The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1888-10-04
PRAYER uofiyss

All prayer, whatever may hc its form, or
Whatever II may include IN its scope, Is actu-
atcd 10y some kind Of motive. When per
son prays there Is some reason why ho does
SO. Eat whntcvcr may le the motive IL IL
very certain that IL should br good one.
And we may be very sure that whenever n
prayer is truly and wsoly indited 10y the
Holy Spirit, every motive which underlies
that prryer Is good.
But We are compelled 90 admit that not n II
Of the prayers of even Christian people are
governed 10y good motives and pure pur.
poses. 80 gre q are our intrmitic that our
motives are often more or less corrupt, they
are vitatcd by personal ambitions and gross
tcliishness. We have an illustration of an
unworthy motive in the epistlc Of James, iv.,
y, where he sny>: "Hc ask and receive not,
becau,c yo ask amisS that We may spend il
in your pleasure uS W In tho preceding
verse the apostle says; "No have not, bc.
cause yc ask not Now these two state
mcnts amount TO the snmo thing, ~ far ns
the receiving is concerned. In neither case
lS there anything received. In one case
there Is no praying, and, consequently there
i, no receiving In the other case there is
prayer, and yet there Is no receiving, b.
cause the pr ycr is nmiss, SIT Is faulty, inn
proper and wrong.
IL Is II selfish and vicious motive. The nc.
titioncrs are represented Hs asking God Tor
itNors for the purpose Of spending them for
the qualification of their m r. pleasures and
necessity, go rupt all prayer aud turn It into
II So emn muckcry. We have another illus
tratlun ot an unworthy motive IN PRAYER in
the case Of JuWas and John who SOUGHT uer-
sonHl promotion IN the kingdom OF Christ
Their prayer was, thut one Ot tncm might
bc sratc / at he right hand of Christ and the
other al III, LETT IN Ills kingdom. There is
no eNidc Co that there was any wicked de-
,ign IN their making such "A rtition; but
their motive was entirely improper, and this
50 weakened Il and corrupted It that II was
not acceptable And how often is SELFISH
ness busiy working at the very root. II
prayer Often We pray for things which IL rs-
e,ig d would minister to our pride. our ca
PRECIOUS ambition, and our personal gloryi
We may not always be truly conscious OF
Ihis.
We may not always stop To think what tho
real character of our motive Is But SO
much the more do We need the Holy Spirit
To help our infirmities and teach us how to
pray. Many n prayer Is worse than useless
Tor want of a proper motive and true govern
ing principle. IL is owing % such II lack as
this that people often pray for things which,
II they were received, would prove n dam
age and even curse to them. They pray
for things which, If answered, would involve
themselves and their friends in unending
trouble.
The true motive Is found in tho words OF
our Saviour, when Ho said: Not my will,
but Thine he done This is the supreme
motive which should govern every Christian
heart. We should bow our wills without re-
serve to the will of God, and desire no other
power to rule us, aud no other will to mas
ter us Let MS learn that will by praying
the Holy Spirit to reveal II to Us. IL we
pray according to Gods will, then our prayer
will always bs answered. Hartford Relig-
ious Herald.