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THE KING’S BUSINESS
infectious Spirit of Him who went about doing good, with an eye single to the glory of His Father and yet always in such a useful, trustful way that no one ever thinks of Him as being at leisure, no one thinks of Him as being in a hurry. There are few pictures in the Bible more impressive, more suggestive, more instructive, more calcu lated to put us to shame than that one in which our Lord is girding Himself with a towel and washing the feet of His own fol lowers. This is the sort of service so much needed today— heart service, faith service, humble service, rendered with joyful glad ness in the name and for the glory of Him who hath done His best for us. L esson V.—F ebruary 1, 1914 Golden Text,—Luke 11:9 The lesson gives us a Pattern Prayer and a Parable on Prayer. Looking at the latter in the light of the Golden Text we find .the heart of the lesson in the unselfish, intercession of a friend for a friend. In this parable the Master gives us the true basis for prayer. What is the inspiring motive which moves the man to make re quest for his friend? What is it that keeps him at the unopened door? What impels him to continue his supplication until the ungracious householder reluctantly responds to his pleading? Is it not need, a definite need? He is without bread; his friend is hungry. He makes his friend’s need his own and because the need is so urgent he is so persistent. He goads one friend into giving him help for another friend. The ground upon which he makes his plea is FRIENDSHIP. This lesson like that of the Unjust Judge, is one o f contrast. , W e ask of. our .Father in Heaven upon the ground of relationship. W e are children. W e are upon terms of intimacy with our Father. If an earthly friend responds under the persistent plead ing o f another, how much more will our Father give good gifts to His children when they presk their claim in the name of the Lord Jesus, His beloved Son. , Need and deep desire constitute the es sential elements of prayer.
We ask for something we need. We seek for something we have lost. We knock at a door that is shut. We ask and He answers. W e seek and He rewards. We knock and He opens unto us. We do not always succeed in our asking and seeking and knocking, but it is because there is something wrong in our lives. There is some sin that hinders. Is it not true that oftentimes— He knocks and we do not open to Him ? On the other hand, if the conditions are right— Knocking means the presence of God. . Seeking means the will of God. Asking means the answer of God. In the parable the Holy Spirit is set forth as the deepest need o f the soul, and cor responds to the bread, the staff of life for which the hungry man pleads. Would that there were in our souls the deep-felt need and the desire for the fulness o f the Spirit. L esson VI.—F ebruary 8 , 1914 Golden Text,—Luke 11:35 In this lesson Jesus was aiming at the inconsistency o f the Jews, and the parable of the lighted candle illustrates the apostasy of that nation. God made Israel the de pository of the truth, they were the salt of the earth, they were the light of the world, they were the city set upon an hill, but the salt had lost it savor, the light had been hidden under a bushel and the city had lost the luster of its glory. Called of God to be the light of the world they had forsaken their calling; the leaders were lost in a labryinth of forms and ceremonies and the people groped in darkness. They had gar nished their house but had not invited God to come in, and so it had become the dwell ing place of Satan’s emissaries. Three pass ages of Scripture will illumine our text— John 8:12, “ I am the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14, “ Ye are the light of the world.” Philippians 2:15, “ Shine ye as lights in the world” (R. V .). Jesus was (Concluded on Page 59) He cries and we do not answer? He seeks and He does not find?
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