subject for the administration of His kingdom, He said: "Behold, he prayeth!" Christ had brought the persecutor Saul to his knees. That prayer in which Saul asked for grace was itself a grace, held out by God and seized by the man. It was a needle lent to draw in the golden thread of favour, and of a divine vocation. The persecutor Saul became the Apostle Paul. " 3 "We will give ourselves continually to prayer," said the twelve Apostles; "and to the ministry of the word." They were the Cabinet and had the ear of the King. They were to have the ear of the world. also. For this they had the guarantee of His power, promised over and over again: "You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.' Henceforth prayer was to make up in part part for the privilege, now withdrawn, of having Himself and His power visibly present among them; as He expressed it at the moment of withdrawing from them: 'Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.” 4 * There was also the injunction to pray in common. After placing in His Church the highest powers of binding and loosening, He guaranteed to His disciples the universal power of obtaining whatsoever they should agree to ask for, and He laid it down as a general law of His kingdom: "Where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." The form of the Lord's Prayer invites us to this community of intercessory worship; for we do not say, My Father, but “Our Father"; and we pray: "Give us this day our daily 3 John 14. 14; 15. 7; 16. 23. 1 Acts 9. II. 2 Ibid. 6. 4. bread." Many little orisons combine to make a great chorus of love and desire. Individuals can pray at all times and in every place. Going into their chamber they may shut the door, and pray to the Father who is in secret; and the Father who seeth in secret will repay them.1 Motives of devotion dictate retirement from the bustle and glare of the world. But it is not commendable to shrink from sight through any mere timidity arising from human respect. "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” 2 There is, of course, a Pharisaical hypocrisy which makes ostentation of piety. But there is another hypocrisy, that of worldliness, which makes parade of impiety, of irreligion, or, as it gently calls the fashion, of “indifference." The fact is, no man is indifferent to religion, any more than he is indifferent to himself. Irreligion is an affectation of human respect. Public worship provides for the profession and discharge of a common duty-for the lighting of the lamp, and putting it on its stand, that it may shine to all in the house. The exercise of public worship calls for the appointment of a common time, and of a place determined. So God Himself fixed the term of the seventh day as limiting the period of time for the duty of public worship. It was also His will that He should be invoked in a place set apart and consecrated for the purpose, where, as He said, "My name shall be."4 He said that He would hearken in a special way to the prayers offered Him in that place. The royal splendours of divine service in honour 1 Matt. 6. 6. 3 Ibid. 5. 15. of Him, "whom to know is to live, and whom to serve is to reign"; the joy of worship in the magnificence of temples, which aspiring to heaven raise the imagination and mind from earth; the interaction of devotion and zeal, which springing forth from community of sentiments and unity of purpose proceed to organize institutions for the extension of God's kingdom, and the diffusion of peace among men-all these are but manifestations of a life in common, and of a Christian commonwealth which was quickened into existence by the blessing poured over the Church: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." In paying our tributes to the Divine Majesty we profess with David: “All things are Thine; and we have only given Thee what we have received of Thy hand. For we are sojourners and strangers before Thee, as were all our fathers. Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding. . . . And now with great joy have I seen Thy people here present make willingly their offerings unto Thee." 1 So the body politic, which presupposes the duty of religion in its members, is itself supposed and required by natural law to exercise public worship, as all peoples at all times have been found to do in the course of their history. By the body politic we understand the corporate adjustment of society, keeping civil order and peace among many individuals, whom patriarchal ties of family and kindred no longer suffice to keep united in obedience and order. This condition of civil union imposes divers obligations; and it also creates new rights. In so many lines of material development, the State restricts freedom, but assures elbow-room for all. In 11 Paral. 29. 14-17. matters of high intelligence, which are not rated at a commercial value, it adds facilities, and smooths the way for institutions, which are the effects of advanced civilization, and are the causes of advancing it still farther. As to the greatest of institutions, the Kingdom of Christ upon earth, the State presupposes it, as it supposes the existence of the religious sentiment, and of religious life in the citizens. For all these belong to an order of duties, rights and moral qualities affecting the individuals and family units, antecedent to any civic life. CHAPTER V CLASSES OF MEN: CONDITIONS OF PRAYER It takes all sorts of people to make a world. But there is only one sort of leverage by which the world of mankind can exert its powers in the Kingdom of God, and take its part in the divine providence and government of the world. That leverage is prayer. Let us sketch some classes of men in characteristic scenes of life and work, to show how prayer is used and applied in the most diverse circumstances of human existence. We borrow from Holy Writ, and retain the figurative language of the sacred writers. There are those who go down to the sea in ships. The floods lift up their voice; they lift up their waves. Wonderful are the surges of the sea; they mount up to heaven; they go down to the depths. Men reel, and their wisdom is swallowed up. The storm centre rolls round in a circle. Lightnings blaze in the sky. Then the mariners cry to the Lord in their affliction. He, whose way is in the sea and whose paths are in many waters, hears the cries. His footsteps are not seen; but behind the clouds His face is beaming. He turns the storm into a breeze, and the waves into a calm. The hearts of the mariners rejoice: Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to Him!! There are those who go to war. Their lot is to be victory, or the reverse. Both alternatives are subject to God's providence; but He in turn subjects them to man's prayer. This is clear, says the psalmist, 1 Ps. 76. 19, 20; 92. 3, 4; 106. 23-31. |