A Call to United, Extraordinary Prayer: An Humble attempt…

by Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was the foremost leader of the Great Awakening in North America in the 18th Century. His writings continue to have a marked influence today on the life of the church, his example stands as a beacon to guide us from the shallows of our low levels of spirituality to the deeper waters of life. This classic book by Jonathan Edwards was first published to promote unity in prayer amongst all believers.

Genres: Theology, History, Prayer

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.

The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.

In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.

Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.

Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.

Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).

Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.

Reviews

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edwards encouraged prayer for the revival of religion in his day, based on encouragements to the same end that were being sent out from Scotland. One can see Edwards's postmillennialism on display here, especially as he engages with other contemporary works as well as possible objections to his encouragement to unite in prayer for revival so that the age of prosperity for the church would come. It's easy, like in some of Edwards's other works, to get a little lost in his long explanations, but it is no wonder that this work provoked so many 18th-century Particular Baptists to gather regularly for prayer after reading this.

[curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general premise of this short treatise—that Christians everywhere ought to pray for religious revival and for the imminent return of Christ—is, of course, all well and good. Unfortunately, Edwards devotes an awful lot of space toward detailing why he thought the eschaton was immediately imminent upon the horizons of his own day and age (a trait he shares, admittedly, with his Puritan theological forebears). Thus, much of this treatise is now regrettably dated—such as the 10 or so pages he devotes to refuting a contemporary who argued that the final fulfillment of biblical prophecy would occur in 2016. (Spoiler alert: Edwards was right, but not in the way he thought.) If you can get past all that, this is still a decent read, obviously—and the first half or so of the treatise remains a fairly solid argument from biblical theology for corporate prayer regardless.

[Matthew Prydden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Edwards' exhortation for the world-wide church to join together in united prayer for a special outpouring of God's Spirit was written to promote and to defend a document first circulated by a group of anonymous Scottish pastors in 1746, and yet what is perhaps most striking about what Edwards wrote in his "Humble Attempt..." is just how relevant his words still are for the world-wide church today.

[Nerida · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let us seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Let us go and pray unto our God, and he will hearken unto us. We shall seek him and find him, when we search for him with all our hearts."

This one was actually tough going for me, but a very good reminder of how important persistent, consistent prayer is. The call to pray for our country and for revival is always relevant.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring call to extraordinary prayer in the first half for the coming of God's kingdom, but dated & dubious postmillennial speculation in the second half.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwards is always profitable, but this work in particular gives much attention to Edwards' eschatology. Many of his readings of the book of Revelation and the specific prophecies that he believed related to the Roman Catholic Church now seem outdated. So, worthwhile as and historical window into Edwards' thought, and many good parts on the necessity of prayer for the Spirit, but a little outdated in some of its parts.