Evening star., 1923-02-10
Sunday School Lesson

She had a defnate desire. She a
determination to obtain it she re-
yealed the genuineness Of her faith
In 4. h her sr esn;a, esrnsstnsss Such WHOLE,
power with GOD" It was the depth
Of her sincerity and conviction that
gave her earn estness and persistency.
This made her a successful pleader
with the unjust Judge who feared
black eye II he did not grant her
petition. Her importantly won her
case.
1t Is easy to misinterpret the teach
ing. OF the parable as one Of pure per
Importantly Of the widow and her
success. 1t would hardly be reasonable
to think for a moment that the char
acter of God could be in anything
like that the unjust Judge or that
He would be influenced to grant mems
petitions in order to get rid Of be-
Ing annoyed by their constant inter-
cessions. The seret OF successful
praying is based upon the character
Of God, as our Father. and our right
Of the parable. according to Farrar.
is that III an unjust and abandoned
Judge grants a Just petition at last.
out of base motives, when 1t is often
urged. to defenceless person for
whom he cares nothing. how much
hear the. cry and avenEe the cause OF
those whom He loves?'
Many have questioned the efficacy
OF prayer because they have confused
prayer with petition. They have made
requests and because they have not
obtained immediate answers have
doubted Its value. They usually have
forgotten that the chief assurances
Of the fulf1llment OF human requests IL
based upon conditions that imply the
q ~ htsv1 -
Divine. Delays In the answer of our
prayers are by no means denials A
long delay may be used TO test our
faith, sharpen our desire and increase
our determination until our interces-
sion shall win the victory in the field
OF prayer. Insistence in prayer is not
the cause Of its answer. The certain
ty OF receiving that which is asked
in His name should prompt us to con-
tinue in prayer. when all around seems
Men reveal their faith and charac-
ter in prayer. Christianity calls for
threefold relation to our God. our
fellowman. and ourselves. Jesus en-
phasised that haracter was an i'm
In communion with the Father, heart
is more than an art. The Lord por-
trayed the right spirit Of prayer in
his pen picture Of the Pharisee and
publican going UP to the temple to
be reproduced In modern life.
Two went to pray. or, rather say.
One went to brag. and the other to pray.
They entered together. THE Pharisee
with his broad blue zixith, or fringe.
and the tephillin (prayers) or ply
lacteries, fastened conspicuously on
brow and shoulder. the publican in
his common working dress. with no
outward badge to testify that he was
a child Of the covenant" Tney were
both sinners. although there was
nothing in the attitude OF the Phari-
The pharisee revealed by his atti-
tude the very ostentatiousness OF
hypocrisy that the Master condemned
In His sermon on the mount. His
self-complacency and self-glorifica-
tion was manifest in the conspicuous
more evident in his egotism. In two
short sentences he used "I" FIVE times
and the word God only once. He
may have thought that he was de-
ceiving God when he paraded off his
concelted and doematic man vitiated
all the possible excellence that there
may have existed in his conducted
and religious observances of fasts.
prayer and tithing by his spirit of
SELF; glorifieation; This sinful spirit
He prayed to himself. not to God. He
perverted his privilege. He left the
temple condemned because he trusted
in himself and despfsed others.
The poor publican separating him
self from others because he was the
sinner had another spirit. His was
the true spirit Of prayer for 1t was a
cry for mercy and pardon. 1t is one
of the shortest prayers that we find
in the Bible. 1t was as effective as
that of the importunate widow, for 1t
availed much. He was humble as he
turned like q child and sought for
giveness for his sin. when he left
unnoticed by men who. looking upon
the outward appearance, had observed
the Pharisee depart. the publican
went home triumphant God had
heard his prayer. 1t was humble.
penitent and definite In its request
His spirit pleased God, for he sent him
to his home accepted OF the lard"
The way to salvation is opened by
pleading the publican's prayer. but
the way to service calls for us to
"wrestle with God" in prayer. Prayer
should be the principal business Of
our life. Let US pray without leav-
ing Off" All the spiritual power which
the Lord desires to bestow upon US
depends upon our learning the spirit
of prayer which is taught in this
lesson. The sacrifices Of God are a
broken spirit: a broken and q contrite
heart, o God. thou wilt not despise."