Of Prayer
John Calvin
1.
FROM the previous part of the work we clearly see how completely
destitute man is of all good, how devoid of every means of procuring his own
salvation. Hence, if he would obtain succour in his necessity, he must go beyond
himself, and procure it in some other quarter. It has farther been shown that
the Lord kindly and spontaneously manifests himself in Christ, in whom he offers
all happiness for our misery, all abundance for our want, opening up the
treasures of heaven to us, so that we may turn with full faith to his beloved
Son, depend upon him with full expectation, rest in him, and cleave to him with
full hope. This, indeed, is that secret and hidden philosophy which cannot be
learned by syllogisms: a philosophy thoroughly understood by those whose eyes
God has so opened as to see light in his light (Ps. 36:9). But after we have
learned by faith to know that whatever is necessary for us or defective in us is
supplied in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom it hath pleased the Father
that all fulness should dwell, that we may thence draw as from an inexhaustible
fountain, it remains for us to seek and in prayer implore of him what we have
learned to be in him. To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good,
inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were
so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to
allow it to remain buried in the ground. Hence the Apostle, to show that a faith
unaccompanied with prayer to God cannot be genuine, states this to be the order:
As faith springs from the Gospel, so by faith our hearts are framed to call upon
the name of God (Rom. 10:14). And this is the very thing which he had expressed
some time before, viz., that the Spirit of adoption, which seals the
testimony of the Gospel on our hearts, gives us courage to make our requests
known unto God, calls forth groanings which cannot be uttered, and enables us to
cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:26). This last point, as we have hitherto only touched
upon it slightly in passing, must now be treated more fully.
2.
To prayer, then, are we indebted for penetrating to those
riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly Father? For there is a
kind of intercourse between God and men, by which, having entered the upper
sanctuary, they appear before Him and appeal to his promises, that when
necessity requires they may learn by experiences that what they believed merely
on the authority of his word was not in vain. Accordingly, we see that nothing
is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not
enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those
treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith. The
necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently
express. Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father declares that our
only safety is in calling upon his name, since by it we invoke the presence of
his providence to watch over our interests, of his power to sustain us when weak
and almost fainting, of his goodness to receive us into favour, though miserably
loaded with sin; in fine, call upon him to manifest himself to us in all his
perfections. Hence, admirable peace and tranquillity are given to our
consciences; for the straits by which we were pressed being laid before the
Lord, we rest fully satisfied with the assurance that none of our evils are
unknown to him, and that he is both able and willing to make the best provision
for us.
3.
But some one will say, Does he not know without a monitor both what
our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in
some measure superfluous to solicit him by our prayers, as if he were winking,
or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice?French, "Dont il sembleroit que ce fust chose supeflue
de le soliciter par prieres; veu que nous avons accoustumé de soliciter ceux qui
ne pensent à nostre affaire, et qui sont endormis."—Whence it would seem that
it was a superfluous matter to solicit him by prayer; seeing we are accustomed
to solicit those who think not of our business and who are slumbering. Those who
argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord taught us to pray. It was
not so much for his sake as for ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due
honour be paid him by acknowledging that all which men desire or feel to be
useful, and pray to obtain, is derived from him. But even the benefit of the
homage which we thus pay him redounds to ourselves. Hence the holy patriarchs,
the more confidently they proclaimed the mercies of God to themselves and others
felt the stronger incitement to prayer. It will be sufficient to refer to the
example of Elijah, who being assured of the purpose of God had good ground for
the promise of rain which he gives to Ahab, and yet prays anxiously upon his
knees, and sends his servant seven times to inquire (1 Kings 18:42); not that he
discredits the oracle, but because he knows it to be his duty to lay his desires
before God, lest his faith should become drowsy or torpid. Wherefore, although
it is true that while we are listless or insensible to our wretchedness, he
wakes and watches for us and sometimes even assists us unasked; it is very much
for our interest to be constantly supplicating him; first, that our heart may
always be inflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving and
serving him, while we accustom ourselves to have recourse to him as a sacred
anchor in every necessity; secondly, that no desires, no longing whatever, of
which we are ashamed to make him the witness, may enter our minds, while we
learn to place all our wishes in his sight, and thus pour out our heart before
him; and, lastly, that we may be prepared to receive all his benefits with true
gratitude and thanksgiving, while our prayers remind us that they proceed from
his hand. Moreover, having obtained what we asked, being persuaded that he has
answered our prayers, we are led to long more earnestly for his favour, and at
the same time have greater pleasure in welcoming the blessings which we perceive
to have been obtained by our prayers. Lastly, use and experience confirm the
thought of his providence in our minds in a manner adapted to our weakness, when
we understand that he not only promises that he will never fail us, and
spontaneously gives us access to approach him in every time of need, but has his
hand always stretched out to assist his people, not amusing them with words, but
proving himself to be a present aid. For these reasons, though our most merciful
Father never slumbers nor sleeps, he very often seems to do so, that thus he may
exercise us, when we might otherwise be listless and slothful, in asking,
entreating, and earnestly beseeching him to our great good. It is very absurd,
therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending that Divine Providence,
which is always watching over the government of the universes is in vain
importuned by our supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord himself
declares, that he is "nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon
him in truth (Ps. 145:18). No better is the frivolous allegation of others, that
it is superfluous to pray for things which the Lord is ready of his own accord
to bestow; since it is his pleasure that those very things which flow from his
spontaneous liberality should be acknowledged as conceded to our prayers. This
is testified by that memorable sentence in the psalms to which many others
corresponds: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry" (Ps. 34:15). This passage, while extolling the care which Divine
Providence spontaneously exercises over the safety of believers, omits not the
exercise of faith by which the mind is aroused from sloth. The eyes of God are
awake to assist the blind in their necessity, but he is likewise pleased to
listen to our groans, that he may give us the better proof of his love. And thus
both things are true, "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep"
(Ps. 121:4); and yet whenever he sees us dumb and torpid, he withdraws as if he
had forgotten us.
4.
Let the first rule of right prayer then be, to have our heart and
mind framed as becomes those who are entering into converse with God. This we
shall accomplish in regard to the mind, if, laying aside carnal thoughts and
cares which might interfere with the direct and pure contemplation of God, it
not only be wholly intent on prayer, but also, as far as possible, be borne and
raised above itself. I do not here insist on a mind so disengaged as to feel
none of the gnawings of anxiety; on the contrary, it is by much anxiety that the
fervour of prayer is inflamed. Thus we see that the holy servants of God betray
great anguish, not to say solicitude, when they cause the voice of complaint to
ascend to the Lord from the deep abyss and the jaws of death. What I say is,
that all foreign and extraneous cares must be dispelled by which the mind might
be driven to and fro in vague suspense, be drawn down from heaven, and kept
grovelling on the earth. When I say it must be raised above itself, I mean that
it must not bring into the presence of God any of those things which our blind
and stupid reason is wont to devise, nor keep itself confined within the little
measure of its own vanity, but rise to a purity worthy of God.
5.
Both things are specially worthy of notice. First, let every one in
professing to pray turn thither all his thoughts and feelings, and be not (as is
usual) distracted by wandering thoughts; because nothing is more contrary to the
reverence due to God than that levity which bespeaks a mind too much given to
license and devoid of fear. In this matter we ought to labour the more earnestly
the more difficult we experience it to be; for no man is so intent on prayer as
not to feel many thoughts creeping in, and either breaking off the tenor of his
prayer, or retarding it by some turning or digression. Here let us consider how
unbecoming it is when God admits us to familiar intercourse to abuse his great
condescension by mingling things sacred and profane, reverence for him not
keeping our minds under restraint; but just as if in prayer we were conversing
with one like ourselves forgetting him, and allowing our thoughts to run to and
fro. Let us know, then, that none duly prepare themselves for prayer but those
who are so impressed with the majesty of God that they engage in it free from
all earthly cares and affections. The ceremony of lifting up our hands in prayer
is designed to remind us that we are far removed from God, unless our thoughts
rise upward: as it is said in the psalm, "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my
soul" (Psalm 25:1). And Scripture repeatedly uses the expression to raise our
prayers meaning that those who would be heard by God must not grovel in the
mire. The sum is, that the more liberally God deals with us, condescendingly
inviting us to disburden our cares into his bosom, the less excusable we are if
this admirable and incomparable blessing does not in our estimation outweigh all
other things, and win our affection, that prayer may seriously engage our every
thought and feeling. This cannot be unless our mind, strenuously exerting itself
against all impediments, rise upward.
Our second proposition was, that we are to ask only in so far as God permits.
For though he bids us pour out our hearts (Ps. 62:8), he does not
indiscriminately give loose reins to foolish and depraved affections; and when
he promises that he will grant believers their wish, his indulgence does not
proceed so far as to submit to their caprice. In both matters grievous
delinquencies are everywhere committed. For not only do many without modesty,
without reverence, presume to invoke God concerning their frivolities, but
impudently bring forward their dreams, whatever they may be, before the tribunal
of God. Such is the folly or stupidity under which they labour, that they have
the hardihood to obtrude upon God desires so vile, that they would blush
exceedingly to impart them to their fellow men. Profane writers have derided and
even expressed their detestation of this presumption, and yet the vice has
always prevailed. Hence, as the ambitious adopted Jupiter as their patron; the
avaricious, Mercury; the literary aspirants, Apollo and Minerva; the warlike,
Mars; the licentious, Venus: so in the present day, as I lately observed, men in
prayer give greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were telling
jocular tales among their equals. God does not suffer his condescension to be
thus mocked, but vindicating his own light, places our wishes under the
restraint of his authority. We must, therefore, attend to the observation of
John: "This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything
according to his will, he heareth us" (1 John 5:14).
But as our faculties are far from being able to attain to such high
perfection, we must seek for some means to assist them. As the eye of our mind
should be intent upon God, so the affection of our heart ought to follow in the
same course. But both fall far beneath this, or rather, they faint and fail, and
are carried in a contrary direction. To assist this weakness, God gives us the
guidance of the Spirit in our prayers to dictate what is right, and regulate our
affections. For seeing "we know not what we should pray for as we ought," "the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered"
(Rom. 8:26) not that he actually prays or groans, but he excites in us sighs,
and wishes, and confidence, which our natural powers are not at all able to
conceive. Nor is it without cause Paul gives the name of groanings which
cannot be uttered to the prayers which believers send forth under the
guidance of the Spirit. For those who are truly exercised in prayer are not
unaware that blind anxieties so restrain and perplex them, that they can
scarcely find what it becomes them to utter; nay, in attempting to lisp they
halt and hesitate. Hence it appears that to pray aright is a special gift. We do
not speak thus in indulgence to our sloths as if we were to leave the office of
prayer to the Holy Spirit, and give way to that carelessness to which we are too
prone. Thus we sometimes hear the impious expression, that we are to wait in
suspense until he take possession of our minds while otherwise occupied. Our
meaning is, that, weary of our own heartlessness and sloth, we are to long for
the aid of the Spirit. Nor, indeed, does Paul, when he enjoins us to pray in
the Spirit (1 Cor. 14:15), cease to exhort us to vigilance, intimating, that
while the inspiration of the Spirit is effectual to the formation of prayer, it
by no means impedes or retards our own endeavours; since in this matter God is
pleased to try how efficiently faith influences our hearts.
6.
Another rule of prayer is, that in asking we must always truly feel
our wants, and seriously considering that we need all the things which we ask,
accompany the prayer with a sincere, nay, ardent desire of obtaining them. Many
repeat prayers in a perfunctory manner from a set form, as if they were
performing a task to God, and though they confess that this is a necessary
remedy for the evils of their condition, because it were fatal to be left
without the divine aid which they implore, it still appears that they perform
the duty from custom, because their minds are meanwhile cold, and they ponder
not what they ask. A general and confused feeling of their necessity leads them
to pray, but it does not make them solicitous as in a matter of present
consequence, that they may obtain the supply of their need. Moreover, can we
suppose anything more hateful or even more execrable to God than this fiction of
asking the pardon of sins, while he who asks at the very time either thinks that
he is not a sinner, or, at least, is not thinking that he is a sinner; in other
words, a fiction by which God is plainly held in derision? But mankind, as I
have lately said, are full of depravity, so that in the way of perfunctory
service they often ask many things of God which they think come to them without
his beneficence, or from some other quarter, or are already certainly in their
possession. There is another fault which seems less heinous, but is not to be
tolerated. Some murmur out prayers without meditation, their only principle
being that God is to be propitiated by prayer. Believers ought to be specially
on their guard never to appear in the presence of God with the intention of
presenting a request unless they are under some serious impression, and are, at
the same time, desirous to obtain it. Nay, although in these things which we ask
only for the glory of God, we seem not at first sight to consult for our
necessity, yet we ought not to ask with less fervour and vehemency of desire.
For instance, when we pray that his name be hallowed — that hallowing must, so
to speak, be earnestly hungered and thirsted after.
7.
If it is objected, that the necessity which urges us to pray is not
always equal, I admit it, and this distinction is profitably taught us by James:
" Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms"
(James 5:13). Therefore, common sense itself dictates, that as we are too
sluggish, we must be stimulated by God to pray earnestly whenever the occasion
requires. This David calls a time when God "may be found" (a seasonable time);
because, as he declares in several other passages, that the more hardly
grievances, annoyances, fears, and other kinds of trial press us, the freer is
our access to God, as if he were inviting us to himself. Still not less true is
the injunction of Paul to pray "always" (Eph. 6:18); because, however
prosperously according to our view, things proceed, and however we may be
surrounded on all sides with grounds of joy, there is not an instant of time
during which our want does not exhort us to prayer. A man abounds in wheat and
wine; but as he cannot enjoy a morsel of bread, unless by the continual bounty
of God, his granaries or cellars will not prevent him from asking for daily
bread. Then, if we consider how many dangers impend every moment, fear itself
will teach us that no time ought to be without prayer. This, however, may be
better known in spiritual matters. For when will the many sins of which we are
conscious allow us to sit secure without suppliantly entreating freedom from
guilt and punishment? When will temptation give us a truce, making it
unnecessary to hasten for help? Moreover, zeal for the kingdom and glory of God
ought not to seize us by starts, but urge us without intermission, so that every
time should appear seasonable. It is not without cause, therefore, that
assiduity in prayer is so often enjoined. I am not now speaking of perseverance,
which shall afterwards be considered; but Scripture, by reminding us of the
necessity of constant prayer, charges us with sloth, because we feel not how
much we stand in need of this care and assiduity. By this rule hypocrisy and the
device of lying to God are restrained, nay, altogether banished from prayer. God
promises that he will be near to those who call upon him in truth, and declares
that those who seek him with their whole heart will find him: those, therefore,
who delight in their own pollution cannot surely aspire to him.
One of the requisites of legitimate prayer is repentance. Hence the common
declaration of Scripture, that God does not listen to the wicked; that their
prayers, as well as their sacrifices, are an abomination to him. For it is right
that those who seal up their hearts should find the ears of God closed against
them, that those who, by their hardheartedness, provoke his severity should find
him inflexible. In Isaiah he thus threatens: "When ye make many prayers, I will
not hear: your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15). In like manner, in
Jeremiah, "Though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them" (Jer. 11:7, 8, 11); because he regards it as the highest insult for the wicked to
boast of his covenant while profaning his sacred name by their whole lives.
Hence he complains in Isaiah: "This people draw near to me with their mouth, and
with their lips do honour me; but have removed their heart far from men" (Isaiah 29:13). Indeed, he does not confine this to prayers alone, but declares that he
abominates pretense in every part of his service. Hence the words of James, "Ye
ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your
lusts" (James 4:3). It is true, indeed (as we shall again see in a little), that
the pious, in the prayers which they utter, trust not to their own worth; still
the admonition of John is not superfluous: "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of
him, because we keep his commandments" (1 John 3:22); an evil conscience shuts
the door against us. Hence it follows, that none but the sincere worshippers of
God pray aright, or are listened to. Let every one, therefore, who prepares to
pray feel dissatisfied with what is wrong in his condition, and assume, which he
cannot do without repentance, the character and feelings of a poor suppliant.
8.
The third rule to be added is: that he who comes into the presence
of God to pray must divest himself of all vainglorious thoughts, lay aside all
idea of worth; in short, discard all self-confidence, humbly giving God the
whole glory, lest by arrogating anything, however little, to himself, vain pride
cause him to turn away his face. Of this submission, which casts down all
haughtiness, we have numerous examples in the servants of God. The holier they
are, the more humbly they prostrate themselves when they come into the presence
of the Lord. Thus Daniel, on whom the Lord himself bestowed such high
commendation, says, "We do not present our supplications before thee for our
righteousness but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy
people are called by thy name." This he does not indirectly in the usual manner,
as if he were one of the individuals in a crowd: he rather confesses his guilt
apart, and as a suppliant betaking himself to the asylum of pardon, he
distinctly declares that he was confessing his own sin, and the sin of his
people Israel (Dan. 9:18–20). David also sets us an example of this humility:
" Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living
be justified" (Psalm 143:2). In like manner, Isaiah prays, "Behold, thou art
wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But
we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to
take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us,
because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the
clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth
very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: Behold, see, we beseech
thee, we are all thy people." (Isa. 64:5–9). You see how they put no confidence
in anything but this: considering that they are the Lord's, they despair not of
being the objects of his care. In the same way, Jeremiah says, "O Lord, though
our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake" (Jer. 14:7).
For it was most truly and piously written by the uncertain author (whoever he
may have been) that wrote the book which is attributed to the prophet Baruch,French, "Pourtant ce qui est escrit en la prophetie qu'on
attribue à Baruch, combien que l'autheur soit incertain, est tres sainctement
dit;"—However, what is written in the prophecy which is attributed to Baruch,
though the author is uncertain, is very holily said. "But the
soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that
fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and righteousness, O Lord.
Therefore, we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God,
for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings." "Hear, O Lord, and have
mercy; for thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned
before thee" (Baruch 2:18, 19; 3:2).
9.
In fine, supplication for pardon, with humble and ingenuous
confession of guilt, forms both the preparation and commencement of right
prayer. For the holiest of men cannot hope to obtain anything from God until he
has been freely reconciled to him. God cannot be propitious to any but those
whom he pardons. Hence it is not strange that this is the key by which believers
open the door of prayer, as we learn from several passages in The Psalms. David,
when presenting a request on a different subject, says, "Remember not the sins
of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember me, for thy
goodness sake, O Lord" (Psalm 25:7). Again, "Look upon my affliction and my
pain, and forgive my sins" (Psalm 25:18). Here also we see that it is not
sufficient to call ourselves to account for the sins of each passing day; we
must also call to mind those which might seem to have been long before buried in
oblivion. For in another passage the same prophet, confessing one grievous
crime, takes occasion to go back to his very birth, "I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5); not to extenuate the fault
by the corruption of his nature, but as it were to accumulate the sins of his
whole life, that the stricter he was in condemning himself, the more placable
God might be. But although the saints do not always in express terms ask
forgiveness of sins, yet if we carefully ponder those prayers as given in
Scripture, the truth of what I say will readily appear; namely, that their
courage to pray was derived solely from the mercy of God, and that they always
began with appeasing him. For when a man interrogates his conscience, so far is
he from presuming to lay his cares familiarly before God, that if he did not
trust to mercy and pardon, he would tremble at the very thought of approaching
him. There is, indeed, another special confession. When believers long for
deliverance from punishment, they at the same time pray that their sins may be
pardoned;French, "il reconoissent le chastisement qu'ils ont
merité;"—they acknowledge the punishment which they have deserved.
for it were absurd to wish that the effect should be taken away while the cause
remains. For we must beware of imitating foolish patients who, anxious only
about curing accidental symptoms, neglect the root of the disease.The French adds, "Ils voudront qu'on leur oste le mal de
tests et des reins, et seront contens qu'on ne touche point a la fievre;"—They
would wish to get quit of the pain in the head and the loins, and would be
contented to leave the fever untouched. Nay, our
endeavour must be to have God propitious even before he attests his favour by
external signs, both because this is the order which he himself chooses, and it
were of little avail to experience his kindness, did not conscience feel that he
is appeased, and thus enable us to regard him as altogether lovely. Of this we
are even reminded by our Saviour's reply. Having determined to cure the
paralytic, he says, "Thy sins are forgiven thee;" in other words, he raises our
thoughts to the object which is especially to be desired, viz. admission into
the favour of God, and then gives the fruit of reconciliation by bringing
assistance to us. But besides that special confession of present guilt which
believers employ, in supplicating for pardon of every fault and punishment, that
general introduction which procures favour for our prayers must never be
omitted, because prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free
mercy. To this we may refer the words of John, "If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Hence, under the law it was necessary to
consecrate prayers by the expiation of blood, both that they might be accepted,
and that the people might be warned that they were unworthy of the high
privilege until, being purged from their defilements, they founded their
confidence in prayer entirely on the mercy of God.
10.
Sometimes, however, the saints in supplicating God, seem to appeal
to their own righteousness, as when David says, "Preserve my soul; for I am
holy" (Ps. 86:2). Also Hezekiah, "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee how I
have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that
which is good in thy sight" (Is. 38:2). All they mean by such expressions is,
that regeneration declares them to be among the servants and children to whom
God engages that he will show favour. We have already seen how he declares by
the Psalmist that his eyes "are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto
their cry" (Ps. 34:16) and again by the apostle, that "whatsoever we ask of him
we obtain, because we keep his commandments" (John 3:22). In these passages he
does not fix a value on prayer as a meritorious work, but designs to establish
the confidence of those who are conscious of an unfeigned integrity and
innocence, such as all believers should possess. For the saying of the blind man
who had received his sight is in perfect accordance with divine truth, And God
heareth not sinners (John 9:31); provided we take the term sinners in the sense
commonly used by Scripture to mean those who, without any desire for
righteousness, are sleeping secure in their sins; since no heart will ever rise
to genuine prayer that does not at the same time long for holiness. Those
supplications in which the saints allude to their purity and integrity
correspond to such promises, that they may thus have, in their own experience, a
manifestation of that which all the servants of God are made to expect. Thus
they almost always use this mode of prayer when before God they compare
themselves with their enemies, from whose injustice they long to be delivered by
his hand. When making such comparisons, there is no wonder that they bring
forward their integrity and simplicity of heart, that thus, by the justice of
their cause, the Lord may be the more disposed to give them succour. We rob not
the pious breast of the privilege of enjoying a consciousness of purity before
the Lord, and thus feeling assured of the promises with which he comforts and
supports his true worshippers, but we would have them to lay aside all thought
of their own merits and found their confidence of success in prayer solely on
the divine mercy.
11.
The fourth rule of prayer is, that notwithstanding of our being
thus abased and truly humbled, we should be animated to pray with the sure hope
of succeeding. There is, indeed, an appearance of contradiction between the two
things, between a sense of the just vengeance of God and firm confidence in his
favour, and yet they are perfectly accordant, if it is the mere goodness of God
that raises up those who are overwhelmed by their own sins. For, as we have
formerly shown (chap. iii. sec. 1, 2) that repentance and faith go hand in hand,
being united by an indissoluble tie, the one causing terror, the other joy, so
in prayer they must both be present. This concurrence David expresses in a few
words: "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy,
and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple" (Ps. 5:7). Under the
goodness of God he comprehends faith, at the same time not excluding fear; for
not only does his majesty compel our reverence, but our own unworthiness also
divests us of all pride and confidence, and keeps us in fear. The confidence of
which I speak is not one which frees the mind from all anxiety, and soothes it
with sweet and perfect rest; such rest is peculiar to those who, while all their
affairs are flowing to a wish are annoyed by no care, stung with no regret,
agitated by no fear. But the best stimulus which the saints have to prayer is
when, in consequence of their own necessities, they feel the greatest
disquietude, and are all but driven to despair, until faith seasonably comes to
their aid; because in such straits the goodness of God so shines upon them, that
while they groan, burdened by the weight of present calamities, and tormented
with the fear of greater, they yet trust to this goodness, and in this way both
lighten the difficulty of endurance, and take comfort in the hope of final
deliverance. It is necessary therefore, that the prayer of the believer should
be the result of both feelings, and exhibit the influence of both; namely, that
while he groans under present and anxiously dreads new evils, he should, at the
same times have recourse to God, not at all doubting that God is ready to
stretch out a helping hand to him. For it is not easy to say how much God is
irritated by our distrust, when we ask what we expect not of his goodness.
Hence, nothing is more accordant to the nature of prayer than to lay it down as
a fixed rule, that it is not to come forth at random, but is to follow in the
footsteps of faith. To this principle Christ directs all of us in these words,
" Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). The same thing he
declares in another passage, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive" (Matth. 21:22). In accordance with this are the
words of James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering" (James 1:5). He most aptly expresses the power
of faith by opposing it to wavering. No less worthy of notice is his additional
statement, that those who approach God with a doubting, hesitating mind, without
feeling assured whether they are to be heard or not, gain nothing by their
prayers. Such persons he compares to a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and
tossed. Hence, in another passage he terms genuine prayer "the prayer of faith"
(James 5:15). Again, since God so often declares that he will give to every man
according to his faith he intimates that we cannot obtain anything without
faith. In short, it is faith which obtains everything that is granted to prayer.
This is the meaning of Paul in the well known passage to which dull men give too
little heed, "How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" "So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:14, 17). Gradually
deducing the origin of prayer from faith, he distinctly maintains that God
cannot be invoked sincerely except by those to whom, by the preaching of the
Gospel, his mercy and willingness have been made known, nay, familiarly
explained.
12.
This necessity our opponents do not at all consider. Therefore,
when we say that believers ought to feel firmly assured, they think we are
saying the absurdest thing in the world. But if they had any experience in true
prayer, they would assuredly understand that God cannot be duly invoked without
this firm sense of the Divine benevolence. But as no man can well perceive the
power of faith, without at the same time feeling it in his heart, what profit is
there in disputing with men of this character, who plainly show that they have
never had more than a vain imagination? The value and necessity of that
assurance for which we contend is learned chiefly from prayer. Every one who
does not see this gives proof of a very stupid conscience. Therefore, leaving
those who are thus blinded, let us fix our thoughts on the words of Paul, that
God can only be invoked by such as have obtained a knowledge of his mercy from
the Gospel, and feel firmly assured that that mercy is ready to be bestowed upon
them. What kind of prayer would this be? "O Lord, I am indeed doubtful whether
or not thou art inclined to hear me; but being oppressed with anxiety I fly to
thee that if I am worthy, thou mayest assist me." None of the saints whose
prayers are given in Scripture thus supplicated. Nor are we thus taught by the
Holy Spirit, who tells us to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16); and elsewhere
teaches us to "have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Christ"
(Eph. 3:12). This confidence of obtaining what we ask, a confidence which the
Lord commands, and all the saints teach by their example, we must therefore hold
fast with both hands, if we would pray to any advantage. The only prayer
acceptable to God is that which springs (if I may so express it) from this
presumption of faith, and is founded on the full assurance of hope. He might
have been contented to use the simple name of faith, but he adds not only
confidence, but liberty or boldness, that by this mark he might distinguish us
from unbelievers, who indeed like us pray to God, but pray at random. Hence, the
whole Church thus prays "Let thy mercy O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope
in thee" (Ps. 33:22). The same condition is set down by the Psalmist in another
passage, "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know,
for God is for me" (Ps. 56:9). Again, "In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee, and will look up" (Ps. 5:3). From these words we gather, that prayers
are vainly poured out into the air unless accompanied with faith, in which, as
from a watchtower, we may quietly wait for God. With this agrees the order of
Paul's exhortation. For before urging believers to pray in the Spirit always,
with vigilance and assiduity, he enjoins them to take "the shield of faith,"
" the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
(Eph. 6:16–18).
Let the reader here call to mind what I formerly observed, that faith by no
means fails though accompanied with a recognition of our wretchedness, poverty,
and pollution. How much soever believers may feel that they are oppressed by a
heavy load of iniquity, and are not only devoid of everything which can procure
the favour of God for them, but justly burdened with many sins which make him an
object of dread, yet they cease not to present themselves, this feeling not
deterring them from appearing in his presence, because there is no other access
to him. Genuine prayer is not that by which we arrogantly extol ourselves before
God, or set a great value on anything of our own, but that by which, while
confessing our guilt, we utter our sorrows before God, just as children
familiarly lay their complaints before their parents. Nay, the immense
accumulation of our sins should rather spur us on and incite us to prayer. Of
this the Psalmist gives us an example, "Heal my soul: for I have sinned against
thee" (Ps. 41:4). I confess, indeed, that these stings would prove mortal darts,
did not God give succour; but our heavenly Father has, in ineffable kindness,
added a remedy, by which, calming all perturbation, soothing our cares, and
dispelling our fears he condescendingly allures us to himself; nay, removing all
doubts, not to say obstacles, makes the way smooth before us.
13.
And first, indeed in enjoining us to pray, he by the very
injunction convicts us of impious contumacy if we obey not. He could not give a
more precise command than that which is contained in the psalms: "Call upon me
in the day of trouble" (Ps. 50:15). But as there is no office of piety more
frequently enjoined by Scripture, there is no occasion for here dwelling longer
upon it. "Ask," says our Divine Master, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matth. 7:7). Here, indeed,
a promise is added to the precept, and this is necessary. For though all confess
that we must obey the precept, yet the greater part would shun the invitation of
God, did he not promise that he would listen and be ready to answer. These two
positions being laid down, it is certain that all who cavillingly allege that
they are not to come to God directly, are not only rebellious and disobedient
but are also convicted of unbelief, inasmuch as they distrust the promises.
There is the more occasion to attend to this, because hypocrites, under a
pretense of humility and modesty, proudly contemn the precept, as well as deny
all credit to the gracious invitation of God; nay, rob him of a principal part
of his worship. For when he rejected sacrifices, in which all holiness seemed
then to consist, he declared that the chief thing, that which above all others
is precious in his sight, is to be invoked in the day of necessity. Therefore,
when he demands that which is his own, and urges us to alacrity in obeying, no
pretexts for doubt, how specious soever they may be, can excuse us. Hence, all
the passages throughout Scripture in which we are commanded to pray, are set up
before our eyes as so many banners, to inspire us with confidence. It were
presumption to go forward into the presence of God, did he not anticipate us by
his invitation. Accordingly, he opens up the way for us by his own voice, "I
will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God" (Zech. 13:9).
We see how he anticipates his worshippers, and desires them to follow, and
therefore we cannot fear that the melody which he himself dictates will prove
unpleasing. Especially let us call to mind that noble description of the divine
character, by trusting to which we shall easily overcome every obstacle: O thou
that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come" (Ps. 65:2). What can be
more lovely or soothing than to see God invested with a title which assures us
that nothing is more proper to his nature than to listen to the prayers of
suppliants? Hence the Psalmist infers, that free access is given not to a few
individuals, but to all men, since God addresses all in these terms, "Call upon
me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Ps. 50:15). David, accordingly, appeals to the promise thus given in order to obtain
what he asks: "Thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy
servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in
his heart to pray this prayer unto thee" (2 Sam. 7:27). Here we infer, that he
would have been afraid but for the promise which emboldened him. So in another
passage he fortifies himself with the general doctrine, "He will fulfil the
desire of them that fear him" (Ps. 145:19). Nay, we may observe in The Psalms
how the continuity of prayer is broken, and a transition is made at one time to
the power of God, at another to his goodness, at another to the faithfulness of
his promises. It might seem that David, by introducing these sentiments,
unseasonably mutilates his prayers; but believers well know by experience, that
their ardour grows languid unless new fuel be added, and, therefore, that
meditation as well on the nature as on the word of God during prayer, is by no
means superfluous. Let us not decline to imitate the example of David, and
introduce thoughts which may reanimate our languid minds with new vigour.
14.
It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or
scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down,
forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken
cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them
(Jer. 2:13). "The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong tower; the
righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (Pr. 18:10) Joel, after predicting the
fearful disaster which was at hand, subjoins the following memorable sentence:
" And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered." (Joel 2:32) This we know properly refers to the course of
the Gospel. Scarcely one in a hundred is moved to come into the presence of God,
though he himself exclaims by Isaiah, "And it shall come to pass, that before
they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." (Is. 65:24) This honour he elsewhere bestows upon the whole Church in general, as
belonging to all the members of Christ: "He shall call upon me, and I will
answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."
(Ps. 91:15) My intention, however, as I already observed, is not to enumerate
all, but only select some admirable passages as a specimen how kindly God
allures us to himself, and how extreme our ingratitude must be when with such
powerful motives our sluggishness still retards us. Wherefore, let these words
always resound in our ears: "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him,
to all that call upon him in truth" (Ps. 145:18). Likewise those passages which
we have quoted from Isaiah and Joel, in which God declares that his ear is open
to our prayers, and that he is delighted as with a sacrifice of sweet savour
when we cast our cares upon him. The special benefit of these promises we
receive when we frame our prayer, not timorously or doubtingly, but when
trusting to his word whose majesty might otherwise deter us, we are bold to call
him Father, he himself deigning to suggest this most delightful name. Fortified
by such invitations it remains for us to know that we have therein sufficient
materials for prayer, since our prayers depend on no merit of our own, but all
their worth and hope of success are founded and depend on the promises of God,
so that they need no other support, and require not to look up and down on this
hand and on that. It must therefore be fixed in our minds, that though we equal
not the lauded sanctity of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, yet as the
command to pray is common to us as well as them, and faith is common, so if we
lean on the word of God, we are in respect of this privilege their associates.
For God declaring, as has already been seen, that he will listen and be
favourable to all, encourages the most wretched to hope that they shall obtain
what they ask; and, accordingly, we should attend to the general forms of
expression, which, as it is commonly expressed, exclude none from first to last;
only let there be sincerity of heart, self-dissatisfaction, humility, and faith,
that we may not, by the hypocrisy of a deceitful prayer, profane the name of
God. Our most merciful Father will not reject those whom he not only encourages
to come, but urges in every possible way. Hence David's method of prayer to
which I lately referred: "And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words
be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant, that it may
continue for ever before thee" (2 Sam. 7:28). So also, in another passage, "Let,
I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto
thy servant" (Psalm 119:76). And the whole body of the Israelites, whenever they
fortify themselves with the remembrance of the covenant, plainly declare, that
since God thus prescribes they are not to pray timorously (Gen. 32:13). In this
they imitated the example of the patriarchs, particularly Jacob, who, after
confessing that he was unworthy of the many mercies which he had received of the
Lord's hand, says, that he is encouraged to make still larger requests, because
God had promised that he would grant them. But whatever be the pretexts which
unbelievers employ, when they do not flee to God as often as necessity urges,
nor seek after him, nor implore his aid, they defraud him of his due honour just
as much as if they were fabricating to themselves new gods and idols, since in
this way they deny that God is the author of all their blessings. On the
contrary, nothing more effectually frees pious minds from every doubt, than to
be armed with the thought that no obstacle should impede them while they are
obeying the command of God, who declares that nothing is more grateful to him
than obedience. Hence, again, what I have previously said becomes still more
clear, namely, that a bold spirit in prayer well accords with fear, reverence,
and anxiety, and that there is no inconsistency when God raises up those who had
fallen prostrate. In this way forms of expression apparently inconsistent
admirably harmonize. Jeremiah and David speak of humbly laying their
supplicationsLatin, "prosternere preces." French, "mettent bas leurs
prieres;" —lay low their prayers. before God
(Jer. 42:9; Dan. 9:18). In another passage Jeremiah says "Let, we beseech thee,
our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God,
even for all this remnant" (Jer. 42:2). On the other hand, believers are often
said to lift up prayer. Thus Hezekiah speaks, when asking the prophet to
undertake the office of interceding (2 Kings 19:4). And David says, "Let my
prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as
the evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141:2). The explanation is, that though believers,
persuaded of the paternal love of God, cheerfully rely on his faithfulness, and
have no hesitation in imploring the aid which he voluntarily offers, they are
not elated with supine or presumptuous security; but climbing up by the ladder
of the promises, still remain humble and abased suppliants.
15.
Here, by way of objection, several questions are raised. Scripture
relates that God sometimes complied with certain prayers which had been dictated
by minds not duly calmed or regulated. It is true, that the cause for which
Jotham imprecated on the inhabitants of Shechem the disaster which afterwards
befell them was well founded; but still he was inflamed with anger and revenge
(Judges 9:20); and hence God, by complying with the execration, seems to approve
of passionate impulses. Similar fervour also seized Samson, when he prayed,
" Strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once
avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes" (Judges 16:28). For although there
was some mixture of good zeal, yet his ruling feeling was a fervid, and
therefore vicious longing for vengeance. God assents, and hence apparently it
might be inferred that prayers are effectual, though not framed in conformity to
the rule of the word. But I answer, first, that a perpetual law is not
abrogated by singular examples; and, secondly, that special suggestions
have sometimes been made to a few individuals, whose case thus becomes different
from that of the generality of men. For we should attend to the answer which our
Saviour gave to his disciples when they inconsiderately wished to imitate the
example of Elias, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" (Luke 9:55). We
must, however, go farther and say, that the wishes to which God assents are not
always pleasing to him; but he assents, because it is necessary, by way of
example, to give clear evidence of the doctrine of Scripture, viz., that he
assists the miserable, and hears the groans of those who unjustly afflicted
implore his aid: and, accordingly, he executes his judgments when the complaints
of the needy, though in themselves unworthy of attention, ascend to him. For how
often, in inflicting punishment on the ungodly for cruelty, rapine, violence,
lust, and other crimes, in curbing audacity and fury, and also in overthrowing
tyrannical power, has he declared that he gives assistance to those who are
unworthily oppressed though they by addressing an unknown deity only beat the
air? There is one psalm which clearly teaches that prayers are not without
effect, though they do not penetrate to heaven by faith (Ps. 107:6, 13, 19). For
it enumerates the prayers which, by natural instinct, necessity extorts from
unbelievers not less than from believers, and to which it shows by the event,
that God is, notwithstanding, propitious. Is it to testify by such readiness to
hear that their prayers are agreeable to him? Nay; it is, first, to magnify or
display his mercy by the circumstance, that even the wishes of unbelievers are
not denied; and, secondly, to stimulate his true worshippers to more urgent
prayer, when they see that sometimes even the wailings of the ungodly are not
without avail. This, however, is no reason why believers should deviate from the
law divinely imposed upon them, or envy unbelievers, as if they gained much in
obtaining what they wished. We have observed (chap. iii. sec. 25), that in this
way God yielded to the feigned repentance of Ahab, that he might show how ready
he is to listen to his elect when, with true contrition, they seek his favour.
Accordingly, he upbraids the Jews, that shortly after experiencing his readiness
to listen to their prayers, they returned to their own perverse inclinations. It
is also plain from the Book of Judges that, whenever they wept, though their
tears were deceitful, they were delivered from the hands of their enemies.
Therefore, as God sends his sun indiscriminately on the evil and on the good, so
he despises not the tears of those who have a good cause, and whose sorrows are
deserving of relief. Meanwhile, though he hears them, it has no more to do with
salvation than the supply of food which he gives to other despisers of his
goodness.
There seems to be a more difficult question concerning Abraham and Samuel,
the one of whom, without any instruction from the word of God, prayed in behalf
of the people of Sodom, and the other, contrary to an express prohibition,
prayed in behalf of Saul (Gen. 18:23; 1 Sam. 15:11). Similar is the case of
Jeremiah, who prayed that the city might not be destroyed (Jer. 32:16 ff). It is
true their prayers were refused, but it seems harsh to affirm that they prayed
without faith. Modest readers will, I hope, be satisfied with this solution,
viz., that leaning to the general principle on which God enjoins us to be
merciful even to the unworthy, they were not altogether devoid of faith, though
in this particular instance their wish was disappointed. Augustine shrewdly
remarks, "How do the saints pray in faith when they ask from God contrary to
what he has decreed? Namely, because they pray according to his will, not his
hidden and immutable will, but that which he suggests to them, that he may hear
them in another manner; as he wisely distinguishes" (August. de Civit. Dei, Lib.
xxii. c. 2). This is truly said: for, in his incomprehensible counsel, he so
regulates events, that the prayers of the saints, though involving a mixture of
faith and error, are not in vain. And yet this no more sanctions imitation than
it excuses the saints themselves, who I deny not exceeded due bounds. Wherefore,
whenever no certain promise exists, our request to God must have a condition
annexed to it. Here we may refer to the prayer of David, "Awake for me to the
judgment that thou hast commanded" (Ps. 7:6); for he reminds us that he had
received special instruction to pray for a temporal blessing.The French adds, "duquel id n'eust pas autrement esté asseuré;"—of which he would not otherwise have felt assured.
16.
It is also of importance to observe, that the four laws of prayer
of which I have treated are not so rigorously enforced, as that God rejects the
prayers in which he does not find perfect faith or repentance, accompanied with
fervent zeal and wishes duly framed. We have said (sec. 4), that though prayer
is the familiar intercourse of believers with God, yet reverence and modesty
must be observed: we must not give loose reins to our wishes, nor long for
anything farther than God permits; and, moreover, lest the majesty of God should
be despised, our minds must be elevated to pure and chaste veneration. This no
man ever performed with due perfection. For, not to speak of the generality of
men, how often do David's complaints savour of intemperance? Not that he
actually means to expostulate with God, or murmur at his judgments, but failing,
through infirmity, he finds no better solace than to pour his griefs into the
bosom of his heavenly Father. Nay, even our stammering is tolerated by God, and
pardon is granted to our ignorance as often as anything rashly escapes us:
indeed, without this indulgence, we should have no freedom to pray. But although
it was David's intention to submit himself entirely to the will of God, and he
prayed with no less patience than fervour, yet irregular emotions appear, nay,
sometimes burst forth, — emotions not a little at variance with the first law
which we laid down. In particular, we may see in a clause of the thirty-ninth
Psalm, how this saint was carried away by the vehemence of his grief, and unable
to keep within bounds. "O spare me,Latin, "Desine a me." French, "Retire-toy;"—Withdraw from
me. that I may
recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more" (Ps. 39:13). You would call
this the language of a desperate man, who had no other desire than that God
should withdraw and leave him to relish in his distresses. Not that his devout
mind rushes into such intemperance, or that, as the reprobate are wont, he
wishes to have done with God; he only complains that the divine anger is more
than he can bear. During those trials, wishes often escape which are not in
accordance with the rule of the word, and in which the saints do not duly
consider what is lawful and expedient. Prayers contaminated by such faults,
indeed, deserve to be rejected; yet provided the saints lament, administer
self-correction and return to themselves, God pardons.
Similar faults are committed in regard to the second law (as to which, see
sec. 6), for the saints have often to struggle with their own coldness, their
want and misery not urging them sufficiently to serious prayer. It often
happens, also, that their minds wander, and are almost lost; hence in this
matter also there is need of pardon, lest their prayers, from being languid or
mutilated, or interrupted and wandering, should meet with a refusal. One of the
natural feelings which God has imprinted on our mind is, that prayer is not
genuine unless the thoughts are turned upward. Hence the ceremony of raising the
hands, to which we have adverted, a ceremony known to all ages and nations, and
still in common use. But who, in lifting up his hands, is not conscious of
sluggishness, the heart cleaving to the earth? In regard to the petition for
remission of sins (sec. 8), though no believer omits it, yet all who are truly
exercised in prayer feel that they bring scarcely a tenth of the sacrifice of
which David speaks, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps. 51:17). Thus a twofold pardon
is always to be asked; first, because they are conscious of many faults the
sense of which, however, does not touch them so as to make them feel
dissatisfied with themselves as they ought; and, secondly, in so far as they
have been enabled to profit in repentance and the fear of God, they are humbled
with just sorrow for their offenses, and pray for the remission of punishment by
the judge. The thing which most of all vitiates prayer, did not God indulgently
interpose, is weakness or imperfection of faith; but it is not wonderful that
this defect is pardoned by God, who often exercises his people with severe
trials, as if he actually wished to extinguish their faith. The hardest of such
trials is when believers are forced to exclaim, "O Lord God of hosts, how long
wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?" (Ps. 80:4), as if their
very prayers offended him. In like manner, when Jeremiah says "Also when I cry
and shout, he shutteth out my prayers (Lam. 3:8), there cannot be a doubt that
he was in the greatest perturbation. Innumerable examples of the same kind occur
in the Scriptures, from which it is manifest that the faith of the saints was
often mingled with doubts and fears, so that while believing and hoping, they,
however, betrayed some degree of unbelief. But because they do not come so far
as were to be wished, that is only an additional reason for their exerting
themselves to correct their faults, that they may daily approach nearer to the
perfect law of prayer, and at the same time feel into what an abyss of evils
those are plunged, who, in the very cures they use, bring new diseases upon
themselves: since there is no prayer which God would not deservedly disdain, did
he not overlook the blemishes with which all of them are polluted. I do not
mention these things that believers may securely pardon themselves in any faults
which they commit, but that they may call themselves to strict account, and
thereby endeavour to surmount these obstacles; and though Satan endeavours to
block up all the paths in order to prevent them from praying, they may,
nevertheless, break through, being firmly persuaded that though not
disencumbered of all hinderances, their attempts are pleasing to God, and their
wishes are approved, provided they hasten on and keep their aim, though without
immediately reaching it.
17.
But since no man is worthy to come forward in his own name, and
appear in the presence of God, our heavenly Father, to relieve us at once from
fear and shame, with which all must feel oppressed,French, "Confusion que nous avons, ou devons avoir en
nousmesmes;"—confusion which we have, or ought to have, in ourselves.
has given us his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our Advocate and Mediator, that under
his guidance we may approach securely, confiding that with him for our
Intercessor nothing which we ask in his name will be denied to us, as there is
nothing which the Father can deny to him (1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1; see sec. 36,
37). To this it is necessary to refer all that we have previously taught
concerning faith; because, as the promise gives us Christ as our Mediator, so,
unless our hope of obtaining what we ask is founded on him, it deprives us of
the privilege of prayer. For it is impossible to think of the dread majesty of
God without being filled with alarm; and hence the sense of our own unworthiness
must keep us far away, until Christ interpose, and convert a throne of dreadful
glory into a throne of grace, as the Apostle teaches that thus we can "come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16). And as a rule has been laid down as to
prayer, as a promise has been given that those who pray will be heard, so we are
specially enjoined to pray in the name of Christ, the promise being that we
shall obtain what we ask in his name. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name," says
our Saviour, "that will I do; that the Father may be glorified in the Son;"
" Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full" (John 14:13; 16:24). Hence it is incontrovertibly clear that
those who pray to God in any other name than that of Christ contumaciously
falsify his orders, and regard his will as nothing, while they have no promise
that they shall obtain. For, as Paul says "All the promises of God in him are
yea, and in him amen;" (2 Cor. 1:20), that is, are confirmed and fulfilled in
him.
18.
And we must carefully attend to the circumstance of time. Christ
enjoins his disciples to have recourse to his intercession after he shall have
ascended to heaven: "At that day ye shall ask in my name" (John 16:26). It is
certain, indeed, that from the very first all who ever prayed were heard only
for the sake of the Mediator. For this reason God had commanded in the Law, that
the priest alone should enter the sanctuary, bearing the names of the twelve
tribes of Israel on his shoulders, and as many precious stones on his breast,
while the people were to stand at a distance in the outer court, and thereafter
unite their prayers with the priest. Nay, the sacrifice had even the effect of
ratifying and confirming their prayers. That shadowy ceremony of the Law
therefore taught, first, that we are all excluded from the face of God, and,
therefore, that there is need of a Mediator to appear in our name, and carry us
on his shoulders and keep us bound upon his breast, that we may be heard in his
person; And secondly, that our prayers, which, as has been said, would otherwise
never be free from impurity, are cleansed by the sprinkling of his blood. And we
see that the saints, when they desired to obtain anything, founded their hopes
on sacrifices, because they knew that by sacrifice all prayers were ratified:
" Remember all thy offerings," says David, "and accept thy burnt sacrifice"
(Ps. 20:3). Hence we infer, that in receiving the prayers of his people, God was from
the very first appeased by the intercession of Christ. Why then does Christ
speak of a new period ("at that day") when the disciples were to begin to pray
in his name, unless it be that this grace, being now more brightly displayed,
ought also to be in higher estimation with us? In this sense he had said a
little before, "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask." Not that they
were altogether ignorant of the office of Mediator (all the Jews were instructed
in these first rudiments), but they did not clearly understand that Christ by
his ascent to heaven would be more the advocate of the Church than before.
Therefore, to solace their grief for his absence by some more than ordinary
result, he asserts his office of advocate, and says, that hitherto they had been
without the special benefit which it would be their privilege to enjoy, when
aided by his intercession they should invoke God with greater freedom. In this
sense the Apostle says that we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us"
(Heb. 10:19, 20). Therefore, the more inexcusable we are, if we do not with both hands
(as it is said) embrace the inestimable gift which is properly destined for us.
19.
Moreover since he himself is the only way and the only access by
which we can draw near to God, those who deviate from this way, and decline this
access, have no other remaining; his throne presents nothing but wrath,
judgment, and terror. In short, as the Father has consecrated him our guide and
head, those who abandon or turn aside from him in any way endeavour, as much as
in them lies, to sully and efface the stamp which God has impressed. Christ,
therefore, is the only Mediator by whose intercession the Father is rendered
propitious and exorable (1 Tim. 2:5). For though the saints are still permitted
to use intercessions, by which they mutually beseech God in behalf of each
other's salvation, and of which the Apostle makes mention (Eph. 6:18, 19;
1 Tim. 2:1); yet these depend on that one intercession, so far are they from derogating
from it. For as the intercessions which, as members of one body we offer up for
each other, spring from the feeling of love, so they have reference to this one
head. Being thus also made in the name of Christ, what more do they than declare
that no man can derive the least benefit from any prayers without the
intercession of Christ? As there is nothing in the intercession of Christ to
prevent the different members of the Church from offering up prayers for each
other, so let it be held as a fixed principle, that all the intercessions thus
used in the Church must have reference to that one intercession. Nay, we must be
specially careful to show our gratitude on this very account, that God pardoning
our unworthiness, not only allows each individual to pray for himself, but
allows all to intercede mutually for each other. God having given a place in his
Church to intercessors who would deserve to be rejected when praying privately
on their own account, how presumptuous were it to abuse this kindness by
employing it to obscure the honour of Christ?
20.
Moreover, the Sophists are guilty of the merest trifling when they
allege that Christ is the Mediator of redemption, but that believers are
mediators of intercession; as if Christ had only performed a temporary
mediation, and left an eternal and imperishable mediation to his servants. Such,
forsooth, is the treatment which he receives from those who pretend only to take
from him a minute portion of honour. Very different is the language of
Scripture, with whose simplicity every pious man will be satisfied, without
paying any regard to those importers. For when John says, "If any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1), does
he mean merely that we once had an advocate; does he not rather ascribe to him a
perpetual intercession? What does Paul mean when he declares that he "is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us"? (Rom. 8:32). But
when in another passage he declares that he is the only Mediator between God and
man (1 Tim. 2:5), is he not referring to the supplications which he had
mentioned a little before? Having previously said that prayers were to be
offered up for all men, he immediately adds, in confirmation of that statement,
that there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man. Nor does Augustine
give a different interpretation when he says, "Christian men mutually recommend
each other in their prayers. But he for whom none intercedes, while he himself
intercedes for all, is the only true Mediator. Though the Apostle Paul was under
the head a principal member, yet because he was a member of the body of Christ,
and knew that the most true and High Priest of the Church had entered not by
figure into the inner veil to the holy of holies, but by firm and express truth
into the inner sanctuary of heaven to holiness, holiness not imaginary, but
eternal (Heb. 9:11, 24), he also commends himself to the prayers of the faithful
(Rom. 15:30; Eph. 6:19; Col. 4:3). He does not make himself a mediator between
God and the people, but asks that all the members of the body of Christ should
pray mutually for each other, since the members are mutually sympathetic: if one
member suffers, the others suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26). And thus the mutual
prayers of all the members still labouring on the earth ascend to the Head, who
has gone before into heaven, and in whom there is propitiation for our sins. For
if Paul were a mediator, so would also the other apostles, and thus there would
be many mediators, and Paul's statement could not stand, 'There is one God, and
one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;' (1 Tim. 2:5) in whom we
also are one (Rom. 12:5) if we keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace
(Eph. 4:3)," (August. Contra Parmenian, Lib. ii. cap. 8). Likewise in another
passage Augustine says, "If thou requirest a priest, he is above the heavens,
where he intercedes for those who on earth died for thee" (August. in Ps. 94).
We imagine not that he throws himself before his Father's knees, and suppliantly
intercedes for us; but we understand with the Apostle, that he appears in the
presence of God, and that the power of his death has the effect of a perpetual
intercession for us; that having entered into the upper sanctuary, he alone
continues to the end of the world to present the prayers of his people, who are
standing far off in the outer court.
21.
In regard to the saints who having died in the body live in Christ,
if we attribute prayer to them, let us not imagine that they have any other way
of supplicating God than through Christ who alone is the way, or that their
prayers are accepted by God in any other name. Wherefore, since the Scripture
calls us away from all others to Christ alone, since our heavenly Father is
pleased to gather together all things in him, it were the extreme of stupidity,
not to say madness, to attempt to obtain access by means of others, so as to be
drawn away from him without whom access cannot be obtained. But who can deny
that this was the practice for several ages, and is still the practice, wherever
Popery prevails? To procure the favour of God, human merits are ever and anon
obtruded, and very frequently while Christ is passed by, God is supplicated in
their name. I ask if this is not to transfer to them that office of sole
intercession which we have above claimed for Christ? Then what angel or devil
ever announced one syllable to any human being concerning that fancied
intercession of theirs? There is not a word on the subject in Scripture. What
ground then was there for the fiction? Certainly, while the human mind thus
seeks help for itself in which it is not sanctioned by the word of God, it
plainly manifests its distrust (see s. 27). But if we appeal to the consciences
of all who take pleasure in the intercession of saints, we shall find that their
only reason for it is, that they are filled with anxiety, as if they supposed
that Christ were insufficient or too rigorous. By this anxiety they dishonour
Christ, and rob him of his title of sole Mediator, a title which being given him
by the Father as his special privilege, ought not to be transferred to any
other. By so doing they obscure the glory of his nativity and make void his
cross; in short, divest and defraud of due praise everything which he did or
suffered, since all which he did and suffered goes to show that he is and ought
to be deemed sole Mediator. At the same time, they reject the kindness of God in
manifesting himself to them as a Father, for he is not their Father if they do
not recognize Christ as their brother. This they plainly refuse to do if they
think not that he feels for them a brother's affection; affection than which
none can be more gentle or tender. Wherefore Scripture offers him alone, sends
us to him, and establishes us in him. "He," says Ambrose, "is our mouth by which
we speak to the Father; our eye by which we see the Father; our right hand by
which we offer ourselves to the Father. Save by his intercession neither we nor
any saints have any intercourse with God" (Ambros. Lib. de Isaac et Anima). If
they object that the public prayers which are offered up in churches conclude
with the words, through Jesus Christ our Lord, it is a frivolous evasion;
because no less insult is offered to the intercession of Christ by confounding
it with the prayers and merits of the dead, than by omitting it altogether, and
making mention only of the dead. Then, in all their litanies, hymns, and proses
where every kind of honour is paid to dead saints, there is no mention of
Christ.
22.
But here stupidity has proceeded to such a length as to give a
manifestation of the genius of superstition, which, when once it has shaken off
the rein, is wont to wanton without limit. After men began to look to the
intercession of saints, a peculiar administration was gradually assigned to
each, so that, according to diversity of business, now one, now another,
intercessor was invoked. Then individuals adopted particular saints, and put
their faith in them, just as if they had been tutelar deities. And thus not only
were gods set up according to the number of the cities (the charge which the
prophet brought against Israel of old, Jer. 2:28; 11:13), but according to the
number of individuals. But while the saints in all their desires refer to the
will of God alone, look to it, and acquiesce in it, yet to assign to them any
other prayer than that of longing for the arrival of the kingdom of God, is to
think of them stupidly, carnally, and even insultingly. Nothing can be farther
from such a view than to imagine that each, under the influence of private
feeling, is disposed to be most favourable to his own worshippers. At length
vast numbers have fallen into the horrid blasphemy of invoking them not merely
as helping but presiding over their salvation. See the depth to which miserable
men fall when they forsake their proper station, that is, the word of God. I say
nothing of the more monstrous specimens of impiety in which, though detestable
to God, angels, and men, they themselves feel no pain or shame. Prostrated at a
statue or picture of Barbara or Catherine, and the like, they mutter a Pater
Noster;Erasmus, though stumbling and walking blindfold in clear
light, ventures to write thus in a letter to Sadolet, 1530: "Primum, constat
nullum esse locum in divinis voluminibus, qui permittat invocare divos nisi
fortasse detorquere huc placet, quod dives in Evangelica parabola implorat opem
Abrahae. Quanquam autem in re tanta novare quicquam praeter auctoritatem
Scripturae, merito periculosum videri possit, tamen invocationem divorum nusquam
improbo," &c.—First, it is clear that there is no passage in the Sacred
Volume which permits the invocation of saints, unless we are pleased to wrest to
this purpose what is said in the parable as to the rich man imploring the help
of Abraham. But though in so weighty a matter it may justly seem dangerous to
introduce anything without the authority of Scripture, I by no means condemn the
invocation of saints, &c. and so far
are their pastorsLatin, "Pastores;"—French, "ceux qui se disent prelats,
curés, ou precheurs;"—those who call themselves prelates, curates, or preachers.
from curing or curbing this frantic course, that, allured by the scent of gain, they
approve and applaud it. But while seeking to relieve themselves of the odium of
this vile and criminal procedure, with what pretext can they defend the practice
of calling upon Eloy (Eligius) or Medard to look upon their servants, and send
them help from heaven, or the Holy Virgin to order her Son to do what they
ask?French, "Mais encore qu'ils taschent de laver leur mains
d'un si vilain sacrilege, d'autant qu'il ne se commet point en leurs messes ni
en leurs vespres; sous quelle couleur defendront ils ces blasphemes qu'il lisent
a pleine gorge, où ils prient St Eloy ou St Medard, de regarder du ciel leurs
serviteurs pour les aider? mesmes ou ils supplient la vierge Marie de commander
a son fils qu'il leur ottroye leur requestes?"—But although they endeavour to
wash their hands of the vile sacrilege, inasmuch as it is not committed in their
masses or vespers, under what pretext will they defend those blasphemies which
they repeat with full throat, in which they pray St Eloy or St Medard to look
from heaven upon their servants and assist them; even supplicate the Virgin Mary
to command her Son to grant their requests?
The Council of Carthage forbade direct prayer to be made at the altar to saints.
It is probable that these holy men, unable entirely to suppress the force of
depraved custom, had recourse to this check, that public prayers might not be
vitiated with such forms of expression as Sancte Petre, ora pro nobis — St
Peter, pray for us. But how much farther has this devilish extravagance
proceeded when men hesitate not to transfer to the dead the peculiar attributes
of Christ and God?
23.
In endeavouring to prove that such intercession derives some
support from Scripture they labour in vain. We frequently read (they say) of the
prayers of angels, and not only so, but the prayers of believers are said to be
carried into the presence of God by their hands. But if they would compare
saints who have departed this life with angels, it will be necessary to prove
that saints are ministering spirits, to whom has been delegated the office of
superintending our salvation, to whom has been assigned the province of guiding
us in all our ways, of encompassing, admonishing, and comforting us, of keeping
watch over us. All these are assigned to angels, but none of them to saints. How
preposterously they confound departed saints with angels is sufficiently
apparent from the many different offices by which Scripture distinguishes the
one from the other. No one unless admitted will presume to perform the office of
pleader before an earthly judge; whence then have worms such license as to
obtrude themselves on God as intercessors, while no such office has been
assigned them? God has been pleased to give angels the charge of our safety.
Hence they attend our sacred meetings, and the Church is to them a theatre in
which they behold the manifold wisdom of God (Eph. 3:10). Those who transfer to
others this office which is peculiar to them, certainly pervert and confound the
order which has been established by God and ought to be inviolable. With similar
dexterity they proceed to quote other passages. God said to Jeremiah, "Though
Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people"
(Jer. 15:1). How (they ask) could he have spoken thus of the dead but because he
knew that they interceded for the living? My inference, on the contrary, is
this: since it thus appears that neither Moses nor Samuel interceded for the
people of Israel, there was then no intercession for the dead. For who of the
saints can be supposed to labour for the salvation of the peoples while Moses
who, when in life, far surpassed all others in this matter, does nothing?
Therefore, if they persist in the paltry quibble, that the dead intercede for
the living, because the Lord said, "If they stood before me,"
(intercesserint), I will argue far more speciously in this way: Moses, of
whom it is said, "if he interceded," did not intercede for the people in
their extreme necessity: it is probable, therefore, that no other saint
intercedes, all being far behind Moses in humanity, goodness, and paternal
solicitude. Thus all they gain by their cavilling is to be wounded by the very
arms with which they deem themselves admirably protected. But it is very
ridiculous to wrest this simple sentence in this manner; for the Lord only
declares that he would not spare the iniquities of the people, though some Moses
or Samuel, to whose prayers he had shown himself so indulgent, should intercede
for them. This meaning is most clearly elicited from a similar passage in
Ezekiel: "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should
deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God" (Ezek. 14:14). Here there can be no doubt that we are to understand the words as if it
had been said, If two of the persons named were again to come alive; for the
third was still living, namely, Daniel, who it is well known had then in the
bloom of youth given an incomparable display of piety. Let us therefore leave
out those whom Scripture declares to have completed their course. Accordingly,
when Paul speaks of David, he says not that by his prayers he assisted
posterity, but only that he "served his own generation" (Acts 13:36).
24.
They again object, Are those, then, to be deprived of every pious
wish, who, during the whole course of their lives, breathed nothing but piety
and mercy? I have no wish curiously to pry into what they do or meditate; but
the probability is, that instead of being subject to the impulse of various and
particular desires, they, with one fixed and immoveable will, long for the
kingdom of God, which consists not less in the destruction of the ungodly than
in the salvation of believers. If this be so, there cannot be a doubt that their
charity is confined to the communion of Christ's body, and extends no farther
than is compatible with the nature of that communion. But though I grant that in
this way they pray for us, they do not, however, lose their quiescence so as to
be distracted with earthly cares: far less are they, therefore, to be invoked by
us. Nor does it follow that such invocation is to be used because, while men are
alive upon the earth, they can mutually commend themselves to each other's
prayers. It serves to keep alive a feeling of charity when they, as it were,
share each other's wants, and bear each other's burdens. This they do by the
command of the Lord, and not without a promise, the two things of primary
importance in prayer. But all such reasons are inapplicable to the dead, with
whom the Lord, in withdrawing them from our society, has left us no means of
intercourse (Eccles. 9:5, 6), and to whom, so far as we can conjecture, he has
left no means of intercourse with us. But if any one allege that they certainly
must retain the same charity for us, as they are united with us in one faith,
who has revealed to us that they have ears capable of listening to the sounds of
our voice, or eyes clear enough to discern our necessities? Our opponents,
indeed, talk in the shade of their schools of some kind of light which beams
upon departed saints from the divine countenance, and in which, as in a mirror,
they, from their lofty abode, behold the affairs of men; but to affirm this with
the confidence which these men presume to use, is just to desire, by means of
the extravagant dreams of our own brain, and without any authority, to pry and
penetrate into the hidden judgments of God, and trample upon Scripture, which so
often declares that the wisdom of our flesh is at enmity with the wisdom of God,
utterly condemns the vanity of our mind, and humbling our reason, bids us look
only to the will of God.
25.
The other passages of Scripture which they employ to defend their
error are miserably wrested. Jacob (they say) asks for the sons of Joseph, "Let
my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac"
(Gen. 48:16). First, let us see what the nature of this invocation was among the
Israelites. They do not implore their fathers to bring succour to them, but they
beseech God to remember his servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their example,
therefore, gives no countenance to those who use addresses to the saints
themselves. But such being the dulness of these blocks, that they comprehend not
what it is to invoke the name of Jacob, nor why it is to be invoked, it is not
strange that they blunder thus childishly as to the mode of doing it. The
expression repeatedly occurs in Scripture. Isaiah speaks of women being called
by the name of men, when they have them for husbands and live under their
protection (Isa. 4:1). The calling of the name of Abraham over the Israelites
consists in referring the origin of their race to him, and holding him in
distinguished remembrance as their author and parent. Jacob does not do so from
any anxiety to extend the celebrity of his name, but because he knows that all
the happiness of his posterity consisted in the inheritance of the covenant
which God had made with them. Seeing that this would give them the sum of all
blessings, he prays that they may be regarded as of his race, this being nothing
else than to transmit the succession of the covenant to them. They again, when
they make mention of this subject in their prayers, do not betake themselves to
the intercession of the dead, but call to remembrance that covenant in which
their most merciful Father undertakes to be kind and propitious to them for the
sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How little, in other respects, the saints
trusted to the merits of their fathers, the public voice of the Church declares
in the prophets "Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of
us, and Israel acknowledge us not; thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer"
(Isa. 63:16). And while the Church thus speaks, she at the same time adds,
" Return for thy servants' sake," not thinking of anything like intercession, but
adverting only to the benefit of the covenant. Now, indeed, when we have the
Lord Jesus, in whose hand the eternal covenant of mercy was not only made but
confirmed, what better name can we bear before us in our prayers? And since
those good Doctors would make out by these words that the Patriarchs are
intercessors, I should like them to tell me why, in so great a multitude,The French adds, "et quasi en une fourmiliere de
saincts;"—and as it were a swarm of saints. no place
whatever is given to Abraham, the father of the Church? We know well from what a
crew they select their intercessors.French, "C'est chose trop notoire de quel bourbieu ou de
quelle racaille ils tirent leur saincts."—It is too notorious out of what
mire or rubbish they draw their saints. Let them
then tell me what consistency there is in neglecting and rejecting Abraham, whom
God preferred to all others, and raised to the highest degree of honour. The
only reason is, that as it was plain there was no such practice in the ancient
Church, they thought proper to conceal the novelty of the practice by saying
nothing of the Patriarchs: as if by a mere diversity of names they could excuse
a practice at once novel and impure. They sometimes, also, object that God is
entreated to have mercy on his people "for David's sake" (Ps. 132:10; see Calv.
Com.). This is so far from supporting their error, that it is the strongest
refutation of it. We must consider the character which David bore. He is set
apart from the whole body of the faithful to establish the covenant which God
made in his hand. Thus regard is had to the covenant rather than to the
individual. Under him as a type the sole intercession of Christ is asserted. But
what was peculiar to David as a type of Christ is certainly inapplicable to
others.
26.
But some seem to be moved by the fact, that the prayers of saints
are often said to have been heard. Why? Because they prayed. "They cried unto
thee" (says the Psalmist), "and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were
not confounded" (Ps. 22:5). Let us also pray after their example, that like them
we too may be heard. Those men, on the contrary, absurdly argue that none will
be heard but those who have been heard already. How much better does James
argue, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of
three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and
the earth brought forth her fruit" (James 5:17, 18). What? Does he infer that
Elias possessed some peculiar privilege, and that we must have recourse to him
for the use of it? By no means. He shows the perpetual efficacy of a pure and
pious prayer, that we may be induced in like manner to pray. For the kindness
and readiness of God to hear others is malignantly interpreted, if their example
does not inspire us with stronger confidence in his promise, since his
declaration is not that he will incline his ear to one or two, or a few
individuals, but to all who call upon his name. In this ignorance they are the
less excusable, because they seem as it were avowedly to contemn the many
admonitions of Scripture. David was repeatedly delivered by the power of God.
Was this to give that power to him that we might be delivered on his
application? Very different is his affirmation: "The righteous shall compass me
about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me" (Ps. 142:7). Again, "The
righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him" (Ps. 52:6). "This
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles"
(Ps. 34:6). In The Psalms are many similar prayers, in which David calls upon
God to give him what he asks, for this reason, viz., that the righteous may not
be put to shame, but by his example encouraged to hope. Here let one passage
suffice, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when
thou mayest be found" (Ps. 32:6, Calv. Com.). This passage I have quoted the
more readily, because those ravers who employ their hireling tongues in defense
of the Papacy, are not ashamed to adduce it in proof of the intercession of the
dead. As if David intended anything more than to show the benefit which he shall
obtain from the divine clemency and condescension when he shall have been heard.
In general, we must hold that the experience of the grace of God, as well
towards ourselves as towards others, tends in no slight degree to confirm our
faith in his promises. I do not quote the many passages in which David sets
forth the loving-kindness of God to him as a ground of confidence, as they will
readily occur to every reader of The Psalms. Jacob had previously taught the
same thing by his own example, "I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies,
and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant: for with my staff
I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands" (Gen. 32:10). He
indeed alleges the promise, but not the promise only; for he at the same time
adds the effect, to animate him with greater confidence in the future kindness
of God. God is not like men who grow weary of their liberality, or whose means
of exercising it become exhausted; but he is to be estimated by his own nature,
as David properly does when he says, "Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of
truth" (Ps. 31:5). After ascribing the praise of his salvation to God, he adds
that he is true: for were he not ever like himself, his past favour would not be
an infallible ground for confidence and prayer. But when we know that as often
as he assists us, he gives us a specimen and proof of his goodness and
faithfulness, there is no reason to fear that our hope will be ashamed or
frustrated.
27.
On the whole, since Scripture places the principal part of worship
in the invocation of God (this being the office of piety which he requires of us
in preference to all sacrifices), it is manifest sacrilege to offer prayer to
others. Hence it is said in the psalm: "If we have forgotten the name of our
God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, shall not God search this
out?" (Ps. 44:20, 21). Again, since it is only in faith that God desires to be
invoked, and he distinctly enjoins us to frame our prayers according to the rule
of his word: in fine, since faith is founded on the word, and is the parent of
right prayer, the moment we decline from the word, our prayers are impure. But
we have already shown, that if we consult the whole volume of Scripture, we
shall find that God claims this honour to himself alone. In regard to the office
of intercession, we have also seen that it is peculiar to Christ, and that no
prayer is agreeable to God which he as Mediator does not sanctify. And though
believers mutually offer up prayers to God in behalf of their brethren, we have
shown that this derogates in no respect from the sole intercession of Christ,
because all trust to that intercession in commending themselves as well as
others to God. Moreover, we have shown that this is ignorantly transferred to
the dead, of whom we nowhere read that they were commanded to pray for us. The
Scripture often exhorts us to offer up mutual prayers; but says not one syllable
concerning the dead; nay, James tacitly excludes the dead when he combines the
two things, to "confess our sins one to another, and to pray one for another"
(James 5:16). Hence it is sufficient to condemn this error, that the beginning
of right prayer springs from faith, and that faith comes by the hearing of the
word of God, in which there is no mention of fictitious intercession,
superstition having rashly adopted intercessors who have not been divinely
appointed. While the Scripture abounds in various forms of prayer, we find no
example of this intercession, without which Papists think there is no prayer.
Moreover, it is evident that this superstition is the result of distrust,
because they are either not contented with Christ as an intercessor, or have
altogether robbed him of this honour. This last is easily proved by their
effrontery in maintaining, as the strongest of all their arguments for the
intercession of the saints, that we are unworthy of familiar access to God.
This, indeed, we acknowledge to be most true, but we thence infer that they
leave nothing to Christ, because they consider his intercession as nothing,
unless it is supplemented by that of George and Hypolyte, and similar phantoms.
28.
But though prayer is properly confined to vows and supplications,
yet so strong is the affinity between petition and thanksgiving, that both may
be conveniently comprehended under one name. For the forms which Paul enumerates
(1 Tim. 2:1) fall under the first member of this division. By prayer and
supplication we pour out our desires before God, asking as well those things
which tend to promote his glory and display his name, as the benefits which
contribute to our advantage. By thanksgiving we duly celebrate his kindnesses
toward us, ascribing to his liberality every blessing which enters into our lot.
David accordingly includes both in one sentence, "Call upon me in the day of
trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Ps. 50:15). Scripture,
not without reason, commands us to use both continually. We have already
described the greatness of our want, while experience itself proclaims the
straits which press us on every side to be so numerous and so great, that all
have sufficient ground to send forth sighs and groans to God without
intermission, and suppliantly implore him. For even should they be exempt from
adversity, still the holiest ought to be stimulated first by their sins, and,
secondly, by the innumerable assaults of temptation, to long for a remedy. The
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving can never be interrupted without guilt,
since God never ceases to load us with favour upon favour, so as to force us to
gratitude, however slow and sluggish we may be. In short, so great and widely
diffused are the riches of his liberality towards us, so marvellous and wondrous
the miracles which we behold on every side, that we never can want a subject and
materials for praise and thanksgiving.
To make this somewhat clearer: since all our hopes and resources are placed
in God (this has already been fully proved), so that neither our persons nor our
interests can prosper without his blessing, we must constantly submit ourselves
and our all to him. Then whatever we deliberate, speak, or do, should be
deliberated, spoken, and done under his hand and will; in fine, under the hope
of his assistance. God has pronounced a curse upon all who, confiding in
themselves or others, form plans and resolutions, who, without regarding his
will, or invoking his aid, either plan or attempt to execute (James 4:14;
Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 31:1). And since, as has already been observed, he receives the honour
which is due when he is acknowledged to be the author of all good, it follows
that, in deriving all good from his hand, we ought continually to express our
thankfulness, and that we have no right to use the benefits which proceed from
his liberality, if we do not assiduously proclaim his praise, and give him
thanks, these being the ends for which they are given. When Paul declares that
every creature of God "is sanctified by the word of God and prayers"
(1 Tim. 4:5), he intimates that without the word and prayers none of them are holy and
pure, word being used metonymically for faith. Hence David, on
experiencing the loving-kindness of the Lord, elegantly declares, "He hath put a
new song in my mouth" (Ps. 40:3); intimating, that our silence is malignant when
we leave his blessings unpraised, seeing every blessing he bestows is a new
ground of thanksgiving. Thus Isaiah, proclaiming the singular mercies of God,
says, "Sing unto the Lord a new song" (Is. 42:10). In the same sense David says
in another passage, "O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth
thy praise" (Ps. 41:15). In like manner, Hezekiah and Jonah declare that they
will regard it as the end of their deliverance "to celebrate the goodness of God
with songs in his temple" (Is. 38:20; Jonah 2:10). David lays down a general
rule for all believers in these words, "What shall I render unto the Lord for
all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the
name of the Lord" (Ps. 116:12, 13). This rule the Church follows in another
psalm, "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give
thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise" (Ps. 106:47). Again,
" He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This
shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be
created shall praise the Lord." "To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and
his praise in Jerusalem" (Ps. 102:18, 21). Nay, whenever believers beseech the
Lord to do anything for his own name's sake, as they declare themselves
unworthy of obtaining it in their own name, so they oblige themselves to give
thanks, and promise to make the right use of his lovingkindness by being the
heralds of it. Thus Hosea, speaking of the future redemption of the Church,
says, "Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the
calves of our lips" (Hos. 14:2). Not only do our tongues proclaim the kindness
of God, but they naturally inspire us with love to him. "I love the Lord,
because he hath heard my voice and my supplications" (Ps. 116:1). In another
passage, speaking of the help which he had experienced, he says, "I will love
thee, O Lord, my strength" (Ps. 18:1). No praise will ever please God that does
not flow from this feeling of love. Nay, we must attend to the declaration of
Paul, that all wishes are vicious and perverse which are not accompanied with
thanksgiving. His words are, "In everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). Because
many, under the influence of moroseness, weariness, impatience, bitter grief and
fear, use murmuring in their prayers, he enjoins us so to regulate our feelings
as cheerfully to bless God even before obtaining what we ask. But if this
connection ought always to subsist in full vigour between things that are almost
contrary, the more sacred is the tie which binds us to celebrate the praises of
God whenever he grants our requests. And as we have already shown that our
prayers, which otherwise would be polluted, are sanctified by the intercession
of Christ, so the Apostle, by enjoining us "to offer the sacrifice of praise to
God continually" by Christ (Heb. 13:15), reminds us, that without the
intervention of his priesthood our lips are not pure enough to celebrate the
name of God. Hence we infer that a monstrous delusion prevails among Papists,
the great majority of whom wonder when Christ is called an intercessor. The
reason why Paul enjoins, "Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks"
(1 Thess. 5:17, 18), is, because he would have us with the utmost assiduity, at all
times, in every place, in all things, and under all circumstances, direct our
prayers to God, to expect all the things which we desire from him, and when
obtained ascribe them to him; thus furnishing perpetual grounds for prayer and
praise.
29.
This assiduity in prayer, though it specially refers to the
peculiar private prayers of individuals, extends also in some measure to the
public prayers of the Church. These, it may be said, cannot be continual, and
ought not to be made, except in the manner which, for the sake of order, has
been established by public consent. This I admit, and hence certain hours are
fixed beforehand, hours which, though indifferent in regard to God, are
necessary for the use of man, that the general convenience may be consulted, and
all things be done in the Church, as Paul enjoins, "decently and in order"
(1 Cor. 14:40). But there is nothing in this to prevent each church from being now
and then stirred up to a more frequent use of prayer and being more zealously
affected under the impulse of some greater necessity. Of perseverance in prayer,
which is much akin to assiduity, we shall speak towards the close of the chapter
(sec. 51, 52). This assiduity, moreover, is very different from the BATTOLOGIAN
(Greek — English "yammering"), vain speaking, which our Saviour has
prohibited (Matth. 6:7). For he does not there forbid us to pray long or
frequently, or with great fervour, but warns us against supposing that we can
extort anything from God by importuning him with garrulous loquacity, as if he
were to be persuaded after the manner of men. We know that hypocrites, because
they consider not that they have to do with God, offer up their prayers as
pompously as if it were part of a triumphal show. The Pharisee, who thanked God
that he was not as other men, no doubt proclaimed his praises before men, as if
he had wished to gain a reputation for sanctity by his prayers. Hence that vain
speaking, which for a similar reason prevails so much in the Papacy in the
present day, some vainly spinning out the time by a reiteration of the same
frivolous prayers, and others employing a long series of verbiage for vulgar
display.French, "Cette longueur de priere a aujourd'hui sa vogue
en la Papauté, et procede de cette mesme source; c'est que les uns barbotant
force Ave Maria, et reiterant cent fois un chapelet, perdent une partie du
temps; les autres, comme les chanoines et caphars, en abayant le parchemin jour
et nuict, et barbotant leur breviaire vendent leur coquilles au peuple."—This
long prayer is at present in vogue among the Papists, and proceeds from the same
cause: some muttering a host of Ave Marias, and going over their beads a hundred
times, lose part of their time; others, as the canons and monks grumbling over
their parchment night and day, and muttering their breviary, sell their
cockleshells to the people. This
childish garrulity being a mockery of God, it is not strange that it is
prohibited in the Church, in order that every feeling there expressed may be
sincere, proceeding from the inmost heart. Akin to this abuse is another which
our Saviour also condemns, namely, when hypocrites for the sake of ostentation
court the presence of many witnesses, and would sooner pray in the market-place
than pray without applause. The true object of prayer being, as we have already
said (sec. 4, 5), to carry our thoughts directly to God, whether to celebrate
his praise or implore his aid, we can easily see that its primary seat is in the
mind and heart, or rather that prayer itself is properly an effusion and
manifestation of internal feeling before Him who is the searcher of hearts.
Hence (as has been said), when our divine Master was pleased to lay down the
best rule for prayer, his injunction was, "Enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matth. 6:6). Dissuading us from the
example of hypocrites, who sought the applause of men by an ambitious
ostentation in prayer, he adds the better course — enter thy chamber, shut thy
door, and there pray. By these words (as I understand them) he taught us to seek
a place of retirement which might enable us to turn all our thoughts inwards and
enter deeply into our hearts, promising that God would hold converse with the
feelings of our mind, of which the body ought to be the temple. He meant not to
deny that it may be expedient to pray in other places also, but he shows that
prayer is somewhat of a secret nature, having its chief seat in the mind, and
requiring a tranquillity far removed from the turmoil of ordinary cares. And
hence it was not without cause that our Lord himself, when he would engage more
earnestly in prayer, withdrew into a retired spot beyond the bustle of the
world, thus reminding us by his example that we are not to neglect those helps
which enable the mind, in itself too much disposed to wander, to become
sincerely intent on prayer. Meanwhile, as he abstained not from prayer when the
occasion required it, though he were in the midst of a crowd, so must we,
whenever there is need, lift up "pure hands" (1 Tim. 2:8) at all places. And
hence we must hold that he who declines to pray in the public meeting of the
saints, knows not what it is to pray apart, in retirement, or at home. On the
other hand, he who neglects to pray alone and in private, however sedulously he
frequents public meetings, there gives his prayers to the wind, because he
defers more to the opinion of man than to the secret judgment of God. Still,
lest the public prayers of the Church should be held in contempt, the Lord
anciently bestowed upon them the most honourable appellation, especially when he
called the temple the "house of prayer" (Isa. 56:7). For by this
expression he both showed that the duty of prayer is a principal part of his
worship, and that to enable believers to engage in it with one consent his
temple is set up before them as a kind of banner. A noble promise was also
added, "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be
performed" (Ps. 65:1).Calvin translates, "Te expectat Deus, laus in
Sion,"—God, the praise in Sion waiteth for thee. By these
words the Psalmist reminds us that the prayers of the Church are never in vain;
because God always furnishes his people with materials for a song of joy. But
although the shadows of the law have ceased, yet because God was pleased by this
ordinance to foster the unity of the faith among us also, there can be no doubt
that the same promise belongs to us — a promise which Christ sanctioned with
his own lips, and which Paul declares to be perpetually in force.
30.
As God in his word enjoins common prayer, so public temples are the
places destined for the performance of them, and hence those who refuse to join
with the people of God in this observance have no ground for the pretext, that
they enter their chamber in order that they may obey the command of the Lord.
For he who promises to grant whatsoever two or three assembled in his name shall
ask (Matth. 18:20), declares, that he by no means despises the prayers which are
publicly offered up, provided there be no ostentation, or catching at human
applause, and provided there be a true and sincere affection in the secret
recesses of the heart.See Book I. chap. xi. sec. 7,13, on the subject of
images in churches. Also Book IV. chap. iv. sec. 8, and chap. v. sec. 18, as to
the ornaments of churches. If this
is the legitimate use of churches (and it certainly is), we must, on the other
hand, beware of imitating the practice which commenced some centuries ago, of
imagining that churches are the proper dwellings of God, where he is more ready
to listen to us, or of attaching to them some kind of secret sanctity, which
makes prayer there more holy. For seeing we are the true temples of God, we must
pray in ourselves if we would invoke God in his holy temple. Let us leave such
gross ideas to the Jews or the heathen, knowing that we have a command to pray
without distinction of place, "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23). It is true
that by the order of God the temple was anciently dedicated for the offering of
prayers and sacrifices, but this was at a time when the truth (which being now
fully manifested, we are not permitted to confine to any material temple) lay
hid under the figure of shadows. Even the temple was not represented to the Jews
as confining the presence of God within its walls, but was meant to train them
to contemplate the image of the true temple. Accordingly, a severe rebuke is
administered both by Isaiah and Stephen, to those who thought that God could in
any way dwell in temples made with hands (Isa. 66:2; Acts 7:48).
31.
Hence it is perfectly clear that neither words nor singing (if used
in prayer) are of the least consequence, or avail one iota with God, unless they
proceed from deep feeling in the heart. Nay, rather they provoke his anger
against us, if they come from the lips and throat only, since this is to abuse
his sacred name, and hold his majesty in derision. This we infer from the words
of Isaiah, which, though their meaning is of wider extent, go to rebuke this
vice also: "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with
their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their
fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will
proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a
wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of
their prudent men shall be hid" (Isa. 29:13). Still we do not condemn words or
singing, but rather greatly commend them, provided the feeling of the mind goes
along with them. For in this way the thought of God is kept alive on our minds,
which, from their fickle and versatile nature, soon relax, and are distracted by
various objects, unless various means are used to support them. Besides, since
the glory of God ought in a manner to be displayed in each part of our body, the
special service to which the tongue should be devoted is that of singing and
speaking, inasmuch as it has been expressly created to declare and proclaim the
praise of God. This employment of the tongue is chiefly in the public services
which are performed in the meeting of the saints. In this way the God whom we
serve in one spirit and one faith, we glorify together as it were with one voice
and one mouth; and that openly, so that each may in turn receive the confession
of his brother's faith, and be invited and incited to imitate it.
32.
It is certain that the use of singing in churches (which I may
mention in passing) is not only very ancient, but was also used by the Apostles,
as we may gather from the words of Paul, "I will sing with the spirit, and I
will sing with the understanding also" (1 Cor. 14:15). In like manner he says to
the Colossians, "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). In
the former passage, he enjoins us to sing with the voice and the heart; in the
latter, he commends spiritual Songs, by which the pious mutually edify each
other. That it was not an universal practice, however, is attested by Augustine
(Confess. Lib. ix. cap. 7), who states that the church of Milan first began to
use singing in the time of Ambrose, when the orthodox faith being persecuted by
Justina, the mother of Valentinian, the vigils of the people were more frequent
than usual;This clause of the sentence is omitted in the French. and that
the practice was afterwards followed by the other Western churches. He had said
a little before that the custom came from the East.The French adds, "où on en avoit tousjours usé;"—where
it had always been used. He also
intimates (Retract. Lib. ii). that it was received in Africa in his own time.
His words are, "Hilarius, a man of tribunitial rank, assailed with the bitterest
invectives he could use the custom which then began to exist at Carthage, of
singing hymns from the book of Psalms at the altar, either before the oblation,
or when it was distributed to the people; I answered him, at the request of my
brethren."The whole of this quotation is omitted in the French. And
certainly if singing is tempered to a gravity befitting the presence of God and
angels, it both gives dignity and grace to sacred actions, and has a very
powerful tendency to stir up the mind to true zeal and ardour in prayer. We
must, however, carefully beware, lest our ears be more intent on the music than
our minds on the spiritual meaning of the words. Augustine confesses (Confess.
Lib. x. cap. 33) that the fear of this danger sometimes made him wish for the
introduction of a practice observed by Athanasius, who ordered the reader to use
only a gentle inflection of the voice, more akin to recitation than singing. But
on again considering how many advantages were derived from singing, he inclined
to the other side.French, "Mais il adjouste d'autre part, que quand il se
souvenoit du fruict et de l'edification qu'il avoit recue en oyant chanter àl'Eglise il enclinoit plus à
l'autre partie, c'est, approuver le chant;"—but he
adds on the other hand that when he called to mind the fruit and edification
which he had received from hearing singing in the church, he inclined more to
the other side; that is, to approve singing. If this
moderation is used, there cannot be a doubt that the practice is most sacred and
salutary. On the other hand, songs composed merely to tickle and delight the ear
are unbecoming the majesty of the Church, and cannot but be most displeasing to
God.
33.
It is also plain that the public prayers are not to be couched in
Greek among the Latins, nor in Latin among the French or English (as hitherto
has been every where practised), but in the vulgar tongue, so that all present
may understand them, since they ought to be used for the edification of the
whole Church, which cannot be in the least degree benefited by a sound not
understood. Those who are not moved by any reason of humanity or charity, ought
at least to be somewhat moved by the authority of Paul, whose words are by no
means ambiguous: "When thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that
occupieth the room of the unlearned say, Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing
he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks, but the
other is not edified" (1 Cor. 14:16, 17). How then can one sufficiently admire
the unbridled license of the Papists, who, while the Apostle publicly protests
against it, hesitate not to bawl out the most verbose prayers in a foreign
tongue, prayers of which they themselves sometimes do not understand one
syllable, and which they have no wish that others should understand?French, "Qui est-ce donc qui se pourra assez
esmerveiller d'une audace tant effrenee qu'ont eu les Papistes et ont encore,
qui contre la defense de l'Apostre, chantent et brayent de langue estrange et
inconnue, en laquelle le plus souvent ils n'entendent pas eux mesmes une
syllabe, et ne veulent que les autres y entendent?"—Who then can sufficiently
admire the unbridled audacity which the Papists have had, and still have, who,
contrary to the prohibition of the Apostle, chant and bray in a foreign and
unknown tongue, in which, for the most part, they do not understand one
syllable, and which they have no wish that others understand? Different
is the course which Paul prescribes, "What is it then? I will pray with the
spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the
spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also:" meaning by the
spirit the special gift of tongues, which some who had received it abused
when they dissevered it from the mind, that is, the understanding. The principle
we must always hold is, that in all prayer, public and private, the tongue
without the mind must be displeasing to God. Moreover, the mind must be so
incited, as in ardour of thought far to surpass what the tongue is able to
express. Lastly, the tongue is not even necessary to private prayer, unless in
so far as the internal feeling is insufficient for incitement, or the vehemence
of the incitement carries the utterance of the tongue along with it. For
although the best prayers are sometimes without utterance, yet when the feeling
of the mind is overpowering, the tongue spontaneously breaks forth into
utterance, and our other members into gesture. Hence that dubious muttering of
Hannah (1 Sam. 1:13), something similar to which is experienced by all the
saints when concise and abrupt expressions escape from them. The bodily gestures
usually observed in prayer, such as kneeling and uncovering of the head (Calv.
in Acts 20:36), are exercises by which we attempt to rise to higher veneration
of God.
34.
We must now attend not only to a surer method, but also form of
prayer, that, namely, which our heavenly Father has delivered to us by his
beloved Son, and in which we may recognize his boundless goodness and
condescension (Matth. 6:9; Luke 11:2). Besides admonishing and exhorting us to
seek him in our every necessity (as children are wont to betake themselves to
the protection of their parents when oppressed with any anxiety), seeing that we
were not fully aware how great our poverty was, or what was right or for our
interest to ask, he has provided for this ignorance; that wherein our capacity
failed he has sufficiently supplied. For he has given us a form in which is set
before us as in a picture everything which it is lawful to wish, everything
which is conducive to our interest, everything which it is necessary to demand.
From his goodness in this respect we derive the great comfort of knowing, that
as we ask almost in his words, we ask nothing that is absurd, or foreign, or
unseasonable; nothing, in short, that is not agreeable to him. Plato, seeing the
ignorance of men in presenting their desires to God, desires which if granted
would often be most injurious to them, declares the best form of prayer to be
that which an ancient poet has furnished: "O king Jupiter, give what is best,
whether we wish it or wish it not; but avert from us what is evil even though we
ask it" (Plato, Alcibiad. ii). This heathen shows his wisdom in discerning how
dangerous it is to ask of God what our own passion dictates; while, at the same
time, he reminds us of our unhappy condition in not being able to open our lips
before God without dangers unless his Spirit instruct us how to pray aright
(Rom. 8:26). The higher value, therefore, ought we to set on the privilege, when
the only begotten Son of God puts words into our lips, and thus relieves our
minds of all hesitation.
35.
This form or rule of prayer is composed of six petitions.
For I am prevented from agreeing with those who divide it into seven by
the adversative mode of diction used by the Evangelist, who appears to have
intended to unite the two members together; as if he had said, Do not allow us
to be overcome by temptation, but rather bring assistance to our frailty, and
deliver us that we may not fall. Ancient writersAugustine in Enchiridion ad Laurent. xxx. 116.
Pseudo-Chrysost. in Homilies on Matthew, hom. xiv. See end of sec. 53. also
agree with us, that what is added by Matthew as a seventh head is to be
considered as explanatory of the sixth petition."Dont il est facile de juger que ce qui est adjousté en
S. Matthieu, et qu'aucuns ont pris pour une septieme requeste, n'est qu'un
explication de la sixieme, et se doit a icelle rapporter;"—Whence it is easy
to perceive that what is added in St Matthew, and which some have taken for a
seventh petition, is only an explanation of the sixth, and ought to be referred
to it. But
though in every part of the prayer the first place is assigned to the glory of
God, still this is more especially the object of the three first petitions, in
which we are to look to the glory of God alone, without any reference to what is
called our own advantage. The three remaining petitions are devoted to our
interest, and properly relate to things which it is useful for us to ask. When
we ask that the name of God may be hallowed, as God wishes to prove whether we
love and serve him freely, or from the hope of reward, we are not to think at
all of our own interest; we must set his glory before our eyes, and keep them
intent upon it alone. In the other similar petitions, this is the only manner in
which we ought to be affected. It is true, that in this way our own interest is
greatly promoted, because, when the name of God is hallowed in the way we ask,
our own sanctification also is thereby promoted. But in regard to this
advantage, we must, as I have said, shut our eyes, and be in a manner blind, so
as not even to see it; and hence were all hope of our private advantage cut off,
we still should never cease to wish and pray for this hallowing, and everything
else which pertains to the glory of God. We have examples in Moses and Paul, who
did not count it grievous to turn away their eyes and minds from themselves, and
with intense and fervent zeal long for death, if by their loss the kingdom and
glory of God might be promoted (Exod. 32:32;
Rom. 9:3). On the other hand, when
we ask for daily bread, although we desire what is advantageous for ourselves,
we ought also especially to seek the glory of God, so much so that we would not
ask at all unless it were to turn to his glory. Let us now proceed to an
exposition of the Prayer.
OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.
36.
The first thing suggested at the very outset is, as we have already
said (sec. 17-19), that all our prayers to God ought only to be presented in the
name of Christ, as there is no other name which can recommend them. In calling
God our Father, we certainly plead the name of Christ. For with what confidence
could any man call God his Father? Who would have the presumption to arrogate to
himself the honour of a son of God were we not gratuitously adopted as his sons
in Christ? He being the true Son, has been given to us as a brother, so that
that which he possesses as his own by nature becomes ours by adoption, if we
embrace this great mercy with firm faith. As John says, "As many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
in his name" (John 1:12). Hence he both calls himself our Father, and is pleased
to be so called by us, by this delightful name relieving us of all distrust,
since nowhere can a stronger affection be found than in a father. Hence, too, he
could not have given us a stronger testimony of his boundless love than in
calling us his sons. But his love towards us is so much the greater and more
excellent than that of earthly parents, the farther he surpasses all men in
goodness and mercy (Isaiah 63:16). Earthly parents, laying aside all paternal
affection, might abandon their offspring; he will never abandon us (Ps. 27:10),
seeing he cannot deny himself. For we have his promise, "If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matth. 7:11). In
like manner in the prophet, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she
should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet
will not I forget thee" (Isaiah 49:15). But if we are his sons, then as a son
cannot betake himself to the protection of a stranger and a foreigner without at
the same time complaining of his father's cruelty or poverty, so we cannot ask
assistance from any other quarter than from him, unless we would upbraid him
with poverty, or want of means, or cruelty and excessive austerity.
37.
Nor let us allege that we are justly rendered timid by a
consciousness of sin, by which our Father, though mild and merciful, is daily
offended. For if among men a son cannot have a better advocate to plead his
cause with his father, and cannot employ a better intercessor to regain his lost
favour, than if he come himself suppliant and downcast, acknowledging his fault,
to implore the mercy of his father, whose paternal feelings cannot but be moved
by such entreaties, what will that "Father of all mercies, and God of all
comfort," do? (2 Cor. 1:3). Will he not rather listen to the tears and groans of
his children, when supplicating for themselves (especially seeing he invites and
exhorts us to do so), than to any advocacy of others to whom the timid have
recourse, not without some semblance of despair, because they are distrustful of
their father's mildness and clemency? The exuberance of his paternal kindness he
sets before us in the parable (Luke 15:20; see Calv. Comm). when the father with
open arms receives the son who had gone away from him, wasted his substance in
riotous living, and in all ways grievously sinned against him. He waits not till
pardon is asked in words, but, anticipating the request, recognizes him afar
off, runs to meet him, consoles him, and restores him to favour. By setting
before us this admirable example of mildness in a man, he designed to show in
how much greater abundance we may expect it from him who is not only a Father,
but the best and most merciful of all fathers, however ungrateful, rebellious,
and wicked sons we may be, provided only we throw ourselves upon his mercy. And
the better to assure us that he is such a Father if we are Christians, he has
been pleased to be called not only a Father, but our Father, as if we were
pleading with him after this manner, O Father, who art possessed of so much
affection for thy children, and art so ready to forgive, we thy children
approach thee and present our requests, fully persuaded that thou hast no other
feelings towards us than those of a father, though we are unworthy of such a
parent.French, "Quelque mauvaistié qu'ayons euë, ou quelque
imperfection ou poureté qui soit en nous;"—whatever wickedness we may have
done, or whatever imperfection or poverty there may be in us.
But as our narrow hearts are incapable of comprehending such boundless favour,
Christ is not only the earnest and pledge of our adoption, but also gives us the
Spirit as a witness of this adoption, that through him we may freely cry aloud,
Abba, Father. Whenever, therefore, we are restrained by any feeling of
hesitation, let us remember to ask of him that he may correct our timidity, and
placing us under the magnanimous guidance of the Spirit, enable us to pray
boldly.
38.
The instruction given us, however, is not that every individual in
particular is to call him Father, but rather that we are all in common to call
him Our Father. By this we are reminded how strong the feeling of brotherly love
between us ought to be, since we are all alike, by the same mercy and free
kindness, the children of such a Father. For if He from whom we all obtain
whatever is good is our common Father (Matth. 23:9), everything which has been
distributed to us we should be prepared to communicate to each other, as far as
occasion demands. But if we are thus desirous as we ought, to stretch out our
hands and give assistance to each other, there is nothing by which we can more
benefit our brethren than by committing them to the care and protection of the
best of parents, since if He is propitious and favourable nothing more can be
desired. And, indeed, we owe this also to our Father. For as he who truly and
from the heart loves the father of a family, extends the same love and good-will
to all his household, so the zeal and affection which we feel for our heavenly
Parent it becomes us to extend towards his people, his family, and, in fine, his
heritage, which he has honoured so highly as to give them the appellation of the
" fulness" of his only begotten Son (Ephesians 1:23). Let the Christian, then, so
regulate his prayers as to make them common, and embrace all who are his
brethren in Christ; not only those whom at present he sees and knows to be such,
but all men who are alive upon the earth. What God has determined with regard to
them is beyond our knowledge, but to wish and hope the best concerning them is
both pious and humane. Still it becomes us to regard with special affection
those who are of the household of faith, and whom the Apostle has in express
terms recommended to our care in everything (Gal. 6:10). In short, all our
prayers ought to bear reference to that community which our Lord has established
in his kingdom and family.
39.
This, however, does not prevent us from praying specially for
ourselves, and certain others, provided our mind is not withdrawn from the view
of this community, does not deviate from it, but constantly refers to it. For
prayers, though couched in special terms, keeping that object still in view,
cease not to be common. All this may easily be understood by analogy. There is a
general command from God to relieve the necessities of all the poor, and yet
this command is obeyed by those who with that view give succour to all whom they
see or know to be in distress, although they pass by many whose wants are not
less urgent, either because they cannot know or are unable to give supply to
all. In this way there is nothing repugnant to the will of God in those who,
giving heed to this common society of the Church, yet offer up particular
prayers, in which, with a public mind, though in special terms, they commend to
God themselves or others, with whose necessity he has been pleased to make them
more familiarly acquainted.
It is true that prayer and the giving of our substance are not in all
respects alike. We can only bestow the kindness of our liberality on those of
whose wants we are aware, whereas in prayer we can assist the greatest
strangers, how wide soever the space which may separate them from us. This is
done by that general form of prayer which, including all the sons of God,
includes them also. To this we may refer the exhortation which Paul gave to the
believers of his age, to lift up "holy hands without wrath and doubting"
(1 Tim. 2:8). By reminding them that dissension is a bar to prayer, he shows it to be
his wish that they should with one accord present their prayers in common.
40.
The next words are, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN. From this we are not to
infer that he is enclosed and confined within the circumference of heaven, as by
a kind of boundaries. Hence Solomon confesses, "The heaven of heavens cannot
contain thee" (1 Kings 8:27); and he himself says by the Prophet, "The heaven is
my throne, and the earth is my footstool" (Isa. 56:1); thereby intimating, that
his presence, not confined to any region, is diffused over all space. But as our
gross minds are unable to conceive of his ineffable glory, it is designated to
us by heaven, nothing which our eyes can behold being so full of
splendour and majesty. While, then, we are accustomed to regard every object as
confined to the place where our senses discern it, no place can be assigned to
God; and hence, if we would seek him, we must rise higher than all corporeal or
mental discernment. Again, this form of expression reminds us that he is far
beyond the reach of change or corruption, that he holds the whole universe in
his grasp, and rules it by his power. The effect of the expressions therefore,
is the same as if it had been said, that he is of infinite majesty,
incomprehensible essence, boundless power, and eternal duration. When we thus
speak of God, our thoughts must be raised to their highest pitch; we must not
ascribe to him anything of a terrestrial or carnal nature, must not measure him
by our little standards, or suppose his will to be like ours. At the same time,
we must put our confidence in him, understanding that heaven and earth are
governed by his providence and power. In short, under the name of Father is set
before us that God, who hath appeared to us in his own image, that we may invoke
him with sure faith; the familiar name of Father being given not only to inspire
confidence, but also to curb our minds, and prevent them from going astray after
doubtful or fictitious gods. We thus ascend from the only begotten Son to the
supreme Father of angels and of the Church. Then when his throne is fixed in
heaven, we are reminded that he governs the world, and, therefore, that it is
not in vain to approach him whose present care we actually experience. "He that
cometh to God," says the Apostle, "must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). Here Christ makes both
claims for his Father, first, that we place our faith in him; and,
secondly, that we feel assured that our salvation is not neglected by
him, inasmuch as he condescends to extend his providence to us. By these
elementary principles Paul prepares us to pray aright; for before enjoining us
to make our requests known unto God, he premises in this way, "The Lord is at
hand. Be careful for nothing" (Phil. 4:5, 6). Whence it appears that doubt and
perplexity hang over the prayers of those in whose minds the belief is not
firmly seated, that "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous" (Ps. 34:15).
41.
The first petition is, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. The necessity of
presenting it bespeaks our great disgrace. For what can be more unbecoming than
that our ingratitude and malice should impair, our audacity and petulance should
as much as in them lies destroy, the glory of God? But though all the ungodly
should burst with sacrilegious rage, the holiness of God's name still shines
forth. Justly does the Psalmist exclaim, "According to thy name, O God, so is
thy praise unto the ends of the earth" (Ps. 48:10). For wherever God hath made
himself known, his perfections must be displayed, his power, goodness, wisdom,
justice, mercy, and truth, which fill us with admiration, and incite us to show
forth his praise. Therefore, as the name of God is not duly hallowed on the
earth, and we are otherwise unable to assert it, it is at least our duty to make
it the subject of our prayers. The sum of the whole is, It must be our desire
that God may receive the honour which is his due: that men may never think or
speak of him without the greatest reverence. The opposite of this reverence is
profanity, which has always been too common in the world, and is very prevalent
in the present day. Hence the necessity of the petition, which, if piety had any
proper existence among us, would be superfluous. But if the name of God is duly
hallowed only when separated from all other names it alone is glorified, we are
in the petition enjoined to ask not only that God would vindicate his sacred
name from all contempt and insult, but also that he would compel the whole human
race to reverence it. Then since God manifests himself to us partly by his word,
and partly by his works, he is not sanctified unless in regard to both of these
we ascribe to him what is due, and thus embrace whatever has proceeded from him,
giving no less praise to his justice than to his mercy. On the manifold
diversity of his works he has inscribed the marks of his glory, and these ought
to call forth from every tongue an ascription of praise. Thus Scripture will
obtain its due authority with us, and no event will hinder us from celebrating
the praises of God, in regard to every part of his government. On the other
hand, the petition implies a wish that all impiety which pollutes this sacred
name may perish and be extinguished, that everything which obscures or impairs
his glory, all detraction and insult, may cease; that all blasphemy being
suppressed, the divine majesty may be more and more signally displayed.
42.
The second petition is, THY KINGDOM COME. This contains nothing
new, and yet there is good reason for distinguishing it from the first. For if
we consider our lethargy in the greatest of all matters, we shall see how
necessary it is that what ought to be in itself perfectly known should be
inculcated at greater length. Therefore, after the injunction to pray that God
would reduce to order, and at length completely efface every stain which is
thrown on his sacred name, another petition, containing almost the same wish, is
added, viz., Thy kingdom come. Although a definition of this kingdom has already
been given, I now briefly repeat that God reigns when men, in denial of
themselves and contempt of the world and this earthly life, devote themselves to
righteousness and aspire to heaven (see Calvin, Harm. Matth. 6). Thus this
kingdom consists of two parts; the first is, when God by the agency of his
Spirit corrects all the depraved lusts of the flesh, which in bands war against
Him; and the second, when he brings all our thoughts into obedience to his
authority. This petition, therefore, is duly presented only by those who begin
with themselves; in other words, who pray that they may be purified from all the
corruptions which disturb the tranquillity and impair the purity of God's
kingdom. Then as the word of God is like his royal sceptre, we are here enjoined
to pray that he would subdue all minds and hearts to voluntary obedience. This
is done when by the secret inspiration of his Spirit he displays the efficacy of
his word, and raises it to the place of honour which it deserves. We must next
descend to the wicked, who perversely and with desperate madness resist his
authority. God, therefore, sets up his kingdom, by humbling the whole world,
though in different ways, taming the wantonness of some, and breaking the
ungovernable pride of others. We should desire this to be done every day, in
order that God may gather churches to himself from all quarters of the world,
may extend and increase their numbers, enrich them with his gifts, establish due
order among them; on the other hand, beat down all the enemies of pure doctrine
and religion, dissipate their counsels, defeat their attempts. Hence it appears
that there is good ground for the precept which enjoins daily progress, for
human affairs are never so prosperous as when the impurities of vice are purged
away, and integrity flourishes in full vigour. The completion, however, is
deferred to the final advent of Christ, when, as Paul declares, "God will be all
in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). This prayer, therefore, ought to withdraw us from the
corruptions of the world which separate us from God, and prevent his kingdom
from flourishing within us; secondly, it ought to inflame us with an ardent
desire for the mortification of the flesh; and, lastly, it ought to train us to
the endurance of the cross; since this is the way in which God would have his
kingdom to be advanced. It ought not to grieve us that the outward man decays
provided the inner man is renewed. For such is the nature of the kingdom of God,
that while we submit to his righteousness he makes us partakers of his glory.
This is the case when continually adding to his light and truth, by which the
lies and the darkness of Satan and his kingdom are dissipated, extinguished, and
destroyed, he protects his people, guides them aright by the agency of his
Spirit, and confirms them in perseverance; while, on the other hand, he
frustrates the impious conspiracies of his enemies, dissipates their wiles and
frauds, prevents their malice and curbs their petulance, until at length he
consume Antichrist "with the spirit of his mouth," and destroy all impiety "with
the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess. 2:8, Calv. Comm.).
43.
The third petition is, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN
HEAVEN. Though this depends on his kingdom, and cannot be disjoined from it, yet
a separate place is not improperly given to it on account of our ignorance,
which does not at once or easily apprehend what is meant by God reigning in the
world. This, therefore, may not improperly be taken as the explanation, that God
will be King in the world when all shall subject themselves to his will. We are
not here treating of that secret will by which he governs all things, and
destines them to their end (see chap. xxiv. s. 17). For although devils and men
rise in tumult against him, he is able by his incomprehensible counsel not only
to turn aside their violence, but make it subservient to the execution of his
decrees. What we here speak of is another will of God, namely, that of which
voluntary obedience is the counterpart; and, therefore, heaven is expressly
contrasted with earth, because, as is said in The Psalms, the angels "do his
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word" (Ps. 103:20). We are,
therefore, enjoined to pray that as everything done in heaven is at the command
of God, and the angels are calmly disposed to do all that is right, so the earth
may be brought under his authority, all rebellion and depravity having been
extinguished. In presenting this request we renounce the desires of the flesh,
because he who does not entirely resign his affections to God, does as much as
in him lies to oppose the divine will, since everything which proceeds from us
is vicious. Again, by this prayer we are taught to deny ourselves, that God may
rule us according to his pleasure; and not only so, but also having annihilated
our own may create new thoughts and new minds so that we shall have no desire
save that of entire agreement with his will; in short, wish nothing of
ourselves, but have our hearts governed by his Spirit, under whose inward
teaching we may learn to love those things which please and hate those things
which displease him. Hence also we must desire that he would nullify and
suppress all affections which are repugnant to his will.
Such are the three first heads of the prayer, in presenting which we should
have the glory of God only in view, taking no account of ourselves, and paying
no respect to our own advantage, which, though it is thereby greatly promoted,
is not here to be the subject of request. And though all the events prayed for
must happen in their own time, without being either thought of, wished, or asked
by us, it is still our duty to wish and ask for them. And it is of no slight
importance to do so, that we may testify and profess that we are the servants
and children of God, desirous by every means in our power to promote the honour
due to him as our Lord and Father, and truly and thoroughly devoted to his
service. Hence if men, in praying that the name of God may be hallowed, that his
kingdom may come, and his will be done, are not influenced by this zeal for the
promotion of his glory, they are not to be accounted among the servants and
children of God; and as all these things will take place against their will, so
they will turn out to their confusion and destruction.
44.
Now comes the second part of the prayer, in which we descend to our
own interests, not, indeed, that we are to lose sight of the glory of God (to
which, as Paul declares, we must have respect even in meat and drink, 1 Cor.
10:31), and ask only what is expedient for ourselves; but the distinction, as we
have already observed, is this: God claiming the three first petitions as
specially his own, carries us entirely to himself, that in this way he may prove
our piety. Next he permits us to look to our own advantage, but still on the
condition, that when we ask anything for ourselves it must be in order that all
the benefits which he confers may show forth his glory, there being nothing more
incumbent on us than to live and die to him.
By the first petition of the second part, GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD,
we pray in general that God would give us all things which the body requires in
this sublunary state, not only food and clothing, but everything which he knows
will assist us to eat our bread in peace. In this way we briefly cast our care
upon him, and commit ourselves to his providence, that he may feed, foster, and
preserve us. For our heavenly Father disdains not to take our body under his
charge and protection, that he may exercise our faith in those minute matters,
while we look to him for everything, even to a morsel of bread and a drop of
water. For since, owing to some strange inequality, we feel more concern for the
body than for the soul, many who can trust the latter to God still continue
anxious about the former, still hesitate as to what they are to eat, as to how
they are to be clothed, and are in trepidation whenever their hands are not
filled with corn, and wine, and oil (Ps. 4:8): so much more value do we set on
this shadowy, fleeting life, than on a blessed immortality. But those who,
trusting to God, have once cast away that anxiety about the flesh, immediately
look to him for greater gifts, even salvation and eternal life. It is no slight
exercise of faith, therefore, to hope in God for things which would otherwise
give us so much concern; nor have we made little progress when we get quit of
this unbelief, which cleaves, as it were, to our very bones.
The speculations of some concerning supersubstantial bread seem to be very
little accordant with our Saviour's meaning; for our prayer would be defective
were we not to ascribe to God the nourishment even of this fading life. The
reason which they give is heathenish, viz., that it is inconsistent with the
character of sons of God, who ought to be spiritual, not only to occupy their
mind with earthly cares, but to suppose God also occupied with them. As if his
blessing and paternal favour were not eminently displayed in giving us food, or
as if there were nothing in the declaration that godliness hath "the promise of
the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Tim. 4:8). But although
the forgiveness of sins is of far more importance than the nourishment of the
body, yet Christ has set down the inferior in the prior place, in order that he
might gradually raise us to the other two petitions, which properly belong to
the heavenly life, — in this providing for our sluggishness. We are enjoined to
ask our bread, that we may be contented with the measure which our
heavenly Father is pleased to dispense, and not strive to make gain by illicit
arts. Meanwhile, we must hold that the title by which it is ours is donation,
because, as Moses says (Levit. 26:20, Deut. 8:17), neither our industry, nor
labour, nor hands, acquire anything for us, unless the blessing of God be
present; nay, not even would abundance of bread be of the least avail were it
not divinely converted into nourishment. And hence this liberality of God is not
less necessary to the rich than the poor, because, though their cellars and
barns were full, they would be parched and pine with want did they not enjoy his
favour along with their bread. The terms this day, or, as it is in
another Evangelist, daily, and also the epithet daily, lay a
restraint on our immoderate desire of fleeting good — a desire which we are
extremely apt to indulge to excess, and from which other evils ensue: for when
our supply is in richer abundance we ambitiously squander it in pleasure,
luxury, ostentation, or other kinds of extravagance. Wherefore, we are only
enjoined to ask as much as our necessity requires, and as it were for each day,
confiding that our heavenly Father, who gives us the supply of to-day, will not
fail us on the morrow. How great soever our abundance may be, however well
filled our cellars and granaries, we must still always ask for daily bread, for
we must feel assured that all substance is nothing, unless in so far as the
Lord, by pouring out his blessing, make it fruitful during its whole progress;
for even that which is in our hand is not ours except in so far as he every hour
portions it out, and permits us to use it. As nothing is more difficult to human
pride than the admission of this truth, the Lord declares that he gave a special
proof for all ages, when he fed his people with manna in the desert (Deut. 8:3),
that he might remind us that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matth. 4:4). It is thus
intimated, that by his power alone our life and strength are sustained, though
he ministers supply to us by bodily instruments. In like manner, whenever it so
pleases, he gives us a proof of an opposite description, by breaking the
strength, or, as he himself calls it, the staff of bread (Levit. 26:26),
and leaving us even while eating to pine with hunger, and while drinking to be
parched with thirst. Those who, not contented with daily bread, indulge an
unrestrained insatiable cupidity, or those who are full of their own abundance,
and trust in their own riches, only mock God by offering up this prayer. For the
former ask what they would be unwilling to obtain, nay, what they most of all
abominate, namely, daily bread only, and as much as in them lies disguise their
avarice from God, whereas true prayer should pour out the whole soul and every
inward feeling before him. The latter, again, ask what they do not at all expect
to obtain, namely, what they imagine that they in themselves already possess. In
its being called ours, God, as we have already said, gives a striking
display of his kindness, making that to be ours to which we have no just claim.
Nor must we reject the view to which I have already adverted, viz., that this
name is given to what is obtained by just and honest labour, as contrasted with
what is obtained by fraud and rapine, nothing being our own which we obtain with
injury to others. When we ask God to give us, the meaning is, that the
thing asked is simply and freely the gift of God, whatever be the quarter from
which it comes to us, even when it seems to have been specially prepared by our
own art and industry, and procured by our hands, since it is to his blessing
alone that all our labours owe their success.
45.
The next petition is, FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS. In this and the
following petition our Saviour has briefly comprehended whatever is conducive to
the heavenly life, as these two members contain the spiritual covenant which God
made for the salvation of his Church, "I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it on their hearts." "I will pardon all their iniquities" (Jer. 31:33;
33:8). Here our Saviour begins with the forgiveness of sins, and then adds the
subsequent blessing, viz., that God would protect us by the power, and support
us by the aid of his Spirit, so that we may stand invincible against all
temptations. To sins he gives the name of debts, because we owe the
punishment due to them, a debt which we could not possibly pay were we not
discharged by this remission, the result of his free mercy, when he freely
expunges the debt, accepting nothing in return; but of his own mercy receiving
satisfaction in Christ, who gave himself a ransom for us (Rom. 3:24). Hence,
those who expect to satisfy God by merits of their own or of others, or to
compensate and purchase forgiveness by means of satisfactions, have no share in
this free pardon, and while they address God in this petition, do nothing more
than subscribe their own accusation, and seal their condemnation by their own
testimony. For they confess that they are debtors, unless they are discharged by
means of forgiveness. This forgiveness, however, they do not receive, but rather
reject, when they obtrude their merits and satisfactions upon God, since by so
doing they do not implore his mercy, but appeal to his justice. Let those,
again, who dream of a perfection which makes it unnecessary to seek pardon, find
their disciples among those whose itching ears incline them to imposture,French, "Telles disciples qu'ils voudront;"—such
disciples as they will. (see
Calv. on Dan. 9:20); only let them understand that those whom they thus acquire
have been carried away from Christ, since he, by instructing all to confess
their guilt, receives none but sinners, not that he may soothe, and so encourage
them in their sins, but because he knows that believers are never so divested of
the sins of the flesh as not to remain subject to the justice of God. It is,
indeed, to be wished, it ought even to be our strenuous endeavour, to perform
all the parts of our duty, so as truly to congratulate ourselves before God as
being pure from every stain; but as God is pleased to renew his image in us by
degrees, so that to some extent there is always a residue of corruption in our
flesh, we ought by no means to neglect the remedy. But if Christ, according to
the authority given him by his Father, enjoins us, during the whole course of
our lives, to implore pardon, who can tolerate those new teachers who, by the
phantom of perfect innocence, endeavour to dazzle the simple, and make them
believe that they can render themselves completely free from guilt? This, as
John declares, is nothing else than to make God a liar (1 John 1:10). In like
manner, those foolish men mutilate the covenant in which we have seen that our
salvation is contained by concealing one head of it, and so destroying it
entirely; being guilty not only of profanity in that they separate things which
ought to be indissolubly connected; but also of wickedness and cruelty in
overwhelming wretched souls with despair — of treachery also to themselves and
their followers, in that they encourage themselves in a carelessness
diametrically opposed to the mercy of God. It is excessively childish to object,
that when they long for the advent of the kingdom of God, they at the same time
pray for the abolition of sin. In the former division of the prayer absolute
perfection is set before us; but in the latter our own weakness. Thus the two
fitly correspond to each other — we strive for the goal, and at the same time
neglect not the remedies which our necessities require.
In the next part of the petition we pray to be forgiven, "as we forgive
our debtors;" that is, as we spare and pardon all by whom we are in any way
offended, either in deed by unjust, or in word by contumelious treatment. Not
that we can forgive the guilt of a fault or offence; this belongs to God only;
but we can forgive to this extent: we can voluntarily divest our minds of wrath,
hatred, and revenge, and efface the remembrance of injuries by a voluntary
oblivion. Wherefore, we are not to ask the forgiveness of our sins from God,
unless we forgive the offenses of all who are or have been injurious to us. If
we retain any hatred in our minds, if we meditate revenge, and devise the means
of hurting; nay, if we do not return to a good understanding with our enemies,
perform every kind of friendly office, and endeavour to effect a reconciliation
with them, we by this petition beseech God not to grant us forgiveness. For we
ask him to do to us as we do to others. This is the same as asking him not to do
unless we do also. What, then, do such persons obtain by this petition but a
heavier judgment? Lastly, it is to be observed that the condition of being
forgiven as we forgive our debtors, is not added because by forgiving others we
deserve forgiveness, as if the cause of forgiveness were expressed; but by the
use of this expression the Lord has been pleased partly to solace the weakness
of our faith, using it as a sign to assure us that our sins are as certainly
forgiven as we are certainly conscious of having forgiven others, when our mind
is completely purged from all envy, hatred, and malice; and partly using as a
badge by which he excludes from the number of his children all who, prone to
revenge and reluctant to forgive, obstinately keep up their enmity, cherishing
against others that indignation which they deprecate from themselves; so that
they should not venture to invoke him as a Father. In the Gospel of Luke, we
have this distinctly stated in the words of Christ.
46.
The sixth petition corresponds (as we have observed) to the
promiseThe French adds, "que Dieu nous a donnee et
faite;"—which God has given and performed to us.
of writing the law upon our hearts; but because we do not obey God
without a continual warfare, without sharp and arduous contests, we here pray
that he would furnish us with armour, and defend us by his protection, that we
may be able to obtain the victory. By this we are reminded that we not only have
need of the gift of the Spirit inwardly to soften our hearts, and turn and
direct them to the obedience of God, but also of his assistance, to render us
invincible by all the wiles and violent assaults of Satan. The forms of
temptation are many and various. The depraved conceptions of our minds provoking
us to transgress the law — conceptions which our concupiscence suggests or the
devil excites, are temptations; and things which in their own nature are not
evil, become temptations by the wiles of the devil, when they are presented to
our eyes in such a way that the view of them makes us withdraw or decline from
God.James 1:2, 14; Matth. 4:1, 3; 1 Thess. 3:5.
These temptations are both on the right hand and on the left.2 Cor. 6:7, 8. On the
right, when riches, power, and honours, which by their glare, and the semblance
of good which they present, generally dazzle the eyes of men, and so entice by
their blandishments, that, caught by their snares, and intoxicated by their
sweetness, they forget their God: on the left, when offended by the hardship and
bitterness of poverty, disgrace, contempt, afflictions, and other things of that
description, they despond, cast away their confidence and hope, and are at
length totally estranged from God. In regard to both kinds of temptation, which
either enkindled in us by concupiscence, or presented by the craft of Satan's
war against us, we pray God the Father not to allow us to be overcome, but
rather to raise and support us by his hand, that strengthened by his mighty
power we may stand firm against all the assaults of our malignant enemy,
whatever be the thoughts which he sends into our minds; next we pray that
whatever of either description is allotted us, we may turn to good, that is, may
neither be inflated with prosperity, nor cast down by adversity. Here, however,
we do not ask to be altogether exempted from temptation, which is very necessary
to excite, stimulate, and urge us on, that we may not become too lethargic. It
was not without reason that David wished to be tried,Ps. 26:2.
nor is it
without cause that the Lord daily tries his elect, chastising them by disgrace,
poverty, tribulation, and other kinds of cross.Gen. 22:1; Deut. 8:2; 13:3. For the sense in which God
is said to lead us into temptation, see the end of this section. But the
temptations of God and Satan are very different: Satan tempts, that he may
destroy, condemn, confound, throw headlong; God, that by proving his people he
may make trial of their sincerity, and by exercising their strength confirm it;
may mortify, tame, and cauterize their flesh, which, if not curbed in this
manner, would wanton and exult above measure. Besides, Satan attacks those who
are unarmed and unprepared, that he may destroy them unawares; whereas whatever
God sends, he "will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it."1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Pet. 2:9.
Whether by the term evil we understand the devil or sin, is not of the least
consequence. Satan is indeed the very enemy who lays snares for our life,1 Pet. 5:8. but it is
by sin that he is armed for our destruction.
Our petition, therefore, is, that we may not be overcome or overwhelmed with
temptation, but in the strength of the Lord may stand firm against all the
powers by which we are assailed; in other words, may not fall under temptation:
that being thus taken under his charge and protection, we may remain invincible
by sin, death, the gates of hell, and the whole power of the devil; in other
words, be delivered from evil. Here it is carefully to be observed, that we have
no strength to contend with such a combatant as the devil, or to sustain the
violence of his assault. Were it otherwise, it would be mockery of God to ask of
him what we already possess in ourselves. Assuredly those who in self-confidence
prepare for such a fight, do not understand how bold and well-equipped the enemy
is with whom they have to do. Now we ask to be delivered from his power, as from
the mouth of some furious raging lion, who would instantly tear us with his
teeth and claws, and swallow us up, did not the Lord rescue us from the midst of
death; at the same time knowing that if the Lord is present and will fight for
us while we stand by, through him "we shall do valiantly" (Ps. 60:12). Let
others if they will confide in the powers and resources of their free will which
they think they possess; enough for us that we stand and are strong in the power
of God alone. But the prayer comprehends more than at first sight it seems to
do. For if the Spirit of God is our strength in waging the contest with Satan,
we cannot gain the victory unless we are filled with him, and thereby freed from
all infirmity of the flesh. Therefore, when we pray to be delivered from sin and
Satan, we at the same time desire to be enriched with new supplies of divine
grace, until completely replenished with them, we triumph over every evil. To
some it seems rude and harsh to ask God not to lead us into temptation, since,
as James declares (James 1:13), it is contrary to his nature to do so. This
difficulty has already been partly solved by the fact that our concupiscence is
the cause, and therefore properly bears the blame of all the temptations by
which we are overcome. All that James means is, that it is vain and unjust to
ascribe to God vices which our own consciousness compels us to impute to
ourselves. But this is no reason why God may not when he sees it meet bring us
into bondage to Satan, give us up to a reprobate mind and shameful lusts, and so
by a just, indeed, but often hidden judgment, lead us into temptation. Though
the cause is often concealed from men, it is well known to him. Hence we may see
that the expression is not improper, if we are persuaded that it is not without
cause he so often threatens to give sure signs of his vengeance, by blinding the
reprobate, and hardening their hearts.
47.
These three petitions, in which we specially commend ourselves and
all that we have to God, clearly show what we formerly observed (sec. 38, 39),
that the prayers of Christians should be public, and have respect to the public
edification of the Church and the advancement of believers in spiritual
communion. For no one requests that anything should be given to him as an
individual, but we all ask in common for daily bread and the forgiveness of
sins, not to be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. Moreover, there is
subjoined the reason for our great boldness in asking and confidence of
obtaining (sec. 11, 36). Although this does not exist in the Latin copies, yet
as it accords so well with the whole, we cannot think of omitting it.
The words are, THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER.
Here is the calm and firm assurance of our faith. For were our prayers to be
commended to God by our own worth, who would venture even to whisper before him?
Now, however wretched we may be, however unworthy, however devoid of
commendation, we shall never want a reason for prayer, nor a ground of
confidence, since the kingdom, power, and glory, can never be wrested from our
Father. The last word is AMEN, by which is expressed the eagerness of our desire
to obtain the things which we ask, while our hope is confirmed, that all things
have already been obtained and will assuredly be granted to us, seeing they have
been promised by God, who cannot deceive. This accords with the form of
expression to which we have already adverted: "Grant, O Lord, for thy name's
sake, not on account of us or of our righteousness." By this the saints not only
express the end of their prayers, but confess that they are unworthy of
obtaining did not God find the cause in himself and were not their confidence
founded entirely on his nature.
48.
All things that we ought, indeed all that we are able, to ask of
God, are contained in this formula, and as it were rule, of prayer delivered by
Christ, our divine Master, whom the Father has appointed to be our teacher, and
to whom alone he would have us to listen (Matth. 17:5). For he ever was the
eternal wisdom of the Father, and being made man, was manifested as the
Wonderful, the Counsellor (Isa. 11:2; 9:6). Accordingly, this prayer is complete
in all its parts, so complete, that whatever is extraneous and foreign to it,
whatever cannot be referred to it, is impious and unworthy of the approbation of
God. For he has here summarily prescribed what is worthy of him, what is
acceptable to him, and what is necessary for us; in short, whatever he is
pleased to grant. Those, therefore, who presume to go further and ask something
more from God, first seek to add of their own to the wisdom of God (this it is
insane blasphemy to do); secondly, refusing to confine themselves within the
will of God, and despising it, they wander as their cupidity directs; lastly,
they will never obtain anything, seeing they pray without faith. For there
cannot be a doubt that all such prayers are made without faith, because at
variance with the word of God, on which if faith do not always lean it cannot
possibly stand. Those who, disregarding the Master's rule, indulge their own
wishes, not only have not the word of God, but as much as in them lies oppose
it. Hence Tertullian (De Fuga in Persecutione) has not less truly than
elegantly termed it Lawful Prayer, tacitly intimating that all other
prayers are lawless and illicit.
49.
By this, however, we would not have it understood that we are so
restricted to this form of prayer as to make it unlawful to change a word or
syllable of it. For in Scripture we meet with many prayers differing greatly
from it in word, yet written by the same Spirit, and capable of being used by us
with the greatest advantage. Many prayers also are continually suggested to
believers by the same Spirit, though in expression they bear no great
resemblance to it. All we mean to say is, that no man should wish, expect, or
ask anything which is not summarily comprehended in this prayer. Though the
words may be very different, there must be no difference in the sense. In this
way, all prayers, both those which are contained in the Scripture, and those
which come forth from pious breasts, must be referred to it, certainly none can
ever equal it, far less surpass it in perfection. It omits nothing which we can
conceive in praise of God, nothing which we can imagine advantageous to man, and
the whole is so exact that all hope of improving it may well be renounced. In
short, let us remember that we have here the doctrine of heavenly wisdom. God
has taught what he willed; he willed what was necessary.
50.
But although it has been said above (sec. 7, 27, &c.), that we
ought always to raise our minds upwards towards God, and pray without ceasing,
yet such is our weakness, which requires to be supported, such our torpor, which
requires to be stimulated, that it is requisite for us to appoint special hours
for this exercise, hours which are not to pass away without prayer, and during
which the whole affections of our minds are to be completely occupied; namely,
when we rise in the morning, before we commence our daily work, when we sit down
to food, when by the blessing of God we have taken it, and when we retire to
rest. This, however, must not be a superstitious observance of hours, by which,
as it were, performing a task to God, we think we are discharged as to other
hours; it should rather be considered as a discipline by which our weakness is
exercised, and ever and anon stimulated. In particular, it must be our anxious
care, whenever we are ourselves pressed, or see others pressed by any strait,
instantly to have recourse to him not only with quickened pace, but with
quickened minds; and again, we must not in any prosperity of ourselves or others
omit to testify our recognition of his hand by praise and thanksgiving. Lastly,
we must in all our prayers carefully avoid wishing to confine God to certain
circumstances, or prescribe to him the time, place, or mode of action. In like
manner, we are taught by this prayer not to fix any law or impose any condition
upon him, but leave it entirely to him to adopt whatever course of procedure
seems to him best, in respect of method, time, and place. For before we offer up
any petition for ourselves, we ask that his will may be done, and by so doing
place our will in subordination to his, just as if we had laid a curb upon it,
that, instead of presuming to give law to God, it may regard him as the ruler
and disposer of all its wishes.
51.
If, with minds thus framed to obedience, we allow ourselves to be
governed by the laws of Divine Providence, we shall easily learn to persevere in
prayer, and suspending our own desires wait patiently for the Lord, certain,
however little the appearance of it may be, that he is always present with us,
and will in his own time show how very far he was from turning a deaf ear to
prayers, though to the eyes of men they may seem to be disregarded. This will be
a very present consolation, if at any time God does not grant an immediate
answer to our prayers, preventing us from fainting or giving way to despondency,
as those are wont to do who, in invoking God, are so borne away by their own
fervour, that unless he yield on their first importunity and give present help,
they immediately imagine that he is angry and offended with them and abandoning
all hope of success cease from prayer. On the contrary, deferring our hope with
well tempered equanimity, let us insist with that perseverance which is so
strongly recommended to us in Scripture. We may often see in The Psalms how
David and other believers, after they are almost weary of praying, and seem to
have been beating the air by addressing a God who would not hear, yet cease not
to pray because due authority is not given to the word of God, unless the faith
placed in it is superior to all events. Again, let us not tempt God, and by
wearying him with our importunity provoke his anger against us. Many have a
practice of formally bargaining with God on certain conditions, and, as if he
were the servant of their lust, binding him to certain stipulations; with which
if he do not immediately comply, they are indignant and fretful, murmur,
complain, and make a noise. Thus offended, he often in his anger grants to such
persons what in mercy he kindly denies to others. Of this we have a proof in the
children of Israel, for whom it had been better not to have been heard by the
Lord, than to swallow his indignation with their flesh (Num. 11:18, 33).
52.
But if our sense is not able till after long expectation to
perceive what the result of prayer is, or experience any benefit from it, still
our faith will assure us of that which cannot be perceived by sense, viz., that
we have obtained what was fit for us, the Lord having so often and so surely
engaged to take an interest in all our troubles from the moment they have been
deposited in his bosom. In this way we shall possess abundance in poverty, and
comfort in affliction. For though all things fail, God will never abandon us,
and he cannot frustrate the expectation and patience of his people. He alone
will suffice for all, since in himself he comprehends all good, and will at last
reveal it to us on the day of judgment, when his kingdom shall be plainly
manifested. We may add, that although God complies with our request, he does not
always give an answer in the very terms of our prayers but while apparently
holding us in suspense, yet in an unknown way, shows that our prayers have not
been in vain. This is the meaning of the words of John, "If we know that he hear
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
him" (1 John 5:15). It might seem that there is here a great superfluity of
words, but the declaration is most useful, namely, that God, even when he does
not comply with our requests, yet listens and is favourable to our prayers, so
that our hope founded on his word is never disappointed. But believers have
always need of being supported by this patience, as they could not stand long if
they did not lean upon it. For the trials by which the Lord proves and exercises
us are severe, nay, he often drives us to extremes, and when driven allows us
long to stick fast in the mire before he gives us any taste of his sweetness. As
Hannah says, "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up" (1 Sam. 2:6). What could they here do but become dispirited and
rush on despair, were they not, when afflicted, desolate, and half dead,
comforted with the thought that they are regarded by God, and that there will be
an end to their present evils. But however secure their hopes may stand, they in
the meantime cease not to pray, since prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads
to no result.