Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Sermons
I. FROM OUR GIVING TO HIS. No human father would give his son a stone when appeal was made to him for bread, etc.; would put him off with a response which would only be a bitter disappointment. Such a one would be not only an exception to his kind, but would be guilty of an act that would be simply monstrous in general regard. If, then, we, "being evil," cannot withhold "good gifts" from our children, how much less will the heavenly Father deny his blessings to us, his sons and daughters! What we, with our finite and limited love, could not refuse, it is certain that he, in his infinite goodness and boundless pity, will readily bestow. There are two blessings which we particularly want of God our heavenly Father. - provision for our temporal well-being, and succor for our soul. We cannot live without these. Our bodily nature craves the one, our spiritual nature needs the other. Bread we must have, and all that "bread" stands for, that we may live happily and serviceably as those that tread the path of mortal life. But "man cannot live on bread alone;" he needs those higher and holier gifts which nourish the soul, which feed the flame of piety and zeal, which strengthen him for spiritual conflict, and give him the victory over his worst enemies. For these two great blessings we may confidently ask God, and he will assuredly grant them. It is much more certain that God our Father will provide for our real necessities, and will strengthen our souls with all needful Divine influences, than it is certain that the kindest human father will not mock his beloved children when they appeal for his bounty. With holy boldness, then, may we go to the throne of grace, and pray for all those things that are requisite alike for the body as for the soul. But we may carry this argument with which our Lord has supplied us into other spheres, and may thus "assure our hearts" concerning him. II. FROM OUR FORGING TO HIS. We may have a difficulty in realizing the great truth that God is willing to forgive us all our sin and to reinstate us fully in his favor. But if as sons we have been forgiven by our parents, or if as parents we have forgiven our children and taken them back into the fullness of our favor, we may argue safely from the human fatherhood to the Divine. If we, "being evil," with such small and scanty magnanimity as we possess, can forgive freely, how much more can he - he whose ways of mercy are as much higher than ours as the heaven is higher than the earth! III. FROM OUR GUIDANCE TO HIS. How impossible it is for any of us that is a father to refuse guidance to one of our children when he comes to ask it of us! Only the most heartless, the most unfatherly, could think of declining it. And since that is so with us, in all our human imperfection, how positive it is that the Divine Father will guide us by the shaping of his providence, or by the prompting of his Spirit, when we see not our way, but make known our request unto him to "lead us all our journey through"! IV. FROM OUR SOLICITUDE TO HIS. One of the very greatest questions we propose to ourselves is this - Does God care enough for each one of us to renew our life in another realm when we leave this world? Jesus Christ's declaration is the answer to this question (John 5:24-29). But we find strong, reassuring help here. How much do we care for the continuance of the life of our children? How much do we not care? What words will express our parental solicitude that death should not strike them down, that they should live, and that their life should be large, free, blessed? If that is our concern for them, what will not God our Father desire for us? What will he not care that we do not perish in the arms of death, but have everlasting life in the embrace of his own heavenly love? - C.
Lord, teach us to pray. I. WHAT THE REQUEST IMPLIES.1. A conviction of the importance of prayer. This, in this ease, seems to have had its origin in the habits and example of Christ. He prayed often and much; in sorrow, and in joy; alone, and with His disciples. 2. This request implies also some knowledge of the real nature of prayer. The disciples had heard their Master pray. They had witnessed His fervour, the seriousness, the abasement, and perhaps something of the elevation, of His spirit in His supplications, and their understandings were opened. Prayer appeared to them in a new light. Before, it was a ceremony; it was now an inward, spiritual service. They regarded it for the first time as the work of the heart, and conscious that their own hearts had hitherto been but little engaged in it, their request was, "Lord, teach us to pray." They wished their prayers to be in future of a higher and more spiritual character, and, beyond this, they scarcely knew, perhaps, their own meaning or object. 3. An impression, too. of the difficulty of prayer is plainly to be traced in the disciples' words. And this undoubtedly sprung out of their conviction of its importance, and their newly-acquired knowledge of its real nature. That which is so important must, they concluded, be done aright; and that which is so spiritual, they were conscious they could not do at all; and thus they were constrained to seek help and instruction. 4. Besides intimating a conviction of the importance, the real nature, and the difficulty of prayer, it plainly indicates also a desire for an increased ability to pray. II. How MAY WE EXPECT SUCH A PETITION AS THIS TO BE ANSWERED? In the instance before us, it was answered at once. We owe to it the well-known prayer we call the Lord's prayer — a model of supplication, which claims at once our admiration and gratitude. But with all its excellencies it is in itself powerless. It could not teach these disciples to pray. It showed them indeed what their prayers ought to be, but it did not communicate to them the power of making their prayers like it. Our Lord well knew this. Accordingly, as soon as He had given His disciples a pattern for their supplications, we find Him immediately directing them where to go for the ability to follow it. He sends them to the Holy Spirit for the inward principle of prayer, urging them to importunity in their petitions for His grace, and assuring them at the same time that their importunity shall not be lost. How then does this Holy Spirit teach us to pray? In many ways. Among others, in these four: 1. By discovering to us our spiritual poverty; showing us our wants and helplessness, or giving us a more lively sense of them. 2. Affliction, too, is often made to answer the same gracious end. 3. At other times Christ stirs up the soul to prayer, by glving it an enlarged view of the Divine promises and goodness. 4. Sometimes the Holy Spirit carries us yet farther. He teaches us to pray by giving us clearer views of Christ as a Mediator and Intercessor. You are aware, brethren, that I might still go on. I might say, Christ teaches us to pray by much that is passing around us, by what we call accidents — events that make, perhaps, a whole parish or nation start; crushing, and crushing in an hour, the hopes and prospects and happiness that seemed almost out of the reach of decay or change. And He teaches us by deliverances, by bringing us to the edge of some precipice, and then, as our foot goes over it, snatching us away from it; showing us in the same moment our danger and our deliverance. (G. Bradley, M. A.) 1. This was a pertinent request, considering them as dependent, needy, sinful, and dying creatures. 2. A seasonable request, as Christ had been just now praying before them, and was shortly to be taken from them. 3. A short and comprehensive request, much being contained in a few words. 4. It would also appear to have been an acceptable request, for it was immediately answered, and that in a very gracious manner. II. WHAT WAS IMPLIED IN THE REQUEST. 1. A consciousness of the importance and necessity of prayer. The breath of the newborn soul. Prayer softens our affections, sweetens our enjoyments, and is the principal means of keeping up an intercourse with heaven. God approves of it, and the soul is every way benefited by 2. A sense of weakness and inability, and that this duty cannot be performed aright without Divine assistance. 3. It also implies that those who are appointed of God to instruct others, will, among other things, teach them to pray. III. THE PROPRIETY OF THIS APPLICATION, AS MADE TO CHRIST: — 1. None ever prayed like Christ — so pertinently, fervently, and effectually. 2. As none ever prayed, so none ever taught like Christ. 3. It was Christ who taught John to pray, else He could not have taught His disciples. He teaches those who are teachers of others. (B. Beddome, M. A.) I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THIS REQUEST? Clearly it implies —1. A conviction of the propriety of prayer. 2. It implies a sense of their need of being taught. 3. It implies a sincere desire to learn. 4. It implies something of the true spirit or disposition of prayer already possessed. 5. The request implies a high opinion of the ability and grace of Christ. II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE REQUEST WAS REGARDED. We may observe, in the general, it was answered. The disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray." The Lord Jesus did teach them. 1. By convincing us more clearly of the necessity of prayer, 2. By giving us more impressive views of our wants. 3. By strengthening our faith in Divine promises. 4. By instructing us in the great utility of His own mediation. 5. By increasing our pleasure and delight in the duty. (T. Kidd.) After listening to a fervent prayer we sometimes say, "We wish we could pray like the person who has offered it"; how much more should we have thus wished, if we had heard Jesus Christ pray! No doubt His manner was very impressive, sincere, fervent, reverent.1. "Lord, teach us to pray," because we are ignorant in asking. St. Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought." A consciousness of inability to pray aright grows with a Christian's growth. 2. Again, a sense of our sinfulness, as well as of our ignorance, should cause us to offer the petition in our text. Who does not feel at times as if it was a wonder of mercy that God does not cut us down in anger, even while in the act of praying, so miserable and defective are our purest offerings! What a gift of prayer would it be if our God would enable us always to delight in the duty, restrain every wandering thought, and fix our whole soul in sweet and full communion with Him! Can you think of many things more desirable in this world, Christians, than the perfect spirit of prayer? If we could enjoy always as much as we do in our happiest devotional seasons, that would be a blessed privilege; but, alas! our happy seasons are few and far between, and even in them "there was much imperfection. "Lord, teach us to pray." 3. To make us prevalent in prayer, we have need also to offer the petition in our text. We might have unnumbered mercies more than we do enjoy if we prayed for them aright. There are favours in God's right hand for ourselves, our children, our friends, and fellow-creatures, the bestowal of which is suspended on our faithfulness in asking. Here is more than life, here is eternal welfare resting on our prayers to God. 4. And who can so well teach us how to pray as that blessed Saviour to whom the request of our text was addressed! Prayer was His frequent work on earth, intercession is His employ in heaven. He knows what pleas will prevail with God, and He can put them into our hearts and order them aright upon our tongues. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.) 1. It would be difficult, I think impossible, to prove that our Lord ever commanded His disciples to pray. He always assumes that they pray; teaches them plainly that unless they pray they cannot do what they must do. He moved His disciples to pray, not by telling them to do so, but by exciting in them desires which compelled them to supplication. You cannot pray by direct force of resolution. You must put yourself under conditions which will inspire desire for communion with God.(1) Because for most men it is hard to pray, and easy to pretend, we are warned against that easily besetting sin. The hypocrites wanted of the king only to be seen in his company. They stood at his door that they might be mistaken for his friends. The same temptation assails us at all times, and is acutely dangerous now. It is insidious as malaria.(2) Most of us say grace before our meals. If we realize who feeds us, we cannot help doing so, unless we are brutes. Most of us have family worship. If we are alert to spiritual facts, it will be more natural to omit our meals than our devotions. But what are the motives we often hear unblushingly advanced for continuing these spiritual exercises? The children will be surprised if they do not hear grace at table I For the sake of the example upon them, daily prayers must be inexorably maintained! But is it permitted to pray that we may be seen of children, and forbidden to pray that .we may be seen of men? The "closet" is the cure for hypocrisy in prayer.2. When we pray, we are forbidden to use vain repetitions as the heathen do. There are men, good men, men meaning to be honest, who think their prayers must be right if couched in Scriptural phrases. Many say prayers every night and morning, who never pray except when they are scared. Repeating David's or Isaiah's petitions, or even our Lord's Prayer, is not necessarily praying because we do it on our knees. Saying over even the Lord's Prayer is for us a vain repetition until we so understand its meaning and so sympathize with its spirit that the words express our real desires. For "vain repetitions" are simply "empty phrases," sayings which do not express what we really mean. The cure for this habit of making vain repetition lies in creating right desires. We must learn to know what we need, and to desire that. Therefore we are told — 3. When we pray, to pray after this manner. The prayer tells us what we need, but rarely crave. If we were sure that one wish, and one only, would be granted us this day for the asking, would that wish be the petition which stands first in the Lord's Prayer?(1) We shall not pray effectively until we pray according to the mind of God.(2) Few of us do greatly desire the things God desires for us.(3) We need such a change of heart as shall make us crave what God declares we need. And this is only another way of saying — (a) (b) (c) (W . B. Wright.) I. SELF-CONCEIT. We are very slow to learn the lesson of our own inability. We feel at some time, perhaps, that our hearts are prompted by an earnest desire to pray. We grow keenly alive for the moment to our own wants; but when we attempt to pray, we find the edge of that sense of need is gone. The heart appeared full, but when we knelt we found it empty. Vexed and disappointed, we murmur at our privation, but are too blind to see its cause. We cannot see that our own self-conceit lies at the root of our failure. We thought we could do it of ourselves — we anticipated rich heart communion; but we were miserably mistaken, because we did not realize that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but that our whole sufficiency is of God. We need, then, to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the very dawn of spiritual light, the very threshold of prayer. II. SELF-IGNORANCE. They tell God that they have sinned, that they have grievously broken His commandments; they ask God to give them true repentance, and to forgive them for Jesus Christ's sake. Such a prayer might be from a certain heart a true and noble expression of spiritual longing; but with the persons alluded to this prayer is the stereotyped plate from which all their prayers for themselves, morning and evening, are struck off. With very little variation, and in the most conventional way — though, perhaps, with very real desire — they confess that they are sinners, unworthy and polluted, but there is not the confession of a single definite sin, or if there is, it is perhaps the result of some very rare circumstance which has impressed some special transgression more vividly upon their minds. To realize our sinfulness, we must adopt a more particular mode of dealing with our own hearts, taking them to task; recalling each special sin, and confessing it before God. III. SELFISHNESS IN PRAYER. By this I mean that spirit in prayer which confines all our supplications to our own individual needs. Often God visits us with barrenness because we fail to grow in heart-sympathy and Christian longing for the welfare of others. It is the very law of Christ that His love should spread, as it is the law of hydrostatics that pressure should circulate in all directions through a volume of water; and when we in a stingy forgetfulness of others violate that law, we are met with the punishment of a straitening in ourselves. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.) 1. The first of them is a due sense of our wants. Christ alone by His Spirit, teacheth this first preparatory lesson. "Lord, teach us to pray," by revealing to us our guilt and misery, our vileness and our helplessness. 2. The second qualification which is indispensable, as preparatory to acceptable prayer, is an acquaintance with the true way of access to God. Alas! the tendency of our corrupt hearts is, to resist this Divine appointment. O, then, what need is there to ask of the Lord a right understanding, a cordial approbation, of that way which He hath appointed. II. Supposing you, then, to have made some proficiency in these two preparatory lessons, I proceed, in the second place, to mention SOME PARTICULARS, WITH RESPECT TO WHICH EVEN THE WELL-INSTRUCTED CHRISTIAN WILL HAVE PERPETUAL OCCASION TO USE THE LANGUAGE OF MY TEXT, "Lord, teach me to pray" 1. The power of devout attention while praying is one of those gifts which we must obtain by prayer. 2. Spirituality in our devotional exercises is another gift, for which we must often pray. 3. Furthermore, the Christian has need to pray for simplicity and godly sincerity in his prayers. 4. We must request of the Saviour that a patient confidence in God may accompany all our prayers. (J. Jowett, M. A.) 1. God's greatness. 2. Our own guiltiness. 3. The importance of the subject. 4. Our weakness and aptness to go wrong. 5. The danger of mistaking and miscarrying in prayer. II. WHAT RULE GOD HAS GIVEN for our direction in prayer. 1. A general rule in the whole of the Bible, where His will is revealed.(1) It furnishes us abundantly with matter of prayer, in all the parts of it — petition, confession, &c. (Psalm 51:4, 5; Philippians 4:6). And whoso has the Word of God dwelling richly in him, will not want matter for prayer, for himself or for others. There is a storehouse of it there, of great variety; and we are welcome to the use of it, agreeable to our own case.(2) It fully directs us as to the manner of prayer: as, for instance, that we must pray with sincerity (Hebrews 10:22); with humility (Psalm 10:17); in faith (James 1:6); and with fervency (James 5:16). And there is no qualification necessary in prayer, but what we may learn from the Holy Word.(3) It furnishes us with the most fit words to be used in prayer. Do ye want words to express your desires before the Lord? He has given us His own words in the Bible, that we may use them according to our needs (Hosea 14:2). 2. There is a special rule given us by Jesus Christ for that end, namely, that form of words which Christ taught His disciples, commonly called "the Lord's Prayer."(1) The Lord's Prayer is given us as a directory for prayer, a pattern and an example, by which we are to regulate our petitions, and make other prayers.(2) It may also be used as a prayer, so that it be done with understanding, faith, reverence, and other praying graces.Inferences: 1. How gracious and ready to hear prayer is our God, who has been pleased Himself to direct us how to pray to Him! 2. Let us acquaint ourselves with the blessed Word, that contains such a full rule of practice as well as faith; and study the Holy Scriptures, that we may be the better instructed to pray. 3. See the absolute necessity for prayer in a Christian life. (T. Boston, D. D.) I. IT IS AN OFFERING UP OF OUR DESIRES TO GOD. These are, as it were, the soul of prayer, without which the most elegant and warm expressions that can possibly be invented and used would not be acceptable to God. II. Our request must be FOR SUCH THINGS AS ARE AGREEABLE TO THE WILL OF GOD. Things which are not so it is not fit we should receive; and for that reason we should not be rash and hasty to utter anything before God. III. Our prayers are to be offered up to God IN THE NAME OF CHRIST; for His sake; in dependence upon the merit and intercession of the beloved Son of God, in whom the Father is well pleased. IV. CONFESSION OF SIN IS A BRANCH OF THAT WORSHIP WE CALL PRAYER. V. A THANKFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD'S MERCIES justly claims a place in this part of Divine worship. (John Whitty.) 1. The heart must be the agent. 2. God is the object. 3. Jesus Christ the medium. 4. Prayer must be our constant exercise. II. WHY SHOULD WE DESIRE TO BE TAUGHT HOW TO PRAY? 1. Because of the importance of prayer. 2. Because of our natural ignorance of this duty. 3. Because God desires us to be proficient in this duty. III. WHY SHOULD WE DESIRE THE LORD TO TEACH US HOW TO PRAY? 1. Because He was distinguished for this holy exercise. 2. Because He is our Master, and in all things we are to hear Him. 3. Because with Him is the spirit of prayer. 4. Because He is our great High Priest.Application: 1. Let us cultivate the gift of prayer. 2. Covet the true spirit of prayer (1 Corinthians 7:5). 3. Commence and conduct all our affairs in connection with prayer (Philippians 4:6.) 4. Continue instant in prayer (Luke 18:1). 5. In the exercise of faith look for the returns of prayer. (J. Burns, D. D.) 1. Let us bear in mind the precept of the wise man, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few." Prayers framed at the moment are likely to become irreverent. What need have we of humble, sober, and subdued thoughts I as becomes creatures, sustained hourly by His bounty; as becomes lost sinners who have no right to speak at all; and still more, as grateful servants of Him who bought us from ruin at the price of His own blood. Therefore, to avoid the irreverence of many or unfit words and rude half-religious thoughts, it is necessary to pray from book or memory, and not at random. 2. In the next place, forms of prayer are necessary to guard us against the irreverence of wandering thoughts. A chief use of them is that of fixing the attention. 3. Next, they are useful in securing us from the irreverence of excited thoughts. They are accused of impeding the current of devotion, when, in fact, that (so called) current is in itself faulty, and ought to be checked. To be excited is not the ordinary state of the mind, but the extraordinary, the now-and then state. Nay, more than this, it ought not to be the common state of the mind; and if we are encouraging within us this excitement, this unceasing rush and alternation of feelings, and think that this, and this only, is being in earnest in religion, we are harming our minds, and (in one sense) I may even say grieving the peaceful Spirit of God, who would silently and tranquilly work His Divine work in our hearts. 4. Further, forms are useful to help our memory, and to set before us at once, completely, and in order, what we have to pray for. It does not follow that when the heart is really full of the thought of God, and alive to the reality of things unseen, then it is easiest to pray. Rather the deeper insight we have into His majesty and our innumerable wants, the less we shall be able to draw out our thoughts into words. 5. And further, the use of a form as a help to the memory is still more obvious, when we take into account the engagements of this world with which most men are surrounded. The cares and businesses of life press upon us with a reality which we cannot overlook. Shall we trust the matters of the next world to the chance thoughts of our Own minds, which come this moment, and go the next, and may not be at hand when the time of employing them arrives, like unreal visions, having no substance and no permanence? 6. And this use of forms in prayer becomes great, beyond power of estimating, in the case of those multitudes of men, who, after going on well for a while, fall into sin. Chance words and phrases of the Church's services adhere to their memories, rising up in moments of temptation or of trouble, to check or to recover them. And hence it happens, that in the most irreligious companies a distinction is said to be observable between those who have had the opportunity of using our public forms in their youth, and those whose religious impressions have not been thus happily fortified; so that, amid their most reckless mirth, and most daring pretence of profligacy, a sort of secret reverence has attended the wanderers, restraining them from that impiety and profaneness in which the others have tried to conceal from themselves the guilt and peril of their doings. 7. Such is the force of association in undoing the evil of past years, and recalling us to the innocence of children. Nor is this all we may gain from the prayers we use, nor are penitent sinners the only persons who can profit by it. Let us recollect for how long a period our prayers have been the standard forms of devotion in the Church of Christ, and we shall gain a fresh reason for loving them, and a fresh source of comfort in using them. I know different persons will feel differently here, according to their different turn of mind; yet surely there are few of us, if we dwelt on the thought, but would feel it a privilege to use, as we do (for instance, in the Lord's Prayer), the very petitions which Christ spoke. He gave the prayer and used it. His apostles used it; all the saints ever since have used it. When we use it we seem to join company with them. Who does not think himself brought nearer to any celebrated man in history, by seeing his house, or his furniture, or his handwriting, or the very books that were his? Thus does the Lord's Prayer bring us near to Christ, and to His disciples in every age. No wonder, then, that in past times good men thought this form of prayer so sacred, that it seemed to them impossible to say it too often, as if some especial grace went with the use of it. Nor can we use it too often; it con-rains in itself a sort of plea for Christ's listening to us; we cannot, so that we keep our thoughts fixed on its petitions, and use our minds as well as our lips when we repeat it. And what is true of the Lord's Prayer, is in its measure true of most of those prayers which our Church teaches us to use. It is true of the Psalms also, and of the Creeds; all of which have become sacred, from the memory of saints departed who have used them, and whom we hope one day to meet in heaven. (J. H. Newman, D. D.) (J. N. Norton, D. D.) 1. React a few verses of the Bible before you pray. Much of the language of Scripture is in the form of prayer, and by using it we find help in our approches to God. 2. Always go to God with faith in Jesus Christ. In His name you may ask for every blessing; and through His merits, and for His sake, you may find all that can make you happy in this world, with a pardon of your sins, and a good hope of heaven. 3. Seek for the aid of the Holy Spirit, for He will show us what we need, help our weakness, put right desires into our hearts, and teach us how to pray aright. 4. Have something to say to God. Do not say words in an unmeaning way. Spend a few minutes in thought before you begin to pray, that you may not "mock God with a solemn sound." 5. Leave the answer to the love and wisdom of God. He will give to us those things which it is best for us to receive. I. How PRECIOUS THE PRAYERS OF JESUS ARE, AS BRINGING HIM VERY NEAR TO US IN HIS TRUE MANHOOD. II. THE HIGHEST, HOLIEST LIFE NEEDS SPECIFIC ACTS AND TIMES OF PRAYER. III. CHRIST'S OWN PRAYERS DO, IN A VERY REAL SENSE, TEACH US TO PRAY. 1. The praying Christ teaches us to pray as a rest after service. 2. The praying Christ teaches us to pray as a preparation for important steps (Luke 6:12, &c.). 3. The praying Christ teaches us to pray as the condition of receiving the Spirit and the brightness of God. There were two occasions in the life of Christ when visible signs showed His full possession of the Divine Spirit and the lustre of His glorious nature — Baptism, and Transfiguration. Now on both these occasions, our Gospel, and our Gospel alone, tells us that it was whilst Christ was in the act of prayer that the sign was given (see Luke 3:21-22; Luke 9:29). 4. The praying Christ teaches us to pray as the preparation for sorrow. Gethsemane. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) (D. Davies, D. D.) II. How HE TEACHES. 1. Sometimes by means of an overheard prayer. It was so in the chapter of events to which the text belongs. 2. Jesus teaches us to pray by our troubles. "Nature in an agony is no atheist." 3. Jesus teaches prayer by revealing Himself as the one medium of prayer. 4. Jesus teaches us to pray by making His own Spirit the spirit of our lives. 5. Jesus teaches to pray by quickening the sense of difficulty. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (Dr. Stanford.)It is remarkable that Jesus only teaches prayer, never the philosophy of prayer. The sentiment of not a few appears to be, that this philosophy is the very thing that we have first to learn. The first questions, even of Christians, are too often simply speculative; and in almost every one of the many treatises on prayer they have given to the world in recent years, a large space is taken up with the discussion of such questions. More than they are aware, they are influenced in this direction by the spirit of the times. Each young believer is now likely to be brought more or less in contact with some theorist who owns no higher teacher of religion than science, who smiles down upon him, assures him that the discoveries of science prove the alleged power of prayer to be impossible; and says, "It is useless for you to expect that the laws of nature will be set aside because you pray!" "Who wants the laws of nature to be set aside?" might be the reply. "Assuredly I do not. I know very little about the laws of nature, and even you know very little more. For aught your science can show, it may be quite possible for God to answer prayers, without in the least degree touching the settled constitution of the universe." Our conviction is that we find wrought into our very nature, as one of its primary principles, the instinct that prompts to prayer. (Dr. Stanford.) I. PRAYER IS INSTINCTIVE. Four classes of persons here mentioned. In some respects very different from each other. One thing, however, they had in common, namely, prayer. Christ prayed. His disciples prayed. John prayed. His followers were like him. The world here in miniature. Man a praying being. II. PRAYER IS CHRISTLIKE. Prayer was His habit. "I give myself unto prayer," was the experience of both David and David's greater Son. To some this is perplexing. They cannot understand why our Lord should pray. There would, however, have been far more mystery had He never prayed at all. The holier we become, the more frequent and fervent is our communion with our Heavenly Father. III. PRAYER IS CONTAGIOUS. The word is used for want of a better. What led His disciples to say, "Teach us to pray"? Had the Master been speaking of prayer? Not a word. It was on quite another occasion that He said, "Men ought always to pray." How was it, then, that the desire for increased power in devotion was awakened? It was through hearing and seeing our Lord pray. Prayer begets prayer. One live coal kindles another. There is an Eastern proverb, as true as it is poetic, "I am not the rose; but I have been with the rose, and therefore I am sweet." IV. PRAYER IS EFFECTUAL. "Teach us to pray." That petition was granted. And real prayer is always answered. It cannot fail. As Bishop Hall says: "I am sure that I shall receive either what I ask, or what I should ask." V. THE EXPRESSION, "AS JOHN ALSO TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES," HAS MORE IN IT THAN AT FIRST SIGHT APPEARS. It is not the cry of false conservatism. We shall err if we suppose that he who uttered it simply wanted our Lord to follow in the track of another. Surely there was an argument, and a fine one, in the words. What did it mean? Something like this: "John was Thy servant, and he helped the devotion of his followers; wilt Thou, great Master, do less? John was only a herald and a forerunner, but he watched over his disciples; wilt not Thou, the promised and predicted One, do the same to us?" It was good reasoning. Better logic cannot be imagined. Let us take the benefit of it. Inspired by the faith which it teaches, be our prayers both frequent and fervent. (T. R. Stevenson.) I. IT IS A REAL INFLUENCE THAT OF EXAMPLE. He who is most a child of God in faith, hope, and love, is most of a king for God over himself and over others, wielding an irresistible power, and gaining widest triumphs. II. EXAMPLE OF THE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE. You see it in Christ in this incident. Teach me to pray, said the disciple; but he had more than half learned the lesson when he had looked on Christ praying. The evangelists never pause to extol the life of the Master. To tell the life was best to praise it. On the way to the cross, Jesus does not recommend patience — He is patience. On the cross, He does not speak of love — He is love as He never was before. III. THE APPLICATION OF THIS TRUTH. 1. TO those who need encouragement. Some feel much the uselessness of their lives — no money, little knowledge, or eloquence. But you are not useless if you are true to what is pure and gentle and brave — true to Christ. Influence is not the less powerful because it is silent. 2. This truth speaks to those who need warning. Remember that no one lives to himself. The influence of selfish aims, unregulated tempers, illiberal gifts, goes forth where you little think, and does evil you would dread to acknowledge. What a minister for evil the very presence of an unrevered man is wherever he goes. But if you come to Jesus, though with souls most feeble and most sinful, you may become through Him most magnetic and mighty for the highest issues and the widest influences. (Dr. W. Graham.) (T. Guthrie, D. D.) (Ed. Coleridge's Table Talk.) (P. Brookes.) II. Let me advert to a point which we shall all feel to be of great importance, namely, the use of prepared forms in our private devotions. Let me proceed, then, to point out some objections to prepared forms of private prayer, however spiritual and excellent they may be, if they be used exclusively. Thus it is obvious we are thereby confined in regard to the matter of our prayers, we restrict our conversation with heaven to a fixed routine of subjects, and preclude the mention of those hourly spiritual experiences, which though unseen, and unknown to the world, make up the great incidents of the soul's life, and may give, day by day, a new complexion to its prayers. We live in a world of change, and in the countless vicissitudes to which mind, body, and estate are alike exposed; the soul is subject to infinite varieties of emotion, for .which no prepared form can provide corresponding expression. Again, there is a danger lest the exclusive use of forms should have a tendency to deaden the spirit of prayer. Let me conclude with a few practical directions which, whether with or without forms, cannot be neglected by those who would be taught how to pray. 1. As first, when you enter your closet, be composed, and reverent, and thoughtful. 2. Again, be honest and faithful with yourselves; let there be a great searching both of heart and life. 3. I say, aim to be comprehensive and yet specific. 4. Lastly, we must be earnest and persevering. The confession is humiliating, but it must be made. (D. Moore, M. A.) (G. Spring, D. D.) (Archdeacon King.) (Archdeacon King.) (Archdeacon King.) (Archdeacon King.) (William Gouge.) (Archdeacon King.) 1660 Sermon on the Mount 2357 Christ, parables December 21. "Give us Day by Day Our Daily Bread" (Luke xi. 3). The Praying Christ How to Pray On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xi. 39, "Now do Ye Pharisees Cleanse the Outside of the Cup and the Platter," Etc. On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xi. 5, "Which of You Shall have a Friend, and Shall Go unto Him at Midnight," Etc. Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount A Greater than Solomon The Ministration of the Spirit and Prayer Because of his Importunity A Model of Intercession It Shall not be Forgiven. The Magnificence of Prayer The Geometry of Prayer The Heart of Man and the Heart of God Jacob-Wrestling Moses --Making Haste Elijah --Passionate in Prayer Job --Groping One of Paul's Thanksgivings Prayer to the Most High The Costliness of Prayer Reverence in Prayer The Pleading Note in Prayer |
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