Whether you feel
competent to pray or not, it is always beneficial to rethink
prayer - what it is, how to pray, and how not to pray. It is
also good to be reminded that the number one object of our
prayers is God Himself and His will. R. C. Sproul, in his usual
manner of making difficult issues relating to theology and the
Christian life accessible to us, has done a good thing in these
ten chapters on prayer, focusing on the model prayer we know as
the Lord’s Prayer.
If you remember
the context of the prayer, the disciples, feeling a bit
inadequate in their prayer life, came to Jesus and asked Him to
teach them how to pray. Jesus responded, “When you pray... pray
then like this.” Sproul suggests that the disciples obviously
saw the connection between Jesus’ extraordinary prayer life and
His power, actually His whole teaching, His character, and His
whole person. Prayer was a vital part of our Lord’s life and
should be the same for us. And yes, prayer does involve not only
the heart but the mind as well. We need to understand certain
things about God and ourselves. Our prayers are not about us but
about Him. Actually, with these instructions we are reminded
that the Sovereign God invites us into His presence. Also notice
that Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question was not for them
to pray this prayer but rather to pray “like this.”
Jesus gave them
an eight point model prayer, not to be repeated simply by rote
but to help them remember who God is, who we are, the reality of
our sins and the need to seek first His kingdom in everything.
Prayer is not first about us. As Sproul points out, you have to
go a distance into the prayer before we are included; but Jesus
does elaborate on the kind of things that can be included in our
prayer life, things that can and should have priority.
If we carefully
study this prayer, we will learn a great deal about the Lord. He
is our Father, He is the sovereign and holy King of the kingdom,
and His will determines all things that come to pass. One
example will indicate how valuable Sproul’s expositions are. In
the chapter entitled “Your Kingdom Come,” he declares we must
pray for the kingdom that is already here. The coming of Christ
the King will come in its fullness at the end of the age. In the
meantime, this petition implies we are to bear witness to the
reality of Christ’s present kingship over all while we await His
return. Sproul points out, “The only way the kingdom of God is
going to be manifest in this world before Christ comes is if we
manifest it by the way we live as citizens of heaven and
subjects of the King.” Referring to Calvin, Sproul reminds us
that the church’s task is to make visible the invisible kingdom.
While God does
not need our praise and adoration since He is the all sufficient
God and His existence does not depend on us, the marvel is that
He wants us to serve and follow Him. He wants our adoration,
reverence, and love.
Jesus modeled
the importance of prayer to us and gave us instruction to help
us have a more meaningful prayer life. This book of expositions
on the Lord’s Prayer will be an encouragement to you and enrich
your prayer life at the same time.
-
Charles Dunahoo
CEP Coordinator |
Third
Quarter 2009 Book Review