63b) Cultivating the Gift of Public Prayer #2

Guidelines for the Linguistic Form of Public Prayers

0:00 All right, now we pick up where we dropped off in the last hour, continuing to set forth some guidelines with respect to cultivating the gift of public prayer. And thus far, I gave you some guidelines pertaining to several areas, guidelines with respect to the fundamental intention of our public prayers, with respect to be the mouthpiece of God, with respect to the essential content of our prayers. Now we come to the third category of guidelines, guidelines with respect to the linguistic form of our public prayers. What we express to God as the mouthpiece of His people must have words as the vehicle of our thought. And perhaps the best way to articulate these guidelines is in terms of some warnings as to the linguistic form of your public prayers. Number one, avoid all mixing of contemporary and Elizabethan English. Avoid all mixing of contemporary and Elizabethan English.

1:19 If you choose to pray in Elizabethan English, pray in consistent and proper Elizabethan English. Master. Remember the thes and the thous, and the canst and the canst not, and the may and the mayest. And I don't say that with tongue in cheek.

1:40 Some men, because of their many years of acquaintance with the authorized version and with commentaries and devotional literature and hymnody in which Elizabethan English is used, by and large, these people have come to some degree of proficiency, in addressing God. They do so in private as well as public, in Elizabethan English. Well, if you do that, don't mix it with contemporary Americanese. And some of you may have to wrestle through, as some of us did, with whether or not we were going to, in that sense, be teachers of prayer in our public prayers and impose upon an upcoming generation linguistic forms with which they have little or no acquaintance, or whether we would give them the impression that there was no special God language in the Bible, and therefore there ought not to be any special God language in the closet or in the pulpit, and you'll have to be fully persuaded in your own mind. But avoid all mixing of contemporary and Elizabethan English. Secondly, avoid all meaningless repetition of pet phrases. Avoid all meaningless repetition of pet phrases.

3:01 Now, notice I did not say avoid all repetition.

3:06 And here we've got to think biblically. There are times when the intensity of desire finds as one of its appropriate channels repetition. Some of the Psalms. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

3:22 Four, five, six times in the space of few verses. So for anyone to say, that someone leading in prayer who uses the name of God with some degree of frequency is just using it carelessly or breaking the third commandment, he runs headlong into the Bible itself. But we must avoid all meaningless repetition of pet phrases, whether they be terms for the deity, whether they be manners, a manner of expressing desire, would it not please you? Oh, God. Would it not please you?

3:59 Oh, God. Things of that nature. Avoid all meaningless repetition of pet phrases. Now, Dabney addresses himself to this with his typical incisiveness.

4:14 And he writes on page 347, It is a grave fault to repeat frequently and mechanically any formula of words as interjections, the names and titles of God, or favorite phrases. Inordinate repetition grates on every ear. These words, of course, betray either odious mannerisms or a vacuity of heart in the sacred service which is utterly profane. We sometimes hear the name of the majestic being to whom prayer is addressed repeated so heedlessly that it is a literal taking of that name, in vain. In a word, the mere commonplaces of devotional language are not the dress in which that soul clothes its desires which has a true errand at the throne of grace. Such a heart will be far from going to seek after the novelties and pedantries of language, but the sincerity of its emotions will give a certain freshness to its language of request. This mechanical phrase, the phrase is obnoxious to every charge of formalism, monotony, and lack of appropriate variety which we lodge against an unchangeable liturgy

5:40 while it has none of the literary merit and dignified and tender associations of the liturgy hear what he's saying? He said, if you're going to have a liturgy, at least have a well-written liturgy, rather than a sloppy liturgy that is born of this meaningless, repetition of pet phrases. Then another warning, avoid all the language of indecent familiarity with God. Avoid all of the language of indecent familiarity with God. We are certainly to come in the childlike simplicity of filial freedom and confidence as believers who've received the spirit of adoption. But we must not forget that in all of the liberty and freedom of our sonship, we come to our God who is our Father in the heavens. And as our Father who is in the heavens, he is worthy of our reverence and adoration, and our prayers should reflect something of that reverence and adoration. Another fault equally to be avoided,

6:58 in prayer, Spurgeon says on this point, is an unhallowed and sickening superabundance of endearing words. When dear Lord and blessed Lord and sweet Lord come over and over again as vain repetitions, they are among the worst of blots. And he says, I must confess I should feel no revulsion in my mind to the words dear Jesus if they fell from the lips of a Rutherford or a Hawker or a Herbert. But when I hear, fond and familiar expressions hackneyed by persons not at all remarkable for spirituality, I'm inclined to wish that they could, in some way or another, come to a better understanding of the true relation existing between man and God. The word dear has come from daily use to be so common and small, and in some cases so silly and affected among the syllable, that interlarding one's prayers with it is not unto. Edification. The strongest objection exists to the constant repetition of the word Lord, which occurs in the early prayers of young converts, and even among students. The words,

8:11 O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, grieve us when we hear them so perpetually repeated. Then he quotes the third commandment. So avoid all of the language of indecent familiarity with God. And then the fourth warning under this headline, under this heading of our Linguistics, is to avoid the linguistic form. Avoid all glaring grammatical mistakes and vulgarisms. Avoid all glaring grammatical mistakes and vulgarisms. Remember, you're the mouthpiece of the congregation, and in the congregation you have people who have at least, if not a clearly understood basis for the use of good grammar. By training and association, they have learned to speak with God. Basic, fundamental, grammatical accuracy. When you are their mouthpiece, and you make

9:08 glaring grammatical mistakes, they are immediately made uncomfortable. God, I wouldn't address you that way. This man's my mouthpiece, but he's talking in a way that I wouldn't talk to you. So not only in terms of artless simplicity and earnestness and unaffectedness, but in terms of seeking to use proper grammar.

9:32 If we notice these things in our prayer times, judiciously and lovingly, let's seek to point them out to one another. You will not offend people who speak with poor grammar if you speak with proper grammar, if it is natural and artless and unaffected. But you may offend someone who is aware of proper grammar if you, in articulating desires on his behalf, speak with grammatical accuracy. If you really look for some tools and liberated added ideas, don't try 어렵hish words to the left side. Disclaimer. 1. , 2. , 3. , 4. , 5. , 6. , 7. , 8.

Warnings Regarding Voice and Speech Patterns in Public Prayer

10:38 apparatus and its usage and the fundamental rule again whenever we touch on this is first corinthians 14 verses 9 and 16 here are the great principles whenever we come to touch upon the use of the voice unto edification in any of the appointed ministries of the sanctuary even so you unless you utter by the tongue speech easy to be understood how shall it be known what is spoken for you will be speaking into excuse me the air verse 16 if you bless with the spirit how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned say the amen at the giving of your thanks seeing he does not know what you say so with reference to the use of the voice unto edification in any of the appointed ministries of the sanctuary even so of your voice and your general speech patterns your great goal is to be understood as you speak to god on behalf of the entire congregation now in the light of that let me give you some warnings number one avoid run-on thoughts and sentences devoid of pauses most of those on whose behalf you pray do not think like you

12:00 a machine gun with no pauses between thoughts just having one thought immediately tacked on to another so avoid run-on thoughts and sentences devoid of pauses which are going to indicate a transition while the mind is still running down this track of expressed desire you're already 35 miles down another set of tracks and your people are not moving with you in the mental shifts you already have the mapped out hopefully you have structured your prayer beforehand as to its basic outline your people don't have that outline in front of them they must become aware of the transitions as they are actually lead into and throw those transitions as you pray well that sometimes takes time and judicious pauses are in order secondly avoid assumption of prayer is the most important thing to have in your life as a Christian and the ultimate alto religious prayer is the greatest prayer of all the Christians who have been around for a hundred years so it's the greatest thing to get right from your school on the in order after that only no need a b of a praying voice, which is qualitatively different from your normal speaking voice. Avoid the assumption of a praying voice, which is qualitatively different from your normal

13:14 speaking voice. Now, what is your normal speaking voice like when you get excited and you're asking somebody for something? Oh, please give me that. Well, when you're really entreating God, then that should be the quality of voice that is present in your pleadings with God. What is the quality of your voice when you're heaping praise upon someone for something that he's done or expressing sincere thanks? Now, I am not saying, you see, that there should simply be a flat, low-keyed conversational tone in our prayers. I'm not saying that at all. Whatever inflections, whatever inflections, whatever inflections, changes in the voice are natural to us in our ordinary interaction with our fellow men in the varying and diverse manner of expressing desire, appreciation. Those things should all be present

14:13 in our praying, but there should be no assumption of a praying voice, which is qualitatively different from the normal speaking voice. For instance, I've known of some men, they never talk to anybody under any circumstances with a tremor in their voice, but turn them loose behind the pulpit and it's, oh God, we thank thee this morning. And I have all I can do to keep from laughing. I find it hard to believe that there's something about the throne of grace that it emits some strange gases that affect the man's larynx. Now, the other day I did something I know you can do.

15:06 Beth was over shopping at the mall with her mother and they got a balloon filled with helium. And so we were sitting at the table, all the kids were, and we were doing that experimentation where we breathed in the helium and then spoke. And all of a sudden my voice went way up here. You know it will if you suck in some helium, it does something to the vocal cords.

15:28 Well, don't, don't, don't make people think you've been inhaling snorts of helium before you preach. Now, it's a terrible habit that people get into. They have a praying voice that is qualitatively different from their ordinary voice. Now, that is what I am warning you against. Then there are others, they get a guttural thing. They would never say in ordinary conversation, they would say, God was so good to me. They would never say, God was so good to me. They would never say, God was so good to me.

15:56 They would never say God was so good to me.rell mouth then ele habían Next slide solicitarium good to me but all of a sudden when they pray the way they name the name of god they take on a guttural tone and it's something they picked up maybe it was a very spiritual person and they thought that subconsciously that's the way to i don't know but brethren please don't allow anyone to think for a moment you're a phony in the most serious business on the face of the earth addressing almighty god and be willing to receive the admonitions of your brethren you may not know that you've assumed a special praying voice and someone may have to help you to really hear yourself as you're coming across and then thirdly avoid monotone few things that will put you to sleep quicker than a man that just prays on in the same tone of voice and there is no inflection there is no rising there is no falling there is no nothing but going on at that tone of voice that is like a drone there

17:00 until it takes a Herculean effort to keep awake. And then, in the fourth place, avoid overly sustained intensity. Avoid overly sustained intensity. Your people can only rise to a high pitch of intensity and remain there for a relatively short time.

17:22 And because your mind and heart may have been unusually possessed of a given area of concern, you may have labored long in prayer, don't assume that your people will come to the same level of felt intensity. And whenever anyone in any kind of a public ministry, whether preaching or praying, sustains intensity far longer than the average person can sustain it, the average person feels threatened and uncomfortable in the presence of that intensity.

17:50 Now, you know that in preaching. If a preacher gets up on a holy tear and stays there long after you feel comfortable with it, you begin to feel uneasy. You begin to sense that, maybe he's lost control of himself. And it's the same way in praying.

18:04 So, in the use of the voice, avoid overly sustained intensity. Furthermore, avoid indistinctness and insufficient volume. Avoid indistinctness, letting your words run on together. It's perfectly appropriate in the closet, perhaps, though I think you would carry your bad habits over into it.

18:26 But God has no trouble sorting out your words because He hears not the language of the mind, the mouth, but of the heart. Hannah can be mumbling so that the priest thinks she's drunk and God hears that well-articulated prayer.

18:40 All right? So, if we may give allowance for mumbling, mumbling is all right in the closet, but not in the sanctuary.

18:49 So, let your prayers be distinct. Don't be afraid. Don't pray down into the desk. You are the mouthpiece of the congregation.

18:57 It is perfectly appropriate to get your head up so that your trumpet, your mouth, your teeth, your tongue, all of those instruments by which words are framed are up and out, and you're getting a maximum amount of use out of them in a very simple, and yet it strikes because of its simplicity, in a very simple way. Concerning this very point, Porter says, the end of speaking is to be heard. If you fail of this, you might better be silent. If you're heard imperfectly, and this is so true, you will be heard with impatience.

19:35 How do you feel in a prayer meeting when you can just barely hear a guy praying, and you're listening, and you're straining, you feel like saying, man, crank up the volume! And instead of being in a devotional frame, you get in an irritated carnal frame. Now, I'm more sensitive to this having been reared with a mother who was hard of hearing. I know the pain, the pain someone feels who longs to enter into conversation, to preaching, and to praying, but who has a hearing impairment.

20:05 And men who have the apparatus to be heard simply don't use it. And brethren, this may be something that I'm particularly perverse about in terms of my reaction, but I find it an unpardonable sin of anyone in public ministry, unless he has a physical impairment, if he doesn't speak distinctly and with sufficient volume to be heard. Have something to say, say when you pray, and then say it with sufficient distinctness and volume so as to be heard. Or, in the language of Porter, you're going to cause irritation and impatience.

Avoiding Nervous Haste in Prayer

20:47 The extreme of vociferation, an example of which you have just had, is, however, a still greater fault. But I wasn't praying, I was exhorting. Especially in the beginning of prayer, because it denotes want of reverence, or at least, of that religious sensibility, which is the best guide to propriety in manner.

21:12 So avoid indistinctness and insufficient volume, and then, finally, avoid a nervous haste in beginning or in concluding. Avoid a nervous haste.

21:31 If I may use the physical imagery, there are times when you are walking, as it were, to, the throne of grace, in which your step is very slow and uncertain, almost, in the beginning. And you've stood to lead the people of God in prayer, you have a basic framework for that prayer, you do so in dependence upon the Spirit of God, but you don't want to profane that sacred responsibility by giving an impression of a heightened emotion, a felt reality that exceeds your present experience, and you're coming, as it were, tremblingly into the presence of God. Well, don't in such circumstances, by a nervous haste, jumble everything up and just sort of mumble words for the sake of giving the impression that you've got this thing in hand. Some of the most moving seasons of public prayer I've ever experienced have been those in which a servant of God was evidently struggling to break through some pressure upon his own spirit, some sense of dullness upon his own heart, some impediment to his own spirit, to his own approach to God, with which I could identify very, very intimately. And that endeared me, in a sense, very quickly to at least this man's honesty in what he's about to do. And my heart was with him.

Guidelines for the Length of Public Prayers

22:52 And though he came very slowly and cautiously, when he got there, he had me there with him. So I would urge you, avoid a nervous haste, either in the beginning or concluding of your prayer. Well, I must hasten on to a fifth category now, guidelines with respect to prayer. Guidelines with respect to the length of our public prayers.

23:11 Guidelines with respect to the length of our public prayers. In answer to the question, how long should one pray in any given public prayer? I should say, to answer this question, how long should one pray in any given public prayer, demands a multifaceted sensitivity to many variables. How's that for a mouth of indefiniteness?

23:39 It demands a multifaceted sensitivity exited sensitivity to many variables. Of course, the parallel question is, how long should one preach? And I gave you no simple answer to that question, and I give you no simple answer to this question. But some of the factors that enter into the answer are your own present state of mind and heart, your relationship to the people, your experience, your knowledge, the measure of function resting upon you, a number of variables that arise from your own heart and your own relationship to the people, but that also certain things that arise from the people in their present circumstances. What are they accustomed to? People ask, how long do you want to preach? When I go to preach somewhere, I say, well, what are your people used to getting? And if they're only used to half

24:37 hour sermons, it would be presumptuous for me to think that they could suddenly take an hour sermon. Especially if they have a good half hour preacher. Now, if they got a poor half hour preacher, they're probably so starved that they take an hour and a half from even a mediocre preacher. But if they got a good preacher, so they're used to being fed and well fed in a half an hour, it'd be presumptuous for you to go in and immediately think that they could take an hour.

25:05 They're not accustomed to it, and you should have compelling reasons to go beyond, say, 40 minutes or so until they get a good half hour. But if they get acclimated to you and you to them, well, the same way with our praying. What are the people accustomed to? Well, if their spiritual muscles have been developed to the point where they can really concentrate and become one in prayer for five minutes, for you to double that time is to be insensitive to their present condition. So in answer to the question, how long shall we pray, there are a number of factors, both in yourself and in your people. But let me give you a couple of warnings. Number one, if you err, err on the side of being too short and not too long. As with preaching, so with praying. Leave them wishing you would go on. Far better to have people feel in their hearts, oh, I wish

26:03 our pastor had prayed longer this morning, than to have them have to fight the carnal notion, when in the world is he going to stop? And then if they're truly spiritual people, they'll be praying, Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for even thinking that wicked thought, that I should feel uncomfortable at the throne of grace, that I should be weary of praying, Lord. And you send them up on a guilt trip because of your own insensitivity to an appropriate length of time. And I know that's true, because I've sat more than once in situations where I've had to fight carnal risings in the midst of prayer, because the dear brother simply didn't know how to wind the thing down and shut it off. And if he went, and finally, Lord, he did that four or five times. That's thrown curbs at me. When you say you're going to throw, you know, you're going to throw fastballs. Yes. Now you

26:58 tell it, I've forgotten. Dr. ... and so the doctors stood up and said simply, while our brother continues on his prayer, we'll turn now to him under... That was the end of his prayer.

27:25 Dr. Is that right? Yeah. I don't know if I can verify that report, but I wouldn't put it beyond it. Yes. I know, I know, the But D.L. Moody did something similar to that. D.L. Moody did something similar to that, and it was the very thing God used as the hook to get a man's ears for his preaching later on. This man was an unbeliever, and it was evident to him that the guy was just going on too long, and when the preacher did that, he said, anyone that has good sense enough to do something like that is worthy to be listened to, so he stayed on to hear the gospel and got converted. So if you err, err on the side of being too short and not too long. And then the second admonition is avoid a predictable length to your public prayers.

28:14 Avoid a predictable length to your public prayers. And here I commend to you Spurgeon's very wise advice on page 67 of his lectures to my students in the chapter on your public prayers. I'll not read it, but it's a very helpful amplification of this warning. Avoid.

Guidelines for the Spiritual Energy of Public Prayers

28:33 Avoid a predictable length to your public prayers. But now I want to conclude with this final area of guidelines before, that's not the conclusion of the lecture, that's just the conclusion of guidelines. I told you I had a lot of material today. The guidelines with respect to the spiritual energy of our public prayers.

28:59 And I don't know what else to call it but that. Guidelines with respect to the spiritual energy of our public prayers. I have three words of exhortation. Be convinced of the necessity and availability of the Spirit's aid in public prayer.

29:16 Be convinced of the necessity and availability of the Spirit's aid in public prayer.

29:25 I trust as with preaching, so with prayer, we are convinced that the Holy Spirit is not a luxury. He is not an abstraction. He is the Spirit of the living God, who has been given to us on the grounds of the work of Christ and He is present in us to enable us to fulfill the mandate to pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Romans 8.26 Likewise, the Spirit helps our infirmity, the very infirmity of not knowing how to pray as we are. So be convinced, brethren, of the necessity and availability of the Spirit's aid in public prayer. Secondly, cry to God for that special aid.

30:20 One of the delightful things in the brief seasons of prayer that we have as elders between Sunday school and the Sunday morning service and before the evening service is again and again to pray not only for the one preaching but, Lord, may there be unction upon the one who leads us in worship. Unction upon the prayers, upon the reading of the Word, cry to God. Luke 11.13 He gives the Spirit to those who ask.

30:47 And then thirdly, cultivate, cultivate an attitude of dependence upon the Spirit in the midst of your public prayers. Just as I've urged you to cultivate a spirit of dependence upon the Holy Ghost when you rise to preach and as you preach, and I don't know how to explain that, how your mind can be occupied, occupied with the exposition and the outline and the application, while at the same time another department of you is self-consciously almost, as it were, standing before the throne of grace, pleading for help. Well, the same way in your prayers, as you begin to pray and you sense your heart is not rising into conscious communion with God, even while you're praying a certain thing on behalf of the congregation, another part of you is pleading, Go, God, give help, give grace, give enablement. And there is that cultivation of an attitude of dependence upon the Spirit, not only prior to, but in the midst of your public prayers. All right, now, having in our introduction laid before you some, what I think are three vital lines of thought, having given you some guidelines, now I want to conclude our lecture with some practical suggestions with respect to cultivating the gift of public prayer. And here I'll just give you some of the quotes I had hoped to read to you,

Practical Suggestions for Cultivating Public Prayer

32:14 but time is fast taking wings. Number one, establish the habit of praying in, and I'm using that in quotation marks, the Scriptures. Establish the habit of praying in the Scriptures. I will give you this one quote from Doddridge.

32:34 In an article on public prayer, Doddridge said, I have a habit of praying in the Scriptures. In an article on public prayer, Doddridge writes, Pray over what you have been reading, and seldom close your Bible or lay a book of practical divinity out of your hands without at least a short prayer formed upon it. In other words, let what you read in the Scriptures become the very substance of your prayers, in secret and also in public. This is another reason why we have the practice of our call to worship coming out of the reading of the Psalms and out of these rich portions in the book of the Revelation, so that those of us who seek to lead the worship of God's people can set an example of how to pray in the Scriptures so that our approaches to God are framed by the very Word of God. Dabney has an excellent section on page 358 and 359 in his sacred rhetoric. All right, second practical suggestion. Establish the practice of preparing the framework or outline of your public prayers.

33:52 Establish the practice of preparing the framework or outline of your public prayers. Shedd has an excellent word on this on page 271. And I would urge you not to do this prior to the Lord's Day morning. Think of the particular Psalm or portion that will form the part of your call to worship.

34:23 Think of the state of the church, the condition of the weather, if it's been a dry period, and lo and behold, it's pouring down buckets. Obviously, then, that your prayer of thanksgiving that day must include thankfulness to God for the mercy of sending rain. If there's some particular trial through which the church has passed, as part of your preparation, I would suggest early Lord's Day morning. Reflect back.

34:48 Reflect back upon the week and the life and internal tensions and blessings and struggles of the church and of the people of God with whom you're associated, those that you've had pastoral dealings with, those that are sick. Let, as it were, the life of the congregation, as you have been a part of it, be present with you early Lord's Day morning. The state of the church in relationship to the world, national and international events that are much in the minds of the people. Establish the practice of preparing the framework or outline of your public prayers.

35:26 And I would say that you may find it helpful to use either a little three by five card or a little slip of paper. I usually have a little slip of paper that I just sneak away in my Bible and try to go over it and commit that to memory so that I seldom have to actually look at it when I pray. But don't leave this to chance and say, well, I just know I'll include this, that, or the other. Everything we've said about the parallel between the work of the Spirit in conjunction with preaching, finding no contradiction in most careful preparation, all of that applies and comes, as it were, to terminate upon this exhortation.

36:07 Then thirdly, establish the general practice of joining your own public prayers with your own preaching. Establish. Establish the general practice of joining your own public prayers with your own preaching. And Spurgeon has an excellent section on this, pages 58 to 60.

36:34 And then fourthly, establish a framework of constructive criticism for your public prayers. Everything I've told you with regard to a framework for constructive criticism for your preaching, try to establish the same for your prayers. Your wife, your fellow elders, discerning people in the congregation. One of the most encouraging things comes not only when people say they've been helped in your preaching, but I had an incident Wednesday night.

37:04 Someone came in and said, Pastor, thank you particularly for that one point in your final prayer when you prayed for those that are struggling with some particular sin. He said, that minister to my heart, that's me. He said, I've had a terrible battle this week with a particular area of my life. Someone I would have never had a clue.

37:23 And it was a tremendous encouragement to have that brother come. Well, in the same way, we may need on occasion to have someone come and say to us, well, you know, my brother, I feel that in your prayers such and such has been omitted. Someone this week in my own household made the suggestion. He said, you know, I don't mean to be critical.

37:44 The attitude was very gracious and loving. But he said, it's been a long time since I've heard someone thus prayed for in a public prayer meeting. And it was a rebuke. It was a matter that should not have been overlooked.

37:57 And it was helpful to have my own family give them input to my leadership of the prayer meeting. So establish a framework in which you welcome constructive criticism. Okay? Well, that's an awful lot.