D.S.S. On Intercessory Prayer: Dunkeld 1969

Intercessory Prayer

David Sime Stiven’s address to those on Retreat at Dunkeld in 1969.

Although for more than 40 years I have been conducting Public Worship weekly, I am merely a general practitioner in Intercessory Prayer and make no claim to speak with authority. Once upon a time I was one of the young members of this fellowship when as far as the Fellowship was concerned All the World was Young! In this meeting perhaps I am the very oldest[73]. A long experience warms me that if the young are critical the old are cranky and that between those states there is little room for empathy. But it has been my experience that sometimes those who make the highest claims to expertise reveal along with purely academic dexterity a practical gaucherie
and really spiritual insensitivity enough to make their claims laughable, if the results of their own practice were not so tragically at loggerheads with their teaching. If I venture to give counsel I remind myself that I do in order to fill a gap in the Secretary’s schedule and also that in my own life I may be giving the lie in blazing contradiction to what I seek in words to inculcate. And I cannot help remembering the case of one of our most eminent liturgiologists, word perfect in his devotions and rhadamantine in the routine he wanted his bother ministers to follow, who having a glebe surrounding the church and wishing to add to his smoluments by putting it to good use established a piggery in that part of it adjacent to the last hundred yards every worshipper had to tread before entering the sanctuary to the stench and squealing of scores of swine.

What will likely turn out to be the most valuable parts of this paper I owe to two two predecessors of our Secretary, both good friends and benefactors of mine, Dr. R. H. Fisher, colleague to my bishop Dr Norman Maclean, and Oswald Milligan who gave me my charges at my ordination 44 years ago to Teviothead (I still remember -- and practice--- one thing he said “Follow the Christian Year”). With regard to my source material Dr Fisher has this to say, “The Directory cannot be said to be a living book.” I agree, though, mind you, in spite of its wordiness and particularity in God presence, it has a lot of suggestive material. Intercession is found in the middle of the exhaustively and I fear exhaustingly, long prayer before the sermon in which the intercessory part asks us “ "To pray for the propagation of the gospel and kingdom of Christ to all nations; for the conversion of the Jews, the fulness of the Gentiles, the fall of Antichrist, and the hastening of the second coming of our Lord; for the deliverance of the distressed churches abroad from the tyranny of the antichristian faction, and from the cruel oppressions and blasphemies of the Turk; for the blessing of God upon the reformed churches, especially upon the churches and kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland, now more strictly and religiously united in the Solemn National League and Covenant; and for our plantations in the remote parts of the world: more particularly for that church and kingdom whereof we are members, that therein God would establish peace and truth, the purity of all his ordinances, and the power of godliness; prevent and remove heresy, schism, profaneness, superstition, security, and unfruitfulness under the means of grace; heal all our rents and divisions, and preserve us from breach of our Solemn Covenant.

"To pray for all in authority, especially for the King's Majesty; that God would make him rich in blessings, both in his person and government; establish his throne in religion and righteousness, save him from evil counsel, and make him a blessed and glorious instrument for the conservation and propagation of the gospel, for the encouragement and protection of them that do well, the terror of all that do evil, and the great good of the whole church, and of all his kingdoms; for the conversion of the Queen, the religious education of the Prince, and the rest of the royal seed; for the comforting of the afflicted Queen of Bohemia, sister to our Sovereign; and for the restitution and establishment of the illustrious Prince Charles, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, to all his dominions and dignities; for a blessing upon the High Court of Parliament, (when sitting in any of these kingdoms respectively,) the nobility, the subordinate judges and magistrates, the gentry, and all the commonality; for all pastors and teachers, that God would fill them with his Spirit, make them exemplarily holy, sober, just, peaceable, and gracious in their lives; sound, faithful, and powerful in their ministry; and follow all their labours with abundance of success and blessing; and give unto all his people pastors according to his own heart; for the universities, and all schools and religious seminaries of church and commonwealth, that they may flourish more and more in learning and piety; for the particular city or congregation, that God would pour out a blessing upon the ministry of the word, sacraments, and discipline, upon the civil government, and all the several families and persons therein; for mercy to the afflicted under any inward or outward distress; for seasonable weather, and fruitful seasons, as the time may require; for averting the judgments that we either feel or fear, or are liable unto, as famine, pestilence, the sword, and such like.”

In this prayer before the sermon there is much more before the Intercession and and as much after it.

I feel that the Larger Catechism is very much more helpful. On 183 is “ For whom are we to pray?
A183: We are to pray for the whole church of Christ upon earth; for magistrates, and ministers; for ourselves, our brethren, yea, our enemies; and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those that are known to have sinned the sin unto death. (And while I’m on the Catechism may I suggest that the large place which we now seek to enjoy may be enjoyed still more, largely if we study the Larger Catechism Questions 178 - 176 on Prayer.)

A few general principles. R.H. Fisher warns emphatically, against the use of rhetoric quoting a minister whom he had heard pray “for the sailor in the night of storm and the soldier on the bloody field of war”, against everything affected or unfamiliar, “May his bow abide in strength.” “May they that tarry at home divide the spoil” even the ultra modern: “One young assistant preached in my hearing for ‘the dwellers in slums’ I offered him the advice which he has since told me he valued and acted on that no word should be used in in prayer which is not in the Bible or the older liturgies”. Even R.L.S,’s preciousness is offensive to R.H.F.

Fisher warns also against one of the risks of extempore prayer that they omit much that is deep in the hearts of many of the congregation and stresses the necessity of full presentation of the wants of the people. “Not infrequently no prayer is offered for the Sovereign, for the Civil Authorities, for the Navy and for the Army (there was no Airforce then). Even the Church and her missions are forgotten..... one part of prayer should never be omitted - the grateful remembrance before God of the departed.”

Sprott, G. W. The worship and offices of the Church of Scotland (Edinburgh: Blackwood) gives some additional guidance to us. Writing in 1882 he was much against the then recent habit as he calls it of introducing the Prayer of Intercession before the sermon as was permitted in the Directory against more ancient custom. It is laudable no doubt to put the Intercession after the Sermon. The one thing which makes me adhere to the manner in which I was trained by Maclean and Fisher is that by the time the Sermon is over, I am humble enough to believe, the congregation may be too exhausted to take ready part in such an important part of worship!

Sprott has some good advice on the words of Intercession -- a first consideration he calls it. “A good arrangement is to pray first for the Church: secondly for Kings and all in authority and thirdly for the afflicted. After this the intercessions of a more miscellaneous character may be introduced, as for travelers, sojourners and strangers: benefactors, friends and kindred; to which may be added thanks for those who have died in the Lord and are at rest in Paradise. One cannot be too particular as no class should be neglected and these varied intercessions are specially welcome to some who are present”. (I think he means that one mustn’t particularize but rather include as many classes as possible).

But I think Dr Milligan sums it up best of all when first, with regard to Prayer
of all sorts, he says: “However true or impressive our words may be in themselves they altogether fail in their rightful purpose if through them the people are not led to meet with God” and more particularly of Intercession he
says, “Nowhere is the Church so literally the Body of Christ as when she offers Intercession ..... She is there with all The Company of the Saints before the Altar of God offering her own life for the life of the world that the world might be reconciled to God . The more objectively we can conceive our Membership in the Body of Christ the more shall we attain the true Spirit of Intercessory Prayer .... with the Yoke of Christ upon us.”

These are general principles enunciated by the Masters who brought their own thoroughly trained minds to the examination of what they and others had been practicing for years in company with God’s praying people.

Anything else I have to add will be but the comment of one who follows from afar off. But I have to give of my own. Firstly, I can never be grateful enough for my early discipline in St. Cuthberts, Edinburgh where I was compelled to follow a set form week by week. Since then I have endeavored to come prepared. Often and often I wrote down the Intercessory Prayer I was to offer especially when ministering in Churches which by their architecture demanded that the mind making the prayer should not have to suffer the distraction of making sure the voice should be sufficiently audible. But in Inveresk and Iona the large echoing buildings were not the only ones in which I conducted worship and it could never have done to gather these saintly few who came to smaller buildings and submit them to the artificiality of read prayers.

At the same time I gratefully confess that had it not ben for the rigorous discipline of preparation to I had set myself for the most formal services I just could not have rejoiced as I did in the freedom of the services which were informal. The main service followed the pattern suggested by my authorities except as I have already stated. I preferred my congregations to bring wearier minds to the Sermon then to the Prayer and so had the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession before the Sermon. (In Iona especially I often included a petition for the President of The U.S.A. and invariably a petition for those who stood in for our Queen in all the Lands of The Commonwealth.)

The evening Intercessions were much shorter. We had already committed the affairs of the nation, state and Church to God’s keeping in the morning. In the evening my thoughts could not help keeping company with those in fear of the coming night and his lingering lovingly over my own home and family and the homes and families represented in the Church.

I made a great friend of Harry Cruden [The Cruden Group, one of the largest, independently owned, Scottish based, construction and development businesses, was formed in 1943 and is owned by Cruden Foundation Limited, a registered charity which has donated approximately £2.6 million to Scottish based charities to date] when I was in Inveresk. As you know he was a very successful business man: but perhaps you don’t know that by God’s grace he overcame what looked like alcoholism before he made that wonderful business succeed. One day we were talking about his own business difficulties. As he described how he sometimes felt at a complete dead end with no way through a problem which looked like defeating him completely, he fairly shook me by remarking: “And the I Pray like Hell!” Some ministers might well have taken offense and as I said he shook me: but when I pulled myself together I began to feel that he also rebuked me. For whenever had I prayed like Hell? He certainly set me a standard and I hope he sets you one too. At least he may have set me on the right lines: for years after wards I received another shock when after a service my wife told me that one of strange congregation had remarked that during the service she had the unaccustomed feeling that SOMEONE was listening to the Prayer. If the congregation doesn’t feel certain that someone is listening no matter how eloquent and well prepared we are maybe we ourselves have forgotten that someone is listening -- and answering too.

So far I have kept to fairly conventional lines. But the context in which we find the Theme of our Meditations couldn’t help reminding me of a grim tale my old colleague in Musselburgh, Charles Smithers once told me. A man was complaining bitterly to his minister about someone who had played him a dirty trick and who he just couldn’t stand. The minister remonstrated with him but all he could do couldn’t remove the bitter animosity from the man’s heart. At last he left him saying, "Well at least you can pray for him.” A week later the man saw the minister again and this time he was all smiles. “You were right, minister” he said, “I did pray for him and he’s DEID!”

The context of both the Psalms in which the Psalmist confesses that GOd has set him in a large place is not unlike that of the bitter man and his minister, “The Lord taketh my part with them that help me therefore shall I see my desire against my enemies...... All nations compassed me about but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.” Psalm 118
“The floods of ungodly men made me afraid ... In my distress I called upon the lord” .... and after describing the wrath of God he goes on , “Yea he sent out his arrows and scattered them and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them..... He delivered me from my strong enemy and from them which hated me.... He brought me forth into a large place.” (Psalm 18)

And this leads me to wonder. Intercession is usually regarded as praying FOR.
In how far should we regard it as capable of including praying AGAINST. Now, in public prayer I have never prayed against anyone , not even against Hitler, Gobbels and their crew. In this have I been wrong? How much honester and healthier were those who who in God save the Queen used to sing also:
O Lord our God arise
Scatter her enemies
And make them fall
Confound their politics
Frustrate their knavish tricks
On Thee our hopes we fix
Oh, save us all!

James Kidd up before the Aberdeen Presbytery for violating the Royal Command to pray no more for Queen Caroline [The divorce case of King George IV and Queen Caroline in 1820] and asking why he should not pray for her he was told “because she is a sinful woman.” “All the more reason,” said Kidd, “why I should and I’ll pray for you too .... and you.... and you and any other sinner out of Hell!” (But in this he was praying AGAINST that most gentlemanly king.)

O, I know that Tindal in his hour of pain [burned at the stake on 6 Sep/Oct 1536] could only pray, “Lord! open the King of England's eyes." But when you consider that the eyes of the king opened more widely only upon Female Beauty then you wonder whether this may only be regarded as one of these enormous prayers which heaven in vengeance grants described by C.S.Lewis (Malcolm 30)

It is customary to refer to Jesus teaching and example in the opinion that Intercession is only FOR. But what was it Jesus did to that fig tree between Bethany and Jerusalem but pray against. My reading of the Cursing of the Fig Tree IN ITS CONTEXT is this. As they left Bethany that morning Peter notoriously given to cursing stubbed his toe on a stone on that rough road and came out with “To HELL with that stone!” Then came the incident of the Fig Tree. The next morning came Peter’s surprise; for it was indeed the very mildest of curses that Jesus had uttered. And Jesus replied; a curse - a prayer against - if you really pray like Hell when you are praying it - will be answered. Not just to hell with that stone - but into the sea with that mountain and if you are dead earnest you’ll be really amazed what happens.

I wouldn’t want to pray against an enemy - so much so that when at variance with anyone I do my very best not to get him on the wrong side of God. But what in the presence of God must an attitude be to people wholly given over to cruel hardhearted joyous inhumanity to other people? Picture yourself in Macduff’s shoes when he uttered the heartbroken cry (Macbeth 1V, 3) “All my chickens and their dam in one fell swoop.” And how would you have felt in T.E. Lawrence’s company when he saw this: “The village lay stilly under its slow wreaths of white smoke as we rode near, on our guard. Some grey heaps seemed to hide in the long grass embracing the ground in the close way of corpses. We looked away from these, knowing that they were dead: but from one a little figure tottered off as if to escape us. It was child 3 0r 4 years old whose dirty smock was stained red over the shoulder and side with blood form a large half fibrous wound, perhaps a lance thrust, just where the neck and body joined. The child ran a few steps then stood and cried to us in a tone of astonishing strength (all else being very silent) “Don’t hit me Baba.” .... she dropped in a little heap, while the blood rushed out over her clothes: then, I think, she died.

We rode, past other bodies of men and women and 4 more dead babies looking very soiled in the daylight, towards the village whose loneliness we knew meant death and horror. By the outskirts were low mud walls, sheepfolds and on one something red and white. I looked closely and saw the body of a woman folded across it, bottom upwards, nailed there by a great bayonet whose haft stuck hideously into the air from between her naked legs. About her lay others, perhaps twenty in all. variously killed.”

O, it’s all very well for us - so superior - to think Milton a trifle less than Christian when he shouts to high heaven: (On the Late Massacre at Piedmont.)
“Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered Saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese, that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks.”
It’s all very well from our well padded arm chairs to describe Psalm 137 as just a Jewish Imprecatory [curse invoking] Psalm. We have never felt a tenth of the pain that produced it. I volunteered for Belsen but wasn’t sent. But six months later I met the jolliest assistant I’d ever had and six months after he had entered Belsen he just couldn’t even smile.

I wonder if in all honesty some of our prayers of Intercession shouldn’t be Prayers Against? For me, I haven’t had the honesty or the courage to do it -- in public. But when I heard of Hitler’s and Himler’s death’s I could only shudder.

I conclude with two little things of sweeter savour which I have discovered in my old age [73] is that in the opening Prayer there is a place for intercession and I nearly always use it now. Just at the end of it I remember that we are in God’s House children of God gathered in Christian love. Each with his special need or problem or temptation and that it is right there and then to pray in that great love of Christ for one another.

The other thing I discovered when I sat in the pew more frequently than I had ever done before. That is:- at the end of the service, between the Sermon and closing Prayer an opportunity should be offered for Bidding a Silent Prayer that God would confirm to each that new vision, a new hope or new conviction or new strength or new joy which has come in prayer and in hymn or in sermon. I’ve only done this once. I’ve been too diffident to try it again. But I’m becoming more and more persuaded in my own mind that I’ll have to try it again some time.

And the thing that was given to me long ago and which I have passed on ever since to my First Communicants.

Professor Kay said he had felt for a long time very awkward at the Communion Service during the silences which attended the distribution of the bread and of the wine. But he got new meaning, when during the earlier silence remembering “Broken for You”, he humbly confessed to the Lamb of God his own besetting sins and during the latter silence, remembering “shed for the remission of the sins of many”, he besought his Lord’s mercy upon men and women personally known to be in need. And that is perhaps the most natural form of intercession I know.