John Calvin on Faith, Part IV
The Prayer of Faith and Fervency
In my last post, I noted the Biblical encouragement to faith that we have in the lives of the saints of the Scriptures. In particular, I highlighted the faith and prayer of Elijah; how the book of James provokes us to similar works as Elijah by saying, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly..." (James 5:17).
The effectual and fervent prayers of righteous men and women will accomplish much (James 5:16). Earnest prayer is fervent prayer, and fervent prayer is driven by a consuming passion for God's Kingdom and glory to overcome all things. John Calvin rightly demonstrates the great need for zeal as that which fuels effective Christian prayer:
Or, simply imagine that your own personal life was in total upheaval. Maybe a great financial, or health crisis. Would your sense of desperation drive you to pray more earnestly and consistently?
Imagine a sudden tragic death to one of your children that happens before your very eyes, yet there was nothing you could do to stop it. Or, imagine your child is crippled in a car accident, but you came out of it without a scratch. Would you simply step back, sigh, and then say, "My goodness, this is a terrible thing that has happened to my child. I will definitely pray about this?"
No, you would not. You would weep uncontrollably. You would wail as if your insides were erupting. You would immediately lose all sense of self-awareness and become a broken man or woman. And in that moment, your great anguish would split heaven open, and God would hear you.
And what would be your prayer? At that moment, you would pray, "God, heal my child!" Within minutes, you would then pray, "Oh God, I would trade my my life for that of my child's." Now you're engaged in the Biblical idea of intercession. Consider, if you will, Paul's great intercessory zeal for his own kinsman:
Familiarity at this level is a powerful tool that God utilizes. That way He can assure you will both pray and labor appropriately for their corporate benefit. You'll weep more so for the harm that comes to your own child then that of your neighbor's. If this is hatred, we're all guilty.
I do not hate my neighbor because I highly favor the comprehensive well-being of my wife, children, and extended family. Nor do I hate the suffering in Ethiopia because I devote the sweat of my brow to feed my already well-fed children. Zeal and fervency are the result of familiarity, and this is what makes the great division of labor go round.
Our prayers will be most fervent for those issues which effect us most deeply. The primary one, as Calvin mentioned, must be the Kingdom of God; but it's unlikely you'll be fired up over something so general. You must be consumed with the affairs of the Kingdom in relation to your family, community, nation, etc. This type of consumption will push you to view prayer as a means of defense and advancement:
I'd often joke with my Reformed brethren that when the going gets to tough, I'll probably call my Charismatic brothers instead! Say what you want about the errors of Charismaticism, but you've never been in a prayer meeting until you've been in one of theirs!
The reason for this is that Charismatics ARE Bible believers. In other words, they do take what the Bible says seriously, and will act on it in faith. The problem is found in what they THINK the Bible actually says. This is why I find Calvin so refreshing. He sounds like a Charismatic, but without all the calories!
1. John Calvin: The Institutes of the Christian Religion in Two Volumes, Trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1960), 3.20.7.
2. John Calvin: Calvin's Commentaries: On the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996), 338.
3. Calvin, Institutes, 3.20.7
4. Ibid., 3.20.12.
5. Ibid., 3.20.6.
In my last post, I noted the Biblical encouragement to faith that we have in the lives of the saints of the Scriptures. In particular, I highlighted the faith and prayer of Elijah; how the book of James provokes us to similar works as Elijah by saying, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly..." (James 5:17).
The effectual and fervent prayers of righteous men and women will accomplish much (James 5:16). Earnest prayer is fervent prayer, and fervent prayer is driven by a consuming passion for God's Kingdom and glory to overcome all things. John Calvin rightly demonstrates the great need for zeal as that which fuels effective Christian prayer:
[Z]eal for the Kingdom of God and his glory ought so to lay hold on us, not intermittently but constantly, that the same opportunity may ever remain ours. It is therefore not in vain that constancy in prayer is enjoined upon us.[1]When was the last time you heard a sermon on I Thessalonians 5:17?
Pray without ceasing.Or, how about Ephesians 6:18?
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perserverance and supplication for all saints.Constant prayer stems from genuine concern for God, His Kingdom, and the well-being of those closest to us. Imagine that our nation was riddled with disease, and people were dying by the thousands. Or, imagine that a Christ-hating power had completely taken over your country, and Christians were being hauled off to prison camps, or God forbid, executed in the streets. Would we be praying differently than we are now?
Or, simply imagine that your own personal life was in total upheaval. Maybe a great financial, or health crisis. Would your sense of desperation drive you to pray more earnestly and consistently?
Imagine a sudden tragic death to one of your children that happens before your very eyes, yet there was nothing you could do to stop it. Or, imagine your child is crippled in a car accident, but you came out of it without a scratch. Would you simply step back, sigh, and then say, "My goodness, this is a terrible thing that has happened to my child. I will definitely pray about this?"
No, you would not. You would weep uncontrollably. You would wail as if your insides were erupting. You would immediately lose all sense of self-awareness and become a broken man or woman. And in that moment, your great anguish would split heaven open, and God would hear you.
And what would be your prayer? At that moment, you would pray, "God, heal my child!" Within minutes, you would then pray, "Oh God, I would trade my my life for that of my child's." Now you're engaged in the Biblical idea of intercession. Consider, if you will, Paul's great intercessory zeal for his own kinsman:
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh. Romans 9:3Paul's great zeal for the Kingdom did not exclude his racial concerns. He wept for his own kin "according to the flesh." This should be kept in mind before any one rushes too quickly to judge any ethnic group's concerns for the well-being of it's own constituency. There's more than a "fine line" between hatred of another and compassion for your own "flesh;" there's a chasm! Those for whom you have the most compassion, are those to whom God has assigned you. No doubt, the apostle Paul would be slandered today as a "racist." Though he devoted his entire ministry to reaching the Gentiles, he would've traded up his soul to the fires of hell for his own race. As Calvin says in regards to Romans 9:3, "[W]e are not wont to speak thus favourably, but of those whom we love."[2]
Familiarity at this level is a powerful tool that God utilizes. That way He can assure you will both pray and labor appropriately for their corporate benefit. You'll weep more so for the harm that comes to your own child then that of your neighbor's. If this is hatred, we're all guilty.
I do not hate my neighbor because I highly favor the comprehensive well-being of my wife, children, and extended family. Nor do I hate the suffering in Ethiopia because I devote the sweat of my brow to feed my already well-fed children. Zeal and fervency are the result of familiarity, and this is what makes the great division of labor go round.
Our prayers will be most fervent for those issues which effect us most deeply. The primary one, as Calvin mentioned, must be the Kingdom of God; but it's unlikely you'll be fired up over something so general. You must be consumed with the affairs of the Kingdom in relation to your family, community, nation, etc. This type of consumption will push you to view prayer as a means of defense and advancement:
Now if we should consider how many dangers at every moment threaten, fear itself will teach us that we at no single time may leave off praying.[3]If we genuinely recognize the threats that face the Kingdom of God, your family, your nation, etc., we would pray constantly. We would see, as Calvin notes, the necessity for ceaseless prayer as the means to drawing down the power of God to work effectually on our behalf. The prayers of Paul are replete with this sense of "pulling down" from heaven what's needed on behalf of God's people:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man... Ephesians 3:16But it wasn't merely the repetition of supplications on the part of Paul that were effective. He was persuaded that God would answer such prayers. And this is the consistent testimony of the great saints of Scripture: they prayed earnestly because they were fully assured of God's response. Calvin holds this out as the Scriptural witness most challenging to our lack of prayer:
If we would pray fruitfully, we ought therefore to grasp with both hands this assurance of obtaining what we ask, which the Lord enjoins with his own voice, and all the saints teach by their example.[4]Too much of our praying is liturgical and rote--we do not sound like desperate people. Yet, we believe we are doing a service. Maybe we are not. Maybe we are displeasing God by our visible indifference. Calvin says that we should beware of coming before God without fervency and faith:
A fault that seems less serious but is also not tolerable is that of others who, having been imbued with this one principle--that God must be appeased by devotions--mumble prayers without meditation. Now the godly must particularly beware of presenting themselves before God to request anything unless they yearn for it with sincere affection of heart, and at the same time desire to obtain it from him.[5]I once spent a few years working with a conservative Baptist curriculum producer dedicated to their particular mission. They remain dear friends, and I try to visit them when I can. We would pray at least twice a week as a staff, and they did see prayer as a vital part of the success of their operation. However, one dear woman would always introduce me to guests that visited the ministry as, "our token Charismatic." I earned this title because I tended to pray like a Charismatic, i.e., with faith and fervency.
I'd often joke with my Reformed brethren that when the going gets to tough, I'll probably call my Charismatic brothers instead! Say what you want about the errors of Charismaticism, but you've never been in a prayer meeting until you've been in one of theirs!
The reason for this is that Charismatics ARE Bible believers. In other words, they do take what the Bible says seriously, and will act on it in faith. The problem is found in what they THINK the Bible actually says. This is why I find Calvin so refreshing. He sounds like a Charismatic, but without all the calories!
1. John Calvin: The Institutes of the Christian Religion in Two Volumes, Trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1960), 3.20.7.
2. John Calvin: Calvin's Commentaries: On the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996), 338.
3. Calvin, Institutes, 3.20.7
4. Ibid., 3.20.12.
5. Ibid., 3.20.6.
