John Knox’s Theology of Prayer (Part 1)

John Knox, born about 1514 in or near Haddington, Scotland,[1] is pictured in various ways. W. Stanford Reid portrays him as “trumpeter of God,” an epithet that Knox himself would use to depict himself.[2] David D. Murison terms him “the writer,” or “the pamphleteer.”[3] Lemuel B. Bissell calls him “the father of Presbyterianism in Scotland.”[4] In this paper, however, it will be contended that the designation ‘theologian of prayer’ can be rightfully conferred on him. In the following pages, then, Knox will be described as a theologian of prayer. In particular, his theology, piety and practice of prayer will be considered. 

I. His Theology of Prayer

Knox’s  theology of prayer can be best seen in his A Treatise on Prayer, or A Confession, and Declaration of Prayers[5] also called A Declaration of The True Nature of Prayer (hereafter Treatise on Prayer), which he usually used in his sermons in the congregations where he preached.[6] He wrote this disquisition in 1553 before he left England for Dieppe, and after King Edward VI died. But it was not first published until July 1554, a year after Mary was proclaimed queen.[7] 

The Treatise on Prayer, as its subtitle bears, purposely addresses three basic questions on prayer: (1) what true prayer is, (2) how we should pray, and (3) for what we should pray.[8] In its entirety however, this treatise may be divided into five major segments, which are hard to be detected if not carefully followed, because the structure of the treatise is not always obvious. The first division requires that prayer be made with utmost reverence, because of the character of God.[9] Similarly, the second section, on the same ground, stresses the need of repentance in prayer.[10] The third rebukes hypocrisy in prayer,[11] while the fourth castigates unbelief.[12] The fifth accentuates that godly prayer presupposes “the perfect [complete] knowledge of the Advocate, Intercessor, and Mediator.”[13]

Since it is in the Treatise on Prayer that Knox concisely reveals his doctrinal position on prayer, this discourse will be used in this paper as the main source for the study of his theology of prayer, but an interaction with his other writings will also occur. In our survey of Knox’s comments, it will be helpful for us to divide our treatment as follows: description of prayer, encouragement to prayer, place, time, object, and method of prayer, Spirit’s work and Christ’s role in prayer, and the issue of delay and denial in prayer.          

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      [1] The place of Knox’s birth is uncertain. If we take the Gifford-gate as Knox’s place of birth, then he was born in Haddington, but if we take the village Gifford, then near Haddington. For this reason, historians use the ‘in or near Haddington,’ an expression which I have adopted in this paper. 

      [2] W. Stanford Reid, Trumpeter of God: A Biography of John Knox (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974).

      [3] David D. Murison, Knox: The Writer (Edinburgh: The saint Andrew Press, 1975).

      [4] Lemuel B. Bissell, Introduction to The Presbyterian Pulpit, A Volume of Sermons by Ministers of the Synod of Michigan (Monroe: Sermon Printing House, 1898), 5.

      [5] John Knox, “A Treatise on Prayer, or A Confession, and Declaration of Prayers,” in Selected Writings of John Knox: Public Epistles, Treatises, and Expositions to the Year 1559, ed. Kevin Reed (Dallas: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1995), 71-100  For the standard, critical edition of this treatise, see The Works of John Knox, vol. 3, ed. David Laing (Edinburgh: Printed for the Bannatyne Club, 1854), 81-107. Since the Reed edition reflects modern spelling, punctuation, and grammar, subsequent quotations from Treatise on Prayer will be taken from this edition, which is also based on the definitive edition of Laing.     

      [6] Thomas M’Crie, Life of John Knox (Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1855), 55.

      [7] Ibid.

      [8] Knox, “A Treatise on Prayer, or A Confession, and Declaration of Prayers,” 73.

      [9] Ibid., 74 ff.

      [10] Ibid., 76 ff.

      [11] Ibid., 79 ff.

      [12] Ibid., 80 ff.

      [13] Ibid., 85 ff.