John MacArthur - At the Throne of Grace: A Book of Prayers

A B OOK OF P RAYERS J OHN
M AC A RTHUR Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org ) Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates. AT THE THRONE OF GRACE
Copyright 2011 by John MacArthur
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data MacArthur, John, 1939- At the throne of grace / John MacArthur. cm. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-3840-2 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-0-7369-3842-6 (International edition) 1. Prayers. 2. BibleDevotional use. I. Title.

BV245.M14 2011 242'.5dc22 2011005771 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LB-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him (Luke 1:50). A t an appointed moment near the beginning of the worship service, a lone figure ascends the platform stairs and approaches the pulpit. His snow-white hair speaks of a distinguished and elderly soul, yet his stride and physique reveal a younger man and the all-American athlete he was in his day. To the thousands gathered in the sanctuary, this man is their beloved pastor.

Their teacher. And to many more outside the walls of this building he is a world-renowned theologian and Bible scholar. An author of esteemed repute. To be sure, he is all of these to us as well. But John MacArthur is a man whom we love as no other. He is our dad.

Were preachers kids. We wear the same label today that we wore as young children. And because we have been a part of a church where our dad has been the pastor since 1969, we have been surrounded all our lives by people who knew exactly who we were. Youre Pastor MacArthurs daughter, arent you? You must be Dr. MacArthurs son; you look just like him. As the years went by and each of us married, our spouses joined us, grafted in and belonging to the preacher.

Then, one at a time, our own children became part of that family circle as well. The preachers extended family. You have heard jokes about the stereotypic preacher with incorrigible kids lurking in the shadows or waiting out church services in the parking lot. Perpetual troublemakers who would prefer being anywhere but in church and anything but the son or daughter of the man in the pulpit. Thats not how it has been for us. Ditto the spouses and grandchildren.

Each of us has willingly drawn ourselves into the congregation that is Grace Community Church, participating in worship and volunteering for special places of service where we have been called. Our own walk with Christ has been profoundly informed by our dads expository approach to preaching, unpacking the Word of God verse by verse. As little ones, sitting with our mother, her open Bible and notebook reminding us what a student acted like, we read along. We listened. We took notes. As John and Patricia MacArthurs children, truth poured over us, shaping our understanding of God from the days when our feet could not reach the floor.

When the time was right, we were led to kneel before a holy God and receive the gift of His salvation for ourselves. In addition to our fathers teaching gift in the pulpit, we have also been instructed and inspired by his prayers. Every Sunday at Grace Community Church, an important part of each worship service is the pastoral prayer. When the time comes for this to take place, our dad, the shepherd, steps toward the pulpit as though hes approaching the Throne of Grace. In fact, this is exactly what he is doing. Those gathered in the sanctuary pray along silently as our dad prays with deep respect and tenderness.

They quietly come alongside the man in the pulpit as he thanks God for His grace and the incomprehensible gift of Jesus. Solid theology is forged into these people as their pastor prays. This is no casual exchange, and they know it. For us who lived in the John and Patricia MacArthur home, the pulpit wasnt the only place that we heard our dad pray. Nearly every morning of our growing-up years, breakfast together was nearly sacramental. The morning meal our mom had painstakingly prepared was thoughtfully laid before us.

No hasty bagel or splash of juice at our house. Then dad usually read a portion from Scripture and often a few paragraphs from a classic devotional. And then he would pray. Even when we were very young, we listened attentively to our dad speak to his heavenly Father. We listened and we learned of Gods grace through these humble prayers. And we began to understand who Jesus is and what He had done for us.

Our theology was shaped by the words our dad prayed. Sitting around the kitchen table, we heard dads words of gratitude for the privilege of being adopted into Gods family. We heard expressions of his love for the Bible and the church around the world and for the people who were the congregational family at Grace Church. His transparency disclosed his own disappointments, and his faith unpacked his sheer confidence in Gods providence. In his prayers, our dad was carrying our family into the holy presence of the sovereign God of the universe. This was no casual exchange, and we knew it.

You may have heard our dad on the radio or seen him standing in the pulpit. For our entire lifetimes, however, we have known and watched him when the microphone was unplugged all week long between Sundays. We have witnessed his tenderness with our mother, his confident discipline with us when we were disobedient or defiant adolescents. We have heard his enthusiastic cheers from the stands from T-ball to professional sports. And we have been the recipients of his affirming words and tender affection. His generosity with his calendar and resources are legendary.

By Gods grace, our dad has been what he preaches. We have seen the discipline of his pastoral study of Gods Word, during which he remains focused for countless hours in preparation of opening and explaining the Scriptures to us and others. And we have heard him pray. A few years ago, a friend approached us and asked what we thought about our dads prayers being transcribed and published so others could read them. We felt an immediate mix of emotions. We agreed these prayers should be put in printand we had our childrens children in mind herebut we hesitated, because we suspected that our dad would resist.

We knew his thoughts regarding the sacredness and propriety of a persons personal dialogue with the Father. So we talked it over with him. As we anticipated, dad pushed back, not enthusiastic about memorializing something so intimate. Respectfully, we asked him to pray about it and consider the loss for those who would never hear or read these prayers if they were not published. We encouraged him to allow his prayers to be available in printnot only for our own posterity but as a legacy for those of his friends around the world who would be instructed and inspired by them. After some time, dad finally agreedwith one caveat.

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