The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-11
PRAYER MINUS DEEDS {
IS USELESS AND VOID
Rev. Smith Thinks That Appeals
Should Be Accompanied
with Powers.
VIRTUE OF A PETITION

his text. '"Thinkest thou that / cannot pray
TO my Father and He shall presently send
me more than twelve legions of angels
Matthew XXI. 43. and said
The prayers Of the Bible are governed by
the law OF progress and improvement; ana
while some ancient prayers-such as
David's or Solomon's stately dedication OF
the temple, or above all, the selt-immolat-
Ing prayer OF Moses in behalf OF rlotous
Israel-reach the summit of excellence
and Immortality nevertheless there is on
the whole a sense of externally about the
early approaches to Deity, sense OF the
divine distance and even the divine reluc-
lance 10 shower blessings, a sense of com
mercial contract and personal convenience
that quietly fall of from the later out
breathings of the human heart. The doc
trine of Gods imminence and nearness and
Identification with our worlds thrilling lie
displaces the primitive conception of the
Divine Being as empowered In some lediy
luxuriant summer residence or castled IN
His laughter and unapproachable per1ec-
ton. 1t is this pagan imagination mat
gave rise TO the theory Of the atonement,
that God required TO be piacated before
He could afford TO forgive returning prodl-
gals.
In the Apostles the prayer becomes re-
ciprOcal, cOmmunical, reVerent. IheTe IL
the absence of the gross idea of striking
a bargain. There is no Jewing down hea-
ven's mercy. IT Is the atmosphere OF hllal
love desiring 10 chime in with the divine,
holds the lantern at the base of the beacon
so that its tiny tWinkling stream or ngnl
may flow in the same helpful direction as
the blazing torrent far above travels farther
out over the midnight pillows. This is the
supreme of holiness. Prayer. though a
wordrous method, is only method; 1t is
subordinate always and everywhere TO the
benevolent, indisputable policies Of Gods
love.
CHRIST REPELS PITY.
Jesus proudly repealed the offer of human
pity toward himself in the garden. He vir-
tually said: "You feel sorry for me In my
Iamblike helplessness among these fierce
wolves; you. however, ignore the business
1 have on hand; L am purchasing humanity;
1 am wooing the ages to God; have power
TO command heavens thunder and crush the
world if need be, much more defeat this
prowling band of plotters; but my purpose
must qualify and even manacle my power;
right is more than might; the cause of truth
means more than escape from asSassins,
and the disciples were surprised that Omnip
otence should cripple itself. Yet all the his
tory or character proves that men grow Dy
curbing and cutting themselves down in or
der to achieve. a man has no right to all
he can get. He must waive some claims In
order to make gains in some other line:
There is, however. in this REIMBURSEMENT of
certain privileges by Jesus an insinuatiOn
that prayer is an increase of personal pow
er by leaguing all the forces possible. Jesus
would summon angels. Jesus would use
God. He implied His own limitation and the
necessity of allying and federating others
with himself. He mustered disciples as re-
enforcement. In one word, wherever con-
sistent with His supreme purpose of wit
Messing for the Father, He would call upon
all nature TO cooperate, He would increase
His own equipment by every weapon of eff
fectivenesS within reach. This is true
prayer. This is noTmal everyday tactics
He who in a burning hotel cries to heaven
for magical rescue and refuses to use the
easy fire exit will not escape the flames. He
who with fever raging through his frame
scorns the aid of medical skill and demands
some miraculous interference will soon sleep
In the quiet grave. When John Knox prayed
for the redemption of Scotland the prayer
corresponded with his own tireless efforts
toward that end. Just as the Indian shoots
his arrow from horseback and the arrow
flies in the same direction he himself
does. only more swiftly, toward the weaken
Ing bison, so prayer Is the winning petition
upward is petition not from passivity, but
from action in the same direction.
I'm this deep sense prayer Is a normal
and universal attitude. IL Is original
When a wants to farm he does not
confine himself to his own brain or hands
or feet He multiples himself by utilizing
TO pillow or reap. When n fire company pro-
poses TO extinguish flames they do not use
only their own hands or limbs: they press
into service horses and machinery and dis
tant reservoirs. III q man were TO use only
himself. he would find how bankrupt he
was in the modern world. An earnest man
enlists everything within reach to enhance
dain all means for recuperation an cable
heaven 10 come and medicate me? | will
water. If L have wealth L will test every
cline in the fight against disease. l will
use Christian science so far as the effect Of
mind on nerves is concerned; 1 will shut
out no sane chance and refuse no time
tried method. This is prayer. for nature is
nothing in the world than God visible and
eternalized for us to use, just as the dyna-
mo Is nothing else than the subtle law of
electricity IN a form for to use.
DEPLORES FORMALITY.
Jesus scathed the prevalent habits of the
Pharisees who offered long loud phrases
because such language lacked moral earn
estness. 1t stilted and artificial rou-
tine. Moral earnestness always is elastic
and practical
THE Mohammedans will rein UP the
camels IN mid-desert and bow toward Nee
ca; there is some virtue in such a prostra-
ton, still there is measure of sterility
and unpaintedness. We are bat phonopn-
Gus when we reproduce certain mechan-
ical sounds without the accent of convic-
ton. This sometimes mars the beauty of
ritualsm Fixed clauses in prayer books
tend TO sink into the monotone of stereo-
typed Journalism. The defect of extempore
prayer Is a tendency TO difuseness and even
a repetitious vagueness The one cure for
both errors is spontaneity. Let the heart
play out and the mere method counts moth
ing. book or no book. An oTatorical prayer
TO an audience Is criminal The priest
pleads not 10 but for the people. In some
temples in India the priest is concealed
behind heavy curtains and not a syllable
of speech is heard. as a thousand hearts
I'm beating silence unbOsom their sins and
sorrows TO a sympathetic omniscence
Next in baseness to an oratorical and flow
cry prayer IS the sarcastic prayer when
a man closes his eyes and begins to scorch
his neighbors He IS the concealed sharp
shooter He can hit right and left and stir
up vindictive feeling in every bosom and
vet so subtle is the cunning that none of
his victims can show conclusively that he
aimed his barbed arrows at them
These are but ugly pecularities or per-
versions. We must be gentle with human
nature, even in saints. The one critical
fact is that prayer is not an eccentric or
modern development, il is racial il be-
longs TO our Catholic humanity; II is there
fore capable OF degrees OF Improvement
like all human instincts or passions. As IL
rises in the scale IL reaches out toward
means to answer itself. Just as easily and
naturally as a man reaches for a rifle when
he goes out on a hunt for big game.
All nature is our weapons of from cheer
ful company and Will power to quinine and
mud baths aud direct shooting. only never
separate God from this illimitabe pharma-
cy. This is the frightful atheism that makes
of m in hoa Ct