The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1955-03-11

hey only knew how.
Ask!
There is So much IN the New
Testament about prayer. thai a
person may we'll read il through
with this one question in mind
Let any reader Who wants te try
this start out with a good trans
lation Of the New Testament cthe
r S v. for instance or some 9th
er modern and readable versionp
and q blank notebook In each
days reading notice every refer
eace to prayer-who prayed. why,
how, what the result was; Or uhat
is said about prayer tas for in
stance by Jesus and Paul Some
points it will be found come out
over and over again Others may
be touched On rarely But few days
viii 90 by without the reader
finding something that can be jot
ted down in the notebook, which
may have for a title What I Have
Learned About Prayer from the
New Testament One thing will
certainly come out from the first;
Prayer is something God expects
Of all His children Prayer is
privilege but il is also duty
You can raise all the riddles about
prayer you can think of-and they
are many You can think Of all
sorts OF things that scare you
AWAY from prayer-your own in
significance, God s greatness. the
strong possibility that you may
not know what is really best for
you, and so forth But all those
things we're true when Jesus gave
His friends those three simple
commands Ask Seek Knock.
There are blessings that come only
to those who ask. There is Light
TO be found only by those who
seek There arc doors that open
only to the voice Of prayer. With
out confidence, prayer ends before
it starts
In Jesus Mans
One thing Jesus said has met
with much misunderstanding II
ye ask anything In My name. viii
do it " It is not right to think Of
this promise as attaching mag
ical influence to the form Of words
In Jesus name. Amen II is
not true that any prayer ending
with those words is 4 prayer that
vii be answered. and any prayer
rot ending with those words will
not be answered That is not what
Jesus meant al all. Take the story
of the tpo prayers, the publican
ard the pharisec Luke 1910.
Would the pharisee prayer have
been answered and honored II he
had ended that proud petition. Or
rather that prayer Of thanksgiv-
ing. with the words In Jesus
name OF course not II he had
added such words they would have
been out Of place. A prayer in that
holy Name is truly in the Name
only when il expresses the mind
of Christ, only when $50 TO spesk)
he could sign his name 10 it. The
more nearly our prayers are like
u.hat our Lord Himself would think
Of. the more nearly they will come
to being fully answered.
Our Lords Prayer
The most famous prayer In the
world. the one most often repeat
ed by Christians, Is the Lord 8
Prayer. Jesus did not intend this
as formula. A Christian who
never prays except IN these exact
words would not have understood
what Jesus taught about praying
What Jesus did mean by giving
us this prayer is TO show Us the
manner" OF prayer-that Is, the
lines on which true prayer must
be made. The reader is encouT-
aged TO study this short but won
derful prayer again and again. as
q guide TO his own talks with God.
One very important thought is IN
the very first word: ''Our." II the
first How Of prayer is confidence
in God. tbs second is harmony
with tire mind OF Christ. ard the
third Ii suggested by tn. word
ous"--remen1ber We are not
alone. II any desire is selfish II is
desirs that God ulu not pi~ss
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