How to Pray

Things to Come: A Journal of Biblical Literature 

September, 1898

Question and Answers 

Question No. 183

"I am much perplexed by much that is said and written about prayer. Private prayer I mean; i.e. when and how I ought to pray, or whether I ought to be definite in my prayer and to what extent?" 

The answer to your question will be found in the definition of the term "prayer". What is prayer? Our hymn says truly, "Prayer is the Christian's vital breath." Or, it may be more accurately expressed by saying Prayer is the breath of the new nature. Just as the natural breath is the sign and evidence of physical life- so prayer is the mark and sign of the possession of spiritual life. The analogy is complete. Natural life commences with breathing and the breathing produces a cry. It is so with the New Birth. A New Life is imparted- "the breath of life" is breathed- a cry is produced and prayer goes forth "God be merciful to me a sinner." From that moment the breathing continues as the spontaneous outcome of the New Life. We require no more rule for the one breathing than the other. No knowledge of Physiology is required for the one, and no knowledge of theology is necessary for the other. Indeed one has often listened to discourses on Physiology till one has exclaimed, "Pray say no more or I shall be afraid to breathe!" So it is with the breathing of the new nature. The moment it becomes the subject of discussion or of rule- its essence is gone. We are such formalists by nature that we need nothing to encourage formalism in our prayers. Our efforts should be used in the opposite direction. The moment we reason about prayer we make it artificial. But true prayer is spontaneous. Our business in natural life is to breathe and not to think about it. Our business in spiritual life is to breathe (i.e. to pray) and not to think about it. The moment we begin to think about our prayer we are occupied with the means and lose the end. We are reminded of an old rhyme which we recently heard, but which illustrates our meaning exactly: - 

"The centipede was happy quite

Until the toad, in fun

Said, Pray which foot goes after which?

Which moved his mind to such a pitch

He lay distracted in the ditch

Considering- How to run."

We immediately pointed the moral and put it into the following form: - 

The praying soul was happy quite

Until some one did say

Prayer must be this, and that, and thus!

Which put his mind in such a fuss

That here and there in vain he'd rush

To find out- How to pray!

Nothing can be added to this great truth or to its lesson. As to "definiteness in prayer," well, if we were omniscient we would be very definite, but believing that God knows what is best, we are content to very definitely ask Him to do all He knows to be best. Unfortunately most Christians think they know better than God, and hence very definitely decide what they want Him to do. And this- in spite of the fact that He has told them that "we know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom. viii.26). 

For our part we have but one desire in this matter, and that is that He would do all His will! By our increasing knowledge of Him (Eph. i.17) we are so convinced of His infinite love and infinite knowledge, and infinite power that to substitute for these the definiteness of our "infirmities" (Rom. viii.26) would be our infinite loss.