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A DISCOURSE ON
PRAYER
By John Gill
1 CORINTHIANS
14:15
What is it then ? I will pray the Spirit, and will pray with the
understanding also.
The design of this epistle is chiefly
to reprove the Church at Corinth for the divisions and contentions,
which were there fomented and kept up on account of their ministers;
some being for Paul, some for Apollo, and others for Cephas; and to
remove some irregular practices from among them, which were either
openly avowed, or connived at by them; such as continuing a wicked
person in their communion, going to law with one another before
heathen magistrates, and the disorderly attendance of many of them
at the Lord’s table. The apostle having finished this part of his
design, does, in the twelfth chapter, largely insist on the subject
of spiritual gifts; where he gives an account of the diversity of
them, of their author, and of their various usefulness in the church
of Christ; for which reason he exhorts the members of this church to
covet them earnestly, though he would not have them depend on them,
since they are not saving. In the thirteenth chapter, he prefers
charity, or love, to them, and shews, that without this they are
useless and unprofitable to those who have them.
In this fourteenth
chapter, he presses them to follow after charity, and desire
spiritual gifts, but rather, says he, that ye may prophesy. He
proves, by many arguments, and especially by that taken from
edification, that prophesying in a known language, in the mother
tongue, which is understood by the people, is preferable to the gift
of speaking in an unknown language, not understood by the people,
and so unedifying to them. It is evident, that by prophesying, he
means not only preaching, but praying, since he instances in it, and
argues, in the words preceding my text, thus: For if I pray in an
unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is
unfruitful; that is, when I pray in an unknown language, being under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, I make use of that
extraordinary gift which he has bestowed upon me, and my own spirit
is indeed refreshed by it: But what I myself conceive, understand,
and express, is useless and unprofitable to others, who do not
understand the language in which I pray; therefore, says he, in the
words of my text, What is it then? What is to be done in this case?
What is most prudent and advisable? What is most eligible and
desirable? Must I not pray with the Spirit at all? Shall I not make
use of that extraordinary gift which the Spirit has bestowed upon
me? Shall I entirely neglect it, and lay it aside? No, I will pray
with the Spirit; I will make use of the gift I have; but then it
shall be in such a way and manner, as that I shall be understood by
others, I will pray with the understanding also. In these words may
be considered,
I. The work and business of prayer, which the apostle resolved in
the strength of Christ, and, by the assistance of his Spirit, to be
found in the performance of; I will pray, &c.
II. The manner in which he is desirous of performing this duty; with
the Spirit, and with the understanding also.
I. I shall consider the work and business of prayer, which the
apostle resolved, in the strength of Christ, and by the assistance
of his Spirit, to be found in the performance of. It will not be
amiss, under this head to enquire into the object of prayer, the
several parts of it, and its different kinds, I shall begin,
1. With the object of prayer, which is not any mere creature. Prayer
is a part of religious worship, which is due to God only. To address
a creature in such a solemn manner is idolatry. This is a sin the
Gentiles have been notoriously guilty of, who have paid their
devoirs this way, both to animate and inanimate creatures. The
idolatrous Heathen is thus described by the prophet; (Isa. 45:17) He
maketh a god his graven image; he falleth down unto it, and
worshipped it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou
art my god. Such a practice as this, is an argument of great
ignorance and stupidity; (Isa. 45:20) They have no knowledge, that
set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that
cannot save.
It is no wonder that their prayers should be in vain,
since their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands: They
have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
they have ears, but they hear (Ps. 115:4-6) not, They are insensible
of the wants of their votaries, and unable to help them; they are
not in a capacity to give them the least relief, or bestow the least
temporal mercy on them: Are there any among the vanities of the
Gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art
not thou he, O Lord, our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee; for
thou hast made all these things. (Jer. 14:22) The Papists have
followed the Pagans in their idolatrous prayers to angels, the
virgin Mary, and other saints departed, and even to many that were
not saints; but it may be said to them, what Eliphaz said to Job,
(Job 5:1) in another case; Call now, if there be any that will
answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
God only is, and ought to be the object of prayer. My prayer, says
David, shall be unto the God of my life. (Ps. 42:8) God has a right
to this part of worship from us, as he is the God of our lives, in
whom we live, move, and have our being; who grants us life and
favour, and whose visitation preserves our spirits; who daily
follows us with his goodness, and loads us with his benefits; to
whom we are obliged for every mercy, and on whom the whole support
and continuance of our beings depend: and we are under greater
obligation still, as well as have greater encouragement, to address
the throne of his grace, as he is the God of all grace, who has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, in
Christ Jesus; all which may assure us, that his eyes are upon us,
his ears are open to our cries, that he has both a heart and a hand
to help and relieve us; he is a God that hears and answers prayer,
to whom all flesh shall come, who are sensible of their need of him,
and dependence upon him; his arm is not shortened, that it cannot
save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear; nor did he ever say to
any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.
Though the Lord our God is but one Lord; there is but one God,
which, with the Scriptures, we assert, in opposition to the
polytheism of the Gentiles, who had gods many, and lords many; yet
there is a plurality of persons in the Deity, which are neither more
nor fewer than Three, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
which Three are One; the Father is God, the Word is God, and the
Holy Ghost is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God.
Though the Persons in the Godhead are more than One, yet the Godhead
itself is single and undivided. Now God in either and each of the
Three divine Persons, may be prayed unto. It is lawful for us to
address in prayer either God the Father, or God the Son, or God the
Holy Ghost distinctly, though not any of them to the exclusion of
the others, This I mention, to disentangle the minds of some, who
may have some scruples and hesitations about praying to the distinct
Persons in the Deity. Now it is easy to observe, that there are
petitions directed to each of the three Persons distinctly; of which
I shall give some few instances from the Scriptures.
God the Father is sometimes singly and distinctly prayed unto,
though not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit. It would be too
tedious to reckon up all the instances of this kind: The epistle to
the Ephesians will furnish us with a sufficient number to our
purpose. In one place the apostle says to them, (Eph. 1:16, 17) I
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him; where God the Father is prayed unto, as distinct
from the Lord Jesus Christ, whose God and Father he is, and distinct
from the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, who as such is prayed for.
And in another place, he says, (Eph. 3:14, 16, 17) For this cause I
bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might, by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith; in which passage God the Father is addressed,
as the object of prayer, distinct from Christ and the Spirit; the
former of which he desires might dwell in their hearts by faith, and
that they might he strengthened by the latter in their inner man. If
these instances were not sufficient, others might be produced; but
about God the Father’s being the object of prayer, there is no
question nor hesitation.
God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, may be distinctly prayed unto,
of which are many instances in Scripture. Sometimes he is prayed
unto in conjunction with his Father, as appears from all those
passages (Rom, 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2;
Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim.
1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 3; 2 John 3; Rev. 1:4, 5) in the epistles,
where grace and peace are desired from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ; and from many others such as these: (1 Thess. 3:11,
12) Now God himself, and our Father, and our Lord Jesus, direct our
way unto you; and the Lord, that is, the Lord Jesus, make you to
increase and abound in love one toward another, and towards all men,
even as we do towards you; and in another place, (2 Thess. 2:16, 17)
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which
hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good
hope, through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every
good word and work.
Sometimes Christ is prayed unto singly and
alone; as by Stephen at the time of his death, when he prayed,
saying, (Acts 7:59) Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. By the apostle
Paul, (2 Cor. 12:8, 9) when he had a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet him; for this, says he, I besought the
Lord thrice, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, as appears from the
context, that it might depart from me: And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. By the apostle John, when
Christ said to him, (Rev. 22:20) Surely I come quickly, he replies,
Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus. And by many others; such as those
mentioned by Ananias to Christ, when he bid him arise, and go to
Saul; (Acts 9:14) Lord, says he, I have heard by many of this man,
how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he
hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy
name.
God the Holy Ghost may be also prayed unto, as he is sometimes and
singly alone, and as distinct from the Father and the Son; (2 Thess.
3:5) The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the
patient waiting for Christ. By the Lord, I understand the Lord the
Spirit, whose work it is to direct the hearts of believers into the
love of God, and to shed it abroad in their hearts; who is
manifestly distinguished in this petition from God the Father, into
whose love, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, into a patient waiting
for of whom, the hearts of the saints are desired to be directed by
him.
Sometimes he is prayed unto distinctly, in conjunction with the
other two Persons, as by the apostle Paul; The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (2 Cor. 13:14) And by the apostle
John, (Rev. 1:4,5) Grace be unto you, and peace, from him, which is,
and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits
which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is a
faithful witness. By the seven spirits cannot be meant angels; for
it cannot be thought that they being creatures, should be put upon a
level with the divine Being, and be with him addressed in such a
solemn manner; but by them we are to understand the Holy Spirit of
God, who is so called either in allusion to Isaiah 11:2, or on
account of the seven churches of Asia, to whom John wrote by his
dictates, or to denote the perfection and fulness of his gifts and
graces.
Now though each divine Person may be singly and distinctly addressed
in prayer, and all Three together, being the one God, be considered
as the object of it; yet, according to the order of persons in the
Deity, and suitably to their several and distinct parts, which they,
by agreement, take in the affair of man’s salvation, God the Father,
the first Person, is generally addressed as the object of prayer,
though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit: Christ is the
Mediator, by whom we draw nigh to God; and the Holy Ghost is the
inditer of our prayers, and who assists in the putting of them up
unto him.
The first Person is usually addressed in prayer under the character
of a Father, and as our Father; so Christ taught his disciples to
pray, (Matthew 6:9) Our Father which art in heaven, &c. and he is to
be considered in this relation to us, either as the Father of our
spirits, the Author of our beings, by whom we are provided for,
supplied, and supported in them. In this manner the church in
Isaiah’s time applied to him, (Isa. 64:8, 9) saying, But now, O
Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter, and
we are all 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.
Or he may be considered as the Father or Author
of our mercies, temporal and spiritual, which he, in a kind and
gracious manner, bestows on us, through Christ, and that as the
Father of Christ, and as our God and Father in Christ. In this view
the apostle addresses him, when he says, (2 Cor. 1:3) Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies, and the God of all comfort. And, in another place, (Eph.
1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ. Now these several considerations furnish out so many reasons
and arguments to induce and encourage us to apply to him who is the
God of all grace, and is both able and willing to supply our needs
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The second Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is both God and man,
is the Mediator between God and man. God absolutely considered, is a
consuming fire; there is no approaching to him as creatures, and
especially as sinful creatures. Job was sensible of this, when he
said, (Job 9:32, 33) He is not a man as I am, that I should answer
him, and we should come together in judgment; neither is there any
days-man betwixt us, that might lay his hands upon us both. Now
Christ is the days-man, the Mediator, the middle Person, who has
opened a way for us to God, even a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.
(Heb. 10:20; John 14:6; Eph. 2:18 and 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5) He himself
is the way, the truth and the life; he is the way of access to God;
through him, both Jews and Gentiles, have an access, by one Spirit,
unto the Father; he is the way of acceptance with God; our persons
are accepted in the Beloved, and our spiritual sacrifices of prayer
and praise are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ: The prayers of the
saints are called odours; (Rev. 5:8 and 8:3, 4) they are of a sweet
smelling savour to God; which is owing to the mediation of Christ,
the Angel of God’s presence, who stands continually at the golden
altar before the throne, with a golden censer in his hand, to whom
is given much incense, with which he offers the prayers of all
saints, and which makes them a sweet odour to God.
Our
encouragements to prayer, and to the exercise of grace in that duty,
are chiefly taken from, and our pleas for the blessings of grace,
are founded on the person, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and
intercession of Christ. Seeing then, says the apostle, (Heb.
4:14-16) that we have a High Priest, that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession: For
we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need. And in another place, (Heb. 10:22) he exhorts and encourages
to this work in much the same manner; Having, says he, an High
Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
The third Person, the Holy Spirit, takes his part, and has a
peculiar place in this work; he is the author of prayer, the inditer
of it, who forms it in our hearts, creates breathings, and desires
after spiritual things, stirs us up to prayer, and assists in it.
Hence he is called, (Zech. 12:10) The Spirit of grace and
supplications; both the gift and grace of prayer come from him; he
informs us of our wants, acquaints us with our necessities, teaches
us both, in what manner, and for what we should pray; what is most
suitable for us, and agreeable to the will of God to bestow on us,
and helps us under all our infirmities in prayer; which is observed
by the apostle, for the use, instruction, and comfort of believers,
when he says, (Rom. 8:26, 27).
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought;
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered; and he that searcheth the heart, knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for
the saints, according to the will of God. As Christ is our Advocate
with the Father, pleads our cause, and makes intercession at the
right hand of God for the acceptation of our persons and prayers, so
the Holy Spirit is our Advocate within us; he makes intercession for
us in our own hearts; he puts strength into us; he fills our mouths
with arguments and enables us to plead with God. Christ is Mediator,
through whom, and the Spirit, the assister, by whom we have access
to the Father. God, as the God of all grace, kindly invites us to
himself; Christ, the Mediator, gives us boldness; and the Spirit of
grace, freedom and liberty in our access unto him; and this is what
the scriptures call Praying with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and praying in the Holy Ghost. But of this more hereafter. I
proceed...
A DISCOURSE ON
PRAYER
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