A course of lectures on preaching - Dabney - XXIII - Lecture 24 (Public prayer)

Required reading
A course of lectures on preaching by RL Dabney (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Lecture 24 (Public prayer).

My summary
Today we finish Dabney's work with a chapter on public prayer.

Dabney suggests that the minister is as much bound to prepare himself for praying in public as for preaching.

So after speaking about what to avoid in public prayer, Dabney gives some instructions on how to lead public prayer.  He explains that:
(i) there is a difference between the grace and the gift of prayer;
(ii) the pastor must look to the position in which he stands, as the leader of public prayer, to determine the manner of its performance;
(iii) it is of radical importance that the leader of the church's prayers shall present distinct and definite petitions;
(iv) he who leads the devotions of others must study appropriateness of matter;
(v) the language of prayer should be well-ordered and considerate;
(vi) the minister should enrich his prayers with the language of Scripture.

What grabbed me
A really good chapter, although it seemed a bit of an add-on to to the rest of the book which focused on preaching.

I particularly appreciated the reminder to pray the Bible: 'Above all should the minister enrich his prayers with the language of Scripture. Not everything in the Scripture is appropriate to express devotion, as some pedantic minds seem to imagine, but the language of its spiritual and devotional parts. Besides its inimitable beauty and simplicity, it is hallowed and sweet to every pious heart by a thousand associations. It satisfies the taste of all ; its use effectually protects us against improprieties ; it was doubtless given by the Holy Spirit to be a model for our devotions. Let it then abound in our prayers. The young minister should store his memory richly with these noble strains, fixing in his mind the very words of the English version. He should memorize perfectly the finest passages from the Psalms, the Prophets, the Evangelists and the Apostles, and study to make them the apt vehicles of his worship.'

The more we memorise the Bible, the easier it is to pray the Bible.

Next week's reading
Start Homiletics and pastoral theology by William G T Shedd (Available from Amazon or free here) by commencing Chapter 1 (Relation of sacred eloquence to Biblical exegesis) and reading up to the paragraph commencing 'II. We pass from this topic, to consider a second effect of the exegesis and apprehension of the Christian revelation...'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.