River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-11-11

learn to preach
L. # by studying the
methods of the master. But there was
something about the praying of Jesus
which made the disciple feel that he
did not know how to pray, that he
had never prayed, and that he could
not learn by listening even to the
Master as he prayed. There is pro
found something about prayer which
never lies on the surface To learn
IL one must go to the depths o. the
soul and scale to the heights of God.
The Importance of it cannot be over.
estimated. Luthers motto gives us
the secret of success along all lines:
To have prayed we'll is to have
studied we'll" To have prayed we'll
is to have preached well, to have writ
ten well, to have worked well, to have
resisted we'll, to have lived well and
to have died well. Prayer is the key
to success. Not to pray is TO fail. To
pray right is never to fail
How infinitely important then that
we should know how to pray, and
Christ plainly tells us how.
l. Pray genuinely. when thou
prayest thou shalt not be as the hypo-
critics" The word hypocrite means
primarily "a play actor" In prayer
do not act part. 1t is not saying a
form OF words in a certain posture of
body. Seriousness can be simulated.
Genuineness is character, what God
sees, and there is no acting a part
before God. He sees through all pre-
tense. In prayer be genuine, for you
are dealing with God. Prayer is a
personal transaction between tbs soul
and God
! 2. Pray secretly. "When thou
prayest, enter into thy closet. and
when thou hast shut the door pray to
| thy Father in secret" when thou
prayest' means literally whenever
thou prayest," or "as often as thou
'prayest." Let all thy praying be in
thy closet with the door shut; every
thing and everybody shut out except
God and you. Pray to thy Father in
secret" and then the answer will be
no secret. 1t will be known that God
answers prayer. Does this mean that
/ shut myself up in some private
room and pray? Yes, you can do that
and ought to do it as often as pos
sible. But entering a room and lock-
Ing the door does not always mean
mental privacy. A thousand things
may follow and so occupy our atten-
ton that we shall not pray at all. Our
form of words will be an actors part.
pretending to be occupied with God,
we are really occupied with things
that distract us. If they would re-
ceive from God, they must come to
him SO filled with desire for his favor
that they are oblivious to the praise
or blame of men.
Prayer may be public or private
but it must always be secret in the
sense that it is personal transaction
between the soul and God. Even if a
thousand people should join in the
same prayer, only those would really
pray who deal personally with God
There are no proxies in prayer We
pray for one another, but not instead
of one another. l may intercede for
you, but cannot do your praying for
you. To do so would be to curse
rather than bless you.
The two-fold meaning of the Greek
word translated closet is very sug-
gestive. It's primary meaning is
"storehouse" or barn." place where
valuables are kept. It is the word
Jesus uses in Luke 1924 when he
speaks of the ravens not laying up in
storehouse or barn. 1t is the word
storehouse in the Septuagint transla-
ton Of Deut. 28:8-"the Lord shall
command the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses." 1t is the word translated
barn" in Prov. 3:10-"so shall thy
barns be filled with plenty" The idea
of secrecy came out of the fact that
men usually store their valuables in
secret place, and the word came to
mean an inner chamber, because the
wealthy often had such a secret room
in their houses for the storing of
valuables. when thou prayest," says
Jesus, "enter thou into thy secret
treasure chamber"
The place of real prayer is the
Christians treasure chamber He is
there in the midst of the treasures of
grace which God has given him, and
it is there that God enriches him
more and more. The place of prayer
is the conservatory of the soul. light
ed by heavens light and warmed by
heavens warmth and filled with heav-
ems beauty.
Pray briefly. when We pray. use
not vain repetitions as the heather
do, for they think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking. Use
vain repetitions" is one word in the
Greek, and means primarily to STAN
mer" The stammerer repeats his
words in meaningless way, and in
prayer we are not to do that. God
wants us to exprese cur needs in a
clear, intelligent manner. Sayina
prayers over and over and count
ing our beads so as to keep tab
of the number of times has no merit
That is the way the heather do: but
Jesus says, BE not like unto them,
The heather think they must gain
their gods attention and make an
impression upon him in behalf of thei,
petitions. Not so our God. for he |
knows what we have need of before |
we ask him.
Ia L. a.