The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-08-21
SINCERE PRAYER.

The little sinner who pasted the
Lords Prayer on the headboard OF the
bedstead and exclaimed each cold win
ter night as he jumped under the COW
ering Lord. them's my sentiments
is a somewhat exaggerated representa-
tive of certain class of praying PEG
pie. There are church-goers without
number in this world-persons reared
under religious influences and in
structed in the creeds and ceremonies
OF their denominations-who say their
prayers daily without ever grasping the
true meaning of the prayer. They
treat it as a ceremony to be gone over
"a mere duty to be performed-a for
mality to be uttered. 1t does not
warm their whole being and animate
their souls with the fervor of religious
appeal, nor do they feel the humility
and alteration that every religious man
should feel when he kneels in prayer;
but they talk to God in mere sentences,
thinking that He will listen to and com
ply with every formal request that they
may make. They speak not from
the heart, but from the lips, forgetting
the truth that words without thoughts
uCFCA " A1SdFeH 60
Prayer means primarily ''the act OF
asking with earnestness and zeal" 1t
is q supplication with the elements of
fervent importantly. 1t is not for
mality, inanfmate and passive, but a
living, sensitive reality, instinct with
feeling and breathing the. purest devo-
ton, the most implicit trust. 1t is the
soul breathing audibly through the lips.
In all the Bible the prayers are note
worthy for their straightforwardnes OF
language and depth and sincerity OF
meaning They are elegant in their
simplicity, and powerful IN the fewness
Of words and greatness Of meaning.
In the greatest of these prayers one
OF the most expressive lines reads
Deliver Us from evil" No other -four
words in the English language have d
greater depth or fullness of meaning.
The supplieation is a PRAYER for the es-
cape from the sins of lifetime. But
how often is it uttered without any com
prehens:on of its true significance? To
thousands of people who say the word.
every night it is the mere mental exer.
else OF remembering and repeating
They go over it like q formal greeting
or nltiplication-table. And vet they
have half-detined sor3 of q confidence
that they have prayed to be delivered
from evil, and that God will deliver
them from evil for the ceremonious as k.
ing. They forget entirely that they
must themselves make an effort to Gel
away from evil; that they must guard
their eWn footsteps, and show by theil
action that when they prayed to be de
livered from evil they intended to do all
| they could themselves to bring about
| the detiverance. III ,one of these per
sons overheard in mill-pond was t
ask God to deliver him from the water
and right away was to shut his ewes ane
make no effort to move, unless it was tt
wade further in the stream, is any onC
foolish enough to suppose that he woulC
be delivered? YET that is the exact
attitude OF numberless people who think
they pray.
The prayer that is effective is tina
which is backed by earnestness ane
conviction. Christ prayed as if every
syllable was an inspiration of His soul
Paul prayed as if everything else was
forgotten save his devotion to his Master
and his zeal for His cause. So ough
we all 70 pray. We should approach
God with the deepest veneration, w,
should surrender to Him our attention
and our thoughts; and, separating our
selves for the time from the world. tall
to Him without uselessly trying to dis
semble our feelings. Then having re
| solved upon our own efforts. we should
ask His Divine assistance and guidance
But the first step depends upon our
selves. We must show that we mean Il
do such and such q thing before we cal
expect God to assist us to accomplish it
Nothing can be more beautiful tina,
sincere prayer. 1t combines all til,
loveliest and purest passions of per
sous nature. 1t is at the same tim
ian acknowledgment of our depend
ence upon Gods and an expression 8
our confidence that He will aid us il
our moral industry to lead better an,
q higher life--that He viii help us to b
delivered from evil, and that His assist
ance will enable us to walk in paths 8
righteousness. Earnest supplicatio,
will find an audience with God, and
/ VIII from the deepest dungeon cli,nh !
/ Heavens height
And bring q blessing down.
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