The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-07-21


golden text IS. Lord, teach us to
pray" Luke II: L.
NERYBODY prays sometime
1t may take an earthquake
shock to drive certain men to
their knees; and reports from
g. San Francisco tell how thOus-
ands of persons who had been
indinereBt to things religious We're
forced into the elemental human posi-
ton Of supplication to a Divine Power
on that awful day of unheralded, un-
preventable and incomprehensible dis
aster. Some there be who pray only
in the hour of direst need. This is
scarcely seemly; for what son wishes
to hold communication with his father
only when he needs to ask him for
money! More filial and delightful is
the lot of the son who fellowships with
his father at all times. The boon of
blessings brought is no greater than
the comfort of communion. Inter
course with God Is a higher reward
than any bounty that prayer may
bring.
Jesus prayed. His was a life Of
prayer. He considered prayer so de-
sirable and so essential that he made
heroic sacrifices in order to achieve the
privilege of prayer. This was one Sc
cret of his soul-culture. There is
Twentieth century paganism which
Eneers at the development of mans
inner life. It is at no pains to develop
the spiritual nature. Yet, judged by
lowest standard, this IS unwisdom. for
the lives which keep their windows
open iowa rds some Jerusalem are
deeper, higher, serener and sweeter
than those which cultivate no infu
ences except the irritating affairs of
every day Purely for worldly peace
and progress. it Is advisa Bile to develop
the unWorldly side of ones nature.
men of the world in the best sense
of the word=heroes of literature. like
Scott and Johnson; men of research,
like Maxwell or Faradays statesmen,
like Lincoln and Gladstone; soldiers,
like Gordon and HavelOck, have be-
lieved In prayer and used it,
The Pearl of Prayers.
The learners in the school of Jesus,
came to Him to be taught to pray. In
response, He repeated essentially the
prayer which He had articulated in the
Sermon on the Mount which we know
as The Lords Prayer The church
fathers used TO call it "the pearl of
prayers" It is not meant to be a form
for repetition on all occasions; rather
IS it a model Of what every prayer
should be The most modern, and. in
some respects, the clearest of transla-
tiOns of the original text. the TWen-
tieth Century New Testament, thus
renders the model prayer:
Father.
May thy name be held holy,
and thy kingdom come.
Give as each day
our bread for the day before US;
And forgive US our sins.
for we ourselves, too. forgive
every one in debt to us;
And do not take US into temptation"
Big Things First.
The trouble with a deal of praying
IS that it never has a thought above
the suppliant. It is concerned chiefly
with the fact that the one who prays
has needs, rather than with the great
fact Of a God who answers prayer.
Jesus began the model prayer by put
ting first things first The essential re-
quirenents of all wise prayer is a rec
ignition of the fact that God is on his
throne. No prayer deserves answer
Ing which does not in spirit begin with
Father"
Formal ecclesiastical prayers fire.
auently have high-sounding sentences
at their opening. to ascribe to Jehovah
his qualities of might and magnifi-
cence: Jesus, with utmost simplicity
and directness called Him Father"
That is the greatest truth in the uni
verse. 1t is the core of all that Jesus
came to teach. His work would be
accomplished if men could but know
that the great God above is to them
not some far-off divinity, but Father
who loves them. who cares for them,
and is concerned in all that concerns
them. As the Old Testament word
has it, Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him" One great end OF all pray
er is achieved when the soul can look