The first main session of the morning was O Palmer Robertson speaking on Matthew Henry's little work A Method of prayer, printed 300 years ago this year. Henry broke off from writing his commentary to write this work and so never finished. In it he sets out a way to use Scripture to pray. It is what Puritans called pleading the promises. If we gave ourselves to it Professor Robertson suggested – what an impact it might have. Saturation with Scripture could be such a blessing.
Henry is distinctive in who he was as well as what he wrote we were told. He was a great expositor, a Christ-centred biblical and systematic theologian. He was first and foremost a pastor with a love for God''s people. Robertson was given the book by his mother and she had inherited it from her ancestors. He showed us the battered version. He has now updated the language and reprinted it in modern English. We can so easily get into a rut in praying. This book greatly helps us out.
He does not just take the prayers of Scripture but he blends them together. His suggestion of how to pray for “our Lord the King” was omitted in the American edition, as were similar expressions! Henry also used the KJV, of course and his punctuation and other ways of expression are now outdated. The new edition planned seeks to rewrite it in a way that suits today. Robertson has also rearranged it in a more user friendly way. The endless sub points transmuted and there are some additions – eg a prayer for the baptism of adults as well as babies. Also a prayer for the Jewish people and ancient churches of Asia is supplemented by ones for other parts of the world. At some points Henry's use of Scripture is not true to the meaning (even he acknowledges it). The revised edition seeks to avoid this. So it is not a simple revision but a reworking. The idea is that the more closely a prayer is framed to the will of the Lord himself the more likely it is to be honoured. The Scriptures are taken in a dynamic rather than a literal way.
We then prayed through the copy before us a 15 page sample selection We looked at praise and confession and Professor Robertson prayed some (rather long) sections. I had been thinking in the morning how dry the prayers were at the prayer meeting. Something like this could be a real help to us.
Henry is distinctive in who he was as well as what he wrote we were told. He was a great expositor, a Christ-centred biblical and systematic theologian. He was first and foremost a pastor with a love for God''s people. Robertson was given the book by his mother and she had inherited it from her ancestors. He showed us the battered version. He has now updated the language and reprinted it in modern English. We can so easily get into a rut in praying. This book greatly helps us out.
He does not just take the prayers of Scripture but he blends them together. His suggestion of how to pray for “our Lord the King” was omitted in the American edition, as were similar expressions! Henry also used the KJV, of course and his punctuation and other ways of expression are now outdated. The new edition planned seeks to rewrite it in a way that suits today. Robertson has also rearranged it in a more user friendly way. The endless sub points transmuted and there are some additions – eg a prayer for the baptism of adults as well as babies. Also a prayer for the Jewish people and ancient churches of Asia is supplemented by ones for other parts of the world. At some points Henry's use of Scripture is not true to the meaning (even he acknowledges it). The revised edition seeks to avoid this. So it is not a simple revision but a reworking. The idea is that the more closely a prayer is framed to the will of the Lord himself the more likely it is to be honoured. The Scriptures are taken in a dynamic rather than a literal way.
We then prayed through the copy before us a 15 page sample selection We looked at praise and confession and Professor Robertson prayed some (rather long) sections. I had been thinking in the morning how dry the prayers were at the prayer meeting. Something like this could be a real help to us.
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