The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-02-23

The invocation
consists of the M W
words, sour Far I.4$S@s3 Ii
Their which art in
heaven" 1t directly invokes Gods ear.
1t Is great thing to know God as
Father. The heather do not so know
him and even the Old Testament re-
yeals him only as Father of Israel as
a nation. Christ has shown us the
Father. AS Creator, God is the Father
of all men; yet Jesus said to some who
were children of God in this sense,
"Ye are Of your father the devil" TO
praylthe Lords prayer Alright we must
be born again and thus enabled to cry,
Abba, Father"
Out Father is ain heaven" or, liter
ally,lFi the heavens" In the Bible
three heavens are recognized. First,
there are the atmospheric heavens
where the birds fly and the clouds
float; our Father is there and holds
the dying sparrow. Then, there are
the planetary heavens, where the stars
burn; our Father governs all this host.
Finally, there Is the "third heaven"
the heaven of heavens, where God
dwells in special sense. If we pray
to such a Father, we should be rever-
ent, for he Is in heaven and we are on
earth; we should be confident, for he
is Of unlimited power; we should be
spiritual in our worship, not confirming
it to forms or places.
When we say tour" Father, we join
In prayer with the whole family Of
God.
The first petition is, 'Hallowed be
thy name" The name CT God Is his
Tsyealeds character. This is made
known in nature, In the Bible and,
above all, in Jesus Christ, who said,
"He that hath seen me hath seen the
Father" The meaning of the petition
Is given thus by Samuel Rutherford:
''We pray that God would make all
men know and glorify him in his holy
nature, word and works; and that we
may glorlfy him by holy life, and
that his enemies that dishonor him
were COMPOUNDED"
A Story ct John Fletcher of Madeley.
An example of truly hallowlng Gods
name is found in John Fletcher of
Madeley, leader in early Methodism.
He carried with him the very air Of
heaven. Once, when some friends rode
up to his door, he called for refresh
ment and, after the custom of the day,
cake and wine were brought. AS he
passed the cake he said reverenty,
"The body of our Lord Jesus Christ"
and as he passed the wine, "The blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ" 1t would
be sacrilege for most Christians to do
shat, but it seemed fitting for him, for
he did all things to the glory of God.
The second petition is, "Thy king
dom come" The very "cOme" in the
Greek is in q tense which implies
sudden catastrophe, and not a gradual
| coming. Indeed, as the commentator
HI. "A. w. Meyer, points out, the petit
ton refers primarily to that Kingdom
of the Messiah which will be ushered
In when the Messiah appears. we
usually speak Of it as the millennium,
when Christ with his glorified churcn
will rule over the redeemed earth
For the Christian this petition is
Synonymous with, "Come, Lord Jesus
for the kingdom will come with the
king. An American scientist once SAID
to Doctor Kelman of Scotland, Amer
lea needs an emperor" Doctor Kel'
man expressed surprise at such 9
statement and remarked that America
would need an infallible emperor
Precisely" replied the scientist, "bu'
we know the man and are waiting FOL
him: his name is Jesus" "The thrill
of that reply" says Doctor kelman
twill never leave me-"
The Joy of Doing Gods viii.
\ The final petition is, "Thy will b.
DONE" We usually associate this witt
the thought of trial and our minds re
vert to Christ's agony and prayer IL
Gethsemane. But we should not for
get his words at the well OF Sycha'
after talking with the sinful woman
Of Samaria. sMy meat rs to do tn
will of him that sent ms" Indeed w
find the secret of joy only in the VII
of God, for our hearts were made 10
him and are restless until they res
In him. In Mr.. Moody's room in tn
Moody Bible institute hangs motto
wonderfully illustrated in his own lite
"He that doeth the v~ill Of God abidetl
forever"
The phrase, 'sOn earth, as 1t IS \
heaven" seems to belong to all tire
Of the petitions. We pray that nj
name may be hallowed, his klngdor
come and his will be done--on cart
as n heaven. Happy day when TN
prayer ID fulfllledi