The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1902-02-20
PRAYER 'I.
UDHYP0CRrlCAL
A Sermon Preached BY
the Rev. John Shape,
Feb. 9Th. 1902.

y be found not true OF us and the DC
n ture Of prayer Is the first.
!, !. The Posture. Are we to pr;
n standing, sitting, kneellng, wi,
head dropped upon the breast, wit
hands spread out toward IIeavcr
q ana gesturing in the presence of Goo
Shall we turn our face toward un
! particular point of the compass whe
, we pray or are We warranted in lyin
PROSTATE ON our face while we otre
Our petitions? Is the posture essen
tial in any sense? In what sense
And Is there guidance and and In
struction in the matter in the Wor
OF God? Let US See. There are sey
eral pastures in prayer any OF whicI
warranted by the Scriptures,
(a) Standing. For this pos lure W
have the examples Of Solomon,
Kings So, Hannah, Samuel !: rs
the Pharlsee and Publican, Luke IS
lib, and the encouragement ant
advice Of the Master himself MARI
ll:25.
Coy Sitting. This posture Is the
least warranted In the Bible and
yet the one most practiscd to-day.
We do find David giving some war.
rant to the INDECENT, perhaps irrever-
ent attitude of sitting during prayer.
ana yet We can scarcely think that
David uttered the words OF that
heart burning prayer Of the llst
Psalm while sitting before the Lord.
Inc only passage in the Scriptures
OWN perhaps On exception) is the
one in III Sam. 7:1S where we read
That David after coIloquey with
Nathan the prophet IN reference to
The building Of IA house for the L1rd
went and sat before the Lord and
prayed prayer of supplication and
thanksgiving to jehovah The other
poss BILE reference to a sitting post.
ure during prayer is found in Kings
ls:4l mhe.e Elijah Is described as
going up on Carmel after his contest
with the prophets Of Baal and pray.
Ing for rain with his head between
his knees. which posture would Of
course be physically impossible I'M
less we think of him as being seated
on the ground,
(c) Kneeilng. DAME! 6.lo, Ezra
81 Jesus, Luke 22:4l, Stephen. Acts
go, Peter Acts9:40, and Paul, Acts
COST all practice and commend this
posture.
Nd) Prcstrate on the face. For
this posture We have the examples of
Moses and Aaron, Nun. Ii: 20. %,
Joshua, Josh. 5:l4, Jesus, Matt. $3.50
ard the Cwcnty-four elders OF Rev.
ll:l6 What are we then to saw
about the posture Of prayer. Simply
thls Jesus does not condemn the
posture when he says abe not rs the
hypocrites, the thing he does con-
denim Is the hyrocritical and public
display Of their devotionS. 1t is not i
the standing in the synagoyucs"
that Is to-be emphasized and con- {,
demned, but the hypocrisy limited at 4
IN the desire "to be seen OF men. - y
10 be sure this ought 10 Ue said. 5
namely, that out of these four pos )
lures mentioned in the Scriptures !
Standing, Sitting, Knecing Pros II
trate on the face, the only one that e
Jesus himself neither practices nor p
c0mmends is the one we cnstcmarily ,
employ to-day sitting bolt upright n
while the throne is being besccched. tt
! for one believe that the posture e'
largely employed by ourM T.. friends 81
is both more devotional and more III
than the one practced by
most Christians OF all denominations W
so much for the posture OF prayer. T., u
:. The Language of PRAYER. III
Shall prayer be written or oral: Oral Ia
~ all means for The same reason u
hat the true Christian tdbous the "
use OF images In worship. The OF
image on canvas always remains the g
anne, the image On the heart he
hanSes. ' oprayer ever was writ. Sc
en- that could sweep the whole range ev
II human emotion and human desire Ia
We write in unimpassioncd spirit:
We pray with soul on fire. And when
We find it difficult Adequately and an. ISI
'ropriateIy to express ourselves, the
'plrit himself helpeth our iniirmities
Nth groanings which cannot be ut
cred. What does our Lord mean by III
vain rcpetitions?" Does lie con
emn the asking for the same thing
l the same words? think not, for
c himself we are told went forward
, the garden Of Gcthscmane and Ion
rayed the third time using the same ha
ords. lie would condemn the crv- De
'g so Baal hear us, o Baal hear US" 49,,
the devotees Of this god, the "Al. W"
ID ell Allah" Of the Buddhist who
nplores until overcome, though af- rel
awards he grinds out his prayer in the
1ice'ess accents, the saying over and If
yer in unlDeanipg fashion of the
Pater Noster' or The AVE Maria" coi
nd the hypocritical deluge Of impre. vii
Ition and vanity that is directed OF
ward the throne even by protesting eyi
iristianS.
Are long prayers condemned in the ~
lble? think not, for the PRAYER of ina
'lomon On the occasion of The dedi- the
tion of the Temple was of this char. ENG
ter, and we krow that Jesus once
ent the whole night in prayer. u,
Should any preparation whatever out
made for the public prayer, Ger err.
MY but by preparing yourselves. new
there a happy medium to strike be.
zen the prayers written by
'anscrs band and pressed in mine L.
r me TO read ia Jcbnvah and tho IL II
,,,,s, ,J,.,,l,,1,,, r. ~ INV ..e roun
'"H' "iaHp'icI'o'ls iamiiIaflly WIN fsrs,
Itch some men address the Father, poiu