Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-03-27
RIGHT VIEWS Or PRAYER.
l have prayed for thee, that thy faith fa
xxi, 49,

nave uOIIlluS W NC grateful lOT duu
never stand in need of assistance it
would be foolish to pray; but if you re
quire helping hand, you do we'll to
ask for it; and If in your life there are
good things which are not wholly the
result of your own endeavors, there is
no reason why you should not be
thankful therefor and say so to the
Lord.
1t is useless to pray unless you wish
to do so, for a prayer with no heart in
it cannot reach any great distance
from the earth. The Lord may know
that you are uttering few words, but
if you merely go through the form of
the service and do not thoroughly
mean what you say you may as we'll
keep silence, for He pays no heed. II
you really want something He gives
you the privilege of asking for it, and
ii your soul is yearning to possess it
He not only listens with sympathy, but
answers the petition in His own time
and in His own way.
The true idea of prayer is that there
Is kind of community of interest be-
tween you and God. You wish TO do
what is best for yourself, and He is
ready to do what is best for you. But
being a creature with many iimita
tions, many impulses, and judgment
not always sound, you are neither Ger
tain as to what is best for you at all
times, nor is it possible for you to find
out. You are sure of only this much
namely, that you want all things to
be agreeable and pleasant, and that
you shrink from experiences which
give you pain. When, therefore, you
petition the Almighty you very nat
urally ask Him to exempt you from
what is burdensome and to give you
what will make you comfortable and
happy. You never ask Him to make
you poor or to lay you on bed of sick
ness or to take away from you the
dear ones in your home. If you kne W
everything you might do this, but
knowing very little you pray that He
will not afflict you.
prayer is God the Father. If you do
not know what in the long run will
produce the best spiritual results. He
does. You are finite and without full
knowledge, while He, being infinite.
must needs see the end from the begin
ming. When your petition lies before
Him, what ought He-we say it rever
ently-what ought He to do? If His
fatherly heart is touched by sympathy
for you, as you believe it is. will He
grant what would be an evil because
you have asked for it. not knowing
that it will be an evil, but honestly
thinking it will be good? Should
your partial knowledge decide the
matter, or will you trust to His perfect
knowledge! Being small, you some
times think Him almost cruel in His
denials, whereas if you were larger you
would see that His way is best and
your way is worst.
You cannot help asking for good
health and good fortune. You would
hardly be human if you did not, since
these things, viewed from your stand
point, seem very desirable, and since
you believe that they will subserve
your interest better than ill health and
bad fortune, you can scarcely petition
for anything else. And when loved
one hovers between life and death,
with all the uncertainties OF the occa
sion Pickering like the flame of can
die, you would be strange father or
mother If your fearful petitions could
possibly represent anything except the
return of the child to your embrace
Neither heaven nor earth can ask you
to pray in any other fashion. Hearts
are human, love is mighty, the sever
ing of ties is awful. Gethsemane is a
garden under whose shadows no one
walks gladly and death is mystery so
wonderful that we would make untold
sacrifices to keep the little one on this
side of the darkly flowing river. That
is right, and we should do all in our
power, exerting ourselves TO the ut,
most limit OF our resources, to put at
A., Il
our frame of mind or measure tho ex-
tent Of our sorrow or pity ns with a
prOfounder pity than the Lord. 1t is
not His wish that We should be indif
ferent under such circumstances. or
not feel deeply, provided we do not
feel bitterly.
But after all, and deepest down in
our souls. is an nnformulated, unurter-
ed desire that what is best for our
selves and for those we love shall be
done. We could not put il into words,
perhaps, If we tried. We may not say
so, even to our own hearts, when we
are alone. But true love, both the
love of ourselves and our love for dear
ones, secretly desires that no harm
shall come, but only good.
Who, then, can decide? Not we, GER
tainly. We are sure of that. We have
already made so many mistakes that
we cannot trust our own judgment
Experience has taught us that what
we desired most was what we needed
least, and what we avoided was the
one thing necessary. Such matters,
then, must he left to the Lord. and re
signedly left to Him. 1t is not safe to
demand anything of Him on the
ground that we know what is good for
us better than He does. Such an atti-
tude is fruitful of harm and destroys
the whole essence and efficacy of pray
err. Your privilege is to express your
wishes, which it is perfectly proper for
you to do, and then, with the calm
confidence which pure religion af
fords, to add to your petition, mot my
will, but Thine be done" Then. and
then only, you possess the true spirit
of prayer. Then you are a child in
the arms of a Father.
Not the bending of the knees is nee
essary, but the bending of the heart.
God does not listen because you as
sumo a certain physical attitude when
you address Him. but because your
soul calls upon Him. Position Is not,
ing. words are nothing-,oui is every
thing.
A man can pray without opening his
lips, aud it j. possible to utter II great
many words and yet not make pray
er.
Ask for all you think you need, then
cheerfully take whatever He grants.
even if it be denial of your request
If God gave men all they ask for the
world would not be worth living in
and souls would not be worth saving.
What the Lord sends as substitute
for that which you have prayed for is
the best thing you can have. His
knowledge is to be trusted as we'll as
His love, and you are not the best
Judge of what is needful.
'Thy will be done" is the only part
of a prayer which renders it effective.
~ Y. Herald.
The Best for the Family.