The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-13

! tation.
| III. The Ministry.
/. Intercession Commanded. /
! Tim. 2: 2: Tim. /; /.
| 2 Intercession Exemplihed.
Exod. 80; lila; Acts IL:
! s.: John II.
| 3. Intercession Encouraged
James 8: 16f.
Round Table Discussion.
/ l.. The Neglect Of Prayer.
2. The Question OF Posture in Pray
| a. What is Meant by Pray With
out Ceasing?"
4. Importantly in Prayer.
| S. Conditions to Effectual Prayer.
| s. Hindrance to Prayer
| Z. The Power OF United Prayer
! (Acts IL: 1-1s).
| Practical Lessons.
! Perhaps the greatest fault of pres
/ ent-day Christianity is its neglect of
! private prayer. There are abundant
! opportunities for public prayer. grow
| ing out of the multiplicity OF religious
services. but in the rush of our times
! and the emphasis which is now put
/ upon service, Christians are often
times forgetful OF closet prayer. We
/ are all ready to admit that II we
! prayed more. we should have greater
! blessings, and with somewhat less Of
| the anxious service which we seek to
/ render, but with the pressure that Is
upon the most earnest Christians, 1t is
| difficult to find, or take time to pray
as we ought.
! 1t is written that Origen. being
! seized by prosecutors, and allowed his
| choice between punishment and bow
/ ing to idols, in an hour Of weakness
| chose the latter. He afterward re-
| pented, and said that he found the
| cause OF his fall in his neglect of
morning prayer on that fatal day.
There are six different postures for
prayer mentioned in the Bible. They
are: /. Standing q Kings s: %: Mark
IL: 25). .. Bowling down psalm 95:
81. 3. Kneeling duke %: ~: Acts
20: 3e). 4. Failing on the face Mum,
l6: q: ! Chron. 81: Is; Matt. 2s:
39). S. Spreading forth the hands
isaiah /: 15). s. Lifting up the hands
Psalm IS: 2. Lam. 2: 10: Tim. 2:
| -. These various scriptural attitudes
| are given to show that PRAYER does
not depend upon bodily attitude. and
vet prayer Is frequently distinguished
by some such posture. In our day
two of these attitudes are common
to-wit. kneeling and standing the lat
ter posture being frequently Observed
in pubic prayer, especially by the
I leader of II. In some churches the
! preacher and people kneel In PRAYER
| In private devotions kneeling - the
attitude which finds most favor among
/ christians. 1t is not essential to i
prayer that one should observe any ~
! the attitudes mentioned. nor is IL even
/ necessary that words should he ern
! ployed, but that there Is great value
in both can scarcely be questioned
Prayer without ccasng -GrAet
| Is. Pray without intern1ission With
out allowing prayerless gaps to in
terfene between the times OF PRAYER
! Matthew Henry interprets the verse
| as follows:
We should keen stated times for
/ PRAYER. and continue instant in PRAYER.
! We should pray always and not to
! faint pray without WEAKNESS. and
continue in prayer. til we come 20
/ the world where prayer will be swal-
! lowed up in praise. The meaning is
not that men should do nothing brit
| pray. but that nothing else we do
should hinder PRAYER in Its proner
season. PRAYER will help forward,
not hinder. all other lawful business
! and every good work.
/ James 5: 10. II presents the condf-
tons of effectual prayer. and gives MS
! an illustration OF it. First it must be
real prayer fsupplication) second II
| must be by righteous persons. not If
course in the absolute sense. but in
| the gospel sense, for il we regard sin
I In our hearts. the Lord will not hear
us The Authorized Version carries "A
| thought that is not found, in the Re-
| vised Version. but II is true OF PRAYER
namely. that the prayer must be in
wrought. weli-wrought fervent Such
A prayer will only be formulated by
| the person in whom the Holy Spirit ts
having ms way. Elias was man OF
like passions with us, and he praved
! fervently that ii might not rain; and
II rained not on the earth for three
years and six months And he praved
| again. and the heaven gave rain. and
the earth brought forth her fruit"
| Our life Is not built on A. leve, 60
| that we can maintain a constant ele-
walton Of spirit We have mountains
and valleys. emotional ups and downs,
and. as with our Lord, the radiant ex
perience Of TRANSPORTATION is succeeded
by an hour or bitterness when the soul
cries. MY God, my God. why hast
thou forsaken me- Cowper tells rs
| mat in prayer he mad known such
| exaitation that he thought he would
die from excess Of 10Y. but at another
| time, asked for some hymns for \ new
| hymnal, he wrote in answer: How ca n
you ask me for such a service seem
10 myself to be banished to a remot
ness from GODS presence, in compari-
son with which the. distance from the
East to West is vicinity, is cohesion
~ course we cannot always pray with
me same intensity and conscious salts
iaction. I pray more heartily at some
| tunes than at others says Tolstoi. and
even Bunyan had his familiar difficul-
Ties: Oh, the starting holes that the
/ neart has in the time Of prayer, None
knows how many byways the heart
hath' and hack lanes to slip away from
the presence OF God Make nm
your mind to keep your course steady
when you feel like it and when Won
dont. AS Dean Goulburn put it. 'Whe,
you cannon pray as you would pray
as you cam" fThe Meaning Of Prav-
cry.