The Washington herald., 1914-01-31

4 GOLDEN TEXT-Lukc u9.
you: sees. and ye shah find; knock and it shall be
topcned unto you-"
IN And II came to pass. as he was
praying in a certain place. that when he
ceased. one Of his disciples said unto
him. Lord. teach us 10 pray even as
| John also taught his disciples.
(1 And he said unto them. When ye
pray. saw. Father. Hallowed be Thy
name Thy kingdom come.
az Give us day by day our daily
| bread. =
90 And forgive us our sins; for We
ourselvs also forgive every one that Is
Indebted to US. And bring us not into
temptation.
(5C And He said unto them, Which Of
you shall have friend, and shall go
unto him at midnight, and say to him.
Friend. lend me three loaves;
go For a friend Of mine Is come to
me from a journey. and j have nothing
to set before him:
ca And he from within shall answer
and say. Trouble me not; the door Is
now shut. and my children are with me
I'm bed; cannot rise and give thee!
90 I say unto you. Though he will not
rise and give him, because he Is his
friend. vet because Of his importantly he
will arise and give him as many as he
ueedeth.
fS And T say unto you. Ask. and It
shall be given you; seek. and ye shall
find; knock, and II shall be opened uno
you
no For every one that asketh receiv-
eth: and he that seeketh hndeth: and to
him that knocketh II shall be opened.
nD And OF which OF you that Is a IA
ther shall his son ask a loaf. and he give
him a stone? or a fish. and he for fish
give him a serpent?
u0 Or il ne shall askNan egg. will he
give a scorpion?
u0 II We then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?
The Narrative.
In this lesson again We have parable
or an illustration rather. the value of
which must be derived from a careful
consideration of its setting. The Lord
had been praying. evidently observed by
His disciples. 1t l. a remarkable and in
teresting fact that We have no record OF
His praying together with His disciples.
II Is evident that they were often with
Him when He prayed. but that He prayed
in separation from them. This statement
Luke had already made in one instance.
very clearly: 1T came to pass. as He
was praying alone. the disciples were
with Him" GN. 49,. On this occasion
when He ceased they said to Him. Lord.
teach us to pray. even as John also
taught his disciples They did not in
terrupt Him until His praying was over.
but we are certainly warranted in believ
ing that as they watched Him. and in all
probability listened to Him. there came
to them a realization OF the place and
power of prayer In His own life, and OF
their limitation in this regard.
We should moreover carefully observe
that they did not ask Him to teach them
how to pray. but to pray. This is an i'm
portant distinction. II is quite possible
to do it, and yet to be quite unable to
pray.
His answer was really a very careful
and illuminative one. He first repeated
in an abbreviated form the prayer which
He had given them in His Manifesto. He
then gave them parable or illustration
which gives title to our lesson. and final
ly repeated certain things He had said be-
fore. adding to them certain Illustrations
by way OF argument
In his repetition of the prayer already
given, nothing essential Is omitted. The
first movement is that OF prayer for the
coming of the Kingdom; while the second
the present conditions of their lives. The
value of the illustration and subsequent
teaching will be seen more clearly when
We come to consider the teaching.
The Teaching.
In this answer of our Lord to the re-
quest Of the disciples We have a pattern
OF prayer: the authority for praying; and
a revelation of the principles which must
operate il We are to pray prevailingly.
The pattern We haze glanced at.
The authority is found in the fact that
our Lord distinctly commanded His dis
ciples to pray. and that in terms which
assured them that prayer does prevail
Immediately after the uttering of the
sentences from the pattern prayer we
have a paragraph which really consists
Of our Lords arguments concerning pray
err It falls into two parts, which are in
dicated by the repetition of the inquiry.
(Which of you" And He said unto them.
which of you shall have friend And
of which of you that is a father . :"
The first line of argument has to do with
the asking: the second has to do with
the answering. The first constitutes en-
couragement to pray; the second gives
assurance that such prayer will be an
swered.
The arguments concerning asking are
contained IN or result from tne Dlustra-
ton of the friend. Let us examine this
carefully. The case which Jesus sug-
gested is that of one of themselves at
whose dwelling a friend has arrived from
a journey at midnight. for whom he can
make no provision. He then goes to the
house of another friend. and asks for
loayes For the moment let us stop at
that point So far the thought about
prayer is that II consists of asking help
from a friend, on behalf of a friend who
is in need This of course does not ex-
clude from the realm of prayer personal
needs, but it does lay emphasis on one of
the principal. values of prayer. that II is |
intercession or asking on behalf OF 9TH |
ers. Let 1t not be forgotten that this idea |
has already been indirectly emphasized |
by the fact that all the personal pro- |
nouns in the prayer are plural: that a |
man praying that prayer must always
take with him others and their needs into |
the presence of God.
To return to the illustration. Our Lord
proceeding, supposed the friend who has |
plenty refusing to be disturbed. but at |
last consenting because the one asking is |
unfortunate. He Immediately continued |
And / say unto you: Ask. and 1t shall |
be given unto you." and SO forth. Now, |
the usual Interpretation of the illustration |
is that our Lord intended to teach that |