I Cried Aloud To The Lord
“I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah”
The entire subject of prayer is built on the premise that we need the Lord and that we can do nothing for ourselves. We cry out to the Lord because we need his help, and we cannot provide this help by ourselves. Human effort leads to frustration and defeat. Prayer, by nature, is a focus on the providence, power and promise of God. If we could not trust God, we would not pray to him. How utterly foolish, then, is idolatry. Man makes something (either literally or as a figment of his mind) and then seeks his help from what he made, not realizing how foolish that is. My own opinions on prayer have been influenced by Calvin and then by the Puritans.
John Bunyan has a superb little book on prayer in which he defines prayer as “a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, to Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the Church, with submission, in faith to the will of God.” Bunyan also said: “When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart”.
So prayer requires the right heart attitude, which means that we must approach God correctly. David cries out to God in Psalm 3 because his life was in danger from his son Absalom. Verse 4 states that when he cried, God answered him; and God’s answer came from where God dwelled (his holy hill). This is a very important part of prayer. We must know whom we address and where God is to be found, otherwise we would be praying into the air. As God’s people, we cry to the Lord because we have had dealings with God and he with us. We have some experience of what it means to pray because we know God.
David acknowledges in verse 1 and 2 that he is facing a violent onslaught (many foes…rising against me). The only protection he has is God (vs. 3). God was his shield and protector and, therefore, he cries out to God. He knows where his help comes from. It is amazing in this situation that in verses 5 and 6, David immediately speaks confidently. He went to bed and slept because God was looking after him. He woke up because God brought him safely through the night, and if God could do this, then why should David be afraid? David has right thoughts about God. Any victory over his enemies will not come from David, but from the Lord (vs. 7); therefore, salvation belongs to the Lord (vs. 8).
David proved what Luther would later say about prayer: “none can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.” David had proven God, or rather God had proven himself to David over and over again. Luther could say that “whenever I have earnestly prayed, I have been amply heard, and have obtained more than I prayed for.”
Calvin said that it was by prayer that we reached those riches laid up for us with our Heavenly Father, but this always had to be by faith. According to Calvin: “words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable.” Prayer calls upon God. Prayer invokes the name of Jesus. Prayer lays hold firmly on God. It was in this way, said Calvin, that “we invoke the presence both of his providence, through which he watches over and guards our affairs, and of his power, through which he sustains us, weak as we are and well-nigh overcome, and of his goodness, through which he receives us, miserably burdened with sins, unto grace: and, in short, it is by prayer that we call him to reveal himself as wholly present to us. Hence comes that extraordinary peace and repose to our consciences.” This is an incredible statement. It agrees in every part with David’s experience in Psalm 3. At this point someone is bound to object and say, “Well, if God knows all this, why must we remind him of it?”
Such a view thinks of God as a drowsy, unconcerned being who comes awake, blinking his eyes, wondering what has disturbed him. Calvin says that when people think like this, they do not know the reason why God ordained prayer. He ordained prayer, not for his sake, but for ours. Elijah promised Ahab that it would rain, and then we see him on the mountain with his head between his knees anxiously relying on God, for God to fulfill his word (1 Kings 18:42). He knew it was his responsibility to pray in case his faith appeared sluggish, said Calvin.
Calvin gives us six reasons to pray, which I find very helpful. I have summarized them as follows: first, we must always seek after God with burning hearts that we might love and serve him, and as a result, that we might flee to him with every need. Second, we must watch our hearts, lest there be something unworthy that God is witness to, even as we pour out our hearts to him. Third, we must always be grateful for what comes from God’s hand to us. Fourth, when God answers our prayers, we must focus on his kindness. Fifth, rejoice that in the specifics, God has done for us what we asked of him. Finally, through continued use and experience, even though we are continually fragile, we must recognize his providence and unfailing promises and that he watches over us according to his power.
If we are going to pray, we must come to God in the right frame of mind. We must come with reverence. Both Calvin and Augustine thought of speaking to God as having a conversation, yet they both point out that conversation does not mean being irreverent or casual. Prayer always requires the use of the mind. How easy it is to be distracted in our thoughts, even when we pray. Calvin said this was unworthy of God, since God has admitted us to intimate conversation with him and then we abuse that privilege (Calvin refers to God’s kindness) with frivolous thinking (mixing the sacred with the profane). When I read these thoughts of Calvin, I am reminded of how far away I have drifted in thinking on prayer. Prayer is sacred and serious business.
Calvin said that the raising of hands in prayer was to cause us to remind ourselves of how far removed we are from God. We must lift up our minds to him on high. I don’t think I have heard anyone give that definition to the raising of hands before. In other words, it doesn’t reflect the majesty of God, but the distance between ourselves and God. There is something about a child raising his hands to a parent in this. It shows need and dependence, not an assessment of worth.
Prayer, therefore, requires immense discipline. I have never found discipline easy—it’s not meant to be. We often hear of how disciplined someone is. Perhaps what we mean is how consistent he is. Consistency may reflect pleasure or achieve pleasure through the constant use or practice, but discipline is not this. It is painful always. Discipline will produce something (1 Cor. 9:27; Eph. 6:4; Heb. 12:5–11; Rev. 3:19).
There will always be a thousand reasons to do something else, but if you love whatever it is you love, you will find it easy and pleasurable to do. Calvin suggested that sharpness of mind would lead to heart affection. The discipline is in the mind leading to the fruit of worship. Calvin pointed out that “because we are too lazy, God pricks us the more sharply as occasion demands to pray earnestly.” How wonderful to know that if I cry out to God, he answers for Jesus’ sake.