The Return of Prayers by Thomas Goodwin (Modern, Updated Translation)

The Return of Prayers Book Summary

The Return of Prayers is a exploration of the nature, practice, and spiritual significance of prayer. Goodwin emphasizes that prayer is more than a means of requesting blessings—it is a way to commune with God, experience His presence, and grow in faith.

Written with pastoral wisdom, the book offers practical guidance for believers seeking to deepen their prayer life and discern God’s responses.

Main Themes

The Nature of Prayer

Goodwin presents prayer as a privilege and a dynamic interaction with God. He stresses the importance of approaching God with a sincere and humble heart, arguing that prayer is not just about asking for favors but about aligning oneself with God’s will and experiencing His love and presence.

Types of Prayer

The book explores various forms of prayer, including:

• Intercession: Praying on behalf of others.
• Thanksgiving: Expressing gratitude to God.
• Confession: Acknowledging sins and seeking forgiveness.

Goodwin provides practical advice on how to engage in each type effectively, making prayer accessible and meaningful.

Spiritual Benefits

Goodwin highlights the transformative effects of prayer, such as:

• Increased Faith: Strengthening trust in God.
• Peace: Finding calm amidst life’s storms.
• Joy: Experiencing delight in God’s presence.

These benefits, he argues, make prayer essential to a flourishing Christian life.

Discerning God’s Answers

A central focus of the book is how to recognize and interpret God’s responses to prayer. Drawing from Psalm 85:8, Goodwin teaches that God’s answers may come as:

• Direct fulfillment of requests.
• Spiritual growth or insight.
• Silence, requiring patience and trust.

He encourages believers to be attentive to outcomes and persistent despite challenges, trusting in God’s infinite wisdom and timing.

Key Takeaways

Goodwin’s work stands out for its blend of theological depth and practical application. He addresses common struggles in prayer—such as doubt or discouragement—and offers encouragement to persevere.

The Return of Prayers

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Introduction: Expecting God's Reply to Prayer

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. - Psalm 85:8

This Psalm was written for the comfort of the entire Jewish church, both as a prophecy and a prayer for their return from Babylonian captivity. It speaks of the restoration of their ancient glory, peace, justice, freedom to practice God's ordinances, and prosperity, which they had enjoyed before but had lost for seventy years. The Psalm begins with a prayer, from the first verse to the one we are discussing, reminding the Lord of His gracious actions in the past for His Church. The Psalmist says this isn't the first time the Church has been in captivity and that God has brought them back before (like from Egypt), so they hope He will do it again: "You have been favorable to your land," and so on. After finishing his prayer, he stands and listens, like when you wait for an echo, to see what response will come from Heaven, where his prayer has already reached. "I will hear what the Lord will speak," or as some read it, "I hear what the Lord does speak," because sometimes there's an immediate echo, a quick answer to a person's heart, even before the prayer is finished, like with Daniel (Dan. 9:20-21). In short, the answer is that the Lord will speak peace to His people. This response is found at the end of the petition, but with a warning for the future: "But let them not return again to folly," which is a good reminder to make use of such a gracious answer.

Chapter #1: The Duty and Reasons for Attending to the Answers of Our Prayers

The main observation and subject of this discussion is that God's people should carefully pay attention to the answers to their prayers. Here are the reasons for it.

These words are specifically spoken in relation to God's answer to his prayer, so I primarily intend to address them in that context.

The observation is this: When someone has prayed to God, they should be confident that God will mercifully answer their prayers. They should also listen carefully and pay attention to how their prayers are answered. 

Both aspects are important here. "I will hear what God will speak," meaning how He will fulfill them, and at the same time, he confidently expresses assurance that God will speak peace. This is what the Church does in Micah 7:7-9: "I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me." Similarly, Habakkuk, after praying against the tyranny of Nebuchadnezzar in the first chapter, begins the second chapter by saying, "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint" (Hab. 2:1). Eventually, an answer comes in verse 2. Just as he waited for a vision (since sometimes their prophecies were answers to their prayers), we should also wait for an answer to ours.

1. The reason is that if you don't believe in the power of prayer, you're taking one of God's ordinances in vain, which is like taking God's name in vain because you're dealing with Him in that ordinance. It's a sign that you think your prayer isn't an effective way to achieve its intended purpose. You might secretly think, like those in Job 21:15, "What profit have we, if we pray to him?" If you use any means and don't expect the result, it shows you think the means are useless for achieving that result. However, every sincere prayer is ordained by God to be a means to obtain what we desire and pray for, and it won't be in vain but will receive an answer. As stated in 1 John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." It's true that God hears even an enemy, but the hearing meant here is with favor. We use this in ordinary speech, like saying a favorite has the King's ear, or if someone ignores advice, we say they wouldn't hear, even if they listened. So, to hear is a word of gracious inclination to do what's requested, and God's ears are said to be open to their prayers. It follows that if He hears us, whatever we ask, we know we have the petitions we desired of Him. As soon as we pray, we are said to have our petitions, meaning they are granted, and we can be confident God agrees, even if the outward fulfillment hasn't happened yet. It's like when a petitioner is said to have his request when the King's word is given, even if it isn't officially signed for a while. Similarly, when a wicked person sins, as soon as the act is done, God's sentence goes forth against them, but the execution might not happen for some time, as Solomon says, "Sentence against an evil doer is not presently executed." It's sentenced immediately, but not executed right away. In the same way, when a godly person prays, as soon as the prayer reaches Heaven (which happens instantly), the petition is granted (as in Daniel 9, where the command came at the start of his prayer, verse 23, though the angel with the answer arrived later in the evening, verse 21), but the actual fulfillment might be delayed. So, no prayer is in vain regarding an answer. Where God gives a heart to speak, He has an ear to hear and love to respond. Ignoring this is like taking an ordinance in vain, which is God's name.

2. Secondly, it's not just about using God's name in a formal way, but also about taking His attributes lightly. When you pray, if you think that God either can't hear you, can't help you, or doesn't care, you're taking away one of His most important titles: a God who hears prayers. In 1 Kings 8:59, it says that prayers are close to the Lord day and night; they are always before Him, like letters from friends that we keep in sight to remind us to respond. God keeps the prayers of His people in His view until He sends an answer, which is like Him speaking through His actions and words. But when you neglect this, you make Him like an idol, like the false gods of the heathens who have ears but don't hear, eyes but don't see your needs. It's like when Elijah mocked, saying you must shout because the god might be on a journey. You make the God of heaven and earth seem like this when you don't trust Him or value your prayers to Him any more than the heathens valued their sacrifices to their gods. Petitioners not only make requests but also wait at the doors of great men, listening for a response, which honors those men. We should do the same with God, acknowledging His greatness and our dependence on Him. As servants look to their master's hand, so we look to God until He shows us mercy. In Psalm 130, after praying in verse 2, it says he waited more eagerly than those who watch for the morning, like people with important tasks waiting for daylight. Similarly, in Psalm 5:3, it says, "In the morning, I will direct my prayer to you and look," meaning he looks for an answer.

3. If God gives you an answer and you don't pay attention, you're letting God speak to you in vain when you don't listen to what He answers. If two people are walking together and one speaks but doesn't listen to the other's response, it's very disrespectful. Just as not responding is considered contempt, so is not listening to what someone says. Our prayers to God and His answers to us, along with studying His actions by comparing our prayers and His responses, are like dialogues between us and Him and are a big part of our relationship with God. It's said of Samuel's prophecy that not a word of it fell to the ground, and the same should be true of our prayers and God's answers—not a word should be ignored. This happens if you don't observe and listen to them, like Benhadad's servants are said to have done with Ahab's words, by not understanding and observing them. For the same reason you observe the fulfillment of God's promises, you should observe your prayers too. In 1 Kings 8:56, it says not one word failed of all He promised. Solomon had carefully noted everything God had spoken and done for them and found no promise unfulfilled. The same reasoning applies to answers to prayers, since prayers are like putting promises into action, and we should observe them. Solomon mentions this to strengthen their faith that no prayer based on a promise would fail, encouraging others and himself to be diligent in this, and also as a reason for God to hear him. In verse 59, he says, "Let my words be near you," because God always fulfills His good word to His people.

4. Yes, you might provoke the Lord not to answer at all. He might choose not to respond because he sees it would be pointless. When someone is talking to a person who isn't listening, they will stop answering and speaking, and God might do the same. Just like the Apostle says about faith, that it's not enough to believe, but after doing God's will, you need patience to complete your faith so you can receive the promises (Heb. 10:36), the same is true for praying: it's not enough to just pray. After you have prayed, you need to listen for an answer so you can receive what you prayed for; otherwise, God won't fulfill them. As someone said, the sermon isn't finished when the preacher stops speaking because it's not complete until it's practiced. Similarly, our prayers aren't finished when we say them; you must also wait for and pay attention to their fulfillment.

5. If you don't pay attention to His answers, how can you bless God and thank Him for hearing your prayers? Psalm 116:1-2 says, "I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications." The psalmist goes on to thank Him throughout the whole Psalm. You are supposed to watch over your prayers with thanksgiving. Just as you watch, observe, and remember your own needs, which you are to pray for, so you have things to request, you should also observe God's answers for things to be thankful for. Many people fill their minds with things to ask for, but when it comes to thanksgiving, they don't pay attention or prepare for it when they pray. If any study will help you in this way, it is studying God's answers to your prayers. The reason you pray so much and give thanks so little is that you don't pay attention to God's answers; you don't study them. When we offer a sincere prayer, God becomes our debtor by promise, and we need to notice His response and acknowledge receiving it, or else He loses some of His glory.

6. Just as God loses out, you also miss the experience you could gain from this. 1. You miss the experience of God and His faithfulness, which would build hope and confidence in you for the future when you see Him answering your prayers repeatedly. A holy person once said, after God fulfilled a significant request, that since God had never denied him any request, he would now trust Him completely. If hearing about God answering someone else's prayers encourages us to pray (as in Psalm 32:6), how much more should we be encouraged when we see our own prayers answered? That's why David says in Psalm 116:1-2, "I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live." It's as if he said, "Now that God has heard me, I know what to do: this experience alone is enough to encourage me to pray to God forever. I've learned to call upon Him as long as I live." Also, 2. by observing God's answers to your prayers, you will gain insight into your own hearts, ways, and prayers, and learn how to judge them. In Psalm 66:18-19, David's assurance that he did not regard iniquity in his heart was strengthened by God hearing his prayers. He reasons, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer."

For 1. if God does not grant your petitions, it will make you study why He is dealing with you this way, leading you to examine your prayers and the state of your heart to see if you prayed wrongly, as in James 4:3, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss." If you send a message to a friend who is usually prompt in replying and you receive no answer, you would suspect something is wrong. Similarly, when a petition is denied, you will question yourself and investigate what went wrong, learning from it for next time.

Or 2. if your prayers are answered, since God often responds in proportion to your prayers (as you might notice if you observe His dealings with you), you would gain insight into God's acceptance and opinion of your ways. You would see that His dealings with you and yours with Him are very parallel and correspond to each other. In Psalm 18:6, "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears." Then in verses 7, 8, and so on, he describes his deliverance, which was the result of those prayers. Then in verses 20, 21, and so on, he adds his observation on both, "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me," and "With the pure You will show Yourself pure."

7. You will lose a lot of your comfort: there's no greater joy than seeing prayers answered or seeing people come to faith through us. In John 16:24, it says, "Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." Receiving answers makes joy overflow. Even when we pray for others, if our prayers are answered for them, our joy is very great; even more so when it's for ourselves. In even the smallest things a Christian enjoys, their comfort is greater because they have them through prayers and promises. They know how they received them. If "stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret" (as Solomon says) to wicked people, then begged food is much sweeter to godly people. Even in praying for outward blessings, there's more sweetness than in enjoying them. Just as it's a joy to a good heart to see someone converted, it's much more joyful for the one who helped make it happen. "I have no greater joy," says St. John, "than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 1:4). So, seeing God do good for His Church and hearing others' prayers is comforting, but it's much more comforting to see Him do it because of one's own prayers. Therefore, when God restores comfort to a sad soul, He is said in Isaiah 57 to restore comfort also to those who prayed and mourned for that soul, as it's a comfort to them to see their prayers answered. Comfort comes in many ways:

[1] Hearing from God is like hearing from a friend; even if it's just a few words about a small matter, if it's signed "Your loving Father" or "Your assured friend," it satisfies greatly.

[2] Knowing that God is mindful of us, accepts our works, and fulfills His promises.

[3] It brings joy to find someone who shares our views in a disagreement, but for God and us to be of one mind and desire the same things is even more joyful. Not just two people on earth agreeing, but God in heaven agreeing with us brings great joy. This is what happens when a person sees their prayer answered. So, you lose a lot of comfort in blessings when you don't notice the answers to your prayers.

Chapter #2: Concerning Prayers for the Church and for Blessings in Future Ages

Now, as for rules and helps to figure out God's meaning towards you in your prayers, and to recognize answers, and how to know when God does something in response to your prayers, this is the next thing to discuss. First, I will answer some cases and questions that may arise in different types of prayers about the answering of them.

1. Concerning prayers offered for the Church, for the fulfillment of things that will happen in future ages.

2. Concerning prayers made for other people, like your friends, relatives, etc.

3. Concerning those prayers, whether for yourselves or others, where others join with you.

First, there may be some prayers that you must be content to never see answered in this world; their fulfillment may not happen in your lifetime. These include prayers for the calling of the Jews, the downfall of God's enemies, the flourishing of the Gospel, the full purity and freedom of God's ordinances, and the well-being of the society and place you live in. All of you with sincere hearts store up many such prayers and sow much of this precious seed, which you must be content for the Church to reap in future ages. These prayers are not lost but will be answered. Just as God is eternal and Christ's righteousness is everlasting and therefore eternally effective (Dan. 9:24), being offered by the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14), so are prayers, which are the work of the eternal Spirit of Christ, made to God in His name. They are eternally accepted and have eternal power, and therefore may be fulfilled in future ages. For example, the prayer that Stephen made for his persecutors was fulfilled in Saul after Stephen was dead. David's prayer against Judas (Ps. 109:8-9) took effect over a thousand years later, as seen in Acts 1:20. The prayers of the Church for three hundred years during the early times, that kings might come to the knowledge of the truth and lead peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty (which Paul encouraged during Nero's time, 1 Tim. 2:2), were not fulfilled until Constantine's time when the Church brought forth a man-child. In Isaiah 58, after he exhorted and gave directions for fasting and prayer in the right manner, he added this promise: "You shall raise up the foundation of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach," because his fasting and prayers might influence many future ages in fulfilling what was prayed for. What Christ says about the Apostles reaping the fruit of John the Baptist's ministry and the seed he had sown is similarly verified here: "One sows and another reaps" (John 4:37). In this sense, what the Papists say is true: there is a common treasury of the Church, not of their merits, but of their prayers. There are bottles of tears being filled, vials being filled to be poured out for the destruction of God's enemies. What a collection of prayers has there been over these many ages toward this? This may be one reason why God will do such great things toward the end of the world, because there has been such a great stock of prayers over many ages, which is now to be fulfilled. This is similar to how it was with the prophets of old, whose prophecies signified the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but us, with the things now revealed. This is also true in the spirit of prayer, which takes the place of the spirit of prophecy, for we pray through the guidance of the Spirit (who teaches us what to ask) for many things that come to pass in future ages.

Right now, it might be that during prayer, you feel a secret impression on your spirit that these things will happen, which strengthens your faith in them. This also serves as evidence that God will fulfill them partly because of your prayers. Your prayers contribute to the overall outcome. During such prayers, God often shows that He accepts you and reveals Himself to you, confirming that you belong to Him, just like He did with Moses. God never showed His love to Moses more than when Moses prayed the most for God's people. Perhaps you see this as one of the best signs of your sincere heart—that you can pray for the Church's well-being, even for a future you may never witness with your own eyes, just as David did and found joy in it.

And when everything is fulfilled, and you are in heaven, your joy will be even greater because of these prayers of yours: both at the conversion of those you prayed for and at the downfall of the Church's enemies, whom you prayed against. For if there is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner (like the birth of a new prince and heir of heaven), then perhaps the one who prayed the most for it will rejoice the most, having a special part in it. Just like your other works, your prayers will follow you, and so will their results, as Jeremiah mentions. And no matter what, on the day of judgment, you will rejoice, just like those who benefited from your prayers during their lives, since you planted the seeds of their happiness. Both the one who sows and the one who reaps will rejoice together, as Christ says in John 4:36.