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THE KING’S BUSINESS
p re p ara tio n m ig h t h av e been e n tru ste d to ab ler h an d s th a n m ine. P ra y in g G od th a t I m ay w o rth ily deal w;ith a th em e w hich is alik e m o st p recio u s a n d m o st p ro fo u n d , I in v ite y o u r a tte n tio n to th e n a tu re , p ow er, an d p riv ileg e of p ray er. N A T U R E O F P R A Y E R . I. T h e N a tu re o f P ra y e r.— (1 ) I t is n o t a m a tte r o f locality, fo r G od is “w ith in no ' w alls confined.” A n d H e w h o in th is, as a lso in all th in g s else, is th e only in fallib le tea ch e r, said I860 y e ars ago to a w om an of S am aria, u n d e r th e sh ad ow o f M o u n t G er- izim , “B elieve M e, th e h o u r com eth w hen ye sh all n e ith e r in th is m o u n tain , n o r yet a t Jeru sa lem , w o rsh ip th e F a th e r, b u t th e tru e w o rsh ip e rs sh all w o rsh ip th e F a th e r in sp irit an d in tru th .” In m agnificent ca th ed ra l, o r in low liest co ttag e h om e, in th e m id st o f a v a st w o rsh ip fu l m u ltitu d e , o r all alo n e in th e d a rk n e ss o f th e n ig h t, o r th e so litu d e o f th e d e se rt, it m a tte rs n o t w h ere o n e a rth th e p ra y e r be offered, only so it be dev o u t. (2 ) N o r is it a m a tte r o f bodily a ttitu d e. A m an m ay sta n d like th e p e n ite n t publican, o r k n eel lik e th e g o dly D aniel, o r p ro stra te h im self in th e d u st like th e d ev o u t Isa iah — th e L o rd o f H o s ts cares n o t fo r th e p o s tu re o f th e b o d y so th e sp irit be sin cere a n d th e h e a rt b eat loyally. A n d y et it de serv es to be said th a t th é m an w h o affects to p ray , b u t w ho, o u t o f p u re indolence o r sin fu l irrev eren ce, declines to w o rsh ip G od w ith h is b o d y ’ by its d eco ro u s p ro stra tio n a t a th ro n e o f g race, d eserv es to be sp u rn ed by th e S o v ereig n he h a s in su lted . (3 ) N o r is it m erely a fo rm o f w o rd s. A g re a t d eal o f th e ' g ran d ilo q u en ce th a t in p ublic assem b lies p u rp o rts to be ad d ressed to G od, b u t w hich in p o in t o f fa ct is am bi tio u sly a d d ressed to m en, so fa r from de serv in g th e n am e o f p ra y e r is a b lasp h e m o u s p re te n se th a t G od A lm ig h ty hates. S E N T IM E N T A L P IE T Y . W e believe in th e u se o f w o rd s in p ra y er — th ey classify th o u g h t an d in ten sify de sire. W e do n o t believe in th o se su b lim ated
sain ts w ho h av e reach ed su ch an altitu d e th a t th ey no lo n g er n eed to voice th eir m inds, b u t deem it sufficient silen tly to ex hale th e ir sen tim e n ta l piety. . I t w ill, we fear, be com m only fo u n d th a t th e process o f ex h alin g h as g o n e so fa r as to leave th eir souls ex ceed in g d ry . M o st w isely d id the p ro p h et H o sea w rite, “ T ak e w ith y o u w o rd s a n d tu rn to th e L o rd ” ; a n d w h en th e C h rist w ould teach H is disciples to p ra y H e did n o t e x h o rt th em to ex h ale th e ir em o tio n s silently, b u t g av e th em in stea d a fo rm of w o rd s, th e m o st sim ple a n d sublim e th a t ev er w ere b re ath ed by h um an lips. P ra y e r in its v e ry essen ce is th e d ev o u t com m union o f -the soul w ith G od. A n d to such com m union fa ith is e v er a p rim e con dition, fo r “he th a t com eth u n to G od m u st believe th a t H e is, a n d th a t H e is a re- w a rd e r o f th em th a t d ilig en tly seek H im .” T o th e m an o f th e w o rld su c h com m union is incredible, if n o t u tte rly inconceivable, fo r “th e n a tu ra l m an k n o w e th n o t th e th in g s o f th e sp irit o f G od, n e ith e r can he know th em because th ey a re sp iritu a lly d iscern ed .” A n d y et th is com m u n io n is m o st real, an d o f all th in g s m o st p recio u s. I speak to a m u ltitu d e o f m en a n d w om en w ho k n ow G od, w ho h av e w alk ed w ith H im as d id E n o ch , an d talk e d w ith H im as did M oses, face to face, as a m an ta lk s w ith h is frien d . T h is h id d en com m u n io n o f th e soul w ith G od— th is is p ray er. T h e soul m ay p o u r itself o u t in a d o ratio n , o r in th an k sg iv in g , o r in co nfession, o r in su p p licatio n—all th ese a re p ra y e r— an d n o n e of th em a re to be neglected. W e can n o t suffi cien tly a d o re G o d ’s infinite an d ex cellen t attrib u te s. A n d no re q u est fo r fu tu re b less ings w ill e v er be g ra n te d u nless th e re be g ra te fu l ap p reciatio n o f b lessin g s alread y bestowed,. “L e t all y o u r re q u ests be m ade k n ow n by p ra y e r a n d su p p licatio n , w ith th an k sg iv in g u n to G od, an d th e peace of G od w hich p asseth all u n d e rsta n d in g shall keep y o u r h e arts a n d m in d s th ro u g h Je su s C h rist.” A n d co n fessio n is m ad e an ab so lu te p re req u isite to th e fo rg iv en ess o f sins, an d ac c o rd in g ly w e k n o w th a t “if w e co n fess o u r
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