Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1192
“That your prayers be not hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7.
TO many persons this discourse will have but little reference because they do not pray. I fear, also, there are some others whose prayers are so worthless that if they were hindered it would be of no very material consequence. It is even possible that their being forced to omit them might arouse them out of a self-righteous lethargy. Merely to bow the knee in formality, to go through a form of devotion in a careless or half-hearted manner is rather to mock God than to worship Him. It would be a terrible theme for contemplation to consider how much of vain repetition and heartless praying the Lord is wearied with from day to day. I would, however, most solemnly remind those who do not truly pray that the wrath of God abides on them! He who never seeks for mercy has certainly never found it. Conscience acknowledges it to be a righteous thing with God that He should not give to those who will not ask.
It is the smallest thing that can be expected of us that we should humbly ask for the favors we need and if we refuse to do so, it is but right that the door of Divine Grace should be closed so long as men refuse to knock. Prayer is no hard requirement—it is the natural duty of a creature to its Creator—the simplest homage which human need can pay to Divine liberality. Those who refuse to render it may well expect that one of these days, when in dire extremity they begin to bemoan their folly, they will hear a voice from their insulted God, saying, “I called and you refused; I stretched out My hands and no man regarded; therefore I, also, will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear comes.”
The old story tells of a monarch who gave to a favorite courtier a ring which he might send to her in case he should be under her displeasure, promising that at the sight thereof he should be restored to favor. Later, when the courtier was implicated in treason, the Queen anxiously awaited the ring, but that ring was never shown, though long waited for, and it was little wonder that, concluding the offender to be stubbornly rebellious, a sentence of execution was carried out. If a sinner will not plead the name of Jesus to which the promise of forgiveness is appended—if he will not bend his knee in penitential prayer and ask for pardon at the hand of God, none will wonder that he perishes for his folly. None will be able to accuse the Lord of too great a severity when He casts away forever all prayerless souls! O you who never pray, I tremble for you! Would to God you would tremble for yourselves, for there is cause enough for it!
To those who pray, prayer is a most precious thing, for it is the channel by which priceless blessings come to them, the window through which their needs are supplied by a gracious God. To Believers, prayer is the great means of soul enrichment—it is the vessel which trades with Heaven and comes home from the celestial country laden with treasures of far greater worth than ever Spanish galleon brought from the land of gold. Indeed, to true Believers, prayer is so invaluable that the danger of hindering it is used by Peter as a motive why, in their marriage relationships and household concerns, they should behave themselves with great wisdom. He bids the husband “dwell” with his wife “according to knowledge,” and render loving honor to her, lest their united prayers should be hindered! Anything which hinders prayer must be wrong. If any management of the family, or lack of management, is injuring our power in prayer, there is an urgent demand for an alteration. Husband and wife should pray together, as joint-heirs of Divine Grace, and any temper or habit which hinders this is evil.
The text would be most appropriately used to stimulate Christians to diligence in family prayer, and though I shall not so use it on this occasion, it is not because I undervalue the institution, for I esteem it so highly that no language of mine can adequately express my sense of its value. The house in which there is no family altar can scarcely expect a Divine blessing. If the Lord does not cover our habitation with His wings, our family is like a house without a roof. If we do not seek the Lord’s guidance, our household is a ship without a pilot. And unless guarded by devotion, our family will be a field without a hedge. The mournful behavior of many of the children of professing parents is mainly due to the neglect
or the coldness of family worship—and many a judgment has, I doubt not—fallen upon households because the Lord is not duly honored therein.
Eli’s sin still brings with it the visitations of a jealous God. That word of Jeremiah bears hard upon prayerless families, “Pour out Your fury upon the households that call not upon Your name.” His mercy visits every house where night and morning vows are paid, but where these are neglected, sin is incurred. In the good old Puritan times it was said that if you had walked down Cheapside you would have heard in every house the voice of a Psalm at a certain hour of the morning and evening, for there was no house, then, of professed Christians without family prayer! I believe that the bulwark of Protestantism against Popery is family worship. Take that away—and the instruction of children in the fear of God—and you lay this country open, again, to the theory that prayer is most acceptable in the parish Church.