The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-02-20
JESUS CALLS TO PRAYER

| LESSON TEXT-Luke 18:1-14
! GOLDEN TEXT-Lord. teach us to pray.
Luke Ill.
J limitations may be so clever as
to cause us to marvel, but to the one
who knows the real thing, they are
Gust limitations" Particularly is
that true in the realm of the spiritu-
al. Make-believe faith in God fools
only the hypocrite and those who
know as little as he does of real
Christianity.
Prayer is undoubtedly the great
est privilege of the Christian, put
ting him and his life in touch with
the omnipotence Of God. But it must
be real prayer, not just some formal
exercise which masquerades under
the name of prayer. We combine
the two parallels of our lesson to
contrast prevailing prayer and pow
erless prayer.
/. Prevailing Prayer.
The prayer which really lays hold
upon God and brings results must
be the expression of a life of prayer.
1t is no occasional effort brought
about by great need or a deep
sorrow. We must pray
l. Without Ceasing ". y. Jesus
had just been talking Of the trying
days which were to come duke
17:26-30). To stand fast for Christ
in day when almost all the inhu-
ences are against such faith, a man
needs real prayer or he will surely
faint.
To pray constantly is not neces-
sarily to be saying the words of
prayer, but is the outreach of the
life toward God, the setting of our
minds on things above. That we
can and may do at all times and in
all places.
2. With Assurance wv. 2-9). If
an unjust judge will respond just
to escape the constant plea of a
widow, we may rest assured that
God, who is just and looks upon
His people in loving kindness, will
not fail to respond to their plea. He
says, "Call unto me, and I will an
swer thee, and show thee great and
mighty things, which thou knoWest
not" Ger. 1879.
8. In Humility wv. 13, 14). We
come to God, not to demand, but to
humbly plead the blood of Jesus
Christ. That was what the publican
did. When he said, Lord, be mer-
ciful," he used the word ''propitiat-
ed" which refers to the mercy seat
on which the blood was sprinkled as
a Precipitation for sin (see Exod.
25:17, 10, 81; Heb. 9:5; Lev. 1853.
Such plea brought salvation to the
repentant sinner.
ii. POWerless Prayer.
We use the word prayer here in
the broad sense, for strictly speak
ing there is no such thing as prayer
without power. Men call it prayer,
but it accomplishes nothing because
it is offered
l. In Self-sufficiency wv. 9, 1D.
Those who trust Sin themselves"
will naturally do what the Pharisee
did; he prayed with himself" HE
had an intellectual conviction, but
that does not make contact with
God. He'll is full of intellectual con-
viction. God? Oh, yes. But he was
so occupied with himself he could
not get away from himself" (Mor-
gam.
2. With Boastful Pride wv. 8, II,
12). Despising others, the Pharisee
boosted of his own fine character
and good works. "God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble" Games 4;6). 1t is prop
er that a man should live uprightly,
but if it only makes him self-right-
eous it becomes a barrier between
him and God duke 1919.
g. For the Sake of Publicity ".
II, CT. V. 49,. While the publican
hung his head and stood afar off to
offer his prayer, the Pharisee ap-
parently took prominent place and
spoke with loud voice. Jesus de-
scribed that kind Of prayers in Mat
thew 6:5 as just putting on pub
icity "stunt" When men had seen
them pray, the transaction was fin
ished. They had not been in touch
with God at all.
The result of the two prayers is
so well described by DR.. J. Camp
bell Morgan that we quote his
words:
1.-TWO men at prayer. One, elo-
quently, in phrases circling round
his own personality with which he
was pre-eminently pleased. The 9TH
er, hating his sin, and grasping out
after the infinite and tender COM
passion of God to operate for him.
The man who justified him
self remained unjustifed. The man
who sought the compassion of God
went back to his house justified.