Opinion: Semper Reformanda part four

Dr.+David+Noe+speaking+in+front+of+a+multi-generation+Bible+study+he+began+last+spring.+Photo+courtesy+David+Noe.

Dr. David Noe speaking in front of a multi-generation Bible study he began last spring. Photo courtesy David Noe.

“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.” These words describe childless Hannah from I Samuel, mocked by her rival Peninnah in a polygamous home. Have you ever felt like that?

In previous columns, we discussed justification by faith alone, the authority of God’s word in worship, and the Spirit’s nurture through sacraments.

The Reformers in the Presbyterian tradition also considered prayer a means of grace. Their definition of prayer was simple: “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 98). This starkly contrasted with what Rome taught. The Council of Trent (1545-1563), for example, explains that “we appease [God] by prayer”. In this view, prayer is work which God rewards.

Little has changed since the 16th century. Today there seem to be nearly as many perspectives on prayer as there are people praying. Some say it is conversation with God, that he speaks to them in their mind or heart in response to their words. Others hold that it is a kind of meditation, an intimate and warm experience.

For Hannah, apparently, and for most biblical saints, prayer was beating on heaven’s door for relief in a grim and lethal world. In memorable words, David prays fervently from the depths of despair: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” Psalm 130 moves from guilt (vv. 1-3), to grace (v. 4), to gratitude (v. 7), ending with the promise of salvation for God’s elect (v. 8). In the meantime? Intense waiting (vv. 5-6). Like Hannah, David looks to God as the sole source of comfort and salvation, and understands that full rescue waits for the next life.

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11).

How do strangers and exiles live? By word, sacraments and prayer. We call upon the God of sure promises. Sometimes he seems distant, even hidden; other times, closer. But we have prayer for calling upon him. We offer up our desires for whatever is “agreeable to his will”. We learn and pray the Scriptures to guide and shape those desires. We confess our sins and give thanks for mercy. Nothing is done by our own “power and piety” (Acts 3.12), but all in the name of Christ, with abundant gratitude.

Now, with intense waiting, we speak to someone we do not see, and we look through a glass darkly. But soon we shall know as we are known, when we see him as he is. Some prayers are answered in this life. Hannah’s was. Yet we can be confident that all godly prayers are answered in the next life, as the Spirit prays with us in groans too deep for words (Rom.8.26).