THE MASTER’S SEMINARY

THEOLOGY OF PRAYER

BY
JOASHY KILANGI

THE MASTER’S SEMINARY (MM)

Introduction................................................................................................................................3

A call to Prayer for all believers.................................................................................................4

Prayer and the Pastor..................................................................................................................5

Prayer and the life of the church................................................................................................7

Lessons from Jesus Priestly prayer............................................................................................8

Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

Bibliography.............................................................................................................................11
 Introduction

Prayer is a repeated command in the scripture, and it entails the act of asking God to

do what he has already promised to do. This is possible through the power of the who resides

in the lives of every believer. This is a repeated pattern we can see in the scriptures as his

people continue to ask him as He laid a pattern and a model of prayer in response to his

disciple’s question that he teaches them how to pray. We can be confident that God will

answer our prayer for his purposes because he has explicitly promised to bring his purposes

to pass. These include for God to glorify himself, for forgiveness, for our own knowledge of

God, for godly wisdom, for the strength to obey, and for the gospel to spread. Theologically,

then, God invites us through the gospel to participate in the life of the Trinity through union

with Christ, which entails asking God the Father to do specific things for us on the basis of

the fact that we now participate in Jesus’s sonship by adoption through faith, which is brought

about by the power of the Spirit.1 In other terms, Calvin considered prayer as holy and

familiar conversation with God, our heavenly Father; reverently speaking, it is family

conversation, or even intimate covenantal conversation in which the believer confides in God

as a child confides in his father.2 A careful look of Matthew 7:7–11, with its repeated

command to ask, makes this very clear in its closing assurance that “If you then, who are evil,

know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in

heaven give good things to those who ask him!”. One cannot separate the asking and the

gospel message which God has already committed to do for his people. It is normally to be

addressed to the Father through the Son in the power of the Spirit. In prayer we both

communicate and commune with our Father in heaven, feeling our transparency in His

1
Millar Garry, “The Doctrine of Prayer,” n.d.
2
Herman J. Selderhuis, Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms, Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-
Reformation Thought Ser (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 219.
presence. Like Christ in Gethsemane, we cast our “desires, sighs, anxieties, fears, hopes, and

joys into the lap of God.”3

A call to Prayer for all believers

Prayer is a key component in a Christian life. Infact Jesus explicitly said that men

ought to pray always and never give up in an introduction to the parable of the persistent

woman. Prayer is a lifestyle of a continuous communication with the Triune God for His will

be done here on earth just as it is in Heaven. This involves patiently waiting on God’s timings

and purposes to prevail. Davidson a great scholar has given a beautiful definition of waiting

upon God: ‘To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect - to look for with

patience, and with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret

at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if he does not come, we will

acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that he will not come.” 4

The one who lives in the spirit of prayer will spend much time in retired and intimate

communion with God. It is by such a deliberate engagement of prayer that the fresh springs

of devotion which flow through the day are fed.

This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, as Ryle in his book Do you

Pray, writes, “They cry unto him day and night.” (Luke 18:1.) The Holy Spirit, who makes

them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, “Abba,

Father.” (Rom. 8:15.) The Lord Jesus when He quickens them, gives them a voice and a

tongue, and says to them, “Be dumb no more.” God has no dumb children. It is as much a

part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and

grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do. They

must pray.5 On the other hand despite the high calling to prayer, there are many who don’t

3
Selderhuis, Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms.
4
A. B. DAVIDSON, Waiting upon God (S.L: Kessinger publishing, 2006), 14.
5
J. C. Ryle, Do You Pray? A Question for Everybody, ed. Mary Davis, [Revised edition] (Welwyn Garden City:
EP Books, 2018), 3.
pray as Ryle note that, “They eat. They drink. They sleep. They rise. They go forth to their

labour. They return to their homes. They breathe God’s air. They see God’s sun. They walk on

God’s earth. They enjoy God’s mercies. They have dying bodies. They have judgment and

eternity before them. But they never speak to God. They live like the beasts that perish. They

behave like creatures without souls. They have not a word to say to Him in whose hand are

their life, and breath, and all things, and from whose mouth they must one day receive their

everlasting sentence. How dreadful this seems.”6

Prayer and the Pastor

The subject of prayer is the fuel for the work of ministry. One cannot separate the

pastor and prayer, and this came to a practical test when the numbers of the early church was

increasing and there was a need to serve people but Paul realised that the ministry of prayer

and the Word is not to be neglected (Acts 6), they chose other men so that they can devote

their life to the ministry of word and prayer. It is also important to note that the soil in which

the prayer of faith takes root is a life of unbroken communion with God, a life in which the

windows of the soul are always open towards the City of Rest. We do not know the true

potency of prayer until our hearts are so steadfastly inclined to God that our thoughts turn to

him, as by a Divine instinct, whenever they are set free from the consideration of earthly

things. David in his book “The hidden life of prayer” noted that, “Theologians of all schools,

and Christians of every type, agree in their recognition of this principle of the new life.

Chrysostom has said, ‘The just man does not desist from praying until he ceases to be just;’

and Augustine, ‘He that loves little prays little, and he that loves much prays much;’ and

Richard Hooker, ‘Prayer is the first thing wherewith a righteous life begins, and the last

wherewith it does end;’ and Père la Combe, ‘He who has a pure heart will never cease to

pray, and he who will be constant in prayer shall know what it is to have a pure heart;’ and

6
Ibid:. 6–7.
Bunyan, ‘If you are not a praying person, you are not a Christian;’ and Richard Baxter,

‘Prayer is the breath of the new creature;’ and George Herbert, ‘Prayer... the soul’s blood.’7

The pastor and all it entail from the preparation of sermon, to writing, preaching and

taking care of the flock in all aspects including counselling, home visitations, burials and

even dedication of babies, weddings all require the fuel of prayer both privately and

corporately. This is evident in the pages of scriptures from Moses, Jehoshaphat, David were

men who were leading depending on the power of prayer. Our Lord is a great example in his

earthly ministry he was in constant communion with His Father through prayer. Paul on the

other hand through out his ministry was a man of prayer and praying for others who he could

mention them names to encourage them. The Pauline letters are full of prayers which have

shaped the prayer lives of many believers since they are scriptural and in the will of God.

These prayers were primarily kingdom focused with an eternal view. A great example is

while Paul praying for the Thessalonian church Paul’s thanksgivings, may startle us; they

may even seem alien, for they do not focus on what many of us habitually cherish.

Paul gives thanks for signs of grace among Christians, among the Christians whom he

is addressing.8 Wallace in his book Calvin’s Doctrine of The Christian Life emphasise the

same point in that, “The childlike outpouring of the soul before its heavenly Father involves

and thanksgiving. Proper requests include “those things which make for the extension of his

[God’s] glory and the setting forth of his name, and those benefits which conduce [serve] to

our own advantage.” Proper thanksgivings “celebrate with due praise his [God’s] benefits

toward us, and credit to his generosity every good that comes to us. Owing to our spiritual

needs and poverty as well as God’s liberality, “we must assiduously use both kinds of

prayer.”9 All Christians should pray, but pastors should especially pray for the congregation

7
David M. M’Intyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer, 2nd ed (Fearn: Christian Focus, 1993), 24.
8
D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Nottingham, Eng.: Baker Books; Inter-Varsity Press, 1997), 41.
9
Ronald Wallace, Calvin’s Doctrine of The Christian Life (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1997), 284–86.
that the Lord has put them over to shepherd. The way that a pastor prays for his flock is often

related to his preaching. He prays for them to grow in knowledge and discernment

(Philippians 1:9); He prays that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened (Ephesians

1:16–18a); He prays that they will know the hope of their calling (Ephesians 1:18b–19).10

Prayer and the life of the church

The life of the church is connected to the prayer of the saints. This includes the

spiritual growth and maturity, reaching out to the lost, its worship services and its every day

life viewed by the outsiders is fuelled by its prayer life. Beeke in his book Taking hold of God

writes, “We must persevere in pursuing precious access to God in prayer, Discouragements

may abound and almost overwhelm us: “Our warfare is unceasing and various assaults arise

daily.” But that gives all the more reason to discipline ourselves to persevere in prayer, even

if “we must repeat the same supplications not twice or three times only, but as often as we

need, a hundred and a thousand times.” Ceasing to pray when God does not answer us

quickly is the surest mark that we have never become a believer.”11 A closer look at Paul’s

prayer in in Carson’s book, Call to spiritual reformation, he notes, “Paul’s prayer is

constrained by the framework he brings to it: he prays for more signs of the grace for which

he has already thanked God, he prays with eternity’s values in view. He knows that we are

going to have to give an account of what we have done.

On the last day, God will ask, in effect, “What have you done with the salvation I

bestowed on you? How have you responded to the way I graciously called you to myself?

Have you begun to live up to that calling?” This is one of the themes to which Paul returns

again and again. We are to grow up into Christian maturity.12 Every growth in the life of a

church is dependant upon the prayers life and pattern modelled in prayers and especially in

10
Brian Biedebach, “Preaching Affects Everything,” The Master’s Seminary Blog, n.d.
11
Joel R. Beeke and Brian G. Najapfour, eds., Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on
Prayer (Grand Rapids, Mich: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011), 57.
12
Ibid:. 54.
reaching the lost world as the great commission commands us. In Calvin’s commentary, he

notes that, “Christians of all times have been deeply affected by Christ’s words in Matthew

16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or

what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Christ reminds us that the soul of man was

not created merely to enjoy the world for a few days, but to obtain at length its immortality in

heaven. What carelessness and what brutal stupidity is this, that men are so strongly attached

to the world, and so much occupied with its affairs, as not to consider why they were born,

and that God gave them an immortal soul, in order that, when the course of the earthly life

was finished, they might live eternally in heaven. And, indeed, it is universally

acknowledged, that the soul is of higher value than all the riches and enjoyments of the

world.”13

Lessons from Jesus Priestly prayer

Jesus priestly prayer recorded for us in John17 is a glimpse of the holy of holies

where we see the communion of the father and the Son and the things which matters in the

conversation. It highlights the fact that Jesus’ prayer here dovetails beautifully with the

concerns so apparent in the other Gospels and in the Old Testament before that. It is highly

appropriate, and consonant with all we have seen, that Jesus’ longest and richest recorded

prayer focuses on ‘the work of the gospel’ – it is a thoroughly salvation-historically motivated

cry to his Father to continue to work out his purposes through Jesus which can also be

confirmed by the closing verses of the prayer provide it. In John 17:20–23 Jesus prays for the

continuation of this great covenantal work by praying for those who in the future will believe.

His concern here is not for unity per se but rather that those who will hear the word of the

apostles in future will be caught up in the sweeping work of God, which finds its fulfilment

not in visible unity on earth but in the perfected unity of God and his reconciled people,

13
John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries (, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996)., n.d.
presumably in the renewed universe.14 Prayer is crucial to the fulfilment of the greatest

commission and resting on the power from above through the strengthening of the inner man

which has a guaranteed answer since it is the will of the Father.

Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. He is not merely an example

for us to follow when we pray to God; He is the foundation on which to build our relationship

to God. He modelled an example for us to follow and as His words explicit says that without

me you can do nothing. As Burgess writes, “Christ is to be set up the only foundation, in

respect of mediation and intercession with God. We can have no approach to God without

him, because of the great gulf sin hath railed between him and us. He is a consuming fire, and

we are stubble, without Christ.... God is an enemy to me, and I to God. And for this end were

all those sacrifices appointed in the old administration, to show, that by Christ was all

reconcilement and atonement.”15Jesus prayed for our peace, our sanctification, our

preservation and protection and prayed also for all the elect who will also later believe and

this should give us the energy and assurance that God’s work is already secured but we are

needed to be available trusting and believing as we endure in the work field knowing our

future is guaranteed as the Hebrew writes that Our hope is the anchor of our souls which is

safe and secure (Hebrews 6:19).

Conclusion

There are wonderful examples in Scripture of the power of prayer. Nothing seems to

be too great, too hard, or too difficult for prayer to do. It has obtained things that seemed

impossible and out of reach. It has won victories over fire, air, earth and water. Prayer opened

14
J. G. Millar, Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer, New Studies in Biblical
Theology 38 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2016).
15
Burgess Anthony, “The Scripture Directory for Church-Officers and People. Or A Practical Commentary
Upon the Whole Third Chapter of the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians,” (London: Abraham Miller,
1659), n.d., 147.
the Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from heaven. Prayer made the sun

stand still. Prayer brought fire from the sky on Elijah’s sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of

Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of Sennacherib. Well might Mary,

Queen of Scots, say, “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than an army of ten thousand men.”

Prayer has healed the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has procured the conversion of

souls. “The child of many prayers,” said an old Christian to Augustine’s mother, “shall never

perish.” Prayer, pains and faith can do anything. Nothing seems impossible when a man has

the spirit of adoption. “Let me alone,” is the remarkable saying of God to Moses, when

Moses was about to intercede for the children of Israel. We have been called to a consistent

prayer life to every believer and the church earnestly needs such people. The Scriptures

repeatedly echoes on this subject as an ongoing exercise, pray always, devote yourselves in

prayer, pray with all kinds of prayer are just but a few.

Bibliography
Anthony, Burgess. “The Scripture Directory for Church-Officers and People. Or, A Practical
Commentary Upon the Whole Third Chapter of the First Epistle of St Paul to the
Corinthians.” (London: Abraham Miller, 1659), n.d.

Beeke, Joel R., and Brian G. Najapfour, eds. Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan
Perspectives on Prayer. Grand Rapids, Mich: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011.
Brian, Biedebach. “Preaching Affects Everything.” The Master’s Seminary Blog, n.d.

Calvin, John. Calvin’s Commentaries (. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996)., n.d.

Carson, D. A. A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. Grand
Rapids, Mich., Nottingham, Eng.: Baker Books; Inter-Varsity Press, 1997.

DAVIDSON, A. B. WAITING UPON GOD. S.l.: KESSINGER PUBLISHING, 2006.

Garry, Millar. “The Doctrine of Prayer,” n.d.

Millar, J. G. Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer. New Studies in
Biblical Theology 38. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2016.

M’Intyre, David M. The Hidden Life of Prayer. 2nd ed. Fearn: Christian Focus, 1993.

Ryle, J. C. Do You Pray? A Question for Everybody. Edited by Mary Davis. [Revised
edition]. Welwyn Garden City: EP Books, 2018.

Selderhuis, Herman J. Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms. Texts and Studies in Reformation and
Post-Reformation Thought Ser. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

Wallace, Ronald. Calvin’s Doctrine of The Christian Life. Eugene: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 1997.