May 20, 2015

Calvin on Prayer

Stephen Nichols
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Calvin on Prayer

Transcript

"Words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable. It is therefore by the benefit of prayer that we reach those riches which are laid up for us with the heavenly Father."

These are the words of John Calvin on the necessity of prayer, and they come to us from his Institutes of the Christian Religion. In this work, Calvin gets at theology through the structure of four books. The first book is on the knowledge of God the Creator; the second book is on the knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ. In the third book, Calvin turns his attention to the Holy Spirit and the way in which we receive the grace of Christ and what benefits come to us from it. Book four is about the church and life in the Spirit.

In book three, chapter twenty, Calvin writes on prayer. He begins by talking about the necessity of prayer: "We need prayer because this is how God's benefits reach us." Of course, Calvin raises the question of why we should pray if God is sovereign over all things. Doesn't that make prayer superfluous? Calvin responds by saying that prayer first of all has to do with us—prayer changes us, and prayer is a crucial discipline of the Christian life. It's also our duty. God commands us to pray; that's enough for Calvin.

Calvin then turns to what he calls the rules for right prayer. He lists five rules; the first is to come before God with reverence. This is how we frame prayer—we recognize who God is; we revere Him; and in light of who He is, we recognize who we are.

The second rule of prayer is to pray out of insufficiency. It's very simple: we ask because we need. Prayer is a constant reminder of our utter dependence on God and of God's all-sufficiency for us.

The third rule is to come pleading mercy. We don't deserve anything—this is the posture that Calvin wants us to take. We don't deserve anything before God; it is His sheer good pleasure and mercy to extend to us these blessings and benefits and to answer our prayers.

Calvin's fourth rule is to pray with confident hope. We should be encouraged that God answers prayer. If we are living in tune with the Spirit, reading God's Word, and praying in accordance with Scripture, then we can be assured that God hears our prayers and that He will answer our prayers.

The fifth rule is to pray in Jesus' name. Jesus is our intercessor, our mediator. He's not only our High Priest who sat down after completing the work of redemption; He's our High Priest who stands up and ever intercedes for us before the Father's throne. This is what Calvin says about praying in the name of Jesus and recognizing Jesus as our intercessor: "For as soon as God's dread majesty comes to mind, we cannot but tremble and be driven far away by the recognition of our own unworthiness, until Christ comes forward as intermediary to change the throne of dreadful glory into the throne of grace." So, as the biblical author tells us, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16).