PRAYER is an art. An holy art, which is very little known. An art which the Holy Spirit alone can teach, and which the Holy Spirit alone imparts to God’s elect.
There is almost nothing conceivable, that is so much talked about and of which so much show is made, and which is so little actually achieved, as real prayer.
That the children of the world make light of this, one can understand. They do not grasp the deep nature of it. To them prayer is a pious gloss of the higher life. More than this they do not know about it. And it is only natural that they try their hand at it, whenever something needs to be stirred in the heart.
But it is still more a matter of regret, that Christian people also indulge in insincere extravagances along this line. This, too, is but all too true. So it is said, again and again, that special prayer has been made; or that someone shall pray for you; while another commends himself to your prayers. And the request: “Brethren, pray for us!” has become the almost stereotype ending to all sorts of addresses and writings, which, alas, as they lack genuineness, bring no results.
Christian people are so unspiritual.
For what do they mean by all this praying for one another? Do you not know that before you can pray for one, you must first have laid him upon your heart? That love for him must stimulate and inspire you? That to be efficacious, intercession demands deep seriousness in prayer?
If therefore, in our prayers for others, we could be more sober, more quiet, more holy, and thereby more reverent and more tender, rather than harm, it would do our intercessions good.
But this conventional superficiality in the call: “Brethren, pray for me”, is not the only sin that cleaves to our prayers.
There is also much sin in our prayer, in that we pray for ourselves with so much lack of seriousness.
Not that common prayer at meals, at rising or retiring, or in our public gatherings may therefore be neglected.
He who is thus minded, does not know the way of the Lord. And yet farther still from the Lord’s way is he who has no eye to weep over the narrowness of our prayer and the low level of the invocation of the Lord in prayers which we pray together.
How much and how lengthy speech is made, when of the hundred and more in attendance who fold their hands there are scarcely ten who for one moment really lift up their soul to God. What heaviness there is and what dullness with such prayer! What scattering of mind and invasion of disturbing thoughts! Sometimes there are a thousand and more Christians together, and you see all heads bowed, and apparently all praying, yet so pitiful is our condition, that it is thankworthy when you are privileged to have activity of faith for half the length of the time of such common prayer.
In our private prayer, of course, this is not so bad.
He who by himself alone bends his knees is apt to be more attentive, more collected in mind, more in the mood of prayer, and even then lack of seriousness remains the sin which over and over again cleaves unto us.
Thus from the midst of life at once to appear before God; at once to detach the soul from your surroundings; from a conversation that interested you deeply; from a book that you were reading; from a tiding that caused you concern; then, at once, without so much as a moment’s pause, to be supplicating for the honor of God’s Name and of His Kingdom … this, for a child of dust, who is also a poor sinner, requires indeed an almost superhuman effort; and therefore as we rise from prayer we are so often provoked with our own heart, that it was too distracted to make a close approach of soul unto the Holy One.
Earnestness enables one to exert himself; and to be able to pray earnestly a soul must be willing to make exertion.
In school a child must learn to exercise his mind. And it is a great gain, when at an early stage of education you can make a child center his attention upon the thing in hand, hold his attention in arrest, and for the sake of something worth while, make him exert himself.
And to such discipline we should subject ourselves also in this matter of prayer.
Take notice of Jesus in Gethsemane, even of Him it is written with so great emphasis: “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44).
You feel, this can not imply that, especially at such a time as this, Jesus prayed at first without earnestness, without thought. But it does indicate that also in prayer the Lord Jesus purposely exerted the soul, to pray the more fervently; and that, as the agony became more intense and violent, He made that exertion of His soul the stronger, in order to lie the more securely anchored in His Father.
Literally it reads that the Lord “prayed with more outstretching of His soul“; and this interprets with good right what earnestness in prayer is.
When some one speaks to you, or when some one looks at you, nothing annoys you more greatly, than that while speaking he is engaged with something else, and acts as though you were not there.
And such is the case in a far higher measure with the Lord God.
Our praying is a talking with the Eternal Being; this is not possible, except as the soul engages itself with Him; looks up to Him; seeks Him; goes out towards Him; and with this in view goes out from itself.
The more in prayer you remain in yourself, the worse you pray; and conversely, the more you get away from yourself, and go out toward God and are busy with Him, the more fervent will be the outpouring of your soul.
The soul must be lifted up; the soul must be stretched out; the soul must be spread out toward the throne of grace.
And therefore the stronger the outstretching of soul becomes, the higher your earnestness carries you, and the more your prayer obtains something of real prayer.
And this does not come about by a moment’s thought, or by a sudden effort, but for sinful beings this is a matter of practice.
Even as you can impart a finer sharpness to your eye and to the feeling of your fingertips by practice, so by practice you can discipline your soul to become capable of stronger spiritual exertion to pray.
Not of course, as though practice did it. Never this. The driving, the outgoing, the impulse and the glow in prayer, when it is real, is always the work of the Spirit, and occurs therefore provisionally seldom otherwise than in spiritual agony and struggle and temptation, when the conflict becomes so fierce, that from sheer terror we hold ourselves fast to the Eternal.
But he who has done much shooting with the arrow and has trained his fingers, aims more accurately and better hits the mark.
And so it is with the outgoing of our prayers toward the Almighty.
For this too the soul must have spiritual discipline, spiritual practice; the will to pray must sanctify and strengthen the impulse to pray; there must be earnestness to suppress everything that would disturb our prayer; there must be inclination and purpose with uplifting of soul to dwell in the tabernacle of our God.
A new beginner is not able to spend five minutes at one time in quiet private prayer. An initiated and practiced child of God can sometimes pray half an hour and more. Not because it consists in the length, but because in praying, the soul continues in prayer till she prays herself inside the blessed fellowship of her Lord.
And to spend each day one half hour in converse with the Holy One, should this be too much?
To this end the starting-point is “earnestness”, or as Luke literally calls it: power of soul to stretch itself up toward things on high.
First earnestly.
Then more earnestly.
And so prayer makes gains and becomes a blessedness of soul; an enjoyment of something that gives you walks above; a being hid in God’s holy tent!
← 6. All Thy Waves and Thy Billows · Contents · 8. Could Ye not Watch with Me One Hour →