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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
August 1926
be kept in such relation to our Lord that at anytime, under any circumstance, when the call comes quickly, there can he an instantaneous response. No long list of rules is necessary; just live the prayer life and appreciate the joy of it, the privilege of it, the need of it. Prayer will do what money, nor position, nor education, can ever do. And the bosom friend of prayer is praise! And when we use that word you set the joy. bells of Heaven ring ing in your heart. One of the most outstanding illus trations of the fellowship of prayer and praise is found ’in Acts 16:25 when, bound fast in the stocks at mid night, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. The earthquake followed and the doors of the prison were opened! The unity of prayer and praise brought recognition from Heaven. Paul and Silas were “ living the life” and it was manifest in their atti tude. So it can be with every Christian, and so it ought to be. No matter what tests are permitted by the Lord in our lives, if we, too, are “ living the life” of prayer and praise we will have His smile from the glory, and His joy will be our strength. THE RUGGED ROAD TO ROYALTY Royalty means “ the state o f being royal, the condi tion or quality of being a royal person.” We speak of “ the royal road to success,” but there never has been an easy road to success in any walk of life. It has always been a Rugged Road. There are seven letters in the word “ success,” and seven is the perfect number. Study the lives of suc cessful men and almost always you will find that they have a similar history o f hardships and difficulties. In a recent number of The American Magazine is a story of a young lad who, at eighteen years of age, could not pass the eighth grade in the public school and so took a job in his father’s store, which he later left for that of errand hoy in a Chicago bank, and is now the Chairman of the Board in the same bank—H)ne o f the largest in Chicago. His youthful companion, from his home town, who also left school at about the same time, is now the President of a leading railroad. These boys both traveled the Rugged Road to success, but they kept the path and reached the goal. Open your Bible. Run your eyes over the record of the chosen men of God,—Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Solomon, Daniel, Paul, John, and our Lord Jesus Christ Hjimself. Is it not the same story 1 Read the history of the Church. Has not every real follower found that a life loyal to Christ means a Rugged Roadf Those who travel this Rugged Road know where they are going. They are not seeking soft and easy places for themselves, but are only seeking to glorify their Lord, and they have the promise of His presence and power. But so few of the saints have any heart for the Rugged Road, and so they do not have any real fel lowship with their Leader, for He can only be revealed,
PRAYER AND PRAISE Here are two little words of six letters each,—won derful little words! When uttered, they seem to have been formed for association with each other,—two pearls of peerless value, linked in loving embrace. We are all acquainted with these words, but too often they are used in a meaningless manner, with flippant familiarity. Perhaps, when analyzed, we will find that they are of more tremendous meaning and inestimable value than we had dreamed. The wprd “ prayer” has many meanings as used in the Word of God, but its deepest meaning is “ life” ! Prayer is a life, an attitude; it is the breath of the indwelling Spirit o f God in the heart of a believer. It is not limited to any particular posture of the body,— standing, sitting, kneeling, walking—it is all the same. Prayer is a spontaneous movement from within the soul, leaping forward and upward as naturally as a wave of electricity follows the wire. It is a habit of life, when practiced. For instance,—you are walking on the street or riding in a car and your eye rests upon some person and, like a flash of lightning, your soul is moved and a prayer wings its way to the throne of grace. You are reading a paper or a hook and some thought impresses you, and prayer rises as naturally as the breath from the rose. Yes,—prayer is a life! A life o f fellowship with the risen Christ. Seasons for prayer are desirable. Prayer lists are helpful for every Christian, for they strengthen the prayer habit and produce results. They endear* the people whose names are mentioned to us. ^They enlarge our ‘capacity for sympathy and fellowship. But, alas, so often they are formal and meaningless. Perfunctory prayer is unfortunate in its effect upon the “ pray-er” and the hearer. Beautiful and harmon ious phrases may have an appeal to a cultured mind, but, alas, have no association with the Holy Spirit. No man or woman should ever pray in public whose heart is not right with God, for Heaven’s door is shut to such petitions, and they are sacrilege in the sight of God. _ . . . . , , Because prayer is a life, then the life must he clean and the price must be paid for the privilege of access to the throne of God. The prayer life must be prac ticed. Just as we seek to keep our bodies m the best shape for service because they are God’s temples, so must we—by the daily exercise o f our souls—keep them sound and vigorous. No greater privilege has ever been accorded to mor tal man than that gift of God, through faith in Christ, of the right of access to and fellowship with Him. The humblest follower often finds it easier to live the life than do those of exalted position, for humility is one of the indispensable requisites of real prayer. Often in all night prayer meetings with men we have found that when several hours were spent in getting the hearts right with God, the last two or three hours were filled with blessed fellowship and joyful access to Him. How important it is, then, that the life should
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