Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-01-29
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY |
THE uNFRIENpLY NEIGHeoR.

THE uNFRIENDlY NElGHsoR.
LESSON TEXT-Lske 11:1-l3.
GOLDEN TENT-"Ask and II shall DO
given unto you: seek. and ye h find;
knock and 1t shall be opened unto you
Luke 11:9.
The only record we have Of this par
able is in this gospel. This portion OF
Scripture is usually thought Of as be-
ing a great teaching on prayer. 1t is
that, and it Is more than that. 1t Is a
great illustration of the sound princi'
pies Of pedagogy employed by that
wonderful Bible teacher, our Lord and
Savior.
/. Teaching by example ". ~. There
was that in the prayer life of Jesus
that was different than that Of the for
malistic religionists of his day, some.
thing that inspired the request, Lord
teach us to pray" His prayer life was
different, It was effectual. Notice, in
passing. the respect of the disciples
when he had ceased" II there Is one
lesson the oncoming generation needs
to learn it is that of reverence. His
prayers were too sacred to permit OF
amy intrusion. His praying also awoke
In their memory the prayer life Of
John the Baptiser. There is deep psy-
chology here. Observation, memory,
perception, concept, all In their logical
order. The power of example, this Is
the first and the greatest method of
teaching, and It is more than a hun
dredfold the most effectual. 1t Is that
which will awaken and hold attention.
It is that which will arouse a keen de-
sire for knowledge. 1t is that which
proves the power of your profession.
No teacher can really teach more
than he has experienced. When will
churches awaken to the grave respon-
sibility Of carefully scrutinizing the
character of those filling its official po-
s%itions, particularly the teachers in
the Sunday school?
Most Wonderful Prayer.
II. Teaching by formula wv. 2-4). The
human mind is weak and needs that
assistance which is to be found in a
clear statement of truth. Not always
can we have the benefit Of a strong
formula, or prayer, often called the
Lords Prayer" but more correctly
termed "the disciples prayer" This
Is in some respects the worlds most
wonderful prayer, certainly the most
familiar. Lacking in personal pro-
nouns, it begins with that matchless
conception of God, "our Father" 1t de-
sends step by step from a considera-
ton Of his hallowed name, his king
dom, and his will (Luke 22:42) In
heaven and upon earth, down to the
question of our need of daily food. 1t
then sweeps backward through the re-
lations Of mankind to each other, to
temptation, to the power of sin, back
Matt. GID to God once more, back
to the Alpha and Omega. In it Is in
vocation, duplication and alteration.
1t sweeps the whole gamut of mans
need, physical, mental and spiritual. 1t
begins In heaven, 1t encircles the
earth, 1t rebounds to those realms Of
glory from which the Son came, and to
which he returned. A study Of the
prayers of the saints, living and dead,
ought to be more emphasized. This
kingdom here mentioned is yet to be
fully established. A kingdom de-
mands a king Grew. 22:20); its begin
ming, though, is in the hearts Of men;
1t implies entire submission to Gods
will duke 22:42); 1t delights in doing
that will John 6:3S, Eph. 500; 1t de-
mands an entire sanctification Of u
lives, and a desire that his will shall
rule In the earth Il Thess., 4:3). The
fifth petition is not the prayer Of the
unsaved sinner John 9:31). Fellow
ship with God depends upon our will
ingness to forgive others Matt. 6:14.
Is; Mark 1925; but that is not the
ground Of Gods forgiveness (Eph. III;
4:32). God does not tempt men (Jas.
1:13); he does permit temptation to
assail us, such as modern economic
conditions MARK 1:12, 13), but God
never allows us to be tempted above
what we can bear Il Cor. 1913. Vol
umes have been written about this
prayer and yet its fulness has not even
been suggested. The teacher who
really prays cannot be a failure, for he
has the power Of God behind his labor.
He must, however, not limit himself to
his prayer only (Phil. 4:6; Jas. 5:13,
14). The Christians prayer must be
in the name of Christ, which is not
named here, for he was not yet cruel
fed.
The Holy Spirit.
III. Teaching by parable wv. 6-10) "A
parable is an earthly story with a
heavenly meaning" Only the teacher
who can translate truth into terms of
1T is like" has really. begun to teach.
Let us beware, however, Of q wrong
comparison and Of to vivid details.
f,t /, - =