The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1914-01-30

me only record Ne nave OF this par
able is i'll this gospel This portion of
Scripture is usually thought OF as be-
ing great teaching on prayer. 1t is
that, and it is more than that 1t is
great illustration OF the sound princi-
pies of pedagogy employed by that
wonderful Bible teacher, our Lord and
Savior
1. Teaching by example ". y. There
was that in the prayer life Of Jesus
that was different than that Of the for
malistlc religiOnists OF his day, some
thing that inspired the request, Lord
teach as to pray" His prayer life was
different, it was effectual. Notice, in
passing, the respect of the disciples
when he had ceased If there is one
lesson the oncoming generation needs
to learn it is that of reverence. His
prayers were too sacred to permit OF
any 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.
Most Wonderful Prayer.
II. Teaching by formula ivy. 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 strong
personality. Hence Jesus gives us a
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" it de-
scends step by step from considera-
ton of his hallowed name, his king
dom, and his will duke 22:42) in
heaven and upon earth, down to the
question of our need Of daily food. 1t
then sweeps backward through the re-
Iations of mankind to each other, to
temptation, to the power of sin, back
Matt. 6:13} to God once more, back
to the Alpha and Omega. In it is in
vocation, supplication and alteration.
1t sweeps the whole gamut of mans
need physical, mental and spiritual 1t
begins in heaven, it encircles the
earth, it 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 king (Rev. 22:20); its begin
ming, though, is in the hearts OF men;
it implies entire submission to Gods
will duke 22;42); it delights in doing
that will John 6:3S, Eph. 6:6); 1t de-
mands an entire sanctification of our
lives, and a desire that his will shall
rule in the earth q Thess., 4:3). The
fifth petition is not the prayer of the
unsaved sinner John 9:3D. 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, IL;
4:o2). God does not tempt men (Jas.
1:13); he does permit temptation to
assail us, such as modern economic
conditions mark 1:12, 49,, 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 it's 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
AZ. 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 a wrong
comparison and of to vivid details
This is not picture of God, only by
way of contrast is he suggested There
are three friends here: a. The needy
one in his journey; (2) the needy one
who was host. and (3) the needy one
who was selfish neighbor. The pau
perism of the second was inexcusable
phil. 4:19); the wandering of the
first at night time cannot go unchaE
lenged Matt. 1920. AS for the
third. it was a most unreasonable hour
and his friends insistence was unrea'
sonable yet. his insistence emphasized
the urgency of the request and the con-
tidence of friend.
". Teaching by contrast ivy. lib.
Pedagogically considered this is the
application. Notice it is introduced by
the word for" and the summary is the
sum and substance of all good, the
Holy Spirit. Jesus contrasts bread,
that which preserves life, with a stone,
which is dead and lifeless. He con-
trasts fish, one of the most common
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