PRAYER IN THE REFORMED TRADITON

“Reformed Spirituality – An Introduction for Believers” by Howard L. Rice

 

  1. From the Heidelberg Catechsim:

Q:  Why is prayer necessary for Christians?

A:  Because it is the chief part of the gratitude which God requires of us, and because God will give his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who sincerely

beseech him in prayer without ceasing, and who thank him for these gifts.

 

  • Prayer is a nearly universal activity – nothing uniquely Christian about prayer!  Arises from the human sense of the transcendent, some power
  • beyond what can be seen and touched.
  • Our most genuine prayer begins with a sense of our need but in the Lord’s Prayer, the focus of attention is rightly on God rather than on our own
  • needs.
  • Matthew Henry’s “A Method of Prayer”:  Prayer is to move and oblige ourselves, not to move or oblige God.
  • John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”:
    1. The first reason for prayer is “that our hearts may be fired with a  zealous and burning desire ever to seek, love, and serve” God. 
    2. Prayer makes a difference in us.  We pray in order to stimulate, depend, and strengthen our faith.  We also pray to renew a sense of
    3. God’s presence in our lives.
    4. The second reason for prayer is so “that there may enter our hearts no desire and no wish at all of which we should be ashamed to
    5. make [God] a witness.”  We re-examine our requests of God through prayer – ensuring they are “appropriate.”  God works in us the
    6. miracle of a new perspective instead of maintaining our old attitudes.
    7. The third reason for prayer is so “that we be prepared to receive [God’s] benefits with true gratitude of heart and thanksgiving.” 
    8. Grateful prayer makes it possible for us to be thankful for the goodness of life in the midst of trouble.  Thanksgiving is a way not of
    9.  getting something from God but of recognizing God as the source of all that we are and have.
    10. The fourth reason for prayer is that “having obtained what we were seeking, and being convinced that [God] has answered our prayers,
    11. we should be led to meditate upon his kindness more ardently.”  God’s answers to our prayers come in a variety of forms.  “No” is an
    12. answer to prayer.
  • We pray through Jesus’ name to be freed from the fear of God’s righteous judgment and brought into awareness of our acceptance and
  • forgiveness. 
  • Having a worldview that sees nature as operating according to fixed laws limits our belief in what God can do and whether prayer can make
  • a difference.
  • There are four necessary balances in prayer:
    1. Prayer is both corporate and personal.
    2. Prayer is both spontaneous and disciplined.
    3. Prayer is an affair of the mind and the heart.
    4. We need to pray as both speakers and hearers.