Prayer

 By John C. Orlando, Jr.

 

Note:  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are drawn from the New International Version translation of the Bible.  For information on this translation, please refer to: http://www.gospelcom.net/ibs/niv/nivbible.php.  Also, superscripted numbers at the end of a sentence (for example: Mary had a little lamb.1) correspond to the numbers in End Notes at the end of the article, and provide the reader with information on the source that was used. 

 The “What” of Prayer 

Prayer at its most basic level is communicating with God, but this does not capture the full meaning of what prayer is.  Prayer is one of the key elements in the worship of God.  It is where we bow ourselves in humble submission to God, and acknowledge that He is God, and there is no other.  It is the place where we submit our mind, emotions, and will (i.e., our desires and choices) to the Lord, and acknowledge our complete reliance upon, and in point of fact, our utter destitution without Him.  The New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, briefly defines prayer as, “In the Bible prayer is worship that includes all the attitudes of the human spirit in its approach to God.  The Christian worships God when he adores, confesses, praises and supplicates Him in prayer.  The highest activity of which the human spirit is capable may also be thought of as communion with God…”1

The “Who’s” of Prayer

 Since prayer is an element of worship, and it is communicating with God, we are immediately presented with a pressing question:  who is God?  This may seem like a very elementary and even unnecessary question, however, the fact that there are hundreds of religions in the world is enough to demonstrate that the answer to the question has been far from obvious.

 In order to discover who God is, we must investigate to see if God has at anytime revealed Himself to mankind, and if He has, where and how has He?  While space does not permit me to speak at length about these things, the overwhelming testimony and evidence from history (and the sciences!) is that there is a God, and God has indeed revealed Himself to mankind, and the only infallible written source that contains God’s revelation of Himself to humanity is contained in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. 

 How do we know that the 66 books of the Bible are the very Word of God?  There are numerous ways to demonstrate that the Bible is the Word of God, but ultimately all of the lines of evidence find their climax in the historical fact that God has revealed Himself most significantly in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ declared that He was God in the flesh and that He came to pay to the penalty for sins and secure a place in Heaven for all who would trust in Him alone.  Jesus didn’t just say who He was without proving who He was:  Jesus demonstrated who He was by the irrefutable historical fact of His bodily resurrection from the grave, and as such He confirmed and authenticated the words of Scripture to be the very words of God, and it is the Scriptures that we must turn to for our understanding of who God is, what He has done, and what He requires of us.  The Holy Bible then, being the very word of God, is the only infallible and inerrant source that can tell us who God is, who we are, and what God requires in terms of how to pray (and every other thing related to life). 

When we turn to the Bible, we discover many things.  As it relates to God, we discover that God is not a cosmic Santa Claus who sits in the Heavens and who can be approached in any form or fashion that we puny humans deem as acceptable.  The God of the Bible is far different than that.  He is described as the Sovereign Lord, the Almighty, The King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Holy One, The Everlasting Father, The Blessed and Only Ruler, to name just a few (see Psalm 89:8; Proverbs 9:10; Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 32:17; 1 Timothy 6:15).  He is the One who created the universe out of nothing, and put the billions of galaxies, stars, and planets in their place.  He is the One who created the planet we live on, and brought forth the seas, the dry land, and all the living creatures in the seas, the land, and the air.  He is the One who fashioned man out of the dirt of the earth and breathed life into his nostrils. 

 Why belabor all of these things?  Because I believe, that too often our conception of God is trivial, crass, and in a word, humanistic.  We have a tendency to fashion God after our own image, and in the process we rob God of all the glory and majesty that is truly due to Him alone.  We must then come to grips with who God is before we can understand how to approach God in prayer.  But we can’t stop there.  Not only must we come to grips with who God is, but we also must come to grips with who we are. 

As it relates to us (humanity), the Bible has much to say, and not much of it is good.  Man is described as being created in the image of God (i.e., man is a rational and spiritual creature capable of personal awareness and reflection, and making moral choices, etc.).  That is good.  However, since the fall of our first parents Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3:1-24), human nature has been radically corrupted.  While still being created in the image of God, that image has become distorted and marred.  Here are some of the ways the Bible describes the human condition, and the consequences of that condition:

 1.  Jeremiah 17:9:  “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked…”(New King James Version)

 2.  Romans 3:10-18:  “10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 

11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." 13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."  

 3.  Romans 3:23:  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

 Here now are the consequences:

 1.  Isaiah 59:2:  “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

 2.  Romans 6:23:  “For the wages of sin is death…”

 3.  Romans 1:18:  “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…”

 4.  Ephesians 2:1-2:  “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…”

 5.  2d Thessalonians 1:8-10:  “8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power…”

 The Bible further describes us as enemies of God (Romans 5:8-10), and objects of His wrath (Eph 2:3) that must be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20).

That is just sampling of how the Bible describes the perilous condition humanity finds itself in.  Contrary to the modern mantra that people are basically good, the Bible says otherwise.  We are all sinners, and as such we are estranged from God; we are His enemies and objects of His wrath for having rebelled against His commandments.  We have not done what God has wanted us to do in word, thought, or deed, and we have done things that God has told us not to do in our words, thoughts, and deeds.  The only the thing that the future hold for us, if left in this state, is the sure expectation of the just judgment of God, who will pour out His wrath forever upon all those who remain in a constant state of rebellion against Him (see Revelation 14:10-11).  God is not interested in the “prayers” of such a person (the only “prayer” He hears from such persons is the prayer of repentance, which I will touch on below).  As a matter of fact, His ears are closed to their prayers; the only prayer’s that the Lord is attentive to is the prayers of those who are “righteous.” (Psalm 34:15; Proverbs 15:29; Isaiah 59:2; Daniel 10:12; John 9:31).  This raises a question though.  If there is no one who is righteous, as the Bible has clearly told us, then how can we ever hope to have our prayers heard by God?                                                                                                                                                                     The “How “ of Prayer 

What many may find surprising is that the God of the Bible has given clear instructions on how He is to be worshipped and approached.  I realize this contradicts most people’s idea about God and prayer, especially those who seem to think that all of the world’s religions are the same, and it doesn’t matter what you believe or what religion you are a part of, just as long as you are sincere (a sort of an “all roads lead to Rome” approach, so to speak).  The idea that many people have is that God is up there in Heaven and is more than happy to hear the requests of any person who decides to talk with Him about something (usually, most of us wait until we are in deep trouble, and we pray something like, “God, if you’re up there, please get me out of this mess…” or something similar).  There are many problems with that mindset, not the least of which is that we completely miss the point of who God is and what He requires.  Thus, we must focus our attention on the only infallible source that we have concerning who God is, and what He requires of us:  His written Word, the Holy Bible. 

 As we turn to the Scripture, we discover that at the heart of the worship of God is that no one can approach God without a Mediator (a “go-between”), and the only mediator between God and people is Christ Jesus. 1st Timothy 2:5 states, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…”  The New International Bible Dictionary states that a mediator is, “one who brings about friendly relations between two or more estranged people…Jesus is the [mediator], or peacemaker, between God and human beings.” 2

The significance of this can hardly be overstated.  In commenting on 1st Timothy 2:5, The Believers Study Bible states, “The position of Christ as the one Mediator between God and men excludes all others claiming to be “priests” or mediators between God and men.  A mediator…must be able to reach both parties; therefore He must be both God and Man.” 3 As Jesus Himself told us, He is the way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one can come to the Father except by Him (John 14:6).  The first step then in the “how” of prayer is to do the first thing that the Lord requires:  we must approach Him through the only Mediator, or “go-between” that He has appointed, Jesus Christ.  No other person can be the “go-between” between God and an individual:  not the church, not the preacher, not the elders, not the deacons, not the dead saints, not Mary the mother of Jesus—no one.  Only Jesus. 

 The Bible tells us that in order to have Jesus as our Mediator, we must have Him as our Lord and our Savior.  To do this, we must turn from our sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him into our lives as such.  We must give our life to Christ.  We must renounce all trust in ourselves or anything else and place it in Christ alone for our right standing before God (see Matthew 4:17; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 6:47; John 11:25,26; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8,9).  As I mentioned above, this is the only thing God will hear from those who remain estranged from Him.  When we do this, the Bible teaches that we are then declared by God to be justified and righteous before Him (Romans 3:20-27).  This righteousness isn’t a righteousness that comes from our own works though; it is the righteousness of someone else:  it is the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ that has now been “imputed” to us, i.e., it has been credited to our account/ “placed” on us (Romans 3:22).  In other words, when a person comes to Christ, God now “clothes” that person in the righteousness of Christ (Romans chapter 4; Romans 13:14;Galatians 3:26-27).  

Think of it like this:  as sinners, it is as if we are clothed in the filthiest of clothes (Isaiah 64:6).  In order to enter Heaven though, we need to have perfectly clean clothes (Revelation 3:18).  What God does for sinners is that He orchestrates a great exchange of clothes, so to speak.  When Jesus died on the cross, God took the sinners dirty clothes, and placed them on Jesus, and when the sinner places saving faith in Christ, God takes the perfectly clean clothes of Jesus, and places them on the sinner (Jesus died as a substitute for sinners—He took my place and my clothes (sin) upon Himself and paid the full penalty for me).  The clothes are Jesus’ clothes that have been given to the sinner as a gift, and this is why the Bible says that Jesus Christ is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21).    In terms of ultimate salvation, God views us as those who are clothed in rags of unrighteousness, but as those who are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.   

 Let me try to illustrate this further.  I remember when I first joined the military.  I walked into basic training in my own civilian clothes.  The military then issued me the clothes they wanted me to wear to identify me as one of theirs.  Once I put on that uniform, I was then fully identified as a member of the Air Force, and not a civilian, and as such I had full access to all of the privileges that are afforded those who are in the Air Force—privileges that can only be enjoyed by those who “wear the uniform” (which is another way of saying those people who are on active duty in the armed services).

 Once we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we now have Him as our Mediator, and we can approach God.  Now we can pray!  We are faced with another problem though:  what in the world do I say?!  What does God expect me to say?  Fortunately, the Bible is full of examples of people just like us, who struggled with the same life issues we do!  Even those closest to Jesus had the same questions. 

 One of the most seemingly simple, yet tremendously important requests the disciples had was this: “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1).  Jesus responded with what has come to be known as “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Jesus’ intention was not to give a prayer that should be recited over and over again, like some kind of magical formula or chant.  This is made clear when you see what Jesus said immediately prior to giving us the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.  In verse 7, Jesus tells the people not to “use vain repetitions as the heathen do…” There have been various views as to what a vain repetition is, but I believe it is best to think of it as something that would be said over and over again by a person without any thought about what was being said.  As a matter of fact, the New International Version of the Bible translates the phrase “vain repetitions” as “babbling.”  According to Webster’s Dictionary, to babble is to “utter meaningless, confused words or sounds; to utter rapidly and incoherently; inarticulate or meaningless talk and sounds.” 4 Notice the part of the definition there that I have put in bold print.  This is precisely what many people do today with the Lord’s Prayer:  they utter it rapidly (and repeatedly) in an incoherent (i.e., lacking order, connection, or harmony) manner.  In other words, they are saying the words without any thought about their meaning and purpose.

Does this mean that we cannot recite the Lord’s Prayer word for word?  Not at all, so long as we keep our minds engaged on the words we are speaking.  We can recite that prayer word for word as a prayer to God, but if our recitation of it is void of any thought, and does not truly express our hearts, then we are merely speaking words into the air; it is then that I believe we are using vain repetitions.

 The purpose then of the Lord’s Prayer is to show us what the primary content of our prayers should consist of and to give us a basic pattern for our prayers.  The Believers Study Bible states, “the body of the [Lord’s] prayer falls into two main parts characterized by ascending development: 

 The first part contains three petitions concerning the Glory of God: 

             1) The hallowing of His Name;

2) The consummation of His kingly reign; and

3) The fulfillment of God’s will on earth as in Heaven. 

 

The second part contains petitions concerned with the personal needs of His disciples: 

             1) Provision;

2) Pardon/forgiveness; and

3) Protection.” 5

A helpful tool that many use to keep their prayers focused on the pattern the Lord has given us is the “ACTS Acronym”.  Each letter in the word “Acts” (which is a book in the Bible) highlights a particular aspect of prayer that we want to focus on.   The acronym is broken down the following way to help us:

             -- Adoration:  In adoration, we express to God our love, devotion, and praise. This basically corresponds with the first part of the Lord’s Prayer. 

            -- Confession:  We express our sorrow to God for our sins, ask for forgiveness, and turn from those sins.  Just because we have received Christ doesn’t mean we don’t sin.  We sin everyday. The sins we commit as Christians don’t affect our position with God as far as gaining Heaven is concerned, rather, it is our personal relationship with Him here on earth that is affected.  To have the most vibrant relationship with the Father, we must confess and turn from these sins.  This corresponds with the second part of the Lord’s Prayer.

            -- Thanksgiving:  We thank God for all He has done:  He created us, He saved us, He provides for our every need, etc.  This can apply to every aspect of the Lord’s Prayer.

            -- Supplication:  We ask God to help “supply” us with something.  We pray for others, our families, and ourselves.  We pray for personal physical needs, spiritual needs, protection, etc.  This corresponds to the second part of the Lord’s Prayer.

             While the ACTS Acronym is a helpful tool to use to keep our prayers focused, we must be careful not to turn it into a rigid religious exercise where our prayers lose the vibrancy and, for lack of a better word, “realness”, that we want.  Don’t get upset if you miss one point in the acronym, or use it out of its order.  Lay your heart bare before God; open up to Him and commune with Him, and if your having difficulty in doing that, then you have the ACTS Acronym to help you along the way.

             That’s the basic pattern of prayer, but none of that does us any good if we do not come to God in faith, believing that He will answer our prayers.  James 1:6,7 reads, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…let not the man (who doubts) suppose he will receive anything from the Lord…” But that’s not all.  Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Mark 11:22-24, “22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  These words are so radical that most of us never really take Jesus at His word; the great irony is that while Jesus calls for us to have this kind of “mountain moving” faith, we read these words with an attitude of doubt and skepticism the whole time! 

             Well, just what is Jesus trying to say?  First, it should be obvious that He is using hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) when He says that we can literally speak to mountains and tell them to be thrown into the sea, and it will be done if we have faith.   When we have faith to “move mountains,” we are saying that we have absolute trust and confidence in the object of our faith--the Sovereign King of the universe--that He can do whatever we ask, no matter how monumental or impossible it may seem to us.  If I have a faith that can move mountains, it simply means I have an unwavering trust in God and His power.  I am agreeing with all that God says about Himself!  It isn’t my “naked” faith that moves the mountain, as if it were some supernatural, mystical force. Rather, it is God who moves the mountain, and He moves the mountain in response to my faith in Him, and in accordance with His sovereign purposes.  It could be said that my faith becomes “clothed” when my purposes become His purposes, and I come to Him in complete submission and offer my request(s) boldly before His throne of grace with an absolute confidence that He is able to do that which I, or any other power, are powerless to do. My faith then is a means, not the force, through which God has chosen to accomplish His purposes.  The Matthew Henry Commentary of the Bible states, “It may be applied to that miracle of faith, which all true Christians are endued with, which doeth wonders in things spiritual. It justifies us (Romans 5:1), and so removes the mountains of guilt, and casts them into the depths of the sea, never to rise up in judgment against us, Micah 7:19. It purifies the heart (Acts 15:9), and so removes mountains of corruption, and makes them plains before the grace of God, Zechariah 4:7. It is by faith that the world is conquered, Satan's fiery darts are quenched, a soul is crucified with Christ, and yet lives; by faith we set the Lord always before us, and see Him that is invisible, and have Him present to our minds; and this is effectual to remove mountains, for at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, the mountains were not only moved, but removed, Psalm 114:4-7.”6

             That is all wonderful, but how in the world do I even get myself to that point?  Well, here’s the thing:  you can’t get yourself to that point!  We must rely on God for everything; our desire to pray, our power to pray, and even the faith that we need in prayer!  The good news is that God has not left us to ourselves; He has not left us as orphans (John 14:8).  Rather, He has poured out His Spirit in our hearts whereby we cry out “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6.  Note:  the Aramaic word “Abba” is the English equivalent of the word “Daddy” or “Papa” and denotes the intensely personal and intimate nature of the relationship we experience with God once we become one of His children through faith in Christ). We are utterly dependent upon God for everything, and we must rely completely on the Holy Spirit.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray.  Ask Him to direct your prayers.  Ask Him to work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  Ask Him to give you faith!  As Jesus said, “apart from Me, you can do nothing…” (John 15:5)  That “nothing” that Jesus mentions isn’t a little something!  We need Him for everything, even for the desire, power, and faith to pray!

             In summary of all that I have said to this point, I think the Westminster Larger Catechism is very helpful.  A catechism is just a book that has questions and answers concerning the key elements of the Christian faith.  The Westminster Confession of Faith, with its Smaller and Larger Catechism, was written in the mid 1600’s in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, and has been cherished by generations of Protestant Christians as a lucid expression of Biblical Christianity.  In response to the question “How are we to pray?” the Westminster Larger Catechism states “We are to pray with an awful (i.e., a deep awe and reverence) of the majesty of God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities, and sins; with penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts; with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, waiting upon Him with humble submission to His will.”7

             By the way, God answers every prayer.  Sometimes the answer is “yes,” sometimes “no,” and sometimes it is “wait.” Remember, “Father knows best.” 

 The “When” of Prayer

             I believe we can say that there are basically two types of prayer:  formal and informal.  Formal prayer is that time during the day and/or evening that we have set aside specifically for the purpose of prayer; it is our “prayer time.”  Our mindset in both formal and informal prayer is that of approaching God as the only Sovereign and Holy King of the universe who is to be reverenced and adored.  In our formal prayer time, this is especially the case.  It is the formal prayer time that the ACTS Acronym is particularly designed for. 

 It is important to note at this point that our prayers can be both audible and inaudible.  In the case of formal prayer, our prayers will mostly be audible, though we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and have periods of silence during those prayers.  For example, I may be in the “Adoration” part of the ACTS Acronym.  I may say, “O Lord, You are so awesome!  How holy is Your Name!” Then, I may be quiet for a moment, and just meditate upon that and be sensitive to God’s presence.  Or, maybe I pray audibly non-stop through the entire ACTS acronym.  At the end, I must ensure that I still set aside a period of silence to reflect upon all that I have said and meditate upon the Lord.   With this in mind, let me note that just because we may not be audibly speaking anything, that doesn’t mean that our minds are shut off--they are not.  While we are silent, we are still meditating upon the Lord, and we may even be speaking to Him, without saying a word out loud. 

 The informal prayer time is where we are simply communicating with God throughout the day.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we should pray without ceasing (1st Thessalonians 5:17). Our entire lives should be in absolute submission to God, and we should be communing with God throughout the day that the He has blessed us to see. 

 With informal prayer, there are no patterns, structures, or formalities, though we always have an attitude of reverence and humble submission to the Lord.  Here though we are concerned primarily with speaking with God throughout the day.  Examples would be asking God for wisdom concerning decisions we have to make; praying to Him while someone is telling us about a problem they are having; sharing our thoughts and concerns with Him throughout the day about any number of issues in our lives; or just praising and thanking Him for all that He is and all that He has done.  As you can tell, the informal prayer will almost always be silent. 

 One might ask, “how in the world can I pray to God while a person is telling me a problem they are having!  I can’t have my mind on two things at once!”  Well, you’d be surprised what your mind is capable of!  Your prayer may be as simple as “Lord, help this person!” and that’s it.  Or, as the person is talking to you, you may pray something like “God, give me the words to say,”  or “Lord, how can I help this person…”  It may be as simple as that, and nothing else. 

 The bottom line with both our formal and our informal prayers is that we want to be real with God.  We want to cast ourselves completely upon the Lord through our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and as stated earlier, we need to have faith and rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us in prayer. 

The “Where” of Prayer

             For our formal prayer, we should find a place that affords us the most peace and quiet as possible.  We want to find a place in our home that is free, as much as possible, from distractions.  For our informal prayers, well, that can be anywhere!  At work, the park, the store, even while you are watching T.V. (how about praying for the salvation of the actors you are watching in the show)! 

 The “Why” of Prayer

             The most fundamental reason we are to pray is that God has commanded us to pray.  It is both our duty and our privilege to pray.  God has ordained prayer for us as a means of edification and growth in our knowledge of and our relationship with Him.  Many more things can be said as to the “why” of prayer, but I will simply refer the reader to the words of John Calvin, the 16th Century reformer who has been called “the theologian” of the Protestant Reformation.  Calvin stated: 

            “It is therefore, by the benefit of prayer that we reach those riches which are laid up for us with 
the Heavenly Father. For there is a communion of men with God by which, having entered the heavenly 
sanctuary, they appeal to Him in person concerning His promises... So true it is that we dig up by prayer 
those treasures that were pointed out by the Lord’s gospel, and which faith has gazed upon. Words fail to 
explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable.  Surely, with 
good reason the Heavenly Father affirms that the only stronghold of safety is in calling upon His Name 
(Joel 2:32).  By so doing 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.”8

Conclusion

             I can hardly emphasize enough that what I have written is merely a brief sketch on the topic of prayer.  I pray that what I have written here is enough to give the reader at least a very basic understanding about prayer.  With that in mind, I would like to commend the works of wonderful Christians who have written far more profoundly and comprehensively on the subject.  The following website contains numerous articles and other references that will be greatly beneficial:  http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/prayer.html. 

         In closing, here are a couple of slogans I’d like to borrow and apply to prayer:

 Prayer: It Does the Soul Good

 Prayer: Just Do It!

  

By His Grace Alone,

 John C. Orlando, Jr.

 

End Notes:

1.  Organizing Editor:  J.D. Douglas, The New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Wheaton IL:  Tyndale House Publishing, Inc., 1988, page 958.

2. Merrill C. Tenney and J.D. Douglas, The New International Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids MI:  Zondervan; 1987, page 635. 

3. W.A. Criswell, The Believers Study Bible.  Nashville TN:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, page 1717.

4. Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, Boston MA:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994, page 144.

5.  W.A. Criswell, The Believers Study Bible.  Nashville TN:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, page1345.

6.  From Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

7. Free Presbyterian Publications, The Westminster Confession of Faith (with the shorter and the larger catechisms), Glasgow England:  First published in 1646, this edition printed in 1990, page 271, question #185.

8.  John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. 2 vols. Ed by John T. McNeill. Trans. and indexed by Ford Lewis Battles.  The Library of Christian Classics, Vols 20-21.  Louisville KY: Westminster John Knox Press 1960.  Trans. from the 1559 text and collated with earlier versions, Book III, Chapter 20, Section 2, page 851.

 

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