The Prayer of the Upright is His Delight

Apr 9, 2025

The Prayer of the Upright is His Delight, Proverbs 15:8

 

THIS is as good as a promise, for it declares a present fact which will be the same throughout all ages. God takes great pleasure in the prayers of upright men; He even calls them His delight. Our first concern is to be upright. Neither bending this way nor that, continue upright: not crooked with policy, nor prostrate by yielding to evil, be you upright in strict integrity and straightforwardness. If we begin to shuffle and shift, we shall be left to shift for ourselves. If we try crooked ways, we shall find that we cannot pray; and if we pretend to do so, we shall find our prayers shut out of heaven. 

 

Are we acting in a straight line and thus following out the Lord’s revealed will? Then let us pray much and pray in faith. If our prayer is God’s delight, let us not stint (be frugal or miserly towards) Him in that which gives Him pleasure. He does not consider the grammar of it, nor the metaphysics of it, nor the rhetoric of it; in all these, men might despise it. He, as a Father, takes pleasure in the lispings of His own babes, the stammerings of His new-born sons and daughters. Should we not delight in prayer since the Lord delights in it? Let us make errands to the throne. The Lord finds us enough reasons for prayer, and we ought to thank Him that it is so.—Spurgeon

 

 

1. “God takes great pleasure in the prayers of upright men; He even calls them His delight” (paragraph 1). Discuss the statement and its implications, especially on the believer’s prayer life.


2. Discuss the relationship between uprightness and prayers, as well as “crooked ways” and prayers (paragraph 1).


3. What does it mean to act in a straight line (paragraph 2)?


4. Discuss the following statement from paragraph 2. What should our response be? Be very practical: "He, as a Father, takes pleasure in the lispings of His own babes, the stammerings of His new-born sons and daughters. Should we not delight in prayer since the Lord delights in it? Let us make errands to the throne."