The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-03-23
@SN. r,4s5a@s5a $500
80 R ;F::!!:l;ii;si
LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY
Sermon Delivered by Rev. VIM. SchOuler,
Rector of Trinity Church, on
Sunday, March 3, 1895.

His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach MS to
pray, as John also taught his disciples. st.
Luke. XII, l.
which our Lord engaged at this time as to
whether it was solitary and personal
exercise on His part, or whether He prayed
with His disciples and as their spokesman.
We incline to the view that it was a sep
arate personal devotional act on His part,
in which He had been removed from the
hearing, at least. of His disciples. Had He
prayed with them, it might seem less nat
ural that they should have asked Him to
to teach them to pray, when He had already
furnished model of prayer in the devo-
tional utterance just brought to close.
They may have recalled His practice of
withdrawal for devout communing with His
Father, now freshly exemplitied and 80
been led to make request of Him that He
would teach them to pray.
1t seems little strange that they should
have preferred such request For in His
Sermon on the Mount. delivered. as it
would appear, at an earlier period of His
ministry, He had expressly taught His
disciples how to pray; furnishing them that
model of devotion which has served as the
great universal utterance of Gods children.
Had they forgotten his words? This seems
hardly likely, especially when the prayer
by Himself enunciated in the noteworthy
discourse referred to might have formed no
infrequent portion of their own joint devo-
tional utterance in daily recourse to the
throne of grace with their Master at their
head. Perhaps the question had reference
to the prayer put forth by the individual
petitioner acting in his own separate, ndi
vidual capacity, as with Jesus Himself.
upon one occasion, as noted in the Gospel
history. The applicant, and he might have
acted as the spokesman of his fellow-dis
ciples, may have looked for some instruc-
ton as regards the matter of private indi-
vidual prayer, as distinguished from Joint
prayer by the body of the faithful. having
fresh in mind such personal approach to
God on the part of the divine teacher, as it
is declared by the evangelist that when He
had ceased praying He was met with the
request to which reference has been made.
However this may have been, and whether
the prayer in which He had borne part
was individual simply, or was uttered by
Him in representative capacity and III
the assembly of the disciples. His answer
was largely reiteration OF the language
employed in the Sermon on the Mount.
where He set before His disciples that form
Of sound words beginning Our Father,
who art in Heaven Do they ask here
that He will teach them to pray? He bids
them call on the Father for the hallowing
Of His name and the coming of His king
dom, to ask of Him the supply OF daily
bread, the pardon of sin, and protection
from the power OF temptation. He ncul-
Gates the lesson here of simplicity in prayer
Not that we are tied down to the particu-
lar measure and limit of devotional utter.
here propounded But we feel that not
without meaning has our Lord set forth a
form of devotional utterance characterized
by such marked simplicity, such freedom
from involved and amplifed statement
There is a directness about these petitions
that speaks for a movement of the soul
toward Re ,n1 u,ith I
The same popularity is observabl, in the
Psalms, and, we may add, in the Collects
and prayer book devotions in general. A
departure from this simplicity, whether in
the utterances of public or private prayer,
bespeaks loss for the time being on the
part of the petitioner, of the sense of
direct outpouring of the soul to the Father
OF spirits, and there is IA corresponding loss
to those whose devotional sentiment must
shape itself in the language framed by
another for the occasion. Prayer may run
into sort Of religious meditation or an
instruction for the benefit of the bystander,
whom it is sought to impress in connection
with the exercise. So the mental gaze of
the petitioner becomes turned in
measure toward himself, or toward
those in whose presence he finds
himself, rather than toward God, and
the same is true of the hearer. The
Lords Prayer brings the soul face to face
with God in every petition. 1t is Hal
lowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,
give, forgive, deliver" In this respect it
is true model of devotion for those who
would pray Alright. Herein does Christ
teach us how to pray. And according to
His teaching was His own recorded prac-
tce. How simplicity and directness char
acterZed His devotional outpourings
FEATHER, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from Me-" Unto Thy hands I commend
My spirit" 81 thank Thee, Father, Lord
OF Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent
and hast revealed them unto babes" The
prayer recorded in the Passion history as
given by st. John in his Gospel in one of
the closing chapters, while prolonged
devotional act, is yet made up of number
of Iripf successive uttaraprpS NOT at all in