As I meditated on these words, I surprised myself by coming up with eight different points. Then there were several sub-points beyond that. What can we learn about prayer as we re-read these words about Paul and Israel?
I suppose that everyone has a few Psalms which appeal to them more than others. One of my favorite has to be the 19th Psalm. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” It might be argued whether or not the first part of this Psalm is preaching or prayer. It might be argued whether or not it was the preacher’s exhortation or the psalmist’s meditation. But as it ends, it is clearly David’s prayer. “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.” Although a dear friend might be able to help us, only the Lord can actually keep us from sin. And then following that David concludes his Psalm with – “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Notice that David ties together his words and his meditation – his mouth and his heart. “Lord, may they both be acceptable in thy sight.” When the heart isn’t acceptable, then the words won’t be acceptable either.
When the Publican and the Pharisee went into the temple to pray, many things made them different. The first, of course, was the humility & repentance of the Publican in comparison to the other man’s pride. But another was that the Publican’s words came from deep within his heart. Although the Pharisee might have been just as sincere, his requests came from a more shallow source.
The Bible teaches that the heart, or if you like…. the soul, is the center of our being. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” “As he thinketh in his heart so is he.” “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” And later in this chapter Paul says, “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” When Samuel was sent by the Lord to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to become the new king of Israel, he was greatly impressed with some of the good-looking young men who stood before him. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
I believe that I can say without any fear of contradiction, that although God hears what our lips say when we are in prayer, He is far more interested in what the heart says under, behind and through those prayers. If you don’t really want the things that you are asking from the Lord, then perhaps you should be silent. And if your heart doesn’t believe in the things that you are praying, perhaps you shouldn’t pray. Prayer begins as a matter of the heart. And as such it isn’t even necessary for our lips to move or our tongues to wiggle to actually converse with the Lord.
A corollary to this first point takes us back to the theme of these three chapters. Remember that underlaying what Paul is saying here is the matter of God’s sovereign election. God chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. And out of all the peoples of the earth the Lord elected Abraham. Out of all the nations of the earth Jehovah made Israel His one and only nation. But, not every child of Jacob was a spiritual descendant of Abraham.
Is it possible to become so filled with ideological theology that we can forget our practical responsibilities? This is one of the places where hyper-calvinism falls into heresy. And this is one of the areas where you and I stand on the brink of dishonouring the Lord. Just because God knows who He is going to save, that doesn’t mean that you and I do. Our doctrine should not stifle our witness or our concern for our neighbors. What we believe the Bible to teach about the sovereignty of God must not make us fatalistic drones. The doctrine of grace must not stop the people of God from praying for the salvation of the lost.
Incidentally, notice that he called the people to whom he was writing “brethren.” That is a wonderful word, which actually means more than the modern day term “Christian.” It is certainly a Biblical word and perhaps even a more Biblical word than “Christian.” And of course, it speaks about a very special relationship. Through default, I have lately become the acting president of the I.E.P.S. – the Spokane Stamp Club. That means I have to get our meetings started, introduce speakers, make announcements, etc. And I have made sure that those people know that I am a Christian and a Baptist pastor. And there are times when I talk to them in much the same way that I talk to you. But even though I have come close several times, I have never called any of those people “brother” so-and-so. It just would not be appropriate, because most of us aren’t related in anything but our love of collecting. But you and I are both children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and that makes us brothers and sisters. I have a sister in Canada, and a few other relatives, but no physical brothers. You are my “brethren.” And like Abraham, I could even say that my wife is my sister – but then again so is my daughter, and that is really getting kind of kinky.
As “brethren,” although there might be exceptions, you have a right to know many aspects of my prayer life. You should know whether or not I am praying for you. And there are occasions when you should know how I am praying for others or about special situations. Paul shared some of that sort of thing with his brethren in Rome.
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”
And yet, while part of this prayer was general, it was based on facts – Paul prayed facts. “I know, Lord, the way that these people think and the sort of spiritual condition that they are in. For I bear them record.” Verses 2 & 3 are not specifically said to be in the prayers of the Apostle, but we can assume them to be. “They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
It is not necessary for the Lord to be brought up to date on things in our lives or in the world. We can’t inform God about anything because He knows all things. But perhaps it’s a part of praying with the heart, when we mention specifics and details about the problems which concern us.
Israel was in virtual slavery to the Romans, but that wasn’t the prayer request of Paul. We are told that the Jewish economy was in shambles, and there was a great deal of poverty in the land. Never do we read of Paul’s prayers for a sick mother, sister or nephew. I’m not implying that these are not worthy of our prayers, because the Lord cares about all our cares – in one fashion or another. But Paul referred to his prayers about the most important thing in the world – salvation.
Of course, this takes us back to our message from this morning. Paul prayed about Israel’s theological errors and their blatant ignorance of God. He prayed about their self-righteousness. But most importantly, Paul besought the Lord in regard to Israel’s unbelief. My kinsmen in the flesh need to be born again; they need to be converted to Christ. “Lord, save Israel, from her sins.”
In this chapter Paul prays for the salvation of Israel. I know that we haven’t reached that point yet, but in the next chapter, he teaches that a remnant of Israel shall be saved. He had faith that what he was asking the Lord God would perform. And Paul will quote some Old Testament scriptures from which he got that doctrine.
Someone might say, “Well then, no wonder Paul prayed in faith. He had the promise of God.” Isn’t that exactly what faith in God really is? There is nothing wrong in praying for God’s will to be done in the case of our sick grandma. Perhaps we don’t know exactly what the will of God is her case, but we may pray anyway. We know only that God’s will, will be done. But when we have clearly defined scriptures dealing with specific subjects, it is still not unwise or unreasonable to pray about those matters. Yes, there will be a remnant of Israel saved, but you may still pray about it. So the Apostle prayed in faith.
What we don’t see in these verses, but which we see elsewhere is that…
There is more than one way in which we are responsible for our prayers. We must pray in faith, as I said. We must pray in the will of the Lord, and with as much understanding of the Lord and His will as possible. But then if we are not willing to put feet to our prayers, perhaps then we need to shut up. Paul prayed for the salvation of Israel, and he spent his life working toward that end.
These are some of the lessons coming out of this brief comment about Paul’s prayer to God for Israel.