Pastoral Prayer and Communities of Faith

Dying to Self and Helping our Neighbor to Worship in Holiness and Truth

Good Morning,

I noted last week that we will be taking two-weeks to go through the section of the Westminster Directory of Public Worship on the prayer after the sermon. While Reformed worship has largely functionally stayed the same since the earliest days of the Churches of Scotland, Geneva, and Holland it is within the purview of the elders of a local church to set up and order the service with their own wisdom and prudence. When we do stuff is a circumstance guided by the situation. Here in the DPW it seems the Lord’s Prayer for instance was often utilized at this time after the sermon, rather than after the opening prayer as we do at Bethany.

There also seems to be some parts that I include in the pastoral prayer, matters such as the moral needs of the nation, the civil authorities, and providential happenings in the world around us contained in this prayer. Again, that’s all up to the man praying and the men given by God to lead the people in devotional exercises on the Sabbath Day, It is not a hard and fast rule. As we’ve seen before the only requirements for Biblically oriented worship is that there is Scripture reading, men and women sing praises to Jesus, the minister teachers and feeds the people in the preaching of the word, and he then offers prayers unto the Lord. The time and place is wholly free and at the liberty of the moment. So as we read the below let us take that in mind just a bit.

Here’s the section for today:

And because the prayer which Christ taught his disciples is not only a pattern of prayer, but itself a most comprehensive prayer, we recommend it also to be used in the prayers of the church. And whereas, at the administration of the sacraments, the holding publick fasts and days of thanksgiving, and other special occasions, which may afford matter of special petitions and thanksgivings, it is requisite to express somewhat in our publick prayers, (as at this time it is our duty to pray for a blessing upon the Assembly of Divines, the armies by sea and land, for the defence of the King, Parliament, and Kingdom,) every minister is herein to apply himself in his prayer, before or after sermon, to those occasions: but, for the manner, he is left to his liberty, as God shall direct and enable him in piety and wisdom to discharge his duty.

The prayer ended, let a psalm be sung, if with conveniency it may be done. After which (unless some other ordinance of Christ, that concerneth the congregation at that time, be to follow) let the minister dismiss the congregation with a solemn blessing.

It is interesting that as this part closes we see that what they recommend is actually what we do. After I close the prayer, we sing a psalm and then I give a blessing, and it’s important that when we receive the benediction we understand that is what it is. The Benediction is not another prayer, but a solemn act performed by the minister wherein the people of God are sent away in the mercy and love of God with a grace-testified assurance that the Lord goes with them, and because of that, they are to be obedient unto Him. That trio of prayer, praise, and proclamation are in some sense a means by which we take in all the elements of worship wound up together in order to send the Lord’s people out into battle against the evil forces of darkness.

Sometimes we like to think that people who came before us were far stricter, hated fun, and just wanted to control. Yet, as we have walked through the DPW and learned more about how our forefathers in faith understood life and worship we see that they are less concerned with a rigid comformity than they are making sure we understand what the purpose of spending time with the Lord on the Sunday morning and evening. There is an old saying that people can miss the forest for the trees, and vice versa. The same can be true for how we approach the Sabbath Day at Bethany or wherever. A danger exists that the events and activities we do overwhelm and become more important than what they are given to serve. When we worry so much about who does what and when it can happen it causes us to forget what the Holy Spirit is doing and why we are there.

The main purpose of the Church is to worship God. Anything else that goes on in an organization gathered together in a particular area as a Christian unit must be in order that the former is done well. If an activity confuses or overpowers, or becomes more important than the meeting of the saints on the Lord’s Day then what the Bible calls that is idolatry. It is a violation of the First Commandment, as much as the Second. The same can be said for our involvement and attendance at non-worship events when we are not interested in being a regular part of the joyous praise of God at 11am or 5:30pm (or whenever a church meets). There is a seriousness we much take into the life of faith and the means by which God has ordained to feed His sheep. Hence why we see in the section from the DPW the call to remember the Lord’s Prayer. When we say it together we are saying it for one another. It’s a corporate act in order to build each other in faith.

In closing, there is a richness to growing in grace that we miss out on when we absent ourselves from the presence of the holy. Paul notes this in Hebrews in a passage we know so well, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” What we do in worship is as much about our neighbor as it is ourselves. Until we understand that so much is missed when it comes to worship. While this Thursday devotion has kind of taken on a little bit different measure than normal as we walk through the directory, it actually ties directly into the formal blessing of pastoral prayers as the pastor speaks for the community grounded in the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and provides a helpful segue to our conversation about the sacraments which we will begin next week.

Here's another thought:

https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/the-worshiping-community

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church