Some Great Prayers Of The Old Testament

by P.L. Hickling, Southport | Category: Prayer | Feb 1979

The purpose of prayer

What makes a prayer 'great'? Certainly not its length. The purpose of prayer is communication with the Almighty, and perhaps the only satisfactory criterion of the effectiveness of a prayer is the degree to which that end is achieved. It would be a mistake to define the merit of a prayer in terms of its obtaining a desired result, since this would represent prayer as a peremptory demand upon the divine power, a most unsatisfactory conception. Some prayers of the most pious of men, even the Lord Jesus Himself, have been answered by God's refusal of their petition, in the short term at least. Nevertheless, the prayers which are most impressive to us as examples are those in which men of faith strove for and obtained the blessing of God. The examples of prayer from the Old Testament which follow are chosen to illustrate some of the principles which should govern a man's approach to God. They are 'great' in that they show a deep appreciation of the nature and character of God.

A prayer of Hezekiah

In the incident recorded in 2 Kings 18 and 19, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was threatening besieged Jerusalem with destruction. He derided the reliance of Hezekiah, king of Judah, on the Lord, and said "Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?" This reiterated challenge to the God of heaven made Hezekiah take the threatening letter, and "spread it before the LORD" (2 Kin. 19:14). He prayed "0 LORD, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth . . . hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to reproach the living God ...". Despite the peril of his own situation and the needs of his people, Hezekiah put the honour of God first. He asked for God's salvation "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD God, even Thou only". All created things exist only to honour the glory of God, and any approach to Him that seeks to place human concerns above the divine honour is mistaken. Hezekiah's prayer came from a deep appreciation of the majesty of the God whom he served, and God, seeing this, granted this petition. Perhaps we, brought into a special relationship with God as a result of faith in Christ, sometimes fail to appreciate the glory and greatness of God, and consequently fail to be jealous for His name. We can rightly ask God to defend and prosper His people today for His own name's sake.

Two prayers of Elijah

It is the New Testament only (Jas. 5:17,18) which tells us that on the occasion recorded in 1 Kin. 17:1 Elijah "prayed fervently that it might not rain". For over three years there was no rain in Ahab's kingdom, until Elijah prayed again (1 Kin. 18:42). Scripture presents this as a remarkable example of "the supplication of a righteous man" (Jas. 5:16), where his prayer caused God to direct natural occurrences to withhold the rain. It is evident that Elijah's own condition before God was important here. He was a man whose faith in God had shown in many testing circumstances, and God honoured that faith by His own actions. Furthermore, Elijah's close communion with God enabled him to know the will of God, and he could pray knowing God's own purpose. There is no record of a word of God to Elijah before he prayed for the rain to cease, but Scripture does reveal (1 Kin. 18:1) that the word of the Lord came to him, before he went to Ahab, promising rain on the earth. His prayer was made knowing that God intended to send rain, and he could be sure that his request would be granted. The incident is mentioned in James in the context of 'the prayer of faith', and it seems that this faith is not merely a general faith in God, but a particular faith in the fulfilment of God's purpose in a specified direction. When the Lord Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane 'Thy will be done' He was expressing His assent to the known will of God, while dreading the ordeal it would incur. The phrase is not intended to be used as a general insurance against asking for the wrong things; we should find out what to ask for, wherever this is possible. It might be objected that if prayer is to be directed towards the discerned will of God there is little point in praying, since His will will be done, whether we pray or not. A reply can be given at two levels: firstly, we are told to pray, and God delights to hear us do so, so we should obey instructions without arguing; and secondly, the prayers of the saints may be among the things which God takes into account when He decides what to do. All events are present to the I AM, and in His grand design He can weave each thread of prayer and individual action into the fabric of His tapestry.

A prayer of Abraham

Abraham was another Old Testament character who knew his God, to the extent that he was called the friend of God. The record in Gen. 18 describes how God revealed to Abraham His intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded for Sodom, where Lot was, on the grounds of God's justice - "That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen 18:25). Again we see that his prayer was based upon his knowledge of God. This is the essence of intercessory prayer:

one man appeals to God for another, giving as grounds for his appeal some aspect of the immutable nature and character of God. We have today a stronger ground for appeal than Abraham ever had: we can mention the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham's intercession did not save Sodom; that God had determined to destroy, but it did save Lot and his daughters, which was its intended purpose.

A prayer of Daniel

Another prayer of intercession is that of Daniel, recorded in Daniel 9. His prayer arose from his understanding of the Scriptures (Dan. 9:2), which led him first to pray for the sins of the people of Judah and Israel. It is noteworthy that Daniel identifies himself completely with the people, saying "we have sinned. . .", in spite of the fact that the scriptural record presents Daniel's own life as upright and blameless. He confessed the corporate sin of Israel as a nation in turning away from God's commandments, and acknowledged that the punishment which had come upon them of exile from their land had been fully deserved. He showed his true regret for and repentance from all the evils to which he had been heir, and then entreated the mercy of God, for His own name's sake. He said, "We do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies". As soon as he started praying (Dan. 9:23), God sent His messenger Gabriel to give His reply. God revealed to Daniel something far beyond what he had asked for. He confirmed that the commandment to restore Jerusalem would go forth, but he also gave Daniel the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, the Prince. This was the announcement of the fulfilment of God's greatest purpose on earth, and it was given to Daniel, the 'greatly beloved' because he showed his deep concern for the people of God and the sanctuary of God. There are many ways in which we, as the people of God today, fall short of the divine purpose for us. We can learn from Daniel's humble approach to God, confess our sins of omission and commission, and ask for God's mercy and grace.

A prayer of Nehemiah

A prayer may be noteworthy because it represented a crucial point in an individual's life, when he especially needed the help of God. This example from the life of Nehemiah shows that such a prayer need not be long to be effective. Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes, and appeared before the king looking downhearted - an offence in itself. When the king asked him why this was so, although he was afraid, he was bold enough to tell him of the desolate state of Jerusalem, whereupon the king asked him what he wanted. Nehemiah records what he did in the instant before he replied - "So I prayed to the God of heaven" (Neh. 2:4). This was not the panic-stricken prayer of one who never speaks to God unless he is in trouble. Nehemiah 1 records Nehemiah's protracted confession and prayer before God, so that he was in communion with God, and could trust Him in all circumstances. At this critical moment, when he had to say the right thing in the right way, he asked for and obtained the help of his God. We can learn from this too; where we have to give a quick answer, and wisdom is needed, we can appeal to God, and He will help us; but we must remember that the foundation of constant communion is also necessary.

P.L. Hickling, Southport | Feb 1979
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