Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-10-30

PRAYER IS emphatically religion in actor.
| 1t is the soul of IN n engaging in that par
| cular form Of activity which pre- supposes
he ex stence Of great bond between Itself
| 'nd Cod. Prayer Is, therefore, nothing
Else or less than the noblest kind of human
xertion. 1t Is the one department of &C.
sou IN which u N reaI the highest priv
'ege aud capacity OF his beng. All, ia
itilg this, he Is him,ef enrtc1e1 ani eu-
Iobied aim 81 IN definitely: no =. a. of Cd,
yhen he comes doE0 from the mlultaIu,
as face bears toaen Of an lrrai alton which
; not of this world. Prayer consists al
says of three separate forms of activity
Fnlch, IN the cise of D tf:reut persons. CO.
ST 10 very varying degrees OF intensity,
5ut which are found, 10 some degree, in all
Fho pray, whenever they pray. 10 pray,
first OF all to put the un ierst3n Ing ia
notion, aud to direct it upon the highest
Inject to which it can possibly i1ress itself,
be Iudnlte God In our private prayers,
ls in our pubic liturgies, We generally pre-
ace the petition itself By naming one or
more of Ills attributes Almighty and Es-
srlasring God If the understanding il
really at work at all, how overwhelming
are the ideas, the truths, which thus pass
before 1t; boundiess power, an existence
which knows neither beginning nor end.
Then the substance of the petition, the mo-
tlves which are alleged for urging it, the
'ssues which depend upon its beng granted
or being refused, present themselves to the
eye of the understanding. Aud thus any
common act OF real prayer keeps, MT the
b47t tb
pied earnestly, absorb.ngly. un Ter the
guidance of faith, from first to last. Next,
70 pray is to put the affections in motion
It is to open the heart. The object of
prayer is the uncreated love. the eternal
beauty Him of whose beluty all that
moves love aud and admiration here is at
best pale reflection. To be 10 HIS pre-
,ence IN prayer, Is to be conscious of an
expansion of the heart, anl Of the pleasure
FhIch accompanies it, which We feel, in
another sense, when speaking with an inti-
nate and loved FREUD or reatave. Aad
his movement of the affections is sustained.
throughout the act OF prayer. 1t Is ia-
lgorated by the spiritual sight Of Col,
'ut 1t Is also the original impulse which
eads Us to draw near to Hun In true
nee OF the heart the mouth speaketh."
)nce more, to pray is to put the will in
notion, just as decidedly as we do when
re sit down to read hard, or to walk up a
teep hill against time. Tnat sovereign
over 10 the soul, which we name the will,
oes not merely in prayer impeI US to
lake the first necessary mcnial tffDrt, but
nters most penetratingiy and vitality into
he v>Ty action of the prayer itself.
1t Is the will whioh pre>sssthe petition.
is the will which struggles with the re,
lctanee of sloth or with the oppositions
asslon it is the will which persevei es Z
is the will which excaIm5, " will not
t Thee 60. except Thou bless me-" Now
Iese three ingredients of prayer are also
gredients in all real work, whether of the
aims or the hands. The sustained eff Irt
the intelligence and of the will must be
conded in work no less than in prayer By
movement of the affections, if work is
be really successful. A man must love
S WORK to do 1t well. TIE d, ffsrence
tween prayer and ordinary work is that
prayer the three ingredients are more
ually balanced. Study may in time
come intellectual habit which scarcely
mands any ef,rt of will handlwork
Ay IN time become so mechanicL Il as to
Q are little or DO guidance from houg1t:
ca may exist in a considerable. although
t IN the highest degree Of exc4lleuce.
thout any cooperation of the affsntions
OF so prayer Ii is always tie j1nt act
the will and the un lerstan Ing, imp olled
the affections; when either will, or
telligeuce is wanting prayer at once
sscs to be itself By degeneratiug into
barren intellectual exercise, or into
,chanical and unspiritu4l routine.--CaH-
London.