The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-04
The pulptt Prayer.

To the Editor of the Journal and Courier:
 Without question. prayer is the most important part of public worship. My
 house shall be called the house of pray
 err to all people" Thus, this use of Gods house seems to overshadow all else in importance. But service With | the common congregation will convince
 the observer that few ministers, and
 very few people so regard it. Now and
 then a person bows the head on enter
 ing the holy place, but the majority
 give no such sign of devotion even dur
 ing the pulpit prayer. Perhaps the
 fault is in the pulpit, for, If the minis
 ter allows the people to regard his
 prayer as merely one part in decorous
 preliminary exercise" sort of ',scor-
 ing" (horse race) before the great "ef-
 fort" that is to follow, the praying
 spirit will not prevail in the congrega-
 tion. Hence the pulpit prayer should
 be different, in many respects, from the
 ordinary personal prayer and at the
 same time it should help enlarge and
 enrich all personal and social prayer.
 First, then, 1t should be very rever-
 ent This is none other but the house
 of God" "Ye shall reverence My sane
 tuary." "The sacrifices of God are
 broken spirit-a broken and a contrite
 heart" The piling up of long and high
 sounding titles before God is no evil dence of reverence; neither are extreme expressions of our own unworthiness Indeed true reverence needs no direct
 mention; it will speak for itself, and give a tender, subdued and self-forget- full tone to every sentence of this holy exercise.
 But as soon as the minister loses this sense of Gods presence and majesty and holiness he ceases to pray losing his hold on God, and the people can always tell, or feel whether he is really talking with God or framing heavenly sentences for their ears. Besides de- stroying the prayer itself this felt ab- sence of reverence in the pulpit prayer leads the people to regard prayer as, in all respects, mere literary exercise, and thus it's real purpose and character are overlooked, and it is easily neglect ed, and may as well be.
 Again, the pulpit prayer should be sympathetic. The minister prays, not so much for himself as for the people, and with the people. Our High Priest accepted the common experiences Of men so that He might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities," and every high priest is taken from among men so as to be able to have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself also Is with intirmity. Every min ister is, in modified sense, a priest, and the commences of his nature and l experiences, and an intimate knowledge | of the life of the people, should enable him to make their case his own as he leads them to the throne of grace. It l Is not the preacher, but the pastor who Is prepared to offer the pulpit prayer. | It is the man who gets nearest the peo- pie, and knows most of their common | and peculiar temptations and sorrows, | who Is prepared to lead them nearest l to God. In his prayer at the dedication | of the temple Solomon never forgets the people, and, though the occasion vas great and special, it did not incite 1im to cold and lofty rhetoric, but his | thought and heart were with the wor- shippers-those present and all those who in future should come to that house If prayer, or look toward it, in time of need or trouble. The prayer of Christ with His disciples is one of surpassing enderness and finds it's prepara tion md inspiration in their past intimate and their approaching separ- ltion.
 How necessary, then, that all who are +a his Ganrp6 GhrViPp tn ! he people should cultivate an intimate of their hearts and lives, and ,reat tenderness of heart in themselves To fit himself for this supreme act of lis ministry the minister must be at tome with his people, knowing them personally, in their homes and in their istory, and causing them to know that, n all his social attentions, he has their ighest welfare always in mind. Then, vhen he comes to lead them in public yorship they will know that they are n his thought and heart and they will i've him their hand and heart and en- CT with him into the holy place while e talks with God for them.
 Also, the pulpit prayer should be The purpose of this rayer is not to meet the wants of the eople then present only, but also to each them and help them to take lrger list of persons and objects into heir own daily and social prayer. The ulpit prayer will not be any less, but ather mere, spiritual by being com nehensive; and there is no way in ,hich the prayer of the people will be D enlarged and enriched, and their be-