Why Presbyterians Believe in Prayer and Prayer Meetings
What is Presbyterianism? Part 3
This is part 3 of 7 articles explaining what Presbyterianism is.
Table of Contents
Part 1
Part 2
Prayer
Why pray? Because we have seen in the previous articles, the glory of our God and how He is worshiped is of the upmost importance. The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “hallowed be Thy name”, is the aim of all other prayers and petitions. Our prayers of praise, thanksgiving, confession of sin, intercession, and petitions have the chief focus that God be revered.
Why pray? Because it changes things. James did not make an error when he wrote, “The prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). There is power in pray, not because of the words we say, but because of the Great God we pray to. “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). We call to Him because He will answer us, and will tell great and hidden things that we have not known (Jeremiah 33:3).
I have described prayer before in this way:
This is a meeting place with our God. Prayer is not where we command Him to do this or that. It is where God voluntarily condescends to His children, picking them up, placing them on His lap to give them what He desires to give them. Our desire must be made to desire what God desires to give to us. We pray that we would not spend our blessings on our lusts but that His will would be a sweet aroma to our souls and a balm that heals our broken hearts.
The Westminster Larger Catechism describes the act of prayer as “an offering up of our desire unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit; with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.”1 In praying, we pray for the glory of God, the good of the church, ourselves, and others; never for anything that is sinful2.
Prayer Meetings
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.”
- Zechariah 8:20-22
The Church began with a prayer meeting (Acts 1:14; 2:1-4) and it must continue having them. For as they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to carry out the ministerial mission of the Church, so must we be filled with the Holy Spirit to do it. Without the Holy Spirit we gather together in vain. May we entreat the favor of the Lord.
When the disciples were released from the chief priests and the elders, they gathered together to pray for boldness and it was granted to them (Acts 4:23-31). When Peter was imprisoned there was much prayer given on his behalf, and when he was released, Peter found many at Mary’s house who were gathered together and were praying (Acts 12:5,12). Even before Lydia was converted there was a prayer meeting (Acts 16:11-15). Let us gather together to entreat the favor of the Lord.
Prayer is not foreign to Presbyterians. The Protestant Reformer and founder of Presbyterianism, John Knox, was an unparalleled man of prayer. His most famous quote is his most famous prayer, “Give me Scotland or I die.” He returned from exile to begin his work in reforming his home country, and because of the hard and difficult way that laid before him he was much in prayer. When he died it was discovered that, beside his bed, there two divots in the stone floor for his knees. He found much time to entreat the favor of the Lord.
The fervor did not stop with him. Joel Beeke writes of the Scottish Presbyterians:
During the persecution by the Stuarts in Scotland, small groups met in prayer to help believers sustain faith and courage. They continued to meet during the persecution that lasted until the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. Then believers held regular prayer meetings on weekdays in their homes. During that time, groups were often organized according to gender, men and women meeting separately. Pastors also often met by themselves. Some pastors led prayer sessions with the children of their congregations. Arthur Fawcett says there is abundant evidence that children’s prayer meetings were often “run by the children themselves.” Children in these groups learned to publicly pray aloud without embarrassment. Later, many of these children became ministers or ruling elders in Christian churches.3
Beeke goes on to saying that prayer meetings always preceded revivals in Scotland. They were conducted by public prayer, psalm singing, Scripture reading, and questions from the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Presbyterians are to be a prayerful people. We must come together again to entreat the favor of the Lord.
Westminster Larger Catechism Question 178
Westminster Larger Catechism Question 184
https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/history-prayer-meetings