The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1956-02-10

son in the world
with the privilege
Of asking one ia - -
vor,-how dizzy ! DR.. Foreman
would be at the pleasure OF the
prospect! Yet God has more treas
ure than millionaire. and the
fame of the most renowned men
is nothing compared to his glory.
1t is such a God to whom | can
take my desires and requests. ev-
cry day. every night Of the year.
1t is only because prayer is so
free that we take it for granted
and fail to appreciate it. We might
value the opportunity more if we
had to pay well for it.
The Price Of Prayer
In d way. prayer does have a
price. That is to say, il prayer
is to be effective. certain condi-
tons have to be met. Jesus told
some stories which bring out what
these conditions are One is the
tale of two men who went into
the same temple to pray. One was
an old hand at tiff there was
praying class" of Jews GORE
spending to a working class. or a
professional class in those days.
he was prominent member of it.
The other man had perhaps very
seldom prayed. The first man was
regular contributor to his
church; the other man--if he was
like the average in his profession
seldom darkened the door of a
place of worship. But in Jesus
story these two men found them
selves side by side in the same
temple. and only one was "justi-
fed" that is to say. only one got
favorable attention from God And
that one was the man who had
nothing to say but God be merci-
ful to me a sinner" To ask God
for this and for that. as if We de-
served it, as if it we're our right
to 1emand gifts from God.-this
is no way to pray. Effective pray
err begins with confession and re-
pentance. not with demands.
Not 10 the Proud
Let US make a short list OF some
differences between wrong prayer
and right PRAYER. Wrong prayer
IS really talking TO oneself or talk
ing SO as to be overheard by some
one we want to impress Right
prayer is addressed to God alone.
Wrong prayer is proud; right
prayer is humble Wrong prayer
wants God to support the pride OF
the prayer. Right prayer casts
pride away and comes to God
without a claim In wrong pray
er, | come to God asking him to
10 something for me which will
1--WE NE d better reason than !
row have for being proud of my
elf. In right prayer. l come 10
Tod asking him TO cleanse me Of
ne p ide which makes me feel
hat God himself is hardly neces-
'ary. In wrong prayer. the one
Who pays rises from his knees
Just as he was. for he has no wish
10 be changed; in right prayer.
the one who prays rises a better
man. for he asked God to forgive
and change him.
Keeping At II
Jesus seldom if ever tried to put
all the truth into one parable He
was generally content with setting
out one truth at a time. So the
parable of the bothersome widow,
the woman who finally wore out a
stubborn and selfish Judge Just
by keeping after him. par
able does not say everything about
prayer. But it does teach one
thing: Keep at it. Jesus is care
full not to say that God is anything
like that judge. What he does
iiSdll - tiIat IL CNNIl n Ddu GUAR
acter like that judge can be moved
to do the right thing by a persis-
tent woman, surely God our Fa-
Their in heaven. who is neither lazy
nor stubborn nor ill-willed. will
listen to persistent prayer We
must be careful not to read into
this parable more than Jesus said.
There is no promise here that God
counts the number of times we
pray for a thing. and that if we
only pray enough lines he will be
sure to answer. There is no guar
antee that God will answer any
prayer we can think of if we say
it often enough. What Jesus prom
ises is that God will bring justice
At last If we keep on want
ing it.
tBssed % outlines e~Py.ightea hy the
Divisien 81 Christian Elee sti~n. Ma
Neasl CeuNeN u the Churches o. Chris
IN the 4. &. A. Released BY Com n unit.
Press Serviee.)