One of the reasons we struggle with imperatives, is because they are not always handled wisely. For example, the Bible tells us plainly that we must pray (Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17). Prayer is a requirement for the Christian and preachers are right to insist upon the practice. And yet, there is a way to make this command sink and a way to make it swim. Or perhaps I should say, there’s a way this command can make us sink or swim.
Consider two different exhortations to prayer. The first is from William Law (1686-1781) in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life:
That’s one way to entice the believer to pray. Here’s another, this time from the Puritan Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680):
Which approach will serve you better over the long haul? I think we’d all opt for the second. The problem with the first quote is twofold: One, Law (no pun intended) insists with all his might on something that cannot be proven from Scripture (i.e., that we must get up early to pray). Two, he does not connect the biblical command to pray to the other biblical realities that would make us eager to pray. William Law makes me deathly afraid of the snooze bar. Thomas Goodwin makes me excited about prayer. Who wouldn’t want the happiness of drawing near to God? Who doesn’t delight to tell secrets and converse with a friend? Prayer will always be hard and will always take discipline, but when I see it as a means to communion with God, it feels more like a “get to” than a “have to.” I still need to hear the imperatives about prayer–and even feel convicted when I disobey them–but the indicatives of the gospel make me happy to hear the commands and eager to obey.
