Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

woman."
glory."
Psalms
PRAYER MEETING TOPIC
February 9, 1955
"REVERENCE IN PRAYER"
Gen. 18:22-23
Rev. P. D. McCracken, D.D.
8:1, 3, 4. page 12
19:1, 2, page 41
139:7-10, 13, page 342
109:17, 20, 23, page 274
References: II Sam. 9:6; I Kings 1:31;
Ps. 111:9; Heb. 12:6-9; Heb. 12:28. See
also Psalms 86; 61:1; 25:1-6; 17:1-7;
8:1-4 in the Psalter.
COMMENTS
One of the vivid recollections of my
high school days was of a fellow-student,
who, whenever he referred to his father
or mother, always called them "my old
"my old
man"
and
He, of
course, thought that was smart, but it
revealed not only
an ignorance of the
Fifth Commandment, but a gross irreverance
toward those for whom he should
have had respect. This same irreverance
was seen in other lines, for he was fre
quently profane toward God, and most
objectionable in regard to things he
should have held sacred.
But this chap was by no means an
isolated case. Irreverance is one of the
prevailing sins of mankind, and is every
where in evidence today. And one of the
places where it is frequently demonstrat
ed is in PRAYER. This subject calls for
careful consideration on the part of God's
people for very likely
less guilty.
we are all more or
Prayer, as we have it summarized in
our catechism, is an offering up of our
desires unto God for things agreeable to
his will, in the name of Christ, with con
fession of sin, and thankful acknowledg
mercies."
ment of his AND WHO IS
GOD
"God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and
unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, pow
er, holiness, justice, goodness,
God is an infinitely exalted being. He
and
truth."
is the great I AM. His greatness is re
vealed everywhere. We can see much of
this greatness and majesty and power
with our eyes, but infinitely more when
we use the microscope and the telescope.
"The heavens declare the glory of God
and the firmament showeth his handi
work"
(Ps. 19:1). All Scripture is filled
with references to His holy
perfections.
and infinite
In the Sabbath School lesson material
for January 9,
one of the quarterlies car
ries this significant paragraph:
"As the
LORD, He is the self-existent One and
the covenant making God. As the HOLY
ONE, He is the God who acts in agree
ment with His own character, whether in
salvation or in judgment. As the EVER
LASTING GOD, He is capable of main-
44
taining
a steadfast purpose for all time
and of bringing it to consummation. He
is unchanging from age to age. As the
CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE
EARTH, He is a God of power, unchal
lenged by any deity of man's devising.
All things are under His sovereign sway.
As SPIRIT, He assures us that He is not
a part of the world process in a pantheis
tic sense, but stands above and apart
from His own creation as the designer
and fabricator of it. As FATHER, He
exemplifies all the truths which we can
possibly associate with an earthly father,
only in a far more wonderful degree. As
ONE WITH THE SON, God the Father
shows Himself to us in a way which we
can understand and appropriate. We can
know God through Jesus Christ His Son."
This is the One to whom we pray. How
infinitely great and high He is how
small are we! When one looks down from
the top of the Empire State Building in
New York to the streets far below, the
cars appear like ants crawling along,
and the people are mere specks. How
small must we look in the eyes of God
who is so infinitely above us! See Psalm
8. So, in His presence, and especially
when we are praying, it behooves us to
be most reverent and humble, in our atti
tudes, in our words, and in our actions.
In the passage suggested for our study,
we watch Abraham while he pleads with
God for Sodom. He is most persistent,
but his attitude of reverence is sugges
tively marked by his statement, "Behold
now I have taken upon me to speak
unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes."
And six times God met Abra
ham on his own terms. Humility and
reverence have a big place in answered
prayer.
Toward the end of the Book of Job,
after God had revealed Himself in that
remarkable series of questions in chap
ters 38 through 41, Job humbly bowed
his head and with reverence said, "I
have heard of thee by the hearing
of the
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; where
fore I abhor myself, and repent in dust
and
ashes"
(Job 42:1-6).
In Isaiah's vision (Isa. 6), he knew
the reason for reverence, and reacted fa
vorably, when he saw and heard the
seraphim in the presence of the Lord
cry one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy is
the Lord of Hosts ; the whole earth is full
of His
Consider Moses,
with his shoes off and
his face hidden, before God at the burn
ing bush (Ex. 2:1-6). Also Solomon,
standing before the altar, with hands out
stretched toward God, at the dedication
of the temple (II Chron. 6:12); and
Daniel, kneeling in his house in prayer as
was his custom. These are all examples of
reverence, and reverence helps to spell ef
fectiveness in prayer.
In our communion with God in prayer
we need to guard our words. There seems
to be a growing tendency in these days
"familiar"
to .become
with very God,
and address Him and talk
in terms of "you" and "your"
with Him
instead of
the more reserved and reverential King
James Version language of
"thou" and
"thine."
"thee"
and
Certain recent trans
lations of the Bible have increased this
tendency. Some would say, "I feel that
I can get closer to God in this way. He
seems more
real."
Others react just the
opposite way and feel that this tends to
bring God down to a merely human level.
Perhaps we need to be on our guard con
tinually
tempt."
lest "familiarity breed con
Again, we need to consider carefully
our actions in prayer. Our Directory for
Public Worship states, "The posture in
prayer is not a matter of indifference.
Kneeling or standing
are Scriptural and
are expressive of the spirit of reverence
and devotion" (p 309). These are the
positions, physically speaking, that we
take when we desire to honor some dig
nitary or person of fame, and certainly it
is no less appropriate to thus honor the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
when we pray. But it is no secret that
many people can be most irreverent and
slovenly when assuming these positions
in prayer, especially standing. Some get
tired and figity, especially if the prayer is
long,
and at other times the whole land
scape seems to be in focus. Thus, to
many, the position of sitting seems more
reverent and worshipful, at least for cer
tain times and circumstances. But what
ever the physical posture is, it should
certainly be with bowed heads and hearts,
to give reverence to the One who, when
properly approached, both hears and
answers prayer.
For Discussion:
The Greatness of God
Attitudes in Prayer
Language used in Prayer
Posture in Prayer.
To live in the presence of great truths
and eternal laws, to be led by perma
nent ideals
that is what keeps a man
patient when the world ignores him, and
calm and unspoiled when the world
praises him. Balzac.
The flower of youth never appears
more beautiful than when it bends to
ward the Sun of Righteousness. Mat
thew Henry.
Summer: What you wait for all year,
complain about when it arrives, and
wonder where it ever went after it is
gone. Changing Times.
THE COVENANTER WITNESS