The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-11-02

Chap. XII. verse land It came
to pass that, as no was praying IN
a certain place, when he ceased, one
of his decipIes said unto him. Lord
teach us to pray, as John also taught
hts disciples"
Our Lord seems 70 have undertaken
no great work without earnest pray"
err for Gods guidance. If VIC under
took everything in this spirit we
should have moro success, and more
happiness IN our success than we
have And ii was not merely when
had some special boon to ask that
our Savior prayed; 10 pray was with
his something more than merely ask
ing for fuNors--!t Was To worship
and adore the Father. to rise In spirit
from the world, and above all bodily
cares ard wants, and 3oln IN spirit
that glorious company Of angels ana
cherublm and seraphim. who eyer I've
in tho light of Gods countenance. and
cry. holy holy. holy, Lord God.
Consider s1lAe-- 14le I@-l L as+4-44E'a.-s
which ought To belong To prayer, ae-
cordInS to our Lord. Ul Christ
warned his disCip pies against the
pharisees: whomsoever they inMtated.
IL must not be those hollow professors
with their high pretense and rotten
hearts, il must not Toe those who
sought the praise of men, and
thought little of the praise OF him
who soeth In secret Any man follows
the example of these hypocrttes who
comes to the house OF prayer with
any hollow purpose cd For the mat
ter Of prayer, / will only allude TO
that advice of our Savior's, where he
says Use not vain repetiuops, II u
chiefly to Raurd against this dan
ger that the Church has ever used
fixed forms of prayer. that no pray
ers may be offered which are uu~
worthy Of God (3l Again our
Lord taught US that though we are
to pray reverently, yet we are TO
pray earnestly. as those who Will
take no denial, He spoke the para
BILE OF the widow applying against the
unjust Judge, and who obtained her
suit by her constancy. to show us how
We ought to pray, and he promises
that those things which we ask In
| faith we certainly shall have Where
fore II appears that the spirit which
! God approves is that of earn"stncss
and perseverance, he does not love
GOODNESS and lukewarmness; ne loNes
genuine heartfelt zeal which Is ever
praying TO him for increased bless
ings. and ever pressing on and never
satisfied with what has been given,
but desiring more abundant sup
plies.
That liturgies were of divine ap-
pOIntment under the Jewish dlSpen~
sation there can be no question The
songs of Moses and Miriam, and the
titles prefxed to a large number IN
the Book Of Psalms, bear evidence
( of being composed for congregations
| al use. BESIDES. through the writings
of Josephus and other HeErew his
. Il hf OF the
ancient Jewish liturgies have been
preserved to us, and a remarkable
coincidence has been discovered be-
( tween the order and method OF these
early compositions with our own
/ Book Of Common Prayer. Unsafe as
/ IL might be. as rule, to base an ar
/ gument on the silence Of scripture,
! yet we can hardly suppose that II
our Lord had intended that In such
an important particular the Chris
/ tian worship was to differ from
| the Jewish, he would not have told
/ his disciples so plainly, rather than
I lust join in such re-composed de-
votions himself, and then institute a
/ form, which form being expressed
/ throughout in the plural number,
| must have been intended for public
and social use.
Note some objections TO prepared
! forms OF private prayer, however SPIT
itual and excellent they may be, II
! they be used exclusively. Cd 1t is
+ obvious we are thereby confined in re
card to the matter of our prayers, we
I restrict our conversation with heaven
! to a fixed routine of subjects, and pre-
clude the mention Of tr0se hourly
/ spiritual experiences which, though
unseen, and unknown to the world,
make up the great incidents of the
souls life, and may give, day by day,
a new complexion to its prayers.
I (2) Again there IS danger lest the
exclusive use Of forms should have a
| tendency to deaden the spirit of the
/ prayer. IT is n question 10 he enter
tanned calmly, whether the heart be
not kept closer to it's work when 1t
has to search out of its own eX-
periences and Its own feelings the ma
4 tcrials of it's sacrifice, than when in
/ the prepared human composition the
( fire and the wood are laid ready TO
/ its hand. Words we know, are but
| outward things Words are but the
priests censor which. whether II be
made of gold or clay affects not the
fragrance of the incense nor the
height to which the cloud ascends.
In the estimates of heaven the tongue
of the eloquent. and the lips of
/ the stammering, have common value.
and both are only SO far. regarded by
God as they evidence a strength of
faith as they bespeak an earnest
longing for the approval and regards
of heaven.
Let us bear In mind the precept OF
the wise man: Be not rash with
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