Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Most High a Prayer-Hearing God (Psalm 65:2) | Jonathan Edwards

Transcript

The Most High a Prayer-Hearing God (Psalm 65:2) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to Reformed thinking. It is good to have you with us
0:03
as we open up the archives of Church history to see what we
0:06
can learn today. It is a pleasure to be here.
0:09
The goal here is pretty simple. We take these historical
0:11
theological texts, some are famous, some are kind of
0:14
forgotten, and we just walk through them.
0:16
We want to sharpen our own understanding of Christian
0:19
doctrine. And see how the giants of the
0:21
faith read the Bible. It's amazing how often they were
0:24
wrestling with the exact same things we are today.
0:27
They really were. And Speaking of giants or
0:31
heavyweights, we're looking at 1:00 today.
0:33
We're discussing Jonathan Edwards.
0:35
Ah, yes. Edwards and I feel like we have
0:38
to address the elephant in the room right away.
0:41
When most people hear the name Jonathan Edwards, they think of
0:44
one thing. Sinners in the hands of an angry
0:47
God. Exactly.
0:48
The spider dangling over the flame they think of, you know,
0:52
just fear. And that's the common
0:55
caricature, isn't it? And look, that sermon is
0:57
powerful. It's biblically faithful.
0:59
But it paints such an incomplete picture if that's all you know
1:03
about him. Edwards was a theologian of joy,
1:06
a theologian of immense comfort. And today we're looking at a
1:10
text that really shows that that softer but equally rigorous side
1:15
of him. So what are we getting into?
1:16
We're discussing his exposition of Psalm 65, verse two.
1:20
He titled it The Most High, a prayer Hearing God.
1:23
The most high a prayer hearing God.
1:25
OK, that already sounds a lot more inviting than the spider
1:27
illustration it. Is the text he's expounding.
1:30
Is so simple, Oh thou that hearest prayer, that's it.
1:35
And the context here, it's likely King David praising God
1:38
for some kind of public mercy. You know, a massive answer to
1:41
prayer for the whole nation. Maybe they were delivered from
1:44
enemies or a famine ended. A national level event.
1:48
But Edwards does what he does best.
1:50
He takes this one specific instance, and he zooms way out
1:53
to look at the very character of God.
1:55
He wants to establish that hearing prayer isn't just
1:57
something God does on occasion, it's who he is.
2:01
And that really brings us to the central tension of this whole
2:04
deep dive. And it's one that I think every
2:06
believer struggles with at some point.
2:08
I think so We know, especially in Reformed theology, that God
2:11
is sovereign. He is the most high.
2:13
He's all knowing, He decrees the end from the beginning.
2:16
So if God is so high above us, and if he already knows what we
2:21
need, why does he need us to pray?
2:24
Right. Why go through the motions?
2:26
And maybe more to the point, why would he even listen to worms of
2:29
the dust, as Edwards calls us? That is the question, and
2:33
Edwards he does not dodge it. His mission in this text is to
2:38
clarify how prayer actually functions within God's
2:40
sovereignty. He wants to prove that God is
2:43
distinct from all the false gods precisely because he hears
2:46
prayer, and then to explain the mechanism, the how and the why
2:50
of this whole interaction. OK, so let's get into it.
2:53
He starts by defining his terms, which I appreciate.
2:55
We sort of take the word hearing for granted.
2:57
I speak, you hear. Simple.
2:59
But Edwards says when the Bible says God hears prayer, it means
3:02
something much more than just acoustic perception.
3:05
Yeah, he's not a cosmic recording device, right?
3:07
If hearing just meant aware of the sound, well, God hears
3:11
everything. He hears blasphemy, He hears
3:13
lies. He hears every idle
3:15
conversation, but Edwards breaks down hearing prayer into two
3:20
very specific theological criteria.
3:23
The first one is acceptance. Acceptance.
3:25
OK, let's unpack that a little. What does he?
3:27
Mean it means that God approves of the address itself.
3:31
He is pleased that the person is speaking to him, Edwards says.
3:35
God accepts the honor that's being paid to him in the very
3:38
act of praying. So it's relational, it's not
3:41
just the data transfer of I need bread, right?
3:43
It's God looking with favor on the person who is asking for the
3:47
bread. Precisely.
3:48
That's the first part, and the second criterion is action.
3:50
Action, Edwards says. God acts agreeably to his
3:53
acceptance. Now this is where we have to be
3:55
really careful, because he clarifies that this doesn't
3:58
always mean God just hands over the specific item you requested
4:01
right then and there. So it's not a vending machine.
4:03
Not at all. It means he manifests himself in
4:06
response. And he gives this beautiful
4:08
example of this from the Old Testament.
4:09
The story of Hannah in verse. Samuel.
4:11
Oh, I love this narrative. You have Hannah.
4:13
She's barren. She's dealing with a rival wife
4:16
who's just tormenting her. She's miserable, the text says.
4:19
She was a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
4:21
She really was. I mean, she was in what we would
4:24
probably call a state of depression.
4:26
And she goes to the Tabernacle, and as the text says, she poured
4:30
out her soul before God. And Edwards points out something
4:33
fascinating about the timeline here.
4:35
Hannah prays, she asks for her son, she finishes praying.
4:39
And then verse 18 says she did eat, and her countenance was no
4:42
more sad. Yes, but the key is she didn't
4:44
have the baby yet. She wasn't even pregnant yet.
4:47
Right, So what happened? That's the key insight.
4:50
God heard her prayer in the sense that he gave her a
4:53
discovery of his mercy during the prayer.
4:55
Edwards calls it a sweet view of God's grace that quieted her
4:59
mind. So the immediate answer wasn't
5:01
the child, it was peace. It was peace.
5:04
It was the ability to rest in God's will, That is action.
5:07
That is God acting agreeably to her request by sustaining her
5:11
heart long before he sustained her body with a child.
5:14
You know, that completely changes how we view answered
5:17
prayer. We usually only check the yes
5:19
box when we get the tangible thing.
5:21
But Edwards is saying the spiritual stabilization.
5:23
That's also the answer, yes. But he doesn't stop there with
5:27
just the internal. He also talks about Providence.
5:30
The second way God acts is by outwardly dealing with the
5:34
world. He starts moving pieces on the
5:36
board. You know Kings Weather Health to
5:39
bring about an answer that actually aligns with the
5:41
request. OK, so from there he goes on to
5:44
say that God isn't just a prayer hearing God, but that he is
5:49
famously or eminently such a guy.
5:51
That's a very puritan word, isn't it?
5:53
Eminently. It is.
5:54
It means he's the ultimate example of it, supremely
5:57
conspicuously so. And Edward sets out to prove
5:59
this eminence by looking at a few things, starting with
6:02
accessibility. Accessibility.
6:04
And this section is one of the most comforting parts of the
6:06
whole text. He points out that the throne of
6:08
Grace has no veil. Right in the Old Testament
6:11
temple, that veil was basically a giant do not enter sign.
6:15
It was a physical barrier between a holy God and sinful
6:17
man. And what did Christ do?
6:20
He rent that veil from top to bottom.
6:24
Edwards just marvels at this. He uses that phrase, worms of
6:26
the dust, to highlight how small we are, how corrupted we are,
6:31
and yet these worms are permitted to approach the
6:34
infinite Creator, and not with groveling fear, but with
6:39
boldness. He also makes the point that
6:41
this access is universal now. It's not just for the high
6:44
priest anymore, not at all. It's for all nations, and it's
6:47
for vile sinners. You don't have to clean yourself
6:49
up before you go to the throne. You go to the throne to get
6:52
cleaned up. That is the whole distinctive of
6:54
the gospel. And this leads to a point
6:56
Edwards makes that I find frankly surprising, especially
6:59
given his reputation for sternness.
7:01
He talks about importunity. Importunity.
7:04
So that's persistence. Almost like annoying
7:07
persistence, refusing to take no for an answer.
7:09
Yes, exactly that. And Edwards argues that God
7:12
actually likes being bothered in this way.
7:14
Really. Yeah.
7:15
He points to the blind man in loop 18.
7:17
The cried is yelling at him. Be quiet.
7:19
Don't bother the master. But what does he do?
7:21
He screams louder, and Jesus doesn't rebuke him.
7:24
He stops and heals him. Or the parable the unjust judge
7:28
the widow gets just as simply because she wouldn't stop
7:31
knocking on his door. She just him down and the
7:34
strongest example he gives has to be Jacob wrestling with God
7:38
in Genesis 32. I mean, just think about the
7:40
audacity of that. He is physically wrestling with
7:43
the Angel of the Lord, and he says, I will not let thee go,
7:46
except I'll bless me. And Edwards uses incredibly
7:49
strong language here. He says God allows himself to
7:52
be, in a sense, conquered by humble, fervent prayer.
7:57
Jacob's name was changed to Israel, which means he struggles
8:00
with God because as a Prince he had power with God and
8:03
prevailed. He prevailed against God.
8:05
Edwards is showing us that God delights in a faith that is
8:08
strong enough to wrestle. He doesn't want passive
8:10
resignation. He wants active, clinging
8:13
pursuit. That is a major shift in how we
8:15
usually think. We often think piety means just
8:18
quietly saying, well, whatever happens, happens, right?
8:20
But Edwards seems to be saying no.
8:22
Grab hold of the promises of God and do not let go.
8:25
Within the bounds of submission, yes.
8:27
It's a wrestling for a blessing, not a wrestling against God's
8:30
nature. It's a profound difference.
8:32
He also talks about the speed and the liberality of God's
8:35
answers. There's that verse in Isaiah 65.
8:38
Before they call, I will answer. Which speaks to God's readiness.
8:42
He isn't reluctant. He's not sitting back with his
8:45
arms crossed, you know, waiting for us to convince him to be
8:47
nice. He's leaning forward, ready to
8:50
give. And when he gives, Edwards says
8:52
he is a liberal giver. He contrasts this with how we
8:56
humans give. And this part really hit home
8:59
for me. Edward says when people give,
9:01
they usually upgrade. They scold.
9:04
Oh, yeah. It's like, fine, I'll help you,
9:06
but you really should have been more careful with your money or
9:09
I'll do this for you. But remember, this is the last
9:11
time. Right, there's always a lecture
9:12
attached to human charity. A little string, but Jitter says
9:16
God gives without a braiding. He doesn't rub our nose in our
9:19
neediness when we come to Him. And not only that, but the
9:22
answer often exceeds the request.
9:24
Look at Solomon. All he asked for was wisdom.
9:27
Just wisdom to rule his people well.
9:29
And God was so pleased with that request that He gave him wisdom
9:33
plus riches plus honor, more than he ever dreamed of asking
9:36
for. It's the Super size principle of
9:38
grace. God is not stingy.
9:41
And to really drive this point of eminence home, Edwards then
9:45
goes through what I would call a Hall of Fame of answered
9:47
prayers. He just starts listing these
9:49
massive world altering historical events that were
9:52
triggered by prayer. It's a stunning list when you
9:54
see them all together. It is you have Jacob praying
9:57
that God would turn Esau's heart.
9:59
And remember, Esau was coming with 400 men to kill him.
10:02
And after Jacob prays all night, they embrace as brothers.
10:06
It's a total reversal. A total reversal.
10:08
You have Moses praying for the plagues of Egypt to be reversed
10:11
1 by 1. You have Samson dying of thirst
10:14
and God brings water for him from a jawbone.
10:16
And of course, the big one, Joshua.
10:18
Yes, Joshua, commanding the sun and the moon to stand still.
10:23
Edwards lingers on this one, and for good reason.
10:26
It shows God literally suspending the laws of physics,
10:29
the very mechanics of the solar system, in response to the voice
10:32
of A. Man, that's the ultimate proof,
10:34
isn't it? It is there is no power in
10:36
nature that is greater than the God who listens to the prayers
10:39
of his people. And that leads perfectly into
10:41
his next section, where he contrasts the true God with all
10:44
the false gods. Now, why does he spend so much
10:47
time on this? Is he just, you know, bashing
10:49
Pagan nations? No, it's not just for rhetorical
10:53
effect. He's highlighting the absolute
10:55
uniqueness of a hearing God. In the ancient world, and really
10:59
in any idolatrous system today, the gods are terrifyingly
11:03
silent. So he categorizes them.
11:05
He does. First you have the simple idols,
11:07
stalks and stones. He kind of mocks them a bit,
11:10
echoing the Psalms. You know they have carved ears,
11:12
but they can't process sound. They're nothing in the world.
11:15
Then you have nature worship the sun, the moon, the stars, right?
11:18
And he admits these things are glorious.
11:21
The sun is powerful, but it lacks knowledge, it lacks
11:25
sentience. It acts by what he calls a
11:27
necessity of nature. What does he?
11:28
Mean by that? The sun must rise.
11:30
It doesn't choose to rise because you asked it to.
11:33
It can't will to help you. It's just an object, albeit A
11:36
magnificent 1. OK then he mentions animals like
11:38
the Egyptian bull worship. Living, yes, but irrational.
11:41
And then he gets to the darkest category, Devils.
11:45
This is where his language gets really vivid.
11:47
It does. Some cultures then and now,
11:49
worship spirits or demons to appease them or get power from
11:53
them, and Edwards argues that yes, these are powerful spirits,
11:57
but they lack omniscience, they can't hear your internal
12:00
thoughts, and more importantly, they hate the worshipper.
12:03
He uses that terrifying analogy of the wolf.
12:06
Yes. He says a devil helping a
12:08
worshipper is like a hungry wolf protecting a lamb.
12:11
The wolf might scare off another predator, sure, but only so he
12:15
can eat the lamb himself later. The only reward for serving a
12:19
false God is eventual destruction.
12:21
So in contrast to all of that, the truth, God has omniscience.
12:24
Right. He can hear millions of prayers
12:26
from all over the world all at the same time without getting
12:29
confused. And he hears the silent
12:30
petitions. This goes right back to Hannah.
12:33
It does. Her lips were moving, but her
12:35
voice wasn't heard. Eli The priest literally thought
12:38
she was. Drunk, but God hurt her heart
12:40
perfectly. Perfectly.
12:42
Meanwhile, the worshippers of Baal, as Elijah pointed out on
12:45
Mount Carmel, they had to scream and shout and cut themselves
12:48
just trying to get their God's attention.
12:50
The true God hears the faintest silent whisper of the heart.
12:54
So we've established that God hears, and that He hears
12:57
uniquely. Now we get to the really heavy
12:59
theological lifting. Section 4.
13:02
The theology of prayer. The why?
13:05
This is that philosophical problem we touched on at the
13:07
start. Edwards frames the question
13:08
himself. If God knows what we need before
13:10
we ask, which Jesus explicitly says in Matthew 6.8, why make us
13:14
ask? Is it some kind of game?
13:16
Right. If I know my child is hungry, I
13:18
just feed him. I don't make him fill out a
13:20
formal request. Exactly so Edwards clarifies the
13:22
Reformed position right away. First, prayer is not for God's
13:26
information. We are not breaking news to God.
13:27
Lord, the medical report came back and it's bad.
13:30
He knows. He knew before the doctor did.
13:32
OK, so we're not informing him. And secondly, God is not moved
13:36
or persuaded in his nature. He is immutable, unchangeable.
13:40
We don't change God's mind from a no to a yes, but being
13:44
particularly charming or eloquent in our prayer.
13:46
So if we aren't informing him and we aren't changing his
13:50
nature, what on earth are we doing?
13:53
That's the $1,000,000 question and Edwards gives 2 main
13:56
reasons. One is God word and the other is
13:58
man word. Okay.
14:00
The God word reason is that prayer is a sensible
14:03
acknowledgement of dependence. It glorifies the fountain of all
14:06
good. By asking we are publicly and
14:09
personally stating I do not have this, you have this, I need you.
14:13
It puts the creature and the Creator in their proper places.
14:17
It's an act of humility. It's us admitting we are not
14:19
self-sufficient. Exactly, but the second reason
14:22
the man would reason is maybe even more practical for US.
14:25
Prayer prepares the recipient. Prepares us.
14:28
How so? Edwards argues that the act of
14:30
fervent prayer, of wrestling with God, it excites a sense of
14:34
our own need. It makes this value the mercy
14:36
when it comes. That makes sense.
14:37
If God just dropped blessings on us constantly without us asking,
14:41
we would just take them for granted.
14:42
We wouldn't even notice half of them.
14:43
We wouldn't The struggle of prayer, the waiting, the asking
14:47
that pouring out of the soul like Hannah did.
14:49
It digs out of capacity in our hearts to receive the answer
14:52
with genuine gratitude. Like with Hannah, if she had
14:56
just been given a child right away, she would have been happy
14:58
of course of. Course.
14:59
But after years of weeping and praying for one, when Samuel was
15:02
finally born, what did she do? She immediately dedicated him
15:06
back to the Lord. The prayer itself prepared her
15:09
to steward the blessing correctly.
15:11
So Edward sums all this up by saying prayer constitutes the
15:14
order of bestowment. Yes, that's the phrase God
15:17
decides to give through the means of prayer.
15:19
He ordains the end, which is the blessing, and He ordains the
15:23
means to that end, which is the prayer.
15:25
He built the sequence ask, then receive, not because our asking
15:30
forces His hand, but because that is the pipeline he designed
15:33
for His glory and for our good. But that still leaves a pretty
15:36
big question on the table. Why does a holy God listen to us
15:40
at all? We've already established we're
15:42
worms of the dust. We are sinners.
15:44
Why doesn't he just turn a deaf ear to our polluted prayers, as
15:47
Edwards calls them? And that question brings us
15:50
right to the absolute center of Edwards's theology and all
15:53
Christian theology. Really the mediator, the only
15:56
basis for any of this is Jesus Christ.
15:59
So Edwards breaks down the work of the mediator into three
16:01
specific actions that make prayer possible.
16:04
What's the first one? The first is atonement.
16:06
Edwards uses this image of a wall of brass.
16:10
Our guilt, our sin, is like a solid brass wall that completely
16:14
blocks our access to God. He also calls it a cloud through
16:18
which prayer cannot pass. So our prayers just bounce off
16:21
the ceiling of our own sin. Right, but the blood of Christ
16:24
removes that wall. It pays the debt.
16:26
It rents the veil Without atonement.
16:28
Prayer is just wishful thinking shouted at a wall.
16:31
OK, so atonement removes the barrier.
16:33
What's what's the second action? The second is obedience, or what
16:36
theologians call merit. How is that different from
16:39
atonement? It's a subtle but vital
16:41
distinction. Atonement removes the negative,
16:43
which is our sin. Obedience provides the positive,
16:46
which is Christ's perfect righteousness.
16:48
He didn't just wipe our slate clean.
16:50
He wrote his own perfect record onto it.
16:52
He purchased the very privilege of being heard for us.
16:56
He purchased that privilege. Yes, and Edwards makes this
16:59
massive connection here back to Joshua.
17:01
He says the only reason Joshua's stopping the sun was even
17:04
possible was because of the future merit of Christ.
17:07
The only reason God listened to a man command the solar system
17:11
was because that man stood in the credited righteousness of
17:14
the coming Messiah. So all the Old Testament
17:16
miracles were essentially powered by the future New
17:19
Testament cross. In the mind of God, who sees all
17:22
of time at once, Yeah, yes, it's a staggering thought.
17:26
And the third action is intercession.
17:28
This is what Christ is doing right now.
17:30
Right now at the right Hand of the Father.
17:32
And Edwards uses the imagery from Revelation 8, the Angel
17:35
standing at the altar with the golden censor, the incense.
17:38
Yes, the prayers of the Saints are described as needing incense
17:42
to be added to them to make them smell sweet to God, Edward says.
17:45
Christ stands there, mixing His own merit, His own perfect
17:48
righteousness, with our flawed prayers to make them acceptable
17:52
and pleasing to the Father. I love that image because let's
17:55
be honest, our prayers are often so weak.
17:56
They're distracted. They can be selfish on their
17:59
own. They probably don't smell very
18:00
good. Edwards calls them polluted
18:02
things, but when they are mixed with the pure incense of
18:05
Christ's work, they become a sweet savor.
18:08
Without the mediator, Edwards is blunt.
18:11
The throne of grace is nothing but a tribunal of justice.
18:15
And you don't want to approach a tribunal of justice if you're
18:18
guilty. You don't.
18:18
You need a mediator to turn it into a throne of grace.
18:22
OK, so we have the definition, the eminence, the theology, and
18:25
the mediator. But we have to get practical now
18:27
because there's someone listening right now who's
18:28
thinking this is all great theory, but I prayed.
18:31
I poured my heart out. I prayed for my marriage, I
18:34
prayed for my health, I prayed for my child.
18:36
And the answer was silence or the answer was no.
18:40
This is the section on troubleshooting unanswered
18:42
prayer. Edwards absolutely anticipates
18:45
this objection. I prayed but he didn't answer
18:49
and he offers three possible diagnosis for why that might be
18:52
the case. And the first one is, it's a
18:55
tough one to hear. Idolatry of lusts.
18:57
It is tough, he quotes James chapter 4.
19:00
You ask and receive, not because you ask a miss to consume it
19:05
upon your lusts, Edwards says. If you're asking God for money
19:09
just to feed your pride, or for success just to serve your
19:12
vanity, God will not answer that prayer.
19:14
Why not? Because He will not arm his
19:16
enemies. If you intend to use the gift
19:18
against God's own glory, He actually loves you too much to
19:21
give it to you. It would destroy you.
19:23
OK. What's the second diagnosis?
19:25
The second is insincerity or unbelief.
19:29
This goes back to the heart. Edwards talks about people who
19:31
pray with their words, but not with their spirit.
19:34
What's an example of that? The one he gives is asking God
19:36
to be purged from a particular sin while you're still secretly
19:39
loving that sin and have no real intention of giving it up.
19:43
Lord, make me pure. But not yet.
19:45
God sees right through that. He sees the heart.
19:47
He also mentions the attitude of the petitioner here, the
19:49
difference between approaching God as a creditor and
19:52
approaching him as a beggar. That is a vital distinction.
19:55
Some people come to God like creditors, God.
19:57
Look, I went to church, I tithed my 10%.
20:00
I was a good person this week. So you owe me this answer,
20:02
Edwards says. That is not prayer, that's a
20:05
demand. And God doesn't respond to
20:07
demands. No.
20:09
A true prayer comes from the posture of a beggar, someone who
20:12
knows they deserve nothing and is asking for pure grace.
20:15
If there's no real reliance on God's sufficiency and mercy, it
20:19
isn't technically prayer in God's eyes.
20:21
And the third diagnosis, this is the one that I think applies to
20:24
the sincere believer who is really hurting and confused.
20:29
Divine Wisdom. Yes, and here Edwards uses the
20:32
classic father and child analogy.
20:35
A toddler asks for a sharp knife because it's shiny and
20:38
interesting. The loving Father says no.
20:40
And the child throws A tantrum thinking the father's being mean
20:43
or just ignoring him, right? But the Father is actually
20:46
exercising superior wisdom and love, Edward says.
20:49
We shouldn't want God's infinite wisdom to be subject to our
20:52
finite ignorance. And sometimes the better answer
20:54
is actually a different thing than what we asked for.
20:56
Precisely. You might ask for temporal
20:59
relief. Lord, please just take this
21:01
trial away. God might answer with spiritual
21:03
strength. No, but I will give you the
21:05
grace to endure it and grow through it.
21:07
The spiritual good is always the higher gift, and Edwards has
21:11
this one quote here that is just so powerful and worth
21:13
memorizing. He says God never once failed of
21:16
hearing a sincere and believing prayer.
21:19
Never once. Never once.
21:20
He means that God always answers, but sometimes the
21:24
answer is packaged differently than we expect, according to His
21:27
perfect wisdom. That brings us to the final
21:29
group that Edwards addresses. It's the skeptic, or maybe the
21:33
defeatist, the person who says, look, I get all this, but I'm
21:36
not a religious person. I'm in a natural condition, as
21:39
Edwards would put it, unconverted.
21:41
I don't have saving faith, so I shouldn't pray.
21:43
It would just be hypocritical. And Edwards calls this what it
21:46
is, an excuse, and he rebuts it powerfully.
21:49
First he says the command to pray is universal.
21:52
It applies to everyone. He points to Simon Magus in the
21:55
book of Acts, a wicked man trying to buy the Holy Spirit
21:58
who was told by Peter to pray for forgiveness.
22:00
So the command stands regardless of your spiritual state.
22:03
It does, and then he appeals to God's sovereignty again.
22:06
He says God is so sovereign he can hear the wicked if he
22:08
chooses to. He's not obligated to, but he
22:11
can. Right.
22:13
God isn't bound by a covenant to hear the non believer in the
22:16
same way he's promised to hear his children.
22:19
But his sovereign mercy is vast. Edwards lists King Ahab, one of
22:24
the most terrible kings in Israel's history, who humbled
22:27
himself and God postponed the judgment.
22:30
He mentions the Ninevites in the Book of Jonah.
22:32
They were pagans, but they cried out and God spared their entire
22:35
city. He even uses nature again here,
22:37
doesn't he? He says God hears the cry of the
22:40
Ravens. He does, and the logic is
22:42
simple. If God listens to a hungry bird
22:44
that has no eternal soul, why would he refuse to listen to a
22:47
human being made in his own image, crying out for help or
22:51
happiness? So for Edwards, prayer can be a
22:53
means of preparation for salvation.
22:55
Exactly. You shouldn't wait until you
22:57
feel saved enough to start praying.
22:59
You should pray in order to be saved.
23:01
And the warning he leaves at the end of this section is pretty
23:04
stark. He says if you have the
23:06
revelation of a prayer, hearing God, if you've heard this, if
23:09
you know the true God exists and you still stay silent, you're
23:14
worse off than the pagans. It sounds harsh, but his logic
23:17
is sound because the pagans are at least crying out to
23:20
something, even if it's just rocks and stones.
23:22
They're desperate. If you have the living God
23:25
within earshot and you just refuse to speak to him, that is
23:27
a level of inexcusable pride. So where does all this leave us?
23:31
We've covered a lot of ground here, from the definition of
23:34
hearing to the work of the mediator.
23:35
We have. We've seen that God actually
23:37
defines himself by his willingness to hear our prayers.
23:40
We've seen that we have a mediator who has cleared the
23:42
path for us. And we've seen that prayer is
23:45
the very mechanism God has chosen to govern the world and
23:48
dispense his blessings. It really just demolishes the
23:51
excuse of what God is sovereign, so I don't need to do anything.
23:54
It completely flips it on its head.
23:56
God is sovereign, therefore I should do something because He
23:59
is sovereign. My prayers actually have a
24:01
destination where real power resides.
24:04
They aren't just empty words floating in the cosmos.
24:06
You know, I think the biggest take away from me from this
24:08
whole text is just the sheer privilege of it all.
24:12
Edwards closes by reminding us that we don't pray to stocks or
24:15
stones or to hateful devils. We pray to a God who, as the
24:19
Bible says, delights in mercy. That's the phrase to hold on to.
24:23
He delights in it. He isn't reluctant, He's not
24:25
annoyed by us. He enjoys showing mercy.
24:28
Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with the provocative
24:30
thought that comes right out of Edward's logic.
24:32
Here he suggests that prayer is a sensible acknowledgement of
24:36
dependence. That's his core definition.
24:37
So let's just flip that over. If we aren't praying, are we
24:41
implicitly, even if unconsciously, claiming that we
24:45
are self-sufficient gods? That's a haunting question.
24:48
Priorlessness becomes a form of practical atheism.
24:51
It's living as if we're the ones in control.
24:53
It's saying I've got this. And to take it one step further,
24:57
if God acts through prayer, as Edwards so powerfully argues, if
25:01
he has established that sequence of ask and receive, what
25:05
mercies, what help, what grace is currently sitting in the
25:08
warehouse of heaven withheld simply because we haven't
25:11
aligned ourselves to receive them by asking?
25:14
You have not, because you ask not.
25:16
It's one of the simplest and most convicting verses in the
25:18
Bible. It really makes you want to stop
25:20
talking and start praying. It certainly does.
25:23
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into reformed
25:25
thinking. We hope this exploration of
25:27
Jonathan Edwards helps you approach the throne of Grace
25:30
with a little more boldness today.
25:31
And just remember, the veil is rent, the way is open.
25:35
Until next time.