propose to write an article on the subject indicated by the single word which I have placed at the top of this page. A firm belief that the subject of prayer is not so well or generally understood as it should be is my only apology, if an apology be thought necessary, for introducing it at this time to the attention of the courteous reader. I hold, furthermore, and think it proper to avow the fact right here, that the sacred composition, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, is the pattern for all true prayer; and that to be ignorant of the full scope and meaning of the various petitions in this model prayer, is to be ignorant of the very nature and design of prayer generally. Oh, that men would, in point of brevity, if in nothing else, learn to imitate the dear Lord! O ye wordy petitioners, when will ye not read that men are not heard for their much speaking? Then why, if ye have any regard for the authority of the Lord, do ye make long prayers? But I anticipate. No wonder, however. My soul has been so sickened and my poor body so exhausted under the regime of those everlasting harangues falsely called prayers, that patience, that patience has well-nigh died in my heart. But I promise these gentry that, before I am done with this present writing, I will pay my respects to them fully. It is the purpose of this paper to deal more especially with the nature of prayer; and under this head to include not only the various acts of the soul in devotion, but also some of the things to be guarded against in prayer.
First, then, the nature of prayer. Prayer has been well defined, I know not by whom, the offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in harmony with this definition, Paul holds the following language in his letter to the Philippians: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Still more to our purpose are the words of John: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us; and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask [according to his will], we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
Prayer is in itself a becoming acknowledgment of the all-sufficiency of God and of our dependence upon him. It is his appointed means to us—the enabling cause—by which we may obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings. He could, indeed, for aught we know, bless his creatures in another way; but this is not a question of what God [46] can do, but of what he does. Of one thing I am profoundly certain, namely, He will be inquired of, to do for man the things of which he stands in need. Prayer, then, is the act of an indigent creature seeking relief from the Fountain of mercy. A deep sense of impoverishment and want excites desire, and this heart-felt desire is the very essence of prayer.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord,” says the Psalmist, “that will I seek after.” Prayer without desire is like an altar without a sacrifice; or, if there be a sacrifice, without the fire from heaven to consume it. When all our wants are satisfied, then will prayer be converted into praise. “I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.” Till then, Christians must live by prayer or with a vow. Within certain limitations and restrictions as it respects the heavenly Father, this binding may be called mutual—God and man uniting themselves in vows together. God promising that, upon certain conditions be complied with on our part, he will grant certain blessings.
The word also means to pour out, pour out vows to God, in allusion to the offerings or libations anciently poured out upon the altar at the time of prayer. The ancient worshipper, conscious of his guilt, brought an offering to make atonement, and with his offering joined a prayer to God that it might be accepted. So, then, prayer is something mor
Answered by
Vipan Thapar
, an ibibo Master,
at
6:40 PM on November 10, 2008
