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it.
[2.] He will reward thee openly; they have their reward that do it openly, and thou shalt not lose thine for thy doing it in secret. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? The reward will be open; they shall not only have it, but have it honourably: the open reward is that which hypocrites are fond of, but they have not patience to stay for it; it is that which the sincere are dead to, and they shall have it over and above.
Sometimes secret prayers are rewarded openly in this world by signal answers to them, which manifests God's praying people in the consciences of their adversaries; however, at the great day there will be an open reward, when all praying people shall appear in glory with the great Intercessor. The Pharisees had their reward before all the town, and it was a mere flash and shadow; true Christians shall have theirs before all the world, angels and men, and it shall be a weight of glory.”
There is much more to review and examine. Time limitations have allowed me to only cover six of the 12 points I wanted to cover, and so, God Willing, I plan to continue to review the remaining six points. I invite all of you who are either hearing or reading my words to join us right here next week at this same place and time.
This concludes tonight's Discussion for our current Series, “What Is A Christian? Part 49.”
This Discussion was presented “live” on Wednesday, January 15th, 2025.
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