"For them that who seek him will find peace and joy. honor me I will honor," saith his holy word. Yet whether men forsake or serve him, he is ever the same. When, therefore, we say, that God is unchangeable, let not the meaning be conveyed, that no change whatever is wrought by prayer. A desirable and happy change is produced by it. This change is in man. It is the design of prayer to make him better; to raise him from the contemplation of earthly things, to those which are heavenly; to learn him, as he ought to know, his entire dependence on God for "life, and breath, and all things;" and to teach him obedience to his commands, and resignation to his will. True prayer will have this tendency. "Philosophy asks a reason for the efficacy of prayer; and, waiting for an answer, never prays at all. Religion hears that God will be inquired of by us, thankfully bends the knee, touches the golden sceptre, and bears away the blessing." * Our Lord gave to his disciples a beautiful and comprehensive form of prayer. It ought to be in every Christian's heart. It contains, in substance, all that man can reasonably implore of his Maker. Let us consider the topics which it embraces. The prayer is thus recorded in Matthew vi. 9 – 13. "Our Father which art in heaven: hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven: give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen." * Rev. R. Watson. How impressive its beginning! "Our Father, which art in heaven." Not my Father, or your Father, but our Father, the Parent of all. Who does not know the true meaning of the word "father"? We should ever come to God with the full conviction, that we are his children, and that he delights in listening to our prayers, and in granting our devout wishes, according to his unfailing wisdom and love. "Hallowed be thy name." The name of our Father is to be used with reverence and sanctity. It is to be separated from all degrading ideas, opinions, and expressions. "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts," says the apostle. This is the same as keeping his name hallowed. We should feel, that God is the great source of all purity. "He is light, and in him is no darkness at all." "Thy kingdom come." The kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace and glory; a kingdom of moral truth and peace. It is thus described by Daniel, where the Messiah is spoken of. "And there was given him dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." He who can pray in faith, "thy kingdom come," asks of God, that righteousness may be established in the earth, and that the period may come when "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." "Give us this day our daily bread." Our Saviour here teaches us to look to God as the giver of all those temporal blessings which we enjoy; and to solicit and acknowledge his providential care as it is manifested in the visible creation, and which suffers not a sparrow to fall to the ground without its notice. Dependence on God for our daily sustenance: this is the lesson inculcated; and however much this may be forgotten in the hour of luxury and prosperity, it is no less a reality, that we are but pensioners on the bounty of heaven; as much so as the fowls of the air, or the cattle upon a thousand hills. This prayer will not encourage indolence. He who is rightly influenced by its spirit will put in requisition the means God has given him for the acquirement of his living; he will be moved to active industry. As he prays for his daily bread to be given him, he will strive to render himself deserving of it. "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." This leads us to see our duty in relation to the forgiveness of injuries. Our willingness to forgive our fellow-creatures their wrongs, should be equal to our desire to be forgiven. God is a being of forgiveness. His children should imitate him. If they do, they will not come to him with this prayer on their lips while the spirit of hatred or ill will is at work in their hearts. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Who that is liable to be led away by temptation, would doubt the efficacy of prayer, if this petition were fervently used by him in every moment of danger ? "Lead me not, or suffer me not to be led, into temptation." Suppose that individual who has contracted the dreadful habit of intemperance should, whenever temptation presented itself, call this prayer into earnest exercise; that he should begin, go through, and end the day with it; that he should use it the more fervently as the temptation increased? Would not the drunkard in this way soon become a sober man? And the swearer, as he is moved to take the name of the Lord in vain; or the gambler, as he is about to enter the secret lurking-place of sin, either to be ruined himself, or to aid in the ruin of others; or the debauchee, as he is wending his way to the haunts of those whose guests are the dead in trespasses and sins, and whose "steps take hold on hell"; or the murderer, as he is moved with the design to imbrue his hands in the blood of a fellow-being; or the oppressive, the fraudulent, and the dishonest of every description; - would they not all, by the fervent exercise of this short petition when they were beset with temptations, be led to deliverance from evil, and salvation from moral death? The answer is clear. This would be the effect of the prayer. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen." Thine is the dominion over all; thine is universal power; thine the glory. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." This is the prayer, which the wisest of teachers directed his disciples to use; and which every Christian believer should know and understand. For appropriateness, simplicity, comprehensiveness, and purity of thought, it has never been surpassed, and it will ever stand first and best in the great record of human petitions to the God of all. From the fact, that this form of prayer was given to the disciples, we are not to infer, that no other is to be used. Prayers may be offered according to circumstances; and, of course, different words and forms of expression will be observed. It is not so much the lan guage of the lips, as of the heart, that God regards. It matters but little what place may be chosen for the offering up of the devout petition to the Source of all light and love; whether in the public sanctuary, or in the closet; amidst the busy crowd, or in the retired silence of some consecrated spot, where no eye can behold but that of Omniscience. It may go up from the monarch on his throne, or from the beggar in rags; from the palace of the proud, the cottage of the lowly, or the dungeon of the prisoner. It may be the still whispering of the heart, or it may be clothed in words of pleasing sound. If it be offered in sincerity, it is the same with him to whom all time and space are but names, and with whom there is no respect of persons. "Prayer its way to God can find, "I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting." Such is the language of the apostle. And this spirit of prayer is in exact agreement with the religion of the Son of God. Men are to pray to their Father in heaven for themselves, and for one another. And if they not only pray, but watch and live as faithful children, the blessings of the Eternal will descend upon them, and crown their lives with peace and happiness. It is not my intention here to treat on public prayer. This is better understood, and we may add, better prac |