For many pastors, it’s not an exaggeration to say that collecting good books is a far easier task than reading good books. Between the classics that were published in previous generations and the influx of quality new literature, there are so many books to read but so little time to read them. Family life remains chaotic, ministry responsibilities never cease, and office bookshelves begin to function as a treasure trove of unread volumes. Yet from time to time, God opens a door for the busy pastor to dive into a work that has remained in the back of his mind, and such was the case for me in recent weeks. 

​

Over the past calendar year, I found my eyes drawn to a book that was nestled on a shelf just to the left hand side of my office desk. The title of that volume is Thoughts on Public Prayer, authored by Samuel Miller in 1849 and handsomely republished by Banner of Truth Trust in 2022.[1] Few men from the annals of church history have been more qualified to write on the subject of public prayer than Samuel Miller.[2] Aside from being involved with Princeton Theological Seminary at the apex of the institution’s glory days, Miller served as a faithful Presbyterian minister from his ordination in 1791 to his death in 1850. Although he was known for having a sharp theological mind, perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Miller’s reputation was his burden to see other Gospel ministers following his example of authentic piety. 

 

The evidence of this deep-rooted conviction is broadly displayed within Thoughts on Public Prayer, and it is narrowly confirmed by Miller’s intentionality to dedicate the volume to young men who would stand on the front lines of Gospel ministry. By composing this work in the final year of his life, it’s as if this pastor-theologian wanted his legacy to declare that leading believers to deeper communion with God must be equally prioritized with leading believers to deeper knowledge of God. While much of what Samuel Miller wrote has deeply resonated with me as a young pastor, it’s fascinating to see how his counsel has pertinence to Christians of every stripe. 

 

As I worked my way through this book, I was especially struck by the perspective that Miller conveys throughout chapter five, in which he deals with the “Characteristics of a Good Public Prayer.”[3] Of the extensive insights that Miller shares in that chapter, there are at least seven characteristics that are relevant for all believers, and it was a joy to walk my congregation through those characteristics at the outset of a recent prayer meeting. My hope is that readers of this article will be edified by Miller’s instruction, and that their public prayers will be greatly enhanced as they seek to make the subsequent applications with God’s help.  

 

1. A Good Public Prayer Will Contain Allusions and Quotations of Scripture.[4]

           

One of the most essential excellencies in public prayer… is that it abound in the language            of the word of God… This language is always right, always safe, and always edifying.        Whatever doubts we may have concerning other language, in regard to this there can be             none.[5]

 

Application: As praises and requests are shared in the context of a prayer meeting, Christians should strive to thoughtfully weave biblical truth into what is expressed to their Heavenly Father.

 

2. A Good Public Prayer Will be Shaped by Intelligibility.[6]

 

[There should be] a real perceptible orderliness [to our public prayers, such that our prayers are] not jumbled together in a careless, inconsiderate mixture.[7]

 

Application: If we would seek to communicate to our peers with the highest degree of intelligibility, then how much more should we desire to express ourselves in a similar manner to the High King of Heaven?

 

3. A Good Public Prayer Will Be Mindful of Length.[8]

 

It ought to be our aim in prayer, as well as in preaching, to leave off before weariness       approaches, and in that full tide of elevated feeling which becomes the later as well as the           earlier stages of that solemn exercise [of prayer].[9]

 

Application: God sees all things, and God knows all things; therefore, Christians should be direct and succinct in the manner that they publicly pray to the Most High. 

 

4. A Good Public Prayer Will be Applicable to the Stated Purpose or the Stated Request.[10]

 

The prayers recorded in Scripture, for the most part, bear this character in a very striking manner. Almost all of them are, from beginning to end, strictly appropriate, and would not have been really suitable on any other occasions than those on which they were actually delivered.[11]

 

Application: High quality public prayers are diligent in sticking to the main point of concern, and they exclude venturing off to embark upon any number of potential rabbit trails. May the body of Christ earnestly strive to refine their prayers by the enabling grace of God. 

 

The fifth and sixth characteristics of a good public prayer ought to be addressed concurrently, because there’s a very real sense in which they could be seen as two sides of the same coin. 

 

On the one hand-

 

5. A Good Public Prayer Will Display a Hopeful Expectation in the God to Whom One is Praying.[12]

 

On the other hand-

 

6. A Good Public Prayer Will Display a Humble Posture Before the God to Whom One is Praying.[13]

 

The whole manner of uttering a public prayer should be in accordance with the humble,   filial, affectionate—yet reverential—spirit, which ought to characterize the prayer itself            throughout… Those modulations of the voice in prayer which indicate either the absence of true feeling, or the presence of a haughty, disrespectful spirit toward the Greatest and Best of Beings [should] never fail to revolt the minds of those who watch the language [of our prayers], and who are capable of entering into the spirit of this holy exercise.[14]

 

Application: As we come before the triune God in prayer, we can do so with a hopeful expectation that He hears our prayers—and that He will answer the prayers that we offer in accordance with His eternal purposes—because we are His adopted children in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet at the same time, we must never allow our lofty identity in Christ to cause us to drift into arrogance, flippancy, irreverence, or presumption as we approach our thrice-holy God. 

 

7. A Good Public Prayer Will Conclude With a Strong “Amen.”[15]

 

I have much fault to find with the manner in which the ‘Amen’ is pronounced by many of those who conduct the public devotions of our church. Many pronounce it in that short, rapid manner which divests it at once of all emphasis and all meaning; many in that feeble, inaudible, half-smothered manner which gives it the aspect of anything but the expression of an ardent wish… Only now and then is one heard to pronounce it in that distinct, tender, emphatic manner which indicates real feeling and earnest desire; and which seems to express anything like what the term really imports.[16]

 

Application: Through declaring a hearty “Amen,” believers should collectively affirm one another as they hear public prayers that are shaped by Scripture, and that are earnestly delivered by one of their brethren. This can be a powerful and practical way of facilitating a congregation’s communion with God through prayer. 

Bibliography

 

[1] Samuel Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022).

[2] For a helpful, popular level biographical sketch of Samuel Miller, see Barry Waugh, “Samuel Miller, Old Side Pastor & Professor,” Presbyterians of the Past, September 29, 2022, https://www.presbyteriansofthepast.com/2022/09/29/samuel-miller-old-side-pastor-professor/.

[3] The entire chapter covers pages 141-168 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[4] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 141-147 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[5] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 141-142. 

[6] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 147-149 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[7] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 147. 

[8] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 149-151 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[9] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 151. 

[10] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 151-152 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[11] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 151-152. 

[12] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on page 160 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[13] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 160-166 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[14] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 164-165. 

[15] This heading is a summarization of the material developed on pages 166-168 of Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer.

[16] Miller, Thoughts on Public Prayer, 168.

​​​

About the Author:  Dewey Dovel is a pastor at Emmaneul Reformed Baptist Church in SeaTac, WA.