Quest. CLXXIX., CLXXX., CLXXXI.
QUEST. CLXXIX. Are we to pray unto God only?
ANSW. God only being able to search the hearts, hear the requests, pardon the sins, and only to be believed in, and worshipped with religious worship, prayer, which is a special part thereof, is to be made by all to him alone, and to none other.
QUEST. CLXXX. What is it to pray the name of Christ?
ANSW. To pray in the name of Christ is in obedience to his command, and in confidence on his promises to ask mercy for his sake, not by bare mentioning of his name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and his mediation.
QUEST. CLXXXI. Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?
ANSW. The sinfulness of man, and his distance from God by reason thereof, being so great as that we can have no access into his presence without a Mediator; and there being none in heaven or earth appointed to, or fit for that glorious work, but Christ alone; we are to pray in no other name but his only.
In these answers we have a farther explication of what is briefly laid down in the last; and that, more especially, as to what respects the object of prayer; and the method prescribed in the gospel, relating to our drawing nigh to God, through a mediator, which is called praying in the name of Christ; together with the reason hereof.
I. It is observed, that prayer is to be made to God alone, and to none other. This appears,
1. Because it is an act of religious worship, which is due to none but God; as our Saviour says, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve, Matt. iv. 10.—This can be denied by none who are, in any measure, acquainted either with natural or revealed religion; in which we are obliged to extol, adore, and admire those divine perfections which are displayed in the works of nature and grace, and to seek that help from him, and those supplies of grace that we stand in need of to make us completely blessed, which supposes him to be infinitely perfect and all-sufficient. Now to ascribe this divine glory to a creature, either directly, or by consequence, is, in effect, to say that he is equal with God, and thereby to rob him of that glory that is due to him alone, to seek that from the creature, that none but God can give, or to ascribe any of the perfections of the divine nature to it, is the highest affront that can be offered to the divine Majesty. Now as prayer without adoration and invocation, is destitute of those ingredients which render it an act of religious worship; so to address ourselves, in such a way, to any one but God, is an instance of such profaneness and idolatry, as is not to be mentioned without the greatest detestation.
2. Prayer is to be made only to God, inasmuch as he only is able to search the heart, which is a glory peculiar to himself, in which he is distinguished from all creatures, 1 Kings viii. 39. Acts i. 24. It is the heart that is principally to be regarded in prayer: If this be not right with God, there is no glory that we can ascribe to him, that will be reckoned any better than flattering him with our mouth, and lying to him with our tongues, Psal. lxxviii. 36, 37. as the Psalmist says: Therefore, the inward frame of our spirit, and the principle, or spring from whence all religious duties proceed, being only known to God, prayer is only to be directed to him.
3. He alone can hear our requests, pardon our sins, and fulfil our desires. Prayer, when addressed to God, is not like that in which we desire those favours from men, which are of a lower nature, whereby some particular wants are supplied, in those respects in which one creature may be of advantage to another; but when we pray to God, we seek those blessings which are the effects of infinite power and goodness, such as may make us completely happy, both in this and a better world. Moreover, we are to implore forgiveness of sin from him in prayer; which is a blessing none can bestow but God, Mark ii. 7. for as his law is the rule by which the goodness or badness of actions are determined; and the threatening which he has annexed to it, is that which renders us liable to that punishment sin deserves; so it is he alone that can remit the debt of punishment, which we are liable to, and give us a right and title to forfeited blessings; which being the principal thing that we are to seek for in prayer, this argues that none but God is the object thereof.
4. God alone is to be believed in: Accordingly prayer, if it be acceptable to him, must be performed by faith. Thus the apostle says, How shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? Rom. x. 14. There must be a firm persuasion that he can grant us the blessings we ask for; herein faith addresses itself to him as God all-sufficient; and is persuaded that he will fulfil all his promises, as a God of infinite faithfulness; and accordingly we are to give up ourselves entirely to him as our proprietor and bountiful benefactor, the only fountain of blessedness, and object of religious worship: This is to be done by faith in prayer, and consequently it is to be directed to God only.
II. We are now to consider what it is to pray in the name of Christ: This doth not consist barely in a mentioning his name; which many do when they ask for favours for his sake, without a due regard to the method God has ordained; in which we are to draw nigh to him by Christ our great Mediator, who is to be glorified as the person by whom we are to have access to God the Father as the fountain of all the blessings, which are communicated to us in this method of divine grace. To come to God in Christ’s name, includes in it the whole work of faith, as to what it has to plead with, or hope for, from him, through a Mediator, in that way which he has prescribed to us in the gospel. And this more especially consists in our making a right use of what Christ has done and suffered for us, as the foundation of our hope, that God will be pleased to grant us what he has purchased thereby; which contains the sum of all that we can desire, when drawing nigh to him in prayer. Here let it be considered,
1. That the thoughts of having to do with an absolute God, cannot but fill us with the utmost distress and confusion, when we consider ourselves as guilty sinners, and God, out of Christ, as a sin-revenging Judge, a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 29. in which case we may well say, as our first parent did, immediately after his fall, I heard thy voice and I was afraid, Gen. iii. 10.
2. God is obliged, in honour, as a God of infinite holiness, to separate and banish sinners from his comfortable presence, they being liable to the curse and condemning sentence of the law; by reason whereof his terror makes them afraid, and his dread falls upon them; nevertheless,
3. They have, in the gospel, not only an invitation to come, but a discovery of that great Mediator, whom God has ordained to conduct his people into his presence, having procured liberty of access to him, or, as the apostle expresses it, boldness to enter into the holiest by his blood, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh, Heb. x. 19, 20. and he has, for this end, erected a throne of grace, and encouraged us to come to it, and given many great and precious promises, whereby we may hope for acceptance in his sight; these being all established in Christ, and the blessings contained therein procured by his blood, and having liberty, in coming, to plead what he has done and suffered, as what was designed to be the foundation of our hope of obtaining mercy, we are said to come and make our supplications to God in the name of Christ.
III. We are now to consider the reason why we are to pray in the name of Christ; and that we have in one of the answers we are explaining. In which it is observed; that man, by sin, is set at such a distance from God, that he cannot, by any means, come into his presence. God cannot look upon him with any delight or complacency; inasmuch as his guilt renders him the object of his abhorrence; and he cannot do any thing which has a tendency to reconcile God to him, and therefore he is speechless, and can ask for no blessing at his hand. And it is farther observed, that there is none in heaven or earth, that is, no mere creature, that is fit for that glorious work; none has a sufficiency of merit to present to God, whereby he may be said to make atonement for sin; or, as Job expresses it, there is no days-man that might lay his hand on both parties, Job ix. 33. that is, able to deal with God in paying a ransom; which he may, in honour accept of; or with man, by encouraging him to hope that he shall obtain the blessings which he stands in need of; and bringing him into such a frame, that he may draw nigh to God in a right manner. This is only owing to our Lord Jesus Christ; and he does it as our great Mediator, who alone is fit to manage this important work; therefore we are to pray to God, only in his name, who is, by divine appointment, an advocate with the Father, pleading our cause before his throne, and thereby giving us ground of encouragement, that our persons shall be accepted, and our prayers answered upon his account, who is the only Mediator of redemption and intercession, in whom God is well pleased, and gives a believer ground to conclude that he shall not seek his face in vain.