Barriers to Prayer

I am currently preaching through 1 Peter.  This week's sermon is drawn from 1 Peter 3:1-7, which ends with these words:

"…so that your prayers may not be hindered."

As Peter has been writing to these early Christians scattered across Asia Minor he notes that there are circumstances, or perhaps better said, conditions of their hearts, which, when present, affect the ability of these Christians to have open communication with God through prayer.

John Calvin had this to say about that phrase of Peter:

"For we are more than insane, if we knowingly and willfully close up the way to God’s presence by prayer, since this is the only refuge of our salvation."

I love the way that Calvin cuts to the chase.  Here is my paraphrase: 

God is our only refuge, and we, through the conditions of our hearts, conditions that we know exist and do nothing to change, would close off the way to speak with God, and to clearly hear from God.  That's insanity!

Part of the preparation for preaching is that the text should speak to the preacher.  And this text speaks to me.  There are times, every day, when the conditions of my heart are such that I know I am not in the right place to approach God.  And I am thankful that God, by His Spirit, works on me and in me, so that preparing my heart is an integral, an essential part, of my approach to Him. 

May God be at work in your heart "…so that your prayers may not be hindered."

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Review: Calvin’s Theology and its Reception: Disputes, Developments and New Possibilities by J. Todd Billings and I. John Hesselink, eds.

The presence of John Calvin looms large over the Protestant Reformation.  This was true during the 16^th century in which he lived, and it remains true today.  In Calvin’s Theology and its Reception: Disputes, Developments and New Possibilities editors J. Todd Billings and I. John Hesselink have gathered ten essays that consider ways in which aspects of Calvin’s theology were received and understood during both the early Reformation and more recently in history.  The essays are paired by topic, with an essay on the early influence of Calvin, in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, followed by as essay that considers his influence on the same topic in the 18^th through 21^st centuries.  The topics addressed are Scripture and Revelation; Union with Christ; Election; the Lord’s Supper; and Church and Society.

The authors are all scholars who teach, or have taught, on seminary faculties.  While they have written serious essays that draw from extensive references I felt that the work collected here does have relevant application for those serving in pastoral ministry.  I believe that the first four topics all touch on issues that powerfully shape faith and worship today.  God’s people who are gathered for worship need to understand scripture and revelation so that they allow the Bible to speak vibrantly and authoritatively into their lives.  They need to know how closely believers are joined by faith to Christ and how this is the result of God’s gracious mercy in choosing them.  They need to appreciate the distinctive way in which Calvin understood the Lord’s Supper so that they may be well-nourished when they come to feast at His table.

Here is one example, from Michael Horton’s essay on the modern reception of Calvin’s understanding of what it means to have union with Christ.  Summarizing Calvin, he writes, “Justified once for all through faith by a righteousness that is external (alien) to us, we are nevertheless united to Christ by an inseparable communion so that, in spite of our weaknesses, we will always seek our salvation in him.” (90)  The implication then, Horton says, is this: “So when we consider ourselves, there is nothing but despair; when we consider ourselves in Christ, there is faith, which brings hope and love in its train.  In the gospel, God calls forth a new world of which Christ is the sun and we are drawn into his orbit.” (90; italics Horton)  In our day, when it seems that we are constantly being pulled to worship other gods, I appreciate the clear way in which both Calvin and Horton articulate the bonds that hold believers to Christ.

In sum, Billings and Hesselink, who each authored one essay in this collection, and their collaborators, shine new light on issues that weren't simply resolved once-and-for-all because Calvin wrote about them nearly 500 years ago.  These essays help us to understand how Calvin’s work was perceived in its day, and how it can be reexamined to teach and strengthen the church today.

Disclaimer: I studied under two of the authors, J. Todd Billings and Sue A. Rozeboom, while I was at Western Theological Seminary.