p. 52 | Oratory in Prayer by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 30, 1872

Oratory in Prayer.

By James White

The subject of “speech-making in prayer,” is thus deprecated by the Christian Advocate, New York: “Should prayer offered in public be an oration? A few months ago we went to church on a Sunday evening in a large country town, and heard something that so impressed us that we have since thought about it very often. It was not the sermon; there was nothing memorable in that. It was a prayer, or at least, when the minister began he said, ‘Let us pray,’ and the people bowed their heads as if in supplication. Then we heard a brief eulogy on human nature, setting forth its dignity and independence. Then there was a description of the horrible, enslaving effects of superstition, and of false views of the character of God, which have always been entertained in the Christian church. After this the results of modern theological criticism were summed up, and the prayer concluded with a sketch in outline of the ‘good time coming when a man will be emancipated from the bondage of traditions, and rites, and superstitious usages, and will reverence and worship the Divine only in his own nature.’ This is no caricature; it is an accurate report of what we heard on the occasion referred to, and in important respects it is much like what we have often heard in our own denomination and in others. There is a great deal of praying in public that closely resembles speech-making. Of course we intend no criticism of the obvious ideas and opinions of the minister whom we heard; we only ask whether such an oration can properly be termed a prayer?”

The above just remarks are upon an interesting subject, and almost every one can remember prayers like that described. Some professors of religion seem to have scarce any idea of what a true prayer is, and many ministers recite an essay, or give a short lecture on theology when they attempt to pray. Some use prayer as a means of chastising an opponent; and these are the most sacrilegious of all. I heard a minister, at a large political gathering, where were present two governors, a U. S. Senator, and other notables, on being requested to pray, raising his hands upward and closing his eyes, gave a regular political stump speech, frequently saying, “O Lord,” as if to make his irreverence more complete. I once attended a “Ministers’ Conference” of first-day or no-law Adventists, in Maine, wherein one minister, on his knees, gave to the Lord an exposition of the doctrines of the Bible, and another responded, saying, “It’s truth, Lord!” Whether the Lord was convinced by all this I doubted; more than that, I was shocked, at the boldness of the impiety. Yet these ministers professed to be advanced and enlightened Christians and ministers of the word of God. There is food for reflection in these facts. Let us all see to it that our words are well-chosen, few as the case will require, and all our ways reverent before God.

J. H. W.