Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 12:3 (Summer 2003)
Article: “God Never Begrutches His People Anything They Desire.” Jonathan Edwards and the Generosity of God
Author: Glenn R. Kreider

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RAR 12:3 (Summer 2003) p. 71

“God Never Begrutches His People Anything They Desire.” Jonathan Edwards and the Generosity of God

Glenn Kreider

Christians pray.1 As children in Sunday School classes, we were taught that one of the keys to spiritual growth is prayer.2 We learned to sing: “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” As adults we read books on prayer, attend seminars and prayer meetings, and otherwise develop our corporate and individual prayer lives.3 Our worship services include prayer as an essential element. But why pray? The simple answer is an appeal to duty, “Do it because the Bible commands it.”4 Such an answer, although accurate, is not all that can be said.

In May 1738, Jonathan Edwards addressed the topic of prayer in a sermon titled, “The Terms of Prayer.” Edwards encouraged his congregation to pray with confidence and boldness because of God’s generosity.5 Of the numerous reasons why Christians ought to pray, Edwards appeals to God’s nature. His insights into prayer and the character of God remain timely for the Church in the twenty-first century.

Historical Context of the Sermon

In late 1735, the town of Northampton had voted to construct a new meetinghouse, to replace the structure built in 1661.6 However, this building was not completed until December 1737. Patricia Tracy notes that “the temper of the times was clearly displayed in the building of a new meetinghouse

RAR 12:3 (Summer 2003) p. 72

between 1736 and 1738. The need for a larger edifice had been discussed in town meeting as early as March 1733, but construction was delayed until the summer of 1736 by disagreements over cost and location.”7

The need for a new meetinghouse escalated when, in March 1737, the back gallery of the old building collapsed on a Sunday morning while Edwards was preaching. That, miraculously, no one died or was seriously hurt seems to have been a miracle.8 However, even after such a providential deliverance, the congregation soon returned to quarreling over pew assignments in the new meetinghouse. As in most New England Congregational churches, seating was assigned on the basis of age and social rank.9 The process by which a committee of church officers made t...

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