[Jan. 27th, 1856.]
I. General idea.
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Prayer is converse with and to God. It is not merely petition, nor confession, nor thanksgiving, nor adoration, but all the intercourse of the soul by address to God. It is distinguished, by being address, from contemplation and meditation. This address may be, (1.) Oral or mental. (2.) Occasional or constant. (3.) Formal, in the good sense of the word, and ejaculatory.
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It is therefore a form of spiritual activity, as essential to spiritual life as the pulsation of the heart is to natural life. (1.) Because it is the evidence and exercise of life. (2.) Because it is necessary to its continuance. A prayerless Christian and a pulseless man are alike impossible. The pulse is the great criterion or index of the health of the body; so prayer is of the health of the soul.
II. The attributes of acceptable prayer.
They are such as flow from the state of mind produced by the Spirit. For the Spirit is the author of all genuine prayer, as it is by the Spirit that we have access unto God. Those feelings and graces which the Spirit calls into exercise, and which find their expression in prayer, are, 1. Those of admiration and reverence, giving rise to praise and adoration. 2. Those of penitence, giving rise to confession. 3. Those of faith, (1.) In God as the hearer of prayer. (2.) In Christ as our mediator and intercessor. (3.) In God’s ability and willingness to answer. (4.) In his actual promise to answer our prayer. 4. Those of gratitude, giving rise to thanksgiving. 5. Those of longing desire after spiritual blessings, and for other things needful for ourselves and others. 6. Those of patience and submission, manifested in perseverance and humble importunity.
III. The efficacy of prayer.
- As it regards ourselves. It calls into exercise and strengthens all the graces of the Spirit. 2. It is an appointed means to an end, and has the same relation in the moral government of God that other second causes have to their effects. It is an antecedent sine qua non. The objection that God has determined either to give or not give those blessings for which we pray, and that his purpose cannot be changed by our prayers, has no more force than in any other case where means are connected with an end. The objection that it is derogatory to God to be pleased with our praises and thanks has no force, if it is right to praise and thank him. God is pleased with what is right. The objection confounds God with man. Because it is unseemly to praise a creature, it is assumed to be unseemly to adore God.
IV. The importance of cultivating the gift and habit of prayer. To improve in this gift, 1. It is necessary to cherish the right feelings, otherwise all prayer is offense. 2. To cultivate the mind for public prayer, an intellectual exercise. This is as much incumbent on us in prayer as in preaching, especially as others join with us. We lead them; they say what we say. We should not, therefore, make them say what is revolting or unsuitable. 3. The careful, devout reading of the Scriptures, and storing the mind with Scriptural expressions, is necessary. These are the forms in which the Holy Ghost has given utterance to the thoughts and feelings which we desire to express. 4. Premeditation is as necessary here as in preaching. The design is, (1.)
To collect and arrange our thoughts. (2). To call into exercise the proper feelings. (3.) To adapt our prayer to the occasion. The want of this adaptation is a serious evil. 5. Devotional composition is another means much practiced by many devout men, who have attained excellence in this part of social and public service.
This is a very important object, both as regards our own improvement and the edification and honor of the Church.
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