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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
December 1926
“ W h o la the d a y « • ( kla flo«h. w h ea ha h ad offered a a p ra y e r« a a d « a p p llr a llo a « w ith «trô n a e ry la a a » d te a r« a a to hla» th at waa a b le ta aave hint from death« a a d w aa h eard la th a t ha feared .” And does this not give us the key to the meaning of the cup which He desired to pass from Him? He feared lest He might at this crucial moment fail in loyalty to the Father’s will. The thought of the awful darkness and the veiled face of His Father—the be coming sin—was with Him, and He needed Divine power to resist shrink ing from that cup. He did not shrink from the cross (John 12:27, 28). His F a t h e r sent an a n g e l to strengthen Him, and He found, as did Paul, that God’s grace was sufficient What a lesson concerning o u r own trials! We pray, and then faint. It our prayers are not immediately an swered we fcharge God with neglect and indifference. The Son of G od struggled for at least an hour, and prayed three times before He received the answer. Let us learn to meet temptation and trial with prayer. All life is a battle. There is conflict in the state; conflict in the home; conflict in the heart; con flict with the will of God. We need to recognize the right of our Father to rule in our lives. We must bend our wills to His will. It 1 b well to be over come of God, as was Jacob. We may go limping through life, but our halt ing steps will be the seal of our vic tory. Many times we fall into sin because we have not bulwarked our lives with prayer. Failing to watch and pray, men are overcome and swept away by the power of some mighty wave of temptation. The devil watches, and at the critical time he comes in like a flood. Praying without watching is hypocrisy. Watching without praying is presumption. Let us put on the whole armor of God, take the sword of the Spirit, and watch u n t o prayer (Eph. 6:13-18). (2) THE MODEL PRAYER, Matt. 6: 9-13. “After this manner, there fore, pray ye,” v. 9. This is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer,” but the Scriptures do not so designate it. It is more properly “The Disciples’ " prayer. The real “Lord’s Prayer” is to be found in John 17 where our Lord Himself prays; but the prayer which we have here was the prayer which He gave to His disciples. At a later date the Lord said, “Hither to have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24); and Paul says in Rom. 8:27: “The Spirit maketh Intercession for us." Luke tells us that “as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased one., of His disciples came unto Him and said, Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1-4), and the prayer as given by Luke differs somewhat from this prayer in Matthew. There has been a wide difference of opinion as to whether this prayer was intended to be used as a form or model of prayer; whether it was to be repeated exactly as given, or whether the words constituted the great principle of prayer; if the words are to be used, should we add the doxology, "For Thine is the kingdom.
the Bible; they do not read it sys tematically and regularly, and make some portion of it their own at each reading. Abraham Lincoln said the home was the foundation of our na tion, and that whatever affects the home affects the nation. The Bible is the cement that saves the home. A missionary returned to America after an absence of twenty-five years, and what do you think he noticed as the greatest change? Not the great im provements in transportation, or even the radio, but the general absence of the family altar. Neither o u r indi vidual homes nor the nation can stand this loss. What are you doing with the Bible? U. S. Grant said, “Write the precepts of t h e B i b l e in your hearts, and practice them in y o u r lives.” we behold it. This is a holy place. Alone, in the deep recesses of the gar den, in the dead of night, a Man goes to battle—not for Himself, not for His country, but for a lost world. Prostrate upon His face, pleading w i t h H i s Father, lies the form of the beloved Son of God. Issuing from His lips comes the strange cry, “Q, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!” The expression conveys the sense of horror (Gen. 16:12): “And w h en th e n > wn» S « ln f dow n, a d eep sleep fe ll upon A b ram ; and« lo, a h o rro r o f g re a t d a rk n e s s fe ll upon him . Is God torturing His Son? Does the Saviour shrink from death? Other men have met it calmly; would He shrink from the suffering of the cross? He had already said: “I have power to lay my life down, and I have power to take it up again” (John 10:18; 12: 27). What, then, is the meaning of this prayer? In the wilderness temp tation, when Jesus had mastered Satan, we are told that Satan left Him for a season (Luke 4:13). And in the upper room He had Just said: “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me” (John 14:80). Now he comes, marshalling all the powers of darkness, and sweeps down upon the Son of God. All the malignant hatred of hell itself is manifest in this at tack. The cloud is descending which was to finally settle on the cross. Jesus s t a n d s confronted with the fact that His own people have rejected Him. He was to be humiliated be fore men in a mock trial. His body was to endure the cruel scourge. There waB to be the cross and physical suf fering. Beyond, all this was the aw ful sense of the load of guilt of a sin ful world, and still farther and above all, the midnight darkness when the Father’s face was to be turned from Him. This is a threefold prayer, and per haps a threefold temptation as the first. Paul prayed three times for de liverance, and received grace to bear his trial (2 Cor. 12:9). The Lord prayed three times, and H i s prayer was answered. We are told (Heb. 5: 7):
Why not?" said t h e foreman. "Be cause the copy it not like the Bible." “How do y o u know?" "I learned some of t h e b e verses at S u n d a y 8chool." “Well; then," said the fore man, “do not follow the copy, but set them up as they are in the Bible." The boy took the Bible and made it his copy, guide and pattern. Lesson: Frequently I h e a r boys and girls In High School say they have to study very hard, and often late at night, to master their lessons. They forego many pleasures in order to de vote the time to study. An educa tion, or anything worth while, costs something of time and application. You can not study one day and neg lect it the next, and enjoy your school days, or ever become a real student. That is why so many do not enjoy Golden Text: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7. Lesson Text: Mark 1:35; 14:32- 36; Matt. 6:9-13. Devotional Reading: Psalm 63:1-8. Additional Material for Teachers: Matthew 7:7-11; 13:19, 20; Luke 18: 1-14; 1 John 5:14, 16. T alk ing to rust ing IN AKING FROM Seek and find.—-Matt. 7:7 Lesson Outline: (1) The Master at Prayer, Mark 1: 35; 14:32-36. (2) The Model Prayer, Matt. 6:9-13. Introduction: We have had a lot of phrases con cerning prayer. We are told that it “changes things," "gets things done. Yes and one could name a thousand things t h a t prayer LESSON does, even to moving EXPOSITION mountains, b u t w e T. C. Horton need to learn how to pray, and when we learn that, prayer needs no title or exposition. Prayer is a simple thing. It is to call for;” “to wish;" “to ask," and other simple similies. Prayer is the easiest thing in the world when condi tions are right, and p r a y e r is the greatest power ever given to man, ana the most powerful weapon ever placed at his disposal. It is simple, because the way of access to the Father is simple, it is through His Son. (1) THE MA S T E R AT PRAYER. Mark 1:35; 14:32-36. “And he saith***Sit ye here while I pray, ’ v. 32. Here is one of the most striking pictures in t h e w h o l e Bible—sad, sacred, solemn! We stand in awe aa
vvy, Awv, ä «. m ÿst m JANUARY 23, 1927 PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE MARK 1 JS ; 14:32-36; MATTHEW 6:0-13
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