The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-10
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Sermon by DR.. Lockwood at the
n. E. Church.
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF
PRAYER.
Not Petition Only, But in Its Widest
Sense Prayer is Conscious Com
munion With God and is Often
the Sole Source of Comfort.

T THE Tiff NJ. E. church yes
ZEE terday morning the sermon
Gl9Y5M WAS on the subject OF prayer.
Msssz@M DIR. Lockwood took for his
&E.T7cl1M text II Thesalonians. 5-E:
ESlrSS N Pray without ceasing.r and
VgSN = Luke 2-1: Lord. teach us
ifEgz, ~ The substance OF the doc
VSIzGzI tors remarks was as follows:
c3I There are q few great religious
! w doctrines which [ not only hold.
SNoS but which likewise hold me
| with Il grip of steel. There are MANY
other doctrines that are fearfully and
wonderfully made by the cunning of
mems minds without particular regard
to the canons of either reason or reveal
ton. Among the first mentioned are the
existence of a personal God, the sinful
condition of man and the necessity of
redemption. the divinity of Christ and
the efficacy of his atonement. the essential
Inspiration of the holy scripture. the i'm
mortality of the soul, the efficacy of
prayer and other doctrines of similar i'm
I portance.
This morning / wish that we might for
a few moments earnestly consider the
nature and the efficacy of prayer. And
what is prayer? 1t may be well, to begin
with, to state what it is not 1t is not
/ dlctation Some people seem to think
/ that they can command God at pleasure,
and that they have a perfect right to ex-
/ pect that their whims and demands will
] be promptly satisfied. 1t is for God and
not for man to determine whether or not
a request shall be granted. Prayer is not
/ instruction of the divine by the human.
| 1t is not uncommon for Christians to
proceed upon the assumption that God
lis ignorant concerning certain vital is
sues and that he must be instructed be-
| fore he can grant relief This is a mis-
/ take; God is all-wise; he knoweth all
! things. Yet he delights to have us ask
even though he is thoroughly aware be-
forehand what the nature of our petition
! will be. Again, prayer is not merely pc
/ tition- 1t includes petition; but the OBJ
ject of prayer is not solely nor chiefly to
secure benefits. In its widest sense prayer
! is conscious communion with God. 1t is
the instructive movement of the finite
dependent, spirit toward the divine omni-
potent, spirit of God. Says the poet:
Prayer is the hearts sincere desire.
Uttered or unexpressed
The motion of hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the Christians vital breath.
The Christians native air
His watchword at the gates of death
lie enters heaven with prayer"
Prayer is universal and instructive. 1t
IS rooted in the very nature of things
BY THIS mean that prayer was pro-
Vlded for in the original draft of the
universe. God created man as a creature
OF prayer, and when he created the
universe he did not forget to provide for
al tle-u--l harmony between the PRAYER
| OF ms conscious creatures and the I'M
conscious adjustments of nature. He
wanted man to pray; he knew that he
ought TO pray he knew that he would
pray; ana accordingly, so far as prayer
relates to temporal blessings he made
provision from the beginning to meet the
requirements of real prayer. Nor does it
seem strange TO me that God would TINS
ordaln that in the very nature OF things:
nature should be subservient to spirit
that the unconscious should bend to the
nature of prayer considered as personal
intercourse with God, and as to the
nature OF prayer considered with refer
ence to its subjective benefits TO the
human spirit. l have nothing to say lust
now but viewing prayer from the aspect
OF temporal good it seems to me that the
prayeriess man forfeits many blessings
SIMPLY because he declines to place him
seI1 III such an attitude before the father
as instinct suggests, and the divine being
The chief purpose of this discourse
however, IS to set forth the subjective
penehts of prayer. 1t is my belief that
PRAYER, while not foreign TO the order
OF nature, nevertheless finds highest and
purest exercise in the realm of spirit.
What Of the effect of prayer upon our
own souls? First, it is by means of
PRAYER mat our lives are knit to the
NE OF God. How can we be rooted. and
punt uD. and established in the faith2
How can we live and move and have our
sDeihs IN God. unless we sink ourselves
INTO the very nature of the divine by
means of prayer? The child is not con-
tent simply to sit in its mothers Ian. or
feciine upon her arm; it desires to feel
tne mothers warm kiss and to nestle
close 10 her beating heart Ii is thus
with the child of Cod and il is bv orr
prayers that we are thus enabled to settle
ourselves in the EMBEDDING arms of divine
love Our prayers, our earnest vearnine
Tor higher things. our spiritual desires
our aspiration for truth-all of these are
noerS that knit us to the heart of Cod
The tides of life begin TO surge ia and
Iro' and the result is that we come to
snare the very nature of the supreme
peihe. An oak tree does not root itself
IN the earth i'm a single day. II
taxes years. under the combined in
nuence OF rain and frost of sunshine
ana shower of wind and sleet to attach
User TO the earth by its 10000 roots and
hpers, so that no storm can overturn and
no power can uproot ii. 1t is impossible
llkeWise. for strong and Christlil5e
ena.acter TO blossom in single day. A
Single instant may be sufficient to- mark
d Iaaical change in a life and to secure
lolsVeness Tor past sins; but ii requires
:eers o! good report. and i'll report. of
temptation, and triumph. of victory and
defeat. TO perfect Godlike Character
And prayer is the atmosphere in which
the Christian life must grow, mature, and
blossom. W
Again. it is by means of PRAYER that va
are Afforded guidance, and instruction.
we are told to commit our way unto the
Lord: TO trust also in him. for he will
trust in the Lord with our whole heart
ara to lean not to our own understand
ing; we are told that if we acknowledge
Mn in all our walks he will direct our
paths. And how many many. times i'm
ou- life we have been Obliged to resort
to God for instruction, when our own
wisdom has been insufficient and when
human counsel has failed Lock back
over your life and recall its trying situa-
tons and its dark crises; and then answer
candidly-from what source did your de-
lVerance come 1t is when we pray that
the light flashes upon our darkened and
obstructed pathway. When we are con-
fused and bewildered as to the path of
duty. if we pray the whole horizon of
our life. past and future, is lit up with
a blaze of light from the divine spirit. as
when a belated traveller lost in the mid
night storm is appraised of his where
abouts by flash of lightning that il
Eliminates the entire heavens. and re-
veals every tree, and rock and shrub
about him.
There is no education like that which |
results from long continuance in the
school of prayer. GOD reveals to us the |
deep things of the spirit ne pours light |
upon the sacred page so that certain |
texts that had before been lifeless and |
meaningless to our fieshly eyes grow apt |
and luminous; he gives us indications !,
whereby we are able to discern between |
the true and the false. We are dependent |
upon God for all that is best in us |
whether of thought or sentiment How
do you account tor the golden floods OF |
thought that sometimes flow unbidden |
arce from your lips. These tides of |
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