What is Prayer? - 2

Prayer – What is it? – 2

John Bunyan

‘Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to his Word, for the good of the church, with submission to the will of God.’


Last week we considered the importance of sincerity in prayer. We now come to think about what John Bunyan meant by ‘sensible’.

What does Bunyan mean here? - Dictionary – ‘aware not unmindful’

Bunyan is teaching us that true prayer involves more than words.

If we are to truly pray then there are certain things of which we must be aware.

Truth that we must know in our minds and experience in our hearts.

(1) We need an awareness of our sinfulness – Remember you are undeserving

(a) Remember that without grace you could not come to God

- Gen 3.22-24; Ex 19.12-13; 1 Sam 6.20

(b) Remember that without grace you would not come to God

- Gen 3.8-10; Col 1.21

(2) We need an awareness of our mediator – Remember you are dependent

In his mercy God appoints mediators – ‘umpires’ between a Holy God and sinful people.

Gen 18.16; Ex 19.21; Ex 28.1; Ex 33.12-22

Every mediator in the Bible pointed forward to the real mediator. 1 Tim 2.5

Jesus Christ is the only one who can represent sinners before God.

(a) If Jesus is to be your mediator he must be your Saviour

(b) If Jesus is your Saviour he must be your Mediator

(3) We need an awareness of our forgiveness – Remember you are welcome

(a) We are to come to God with boldness and confidence – Heb 4.16; 10.21-22

Derek Prime,

‘By nature we deserve God’s throne to be one of judgment, where we receive His just punishment for our sins and failures. But through the Lord Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, God’s righteous wrath has been turned away from us, and God is able to be gracious and kind to us, with no detriment to His justice and holiness. Instead of our having to view God as sitting upon a throne of judgment – as our sins deserve – we are encouraged to picture His throne as a throne of grace. He waits to be gracious to us! There is no limit to what He will do for our good, on account of our spiritual union with His Son, the Lord Jesus.’


Q - Why do justified sinners still need to confess their sins? – Matt 6.12; 1 John 1.8

(4) We need an awareness of our weakness – Remember you are children

We are to pray to God as children pray to a loving Father – Matt 6.9

Q – Think about your prayer life. Does your life reveal that you depend upon your Heavenly father for everything?

Q – In what ways might Jesus teaching about the Fatherhood of God encourage us to pray?

What does it mean to pray in a way that is sensible?

It is the awareness that while we are undeserving sinners dependent upon a Saviour we are at the same time welcome children.

A mature Christian will learn to pray with both great humility and great confidence.

‘No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown,
through Christ, my own.’