On Prayer
In Book 3 Calvin comes to living the Christian life and the work of the Spirit. Warfield famously wrote that “the fundamental interest of Calvin as a theologian lay, it is clear, in the region broadly designated soteriological. Perhaps” he suggested “we may go further and add that, within this broad field, his interest was most intense in the application to the sinful soul of the salvation wrought out by Christ, ... Its effect, at all events, has been to constitute Calvin pre-eminently the theologian of the Holy Spirit.”
This is most clearly seen in Book 3 where he talks about many things including faith, confession, repentance, the Christian life, justification, good works and later election, calling and resurrection. Chapter 20 is taken up with the subject of prayer. It has been said that you can tell a lot about a theologian when you see how much time he spends on prayer. Calvin certainly does not neglect the subject. Chapter 20 is 74 pages long (Battles online edition) with 52 chapters and has been referred to as a “minitreatise” (Jim Packer/Carolyn Nystrom). One of the longest chapters in the book, Battles calls it a “thoughtful and ample chapter, with its tone of devout warmth” and accords it a place “in the forefront of historically celebrated discussions of prayer”. David Calhoun recently commended its “balance, clarity, scriptural faithfulness and pastoral tone”. It has rightly been published as a little work in its own right.
Parker suggests that the Institutes “reaches its climax” with this chapter. Calhoun says “a Christian praying on his or her knees praying can be seen as the goal” to which Calvin “has been moving from page one”. Joel Beeke notes that “Calvin focuses more on the practice of prayer than on its doctrine, which shows how practical his theology is. For Calvin, prayer is the essence of the Christian life; it is a precious gift, not an academic problem.” Partee says “That John Calvin's personal faith and public witness is practical and experiential rather than speculative and logical is nowhere better demonstrated than in his exposition of the miracle of prayer.”
For Calvin prayer was not mere theory. Elsie McKee says that he “seems to have accompanied almost every public act with prayer”. His wonderful prayers can be found in many of his writings. After lecturing on Daniel in the lions' den he prayed “Grant, Almighty Father, since you show us, by the example of your servant Daniel, how we ought to persevere with consistency in sincerely worshipping you, and thus proceed towards true greatness of mind, that we may truly devote ourselves to you. May we not be turned aside in any direction through the desire of men, but may we persist in our holy calling, and so conquer all dangers and arrive at length at the fruit of victory - that happy immortality which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord Amen.”
What Calvin says about prayer has been divided into eight unequal parts. He speaks first of prayer's necessity (1-3). “After we have been instructed by faith to recognise that whatever we need and whatever we lack is in God, and in our Lord Jesus Christ, ... it remains for us to seek in him, and in prayers to ask of him, what we have learned to be in him.” He defines prayer as “a communion of men with God by which, having entered the heavenly sanctuary, they appeal to him in person concerning his promises in order to experience, where necessity so demands, that what they believed was not vain, although he had promised it in word alone. Therefore we see that to us nothing is promised to be expected from the Lord, which we are not also bidden to ask of him in prayers. So true is it that we dig up by prayer the treasures that were pointed out by the Lord’s gospel, and which our faith has gazed upon.” God, he says “has laid down this order: just as faith is born from the gospel, so through it our hearts are trained to call upon God’s name.” He deals with the objection that prayer is not necessary God being all knowing. God “ordained it not so much for his own sake as for ours”.
He gives six overlapping reasons to pray: to stir zeal, conform minds to God's will, promote thankfulness, help more ardent meditation on God's kingdom, help us embrace with greater delight what we gain and confirm to our minds that God is a never failing help in every need. Herman Selderhuis observes that for Calvin “prayer has a greater interest in honouring God than in changing him.” It is important not to overstate this, however, as Calvin gives full weight to the biblical idea that prayer in some way affects God. He speaks of God being “stirred up by our prayers”. As Bruce Ware has argued Calvin does teach that prayer makes a difference. It is “a divinely ordained instrument functioning within the sphere of God's sovereign wisdom and power in carrying out his will”. He is more concerned to be biblical than to over rationalise.
Secondly, he sets down four rules for prayer or “conversation with God” (4-16). These are not precise rules as such but attitudes we need in order to pray:
1. A sense of reverence, which includes being “moved by God's majesty”, concentration of mind, moderation in requests and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
2. A sense of insufficiency, neediness and penitence. Here he speaks of the need to really desire what we pray for, to keep from mere words in prayer, from mere moods and always to pray with repentance.
3. A sense of humility, giving all the glory to God. He gives biblical examples of self-abasement in prayer and says that seeking forgiveness is the most important part in prayer. Speaks of the need for general and special confession of sin in prayer and deals with claims of righteousness found in some Bible prayers.
4. A sense of hope and assurance of an answer. Hope must accompany fear. By faith we must believe what Scripture says and trust that God is good. He also deals with answers to prayers that are no conformed to the Word and instances where in the Bible men of God pray against God's will.
Of course, it is God 's kindness that leads to answers to prayers not merely following rules. Even though we often fail to pray as we should God is gracious to us.
Calvin's third section can be headed Christ the only intercessor (17-20). The biblical teaching about Christ as the one mediator and the only eternal and lasting intercessor is asserted. In contrast, the following polemical section (21-27) deals with the Roman doctrine of the intercession of the saints, refuting it from Scripture. Parker sums up Calvin's thought thus: “it is, then, not simply a matter of praying through Christ, but rather with Christ, of our prayers being united with his intercession for us”.
Next he deals with private (28) and public prayer (29-33). In the chapter on private prayer the emphasis is on thanksgiving. The succeeding chapters deal with the necessity and danger of public prayer (chiefly vain repetition and hypocrisy), the significance of buildings, singing, the need to use a language people understand and the matter of feeling, thought and gesture. Interestingly he says that Christ taught that “the chief part of his worship lies in the office of prayer” (29).
The seventh section is something that was there in embryo from the very first edition - a very full exposition of the Lord's Prayer (34-49), which Calvin sees as a pattern prayer that can be divided into six (not seven) petitions in two parts, concerning first God and then our own needs. We have no time to go through what he says here but to give one quotation to help you get the flavour. On Lead us not into temptation he says “here we seek to be equipped with such armour and defended with such protection that we may be able to win the victory. By this we are instructed that we need not only the grace of the Spirit, to soften our hearts within and to bend and direct them to obey God, but also his aid, to render us invincible against both all the stratagems and all the violent assaults of Satan.” (46).
The final section (50-52) is on perseverance in prayer, including the matter of unanswered prayers. God “even when he does not comply with our wishes, is still attentive and kindly to our prayers” (52).
