Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Prayer and Drawing Near to God: Questions and Answers

What did Dr. Lloyd-Jones teach about the true nature of prayer?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones strongly refuted the notion that prayer is simple or easy. He stated: "There are some people who teach us that prayer is the simplest thing in the world...I remember reading a man on prayer saying that prayer is as simple as breathing." He firmly rejected this, declaring: "I wouldn't hesitate to say that in many ways, prayer is the most difficult thing of all, if we realize truly what prayer is." According to Lloyd-Jones, prayer means "entering into the holiest of all, going into the presence of the living God, who is eternal in all his qualities and attributes, and it is the biggest and the most tremendous thing a body of people can ever do." He emphasized that true prayer requires reverence: "This idea that the truly spiritual man is a man who can rush into the presence of God and say, dear God, or dear father, in an easy familiarity, it's an utter denial of the whole of the scriptures."

What are the three main difficulties in prayer according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identified three major obstacles to prayer from Hebrews 10. First, "prayer means entering into the presence of God" - the holy God who is "a consuming fire." Second, the problem of "an evil conscience" that condemns us: "The moment you do so, your conscience says to you, who are you to pray? When did you last pray?" Third, "a sense of uncleanness, a sense of utter impurity" - what he called "the pollution of sin." He illustrated this with biblical examples: "Isaiah...looks at himself and says, woe is unto me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips." Lloyd-Jones insisted: "You can't pray until you've answered your conscience, it's impossible...one's got to overcome this obstacle, this difficulty of an accusing conscience before one can truly pray."

How did Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the Old Testament imagery of the temple in relation to prayer?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones used the temple structure to illustrate prayer's solemnity. He explained: "The temple, you remember, was a great building divided into sections. Each section was separated off from the others by a curtain, a veil." He described the progression from the outer court to "the holiest of all" where "only one man was allowed to enter, and he only entered once a year, and he was the great high priest." This holiest place was where "God, as it were, came down to meet the people through their representative." He noted the people's terror: "We are told that the people would be waiting outside in terror and in alarm, and they'd listen, and suddenly they'd hear the sound of the jingling of the bells at the bottom of the robe of the high priest, and they became relaxed." This illustrated that "entering into the holiest of all was a tremendous thing and an alarming thing."

What is the "new and living way" that makes prayer possible?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the "new and living way" is entirely through Jesus Christ. He explained: "It's all in Jesus Christ...It's not the old way of the temple and its burnt offerings and sacrifices and the blood of bulls and of goats...That's the old way. A new way. Christ Jesus, in him and in him alone." He called it a "living way" because unlike the old priests who died, Christ "continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood...he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Lloyd-Jones emphasized the foundation: "The only foundation that enables me to travel along the road to go to God is the person of the God-man...You need the God-man, reinforced, concrete." This way was opened through Christ's death: "the veil rent broken, his flesh, the broken body, the shed blood."

How did Dr. Lloyd-Jones say Christians should approach God in prayer?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones taught that Christians must approach God with "a true heart" - meaning absolute honesty and sincerity. He explained: "If we're not, prayer is impossible. We can't play fast and loose with God...God knows all about it. Everything is naked and open to his sight." However, sincerity alone isn't enough: "Sincerity is essential, but sincerity is not enough. Sincerity will not admit a man into the presence of God." The key is approaching through Christ's blood: "having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." This gives believers confidence: "with this, you can go with boldness and with assurance, full assurance of faith, in spite of what you know to be true about yourself."

What warning did Dr. Lloyd-Jones give about returning to old religious systems?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones strongly warned against returning to ritualistic religious systems. He stated: "I don't understand people, Protestant evangelical people, thinking it's clever to go back to Rome, as it were, and to fraternize with that old carnal way of Rome. My dear friends, that's wrong. That's out. That's a denial of this new way." He emphasized that "anybody who wants to go back to an earthly priesthood, and a number of earthly priests and popes and all these intermediaries, it's a denial of the Christian gospel." He urged his listeners to recognize that the old ceremonial system with its "human priests" and "all these other things that characterize the old" has been replaced by Christ, the eternal high priest.

How does the blood of Christ answer the conscience's accusations according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones taught that only Christ's blood can silence an accusing conscience. He explained: "Whatever my conscience may say to me, and it still condemns me, there's only one way I can answer my conscience, and that is by saying that God has already punished my sin in the person of his own son." He quoted the hymn: "The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view." He insisted: "You can't answer an accusing conscience except by the blood of Jesus Christ." This truth gives believers boldness despite their failures.

What did Dr. Lloyd-Jones teach about dealing with Satan's accusations in prayer?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones acknowledged Satan as "the accuser of the brethren, the adversary of God's people, who can come even as an angel of light and quote scriptures." He taught there's only one effective response: "I can't argue with him. He'll beat me every time. He knows his scriptures better than I do. There's only one way to answer the devil...the blood of the Lamb." He advised believers to tell Satan: "Yes, what you say is perfectly right. All you say against me is absolutely true, but I'm not going in my own righteousness...My only hope is that the blood of Christ is upon me." He concluded: "You can only conquer the devil by preaching Jesus Christ and the blood of Christ to him, and he can't answer."

Why did Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explained that the disciples recognized their inadequacy in prayer when observing Jesus. He recounted: "You remember our Lord's disciples one afternoon, they went to him and they said, Lord, teach us how to pray...They'd see him rising a great while before dawn and going up into a mountain to pray. They'd seen him sometimes spend a whole night in prayer, and they couldn't do this, and they couldn't understand it, so they asked for instruction." This request proved that "Prayer is very difficult, and this notion that it's simple and easy is quite unscriptural, and indeed, I suggest, quite false to true Christian experience."

What did Dr. Lloyd-Jones say about God's response to insincere prayer?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones was emphatic that God will not hear insincere prayer. He stated: "If you try to [play fast and loose with God], well, you can talk to yourself, but you can't talk to God. He won't listen to you. God heareth not sinners." He quoted Scripture: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If I hide some secret sin, it's no use going to God. He knows all about it." Lloyd-Jones emphasized that God "knows every secret, every thought. You've got to be open. You've got to be honest. You've got to be sincere. If you're not, it'll avail you nothing." This underscores the necessity of approaching God with "a true heart" in complete honesty.