The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1914-01-29
INTERNATIONAL
'SlJNlNSQ1OOL
LESSON
EssON FOR FEBRUARY |
THE yNFRIENDLY NEIGHBoR.
by Z. 0. SELLERS, Director of Evening
Chcago)

YESSON TEXT-Luke 11:1-13
GOLDEN TEXT-"Ask and it shall be
GIVEN unto YOU; seek. and We shall find;
mock and it shall be opened unto you.'-
Luke 1:9.
The only record we have of this par
able is in this gospel. This portion of
Scripture is usually thought of as be-
ing great teaching on prayer. 1t is
chat and it is more than that. 1t is
great illustration of the sound prtnci-
Dles 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
ualistic 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" If there is one
lesson the oncoming generation needs
to learn it is that of reverence. His
prayers we're 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.
H. Teaching by formula wv. 2-4). The
human mind is weak and needs that
assistance which is to be found in
clear statement of truth. Not always
can we have the benefit of a strong
personality. Hence Jesus gives us
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-
sends 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. It
then sweeps backward through the re-
lations 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.
It 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); it's begin
nng, though, is in the hearts of men;
It implies entire submission to Gods
Will Luke 22:42); it delights in doing
that will John 6:38, Eph. 6:6); it de-
mands an entire sanctifcation of our
lives, and a desire that his will shall
rule in the earth Il Thess., 4:3). The
Nth petition is not the prayer of the
ansaVed sinner John 9:31). Fellow
snip with God depends upon our will
angness to forgive others (Matt. GA,
10; Mark 11:25); but that is not the
ground of Gods forgiveness (Eph. IT.;
4;52). God does not tempt men GAS.
I:l3); he does permit temptation to
assall 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. 10:13). Vol
dmes have been written about this
prayer and yet it's fitness has not even
oeen suggested. The teacher who
really prays cannot be a failure, for he
HAS the power of God behind his labor.
ne must, however, not limit himself to
us prayer only phil. AS; Jas. 5:13,
~. The Christians prayer must be
the name of Christ, which is not
aamed here, for he was not yet cruel
fed.
The Holy Spirit.
Ill, reaching by parable wv. 6-1O) "a
parable is an earthly story with a
heavenly meaning" Only the teacher
VINO can translate truth into terms OF
IL is like" has really begun to teach
~eC US beware, however, of a wrong
COMPARISON and of to vivid details.
Ills IS not picture of God, only by
way OF contrast is he suggested. There
are three friends here: Cd The needy
one IN his journey; (2) the needy one
VINO was host and 60 the needy one
VINO was selfish neighbor. The pau.
pErlsm OF the second was inexcusable
erhll' 4:19); the wandering of the
1liS' at night time cannot go unchal
a1nseo Matt. 1920. AS for the
1hlrd, it was most unreasonable hour
and his friends insistence was unrea.
s spnaole, yet his insistence emphasized
ue urgency of the request and the con.
ooence Of friend