We live in a day where methods have replaced seeking the Lord’s face and true prayer. While no one can manufacture true prayer in the heart, we must at least seek the Lord for hearts to pray. Our nation is indeed being shaken at its foundations in the political world, but the professing Church has been shaken for far longer. Those within the professing Church must begin to repent of all that God leads us to repent of and cry out to Him for longings and desires to seek His face. The call to prayer for true revival (just below) is part of a longer piece that can be found on the Spurgeon website. In it there is a condensed version of Jonathan Edward’s call to pray for true revival. May we be challenged and convicted to seek the Lord in true prayer.
A Call to United Prayer for True Revival
In 1744 a group of ministers in Scotland joined together and issued a Memorial to continue in a Concert of Prayer which was intended to encourage people to pray for true revival in Scotland and other nations. Jonathan Edwards responded to this by writing what was published as a book in 1747 and was an extended call to people to pray for God to cover the earth with the knowledge of His glory. The book of Edwards was edited by John Sutcliff and published in England in 1789. In Sutcliff’s preface to the book, regarding an association of Baptist churches, he noted that in 1784 “a resolution was formed to establish through the association, a meeting of prayer for the general revival and spread of religion.” In 1786 “another Baptist association, commonly called the Midland… entered into the same resolution. Many other churches, particularly in Yorkshire, have adopted, and now follow, the above practice.” (See http://www.sbaoc.org/blog/?page_id=762 or go to www.sbaoc.org, click on the “BLOG”heading and then “A Call to Prayer.”
This is indeed a call to prayer, but it is not just a call to utter words and sounds toward the heavens and be satisfied to call that prayer. This is a call to repentance, to humility, to solemn assemblies, or to whatever it takes in order that the Lord would turn our hearts to Him again. We are in desperate times in all ways, but especially in spiritual things. We have no ability in ourselves to change things and must seek the Lord to do the work of changing. WE must learn to pray from the depths of the desires and longings of the soul rather than words that conform to a standard that we have come up with. The eyes of God are upon our hearts and we must seek Him to put His desires in our hearts so that with longing and love we will seek His glory and His presence. Prayer is not just a duty that is to be performed, but it is that which the Lord must grant us hearts in order to fulfill the duty according to His desires. What follows is from a book published in 1802 by Thomas Haweis. It is about the heart in prayer.
Prayer is the desire of the soul after God, arising from a sense of want [lack], and expressing a dependence on his promises for a supply according to our necessities.
It is evident that the heart must be engaged, or there can be no prayer. The words of the lips or the bending of the knee are hypocrisy without this. The finest produce of the understanding, whether the composition of others or our own, is no better than the sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, it the spirit of prayer be wanting [lacking]. Whilst, on the other hand, the simplest expressions, yea, perhaps the most ungrammatical language, may convey the fervent desires of effectual prayer most acceptably before God who trieth the heart and the reins.
The most natural method of prayer is the artless language of the soul, dictated by want [lack] and warmed with desire; and I suppose every soul really awakened to feel his necessities, will be able, for the most part, to speak what he feels without any assistance.
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