{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26709/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26709","id":"gutenberg_26709","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26709","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Prayer"],"text":"Produced by Free Elf, Jeannie Howse and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    +-----------------------------------------------------------+\n    | Transcriber's Note:                                       |\n    |                                                           |\n    | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For     |\n    | a complete list, please see the end of this document.     |\n    |                                                           |\n    +-----------------------------------------------------------+\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nLord, Teach Us\nTo Pray\n\n\nBy Rev. Andrew Murray\n\n\n\n\nPhiladelphia\nHenry Altemus\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, 1896, by HENRY ALTEMUS.\n\n\n\n\nLORD, TEACH US TO PRAY\n\nOR\n\nTHE ONLY TEACHER.\n\n\nThe disciples had been with Christ, and seen Him pray. They had\nlearnt to understand something of the connection between His\nwondrous life in public, and His secret life of prayer. They had\nlearnt to believe in Him as a Master in the art of prayer--none\ncould pray like Him. And so they came to Him with the request,\n'Lord, teach us to pray.' And in after years they would have told\nus that there were few things more wonderful or blessed that He\ntaught them than His lessons on prayer.\n\nAnd now still it comes to pass, as He is praying in a certain\nplace, that disciples who see Him thus engaged feel the need of\nrepeating the same request, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' As we grow\nin the Christian life, the thought and the faith of the Beloved\nMaster in His never-failing intercession becomes evermore\nprecious, and the hope of being _Like Christ_ in His intercession\ngains an attractiveness before unknown. And as we see Him pray,\nand remember that there is none who can pray like Him, and none\nwho can teach like Him, we feel the petition of the disciples,\n'Lord, teach us to pray,' is just what we need. And as we think\nhow all He is and has, how He Himself is our very own, how He is\nHimself our life, we feel assured that we have but to ask, and He\nwill be delighted to take us up into closer fellowship with\nHimself, and teach us to pray even as He prays.\n\nCome, my brothers! Shall we not go to the Blessed Master and ask\nHim to enrol our names too anew in that school which He always\nkeeps open for those who long to continue their studies in the\nDivine art of prayer and intercession? Yes, let us this very day\nsay to the Master, as they did of old, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'\nAs we meditate we shall find each word of the petition we bring\nto be full of meaning.\n\n'Lord, teach us _to pray_.' Yes, _to pray_. This is what we need\nto be taught. Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that\nthe feeble child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest\nand holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the\nUnseen and Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have\nbeen placed at its disposal. It is the very essence of true\nreligion, the channel of all blessings, the secret of power and\nlife. Not only for ourselves, but for others, for the Church, for\nthe world, it is to prayer that God has given the right to take\nhold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises\nwait for their fulfilment, the kingdom for its coming, the glory\nof God for its full revelation. And for this blessed work, how\nslothful and unfit we are. It is only the Spirit of God can\nenable us to do it aright. How speedily we are deceived into a\nresting in the form, while the power is wanting. Our early\ntraining, the teaching of the Church, the influence of habit, the\nstirring of the emotions--how easily these lead to prayer which\nhas no spiritual power, and avails but little. True prayer, that\ntakes hold of God's strength, that availeth much, to which the\ngates of heaven are really opened wide--who would not cry, Oh for\nsome one to teach me thus to pray?\n\nJesus has opened a school, in which He trains His redeemed ones,\nwho specially desire it, to have power in prayer. Shall we not\nenter it with the petition, Lord! it is just this we need to be\ntaught! O teach us to _pray_.\n\n'Lord, teach _us_ to pray.' Yes, _us_, Lord. We have read in Thy\nWord with what power Thy believing people of old used to pray,\nand what mighty wonders were done in answer to their prayers.\nAnd if this took place under the Old Covenant, in the time of\npreparation, how much more wilt Thou not now, in these days of\nfulfilment, give Thy people this sure sign of Thy presence in\ntheir midst. We have heard the promises given to Thine apostles\nof the power of prayer in Thy name, and have seen how gloriously\nthey experienced their truth: we know for certain, they can\nbecome true to us too. We hear continually even in these days\nwhat glorious tokens of Thy power Thou dost still give to those\nwho trust Thee fully. Lord! these all are men of like passions\nwith ourselves; teach _us_ to pray so too. The promises are for\nus, the powers and gifts of the heavenly world are for us. O\nteach _us_ to pray so that we may receive abundantly. To us too\nThou hast entrusted Thy work, on our prayer too the coming of Thy\nkingdom depends, in our prayer too Thou canst glorify Thy name;\n'Lord, teach us to pray.' Yes, us, Lord; we offer ourselves as\nlearners; we would indeed be taught of Thee. 'Lord, teach _us_ to\npray.'\n\n'Lord, _teach_ us to pray.' Yes, we feel the need now of being\n_taught_ to pray. At first there is no work appears so simple;\nlater on, none that is more difficult; and the confession is\nforced from us: We know not how to pray as we ought. It is true\nwe have God's Word, with its clear and sure promises; but sin has\nso darkened our mind, that we know not always how to apply the\nWord. In spiritual things we do not always seek the most needful\nthings, or fail in praying according to the law of the sanctuary.\nIn temporal things we are still less able to avail ourselves of\nthe wonderful liberty our Father has given us to ask what we\nneed. And even when we know what to ask, how much there is still\nneeded to make prayer acceptable. It must be to the glory of God,\nin full surrender to His will, in full assurance of faith, in the\nname of Jesus, and with a perseverance that, if need be, refuses\nto be denied. All this must be learned. It can only be learned in\nthe school of much prayer, for practice makes perfect. Amid the\npainful consciousness of ignorance and unworthiness, in the\nstruggle between believing and doubting, the heavenly art of\neffectual prayer is learnt. Because, even when we do not remember\nit, there is One, the Beginner and Finisher of faith and prayer,\nwho watches over our praying, and sees to it that _in all who\ntrust Him for it_ their education in the school of prayer shall\nbe carried on to perfection. Let but the deep undertone of all\nour prayer be the teachableness that comes from a sense of\nignorance, and from faith in Him as a perfect teacher, and we may\nbe sure we shall be taught, we shall learn to pray in power. Yes,\nwe may depend upon it, HE _teaches_ to pray.\n\n'_Lord_, teach us to pray.' None can teach like Jesus, none but\nJesus; therefore we call on Him, 'LORD, teach us to pray.' A\npupil needs a teacher, who knows his work, who has the gift of\nteaching, who in patience and love will descend to the pupil's\nneeds. Blessed be God! Jesus is all this and much more. He knows\nwhat prayer is. It is Jesus, praying Himself, who teaches to\npray. He knows what prayer is. He learned it amid the trials and\ntears of His earthly life. In heaven it is still His beloved\nwork: His life there is prayer. Nothing delights Him more than to\nfind those whom He can take with Him into the Father's presence,\nwhom He can clothe with power to pray down God's blessing on\nthose around them, whom He can train to be His fellow-workers in\nthe intercession by which the kingdom is to be revealed on earth.\nHe knows how to teach. Now by the urgency of felt need, then by\nthe confidence with which joy inspires. Here by the teaching of\nthe Word, there by the testimony of another believer who knows\nwhat it is to have prayer heard. By His Holy Spirit, He has\naccess to our heart, and teaches us to pray by showing us the sin\nthat hinders the prayer, or giving us the assurance that we\nplease God. He teaches, by giving not only thoughts of what to\nask or how to ask, but by breathing within us the very spirit of\nprayer, by living within us as the Great Intercessor. We may\nindeed and most joyfully say, 'Who teacheth like Him?' Jesus\nnever taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. He\ndid not speak much of what was needed to preach well, but much of\npraying well. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing\nhow to speak to man. Not power with men, but power with God is\nthe first thing. Jesus loves to teach us how to pray.\n\nWhat think you, my beloved fellow-disciples! would it not be just\nwhat we need, to ask the Master for a month to give us a course\nof special lessons on the art of prayer? As we meditate on the\nwords He spake on earth, let us yield ourselves to His teaching\nin the fullest confidence that, with such a teacher, we shall\nmake progress. Let us take time not only to meditate, but to\npray, to tarry at the foot of the throne, and be trained to the\nwork of intercession. Let us do so in the assurance that amidst\nour stammerings and fears He is carrying on His work most\nbeautifully. He will breathe His own life, which is all prayer,\ninto us. As He makes us partakers of His righteousness and His\nlife, He will of His intercession too. As the members of His\nbody, as a holy priesthood, we shall take part in His priestly\nwork of pleading and prevailing with God for men. Yes, let us\nmost joyfully say, ignorant and feeble though we be, 'Lord, teach\nus to pray.'\n\n'LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.'\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBlessed Lord! who ever livest to pray, Thou canst teach me too to\npray, me to live ever to pray. In this Thou lovest to make me\nshare Thy glory in heaven, that I should pray without ceasing,\nand ever stand as a priest in the presence of my God.\n\nLord Jesus! I ask Thee this day to enrol my name among those who\nconfess that they know not how to pray as they ought, and\nespecially ask Thee for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord!\nteach me to tarry with Thee in the school, and give Thee time to\ntrain me. May a deep sense of my ignorance, of the wonderful\nprivilege and power of prayer, of the need of the Holy Spirit as\nthe Spirit of prayer, lead me to cast away my thoughts of what I\nthink I know, and make me kneel before Thee in true teachableness\nand poverty of spirit.\n\nAnd fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with such a teacher\nas Thou art I shall learn to pray. In the assurance that I have\nas my teacher, Jesus, who is ever praying to the Father, and by\nHis prayer rules the destinies of His Church and the world, I\nwill not be afraid. As much as I need to know of the mysteries of\nthe prayer-world, Thou wilt unfold for me. And when I may not\nknow, Thou wilt teach me to be strong in faith, giving glory to\nGod.\n\nBlessed Lord! Thou wilt not put to shame Thy scholar who trusts\nThee, nor, by Thy grace, would he Thee either. Amen.\n\n\n\n\n'IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH;'\n\nOR\n\nTHE TRUE WORSHIPPERS.\n\n\n    'The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall\n    worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the\n    Father seek to be His worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they\n    that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.'--JOHN\n    iv. 23, 24.\n\nThese words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria are His first\nrecorded teaching on the subject of prayer. They give us some\nwonderful first glimpses into the world of prayer. The Father\n_seeks_ worshippers: our worship satisfies His loving heart and\nis a joy to Him. He seeks _true worshippers_, but finds many not\nsuch as He would have them. True worship is that which is _in\nspirit and truth_. _The Son has come_ to open the way for this\nworship in spirit and in truth, and teach it us. And so one of\nour first lessons in the school of prayer must be to understand\nwhat it is to pray in spirit and in truth, and to know how we can\nattain to it.\n\nTo the woman of Samaria our Lord spoke of a threefold worship.\nThere is, first, the ignorant worship of the Samaritans: 'Ye\nworship that which ye know not.' The second, the intelligent\nworship of the Jew, having the true knowledge of God: 'We worship\nthat which we know; for salvation is of the Jews.' And then the\nnew, the spiritual worship which He Himself has come to\nintroduce: 'The hour is coming, and is now, when the true\nworshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth.' From\nthe connection it is evident that the words 'in spirit and truth'\ndo not mean, as is often thought, earnestly, from the heart, in\nsincerity. The Samaritans had the five books of Moses and some\nknowledge of God; there was doubtless more than one among them\nwho honestly and earnestly sought God in prayer. The Jews had the\ntrue full revelation of God in His word, as thus far given; there\nwere among them godly men, who called upon God with their whole\nheart. And yet not 'in spirit and truth,' in the full meaning of\nthe words. Jesus says, '_The hour is coming, and now is_:' it is\nonly in and through Him that the worship of God will be in spirit\nand truth.\n\nAmong Christians one still finds the three classes of\nworshippers. Some who in their ignorance hardly know what they\nask: they pray earnestly, and yet receive but little. Others\nthere are, who have more correct knowledge, who try to pray with\nall their mind and heart, and often pray most earnestly, and yet\ndo not attain to the full blessedness of worship in spirit and\ntruth. It is into this third class we must ask our Lord Jesus to\ntake us; we must be taught of Him how to worship in spirit and\ntruth. This alone is spiritual worship; this makes us worshippers\nsuch as the Father seeks. In prayer everything will depend on our\nunderstanding well and practising the worship in spirit and\ntruth.\n\n'God is _a Spirit_ and they that worship Him must worship Him _in\nspirit_ and truth.' The first thought suggested here by the\nMaster is that there must be harmony between God and His\nworshippers; such as God is, must His worship be. This is\naccording to a principle which prevails throughout the universe:\nwe look for correspondence between an object and the organ to\nwhich it reveals or yields itself. The eye has an inner fitness\nfor the light, the ear for sound. The man who would truly worship\nGod, would find and know and possess and enjoy God, must be in\nharmony with Him, must have a capacity for receiving Him. Because\nGod _is Spirit_, we must worship _in spirit_. As God is, so His\nworshipper.\n\nAnd what does this mean? The woman had asked our Lord whether\nSamaria or Jerusalem was the true place of worship. He answers\nthat henceforth worship is no longer to be limited to a certain\nplace: 'Woman, believe Me, _the hour cometh_ when neither in\nthis mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father.' As\nGod is Spirit, not bound by space or time, but in His infinite\nperfection always and everywhere the same, so His worship would\nhenceforth no longer be confined by place or form, but spiritual\nas God Himself is spiritual. A lesson of deep importance. How\nmuch our Christianity suffers from this, that it is confined to\ncertain times and places. A man who seeks to pray earnestly in\nthe church or in the closet, spends the greater part of the week\nor the day in a spirit entirely at variance with that in which he\nprayed. His worship was the work of a fixed place or hour, not of\nhis whole being. God is a spirit: He is the Everlasting and\nUnchangeable One; what He is, He is always and in truth. Our\nworship must even so be in spirit and truth: His worship must be\nthe spirit of our life; our life must be worship in spirit as God\nis Spirit.\n\n'God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in\nspirit and truth.' The second thought that comes to us is that\nthis worship in the spirit must come from God Himself. God is\nSpirit: He alone has Spirit to give. It was for this He sent His\nSon, to fit us for such spiritual worship, by giving us the Holy\nSpirit. It is of His own work that Jesus speaks when He says\ntwice, 'The hour cometh,' and then adds, 'and is now.' He came to\nbaptize with the Holy Spirit; the Spirit could not stream forth\ntill He was glorified (_John i. 33, vii. 37, 38, xvi. 7_). It was\nwhen He had made an end of sin, and entering into the Holiest of\nall with His blood, had there on our behalf _received_ the Holy\nSpirit (_Acts ii. 33_), that He could send Him down to us as the\nSpirit of the Father. It was when Christ had redeemed us, and we\nin Him had received the position of children, that the Father\nsent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to cry, 'Abba,\nFather.' The worship in spirit is the worship of the Father in\nthe Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Sonship.\n\nThis is the reason why Jesus here uses the name of Father. We\nnever find one of the Old Testament saints personally appropriate\nthe name of child or call God his Father. The worship _of the\nFather_ is only possible to those to whom the Spirit of the Son\nhas been given. The worship _in spirit_ is only possible to those\nto whom the Son has revealed the Father, and who have received\nthe spirit of Sonship. It is only Christ who opens the way and\nteaches the worship in spirit.\n\nAnd _in truth_. That does not only mean, _in sincerity_. Nor does\nit only signify, in accordance with the truth of God's Word. The\nexpression is one of deep and Divine meaning. Jesus is 'the\nonly-begotten of the Father, _full of_ grace and _truth_.' 'The\nlaw was given by Moses; grace and _truth came_ by Jesus Christ.'\nJesus says, '_I am the truth_ and the life.' In the Old\nTestament all was shadow and promise; Jesus brought and gives the\nreality, _the substance_, of things hoped for. In Him the\nblessings and powers of the eternal life are our actual\npossession and experience. Jesus is full of grace and truth; the\nHoly Spirit is the Spirit of truth; through Him the grace that is\nin Jesus is ours indeed, and truth a positive communication out\nof the Divine life. And so worship in spirit is worship _in\ntruth_; actual living fellowship with God, a real correspondence\nand harmony between the Father, who is a Spirit, and the child\npraying in the spirit.\n\nWhat Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, she could not at once\nunderstand. Pentecost was needed to reveal its full meaning. We\nare hardly prepared at our first entrance into the school of\nprayer to grasp such teaching. We shall understand it better\nlater on. Let us only begin and take the lesson as He gives it.\nWe are carnal and cannot bring God the worship He seeks. But\nJesus came to give the Spirit: He has given Him to us. Let the\ndisposition in which we set ourselves to pray be what Christ's\nwords have taught us. Let there be the deep confession of our\ninability to bring God the worship that is pleasing to Him; the\nchildlike teachableness that waits on Him to instruct us; the\nsimple faith that yields itself to the breathing of the Spirit.\nAbove all, let us hold fast the blessed truth--we shall find\nthat the Lord has more to say to us about it--that the knowledge\nof the Fatherhood of God, the revelation of His infinite\nFatherliness in our hearts, the faith in the infinite love that\ngives us His Son and His Spirit to make us children, is indeed\nthe secret of prayer in spirit and truth. This is the new and\nliving way Christ opened up for us. To have Christ the Son, and\n_The Spirit of the Son_, dwelling within us, and revealing the\nFather, this makes us true, spiritual worshippers.\n\n'LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.'\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBlessed Lord! I adore the love with which Thou didst teach a\nwoman, who had refused Thee a cup of water, what the worship of\nGod must be. I rejoice in the assurance that Thou wilt no less\nnow instruct Thy disciple, who comes to Thee with a heart that\nlongs to pray in spirit and in truth. O my Holy Master! do teach\nme this blessed secret.\n\nTeach me that the worship in spirit and truth is not of man, but\nonly comes from Thee; that it is not only a thing of times and\nseasons, but the outflowing of a life in Thee. Teach me to draw\nnear to God in prayer under the deep impression of my ignorance\nand my having nothing in myself to offer Him, and at the same\ntime of the provision Thou, my Saviour, makest for the Spirit's\nbreathing in my childlike stammerings. I do bless Thee that in\nThee I am a child, and have a child's liberty of access; that in\nThee I have the spirit of Sonship and of worship of truth. Teach\nme, above all, Blessed Son of the Father, how it is the\nrevelation of the Father that gives confidence in prayer; and let\nthe infinite Fatherliness of God's Heart be my joy and strength\nfor a life of prayer and of worship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nPRAY TO THY FATHER WHICH IS IN SECRET\n\nOR\n\nALONE WITH GOD.\n\n    'But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber,\n    and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in\n    secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense\n    thee.'--MATT. vi. 6.\n\n\nAfter Jesus had called His first disciples He gave them their\nfirst public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. He there\nexpounded to them the kingdom of God, its laws and its life. In\nthat kingdom God is not only King, but Father; He not only gives\nall, but is Himself all. In the knowledge and fellowship of Him\nalone is its blessedness. Hence it came as a matter of course\nthat the revelation of prayer and the prayer-life was a part of\nHis teaching concerning the New Kingdom He came to set up. Moses\ngave neither command nor regulation with regard to prayer: even\nthe prophets say little directly of the duty of prayer; it is\nChrist who teaches to pray.\n\nAnd the first thing the Lord teaches His disciples is that they\nmust have a secret place for prayer; every one must have some\nsolitary spot where he can be alone with his God. Every teacher\nmust have a schoolroom. We have learnt to know and accept Jesus\nas our only teacher in the school of prayer. He has already\ntaught us at Samaria that worship is no longer confined to times\nand places; that worship, spiritual true worship, is a thing of\nthe spirit and the life; the whole man must in his whole life be\nworship in spirit and truth. And yet He wants each one to choose\nfor himself the fixed spot where He can daily meet him. That\ninner chamber, that solitary place, is Jesus' schoolroom. That\nspot may be anywhere; that spot may change from day to day if we\nhave to change our abode; but that secret place there must be,\nwith the quiet time in which the pupil places himself in the\nMaster's presence, to be by Him prepared to worship the Father.\nThere alone, but there most surely, Jesus comes to us to teach us\nto pray.\n\nA teacher is always anxious that his schoolroom should be bright\nand attractive, filled with the light and air of heaven, a place\nwhere pupils long to come, and love to stay. In His first words\non prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus seeks to set the\ninner chamber before us in its most attractive light. If we\nlisten carefully, we soon notice what the chief thing is He has\nto tell us of our tarrying there. Three times He uses the name of\nFather: 'Pray to _thy Father_;' '_Thy Father_ shall recompense\nthee;' _Your Father_ knoweth what things ye have need of.' The\nfirst thing in closet-prayer is: I must meet my Father. The light\nthat shines in the closet must be: the light of the Father's\ncountenance. The fresh air from heaven with which Jesus would\nhave filled the atmosphere in which I am to breathe and pray, is:\nGod's Father-love, God's infinite Fatherliness. Thus each thought\nor petition we breathe out will be simple, hearty, childlike\ntrust in the Father. This is how the Master teaches us to pray:\nHe brings us into the Father's living presence. What we pray\nthere must avail. Let us listen carefully to hear what the Lord\nhas to say to us.\n\nFirst, '_Pray to thy Father which is in secret_.' God is a God\nwho hides Himself to the carnal eye. As long as in our worship of\nGod we are chiefly occupied with our own thoughts and exercises,\nwe shall not meet Him who is a Spirit, the unseen One. But to the\nman who withdraws himself from all that is of the world and man,\nand prepares to wait upon God alone, the Father will reveal\nHimself. As he forsakes and gives up and shuts out the world, and\nthe life of the world, and surrenders himself to be led of Christ\ninto the secret of God's presence, the light of the Father's love\nwill rise upon him. The secrecy of the inner chamber and the\nclosed door, the entire separation from all around us, is an\nimage of, and so a help to, that inner spiritual sanctuary, the\nsecret of God's tabernacle, within the veil, where our spirit\ntruly comes into contact with the Invisible One. And so we are\ntaught, at the very outset of our search after the secret of\neffectual prayer, to remember that it is in the inner chamber,\nwhere we are alone with the Father, that we shall learn to pray\naright. The Father is in secret: in these words Jesus teaches us\nwhere He is waiting us, where He is always to be found.\nChristians often complain that private prayer is not what it\nshould be. They feel weak and sinful, the heart is cold and dark;\nit is as if they have so little to pray, and in that little no\nfaith or joy. They are discouraged and kept from prayer by the\nthought that they cannot come to the Father as they ought or as\nthey wish. Child of God! listen to your Teacher. He tells you\nthat when you go to private prayer your first thought must be:\nThe Father is in secret, the Father waits me there. Just because\nyour heart is cold and prayerless, get you into the presence of\nthe loving Father. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord\npitieth you. Do not be thinking of how little you have to bring\nGod, but of how much He wants to give you. Just place yourself\nbefore, and look up into, His face; think of His love, His\nwonderful, tender, pitying love. Just tell Him how sinful and\ncold and dark all is: it is the Father's loving heart will give\nlight and warmth to yours. O do what Jesus says: Just shut the\ndoor, and pray to thy Father, which is in secret. Is it not\nwonderful? to be able to go alone with God, the infinite God. And\nthen to look up and say: My Father!\n\n'_And thy Father, which seeth in secret, will recompense thee._'\nHere Jesus assures us that secret prayer cannot be fruitless: its\nblessing will show itself in our life. We have but in secret,\nalone with God, to entrust our life before men to Him; He will\nreward us openly; He will see to it that the answer to prayer be\nmade manifest in His blessing upon us. Our Lord would thus teach\nus that as infinite Fatherliness and Faithfulness is that with\nwhich God meets us in secret, so on our part there should be the\nchildlike simplicity of faith, the confidence that our prayer\ndoes bring down a blessing. 'He that cometh to God must believe\nthat _He is a rewarder_ of them that seek Him.' Not on the strong\nor the fervent feeling with which I pray does the blessing of the\ncloset depend, but upon the love and the power of the Father to\nwhom I there entrust my needs. And therefore the Master has but\none desire: Remember your Father is, and sees and hears in\nsecret; go there and stay there, and go again from there in the\nconfidence: He will recompense. Trust Him for it; depend upon\nHim: prayer to the Father cannot be vain; He will reward you\nopenly.\n\nStill further to confirm this faith in the Father-love of God,\nChrist speaks a third word: '_Your Father knoweth what things ye\nhave need of before ye ask Him._' At first sight it might appear\nas if this thought made prayer less needful: God knows far better\nthan we what we need. But as we get a deeper insight into what\nprayer really is, this truth will help much to strengthen our\nfaith. It will teach us that we do not need, as the heathen, with\nthe multitude and urgency of our words, to compel an unwilling\nGod to listen to us. It will lead to a holy thoughtfulness and\nsilence in prayer as it suggests the question: Does my Father\nreally know that I need this? It will, when once we have been led\nby the Spirit to the certainty that our request is indeed\nsomething that, according to the Word, we do need for God's\nglory, give us wonderful confidence to say, My Father knows I\nneed it and must have it. And if there be any delay in the\nanswer, it will teach us in quiet perseverance to hold on:\nFATHER! THOU KNOWEST I need it. O the blessed liberty and\nsimplicity of a child that Christ our Teacher would fain\ncultivate in us, as we draw near to God: let us look up to the\nFather until His Spirit works it in us. Let us sometimes in our\nprayers, when we are in danger of being so occupied with our\nfervent, urgent petitions, as to forget that the Father knows\nand hears, let us hold still and just quietly say: My Father\nsees, my Father hears, my Father knows; it will help our faith to\ntake the answer, and to say: We know that we have the petitions\nwe have asked of Him.\n\nAnd now, all ye who have anew entered the school of Christ to be\ntaught to pray, take these lessons, practise them, and trust Him\nto perfect you in them. Dwell much in the inner chamber, with the\ndoor shut--shut in from men, shut up with God; it is there the\nFather waits you, it is there Jesus will teach you to pray. To be\nalone in secret with THE FATHER: this be your highest joy. To be\nassured that THE FATHER will openly reward the secret prayer, so\nthat it cannot remain unblessed: this be your strength day by\nday. And to know that THE FATHER knows that you need what you\nask, this be your liberty to bring every need, in the assurance\nthat your God will supply it according to His riches in glory in\nChrist Jesus.\n\n'LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.'\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBlessed Saviour! with my whole heart I do bless Thee for the\nappointment of the inner chamber, as the school where Thou\nmeetest each of Thy pupils alone, and revealest to him the\nFather. O my Lord! strengthen my faith so in the Father's tender\nlove and kindness, that as often as I feel sinful or troubled,\nthe first instinctive thought may be to go where I know the\nFather waits me, and where prayer never can go unblessed. Let the\nthought that He knows my need before I ask, bring me, in great\nrestfulness of faith, to trust that He will give what His child\nrequires. O let the place of secret prayer become to me the most\nbeloved spot on earth.\n\nAnd, Lord! hear me as I pray that Thou wouldest everywhere bless\nthe closets of Thy believing people. Let Thy wonderful revelation\nof a Father's tenderness free all young Christians from every\nthought of secret prayer as a duty or a burden, and lead them to\nregard it as the highest privilege of their life, a joy and a\nblessing. Bring back all who are discouraged, because they cannot\nfind aught to bring Thee in prayer. O give them to understand\nthat they have only to come with their emptiness to Him who has\nall to give, and delights to do it. Not, what they have to bring\nthe Father, but what the Father waits to give them, be their one\nthought.\n\nAnd bless especially the inner chamber of all Thy servants who\nare working for Thee, as the place where God's truth and God's\ngrace is revealed to them, where they are daily anointed with\nfresh oil, where their strength is renewed, and the blessings are\nreceived in faith, with which they are to bless their fellow-men.\nLord, draw us all in the closet nearer to Thyself and the Father.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\n'AFTER THIS MANNER PRAY;'\n\nOR\n\nTHE MODEL PRAYER.\n\n    'After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in\n    heaven.'--MATT. vi. 9.\n\n\nEvery teacher knows the power of example. He not only tells the\nchild what to do and how to do it, but shows him how it really\ncan be done. In condescension to our weakness, our Heavenly\nTeacher has given us the very words we are to take with us as we\ndraw near to our Father. We have in them a form of prayer in\nwhich there breathe the freshness and fulness of the Eternal\nLife. So simple that the child can lisp it, so divinely rich that\nit comprehends all that God can give. A form of prayer that\nbecomes the model and inspiration for all other prayer, and yet\nalways draws us back to itself as the deepest utterance of our\nsouls before our God.\n\n'_Our Father which art in heaven!_' To appreciate this word of\nadoration aright, I must remember that none of the saints had in\nScripture ever ventured to address God as their Father. The\ninvocation places us at once in the centre of the wonderful\nrevelation the Son came to make of His Father as our Father too.\nIt comprehends the mystery of redemption--Christ delivering us\nfrom the curse that we might become the children of God. The\nmystery of regeneration--the Spirit in the new birth giving us\nthe new life. And the mystery of faith--ere yet the redemption is\naccomplished or understood, the word is given on the lips of the\ndisciples to prepare them for the blessed experience still to\ncome. The words are the key to the whole prayer, to all prayer.\nIt takes time, it takes life to study them; it will take eternity\nto understand them fully. The knowledge of God's Father-love is\nthe first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson in\nthe school of prayer. It is in the personal relation to the\nliving God, and the personal conscious fellowship of love with\nHimself, that prayer begins. It is in the knowledge of God's\nFatherliness, revealed by the Holy Spirit, that the power of\nprayer will be found to root and grow. In the infinite tenderness\nand pity and patience of the infinite Father, in His loving\nreadiness to hear and to help, the life of prayer has its joy. O\nlet us take time, until the Spirit has made these words to us\nspirit and truth, filling heart and life: 'Our Father which art\nin heaven.' Then we are indeed within the veil, in the secret\nplace of power where prayer always prevails.\n\n'_Hallowed be Thy name._' There is something here that strikes us\nat once. While we ordinarily first bring our own needs to God in\nprayer, and then think of what belongs to God and His interests,\nthe Master reverses the order. First, _Thy_ name, _Thy_ kingdom,\n_Thy_ will; then, give _us_, forgive _us_, lead _us_, deliver\n_us_. The lesson is of more importance than we think. In true\nworship the Father must be first, must be all. The sooner I learn\nto forget myself in the desire that HE may be glorified, the\nricher will the blessing be that prayer will bring to myself. No\none ever loses by what he sacrifices for the Father.\n\nThis must influence all our prayer. There are two sorts of\nprayer: personal and intercessory. The latter ordinarily occupies\nthe lesser part of our time and energy. This may not be. Christ\nhas opened the school of prayer specially to train intercessors\nfor the great work of bringing down, by their faith and prayer,\nthe blessings of His work and love on the world around. There can\nbe no deep growth in prayer unless this be made our aim. The\nlittle child may ask of the father only what it needs for itself;\nand yet it soon learns to say, Give some for sister too. But the\ngrown-up son, who only lives for the father's interest and takes\ncharge of the father's business, asks more largely, and gets all\nthat is asked. And Jesus would train us to the blessed life of\nconsecration and service, in which our interests are all\nsubordinate to the Name, and the Kingdom, and the Will of the\nFather. O let us live for this, and let, on each act of\nadoration, Our Father! there follow in the same breath, _Thy_\nName, _Thy_ Kingdom, _Thy_ Will;--for this we look up and long.\n\n'_Hallowed be Thy name._.' What name? This new name of Father.\nThe word _Holy_ is the central word of the Old Testament; the\n_name_ Father of the New. In this name of Love all the holiness\nand glory of God are now to be revealed. And how is the name to\nbe hallowed? By God Himself: '_I will hallow_ My great name which\nye have profaned.' Our prayer must be that in ourselves, in all\nGod's children, in presence of the world, God Himself would\nreveal the holiness, the Divine power, the hidden glory of the\nname of Father. The Spirit of the Father is the _Holy_ Spirit: it\nis only when we yield ourselves to be led _of Him_, that the name\nwill be _hallowed_ in our prayer and our lives. Let us learn the\nprayer: 'Our Father, hallowed be Thy name.'\n\n'_Thy kingdom come._' The Father is a King and has a kingdom. The\nson and heir of a king has no higher ambition than the glory of\nhis father's kingdom. In time of war or danger this becomes his\npassion; he can think of nothing else. The children of the Father\nare here in the enemy's territory, where the kingdom, which is\nin heaven, is not yet fully manifested. What more natural than\nthat, when they learn to hallow the Father-name, they should long\nand cry with deep enthusiasm: 'Thy kingdom come.' The coming of\nthe kingdom is the one great event on which the revelation of the\nFather's glory, the blessedness of His children, the salvation of\nthe world depends. On our prayers too the coming of the kingdom\nwaits. Shall we not join in the deep longing cry of the redeemed:\n'Thy kingdom come'? Let us learn it in the school of Jesus.\n\n'_Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth._' This petition is\ntoo frequently applied alone to the _suffering_ of the will of\nGod. In heaven God's will is _done_, and the Master teaches the\nchild to ask that the will may be done on earth just as in\nheaven: in the spirit of adoring submission and ready obedience.\nBecause the will of God is the glory of heaven, the doing of it\nis the blessedness of heaven. As the will is done, the kingdom of\nheaven comes into the heart. And wherever faith has accepted the\nFather's love, obedience accepts the Father's will. The surrender\nto, and the prayer for a life of heaven-like obedience, is the\nspirit of childlike prayer.\n\n'_Give us this day our daily bread._' When first the child has\nyielded himself to the Father in the care for His Name, His\nKingdom, and His Will, he has full liberty to ask for his daily\nbread. A master cares for the food of his servant, a general of\nhis soldiers, a father of his child. And will not the Father in\nheaven care for the child who has in prayer given himself up to\nHis interests? We may indeed in full confidence say: Father, I\nlive for Thy honor and Thy work; I know Thou carest for me.\nConsecration to God and His will gives wonderful liberty in\nprayer for temporal things: the whole earthly life is given to\nthe Father's loving care.\n\n'_And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our\ndebtors._' As bread is the first need of the body, so forgiveness\nfor the soul. And the provision for the one is as sure as for the\nother. We are children, but sinners too; our right of access to\nthe Father's presence we owe to the precious blood and the\nforgiveness it has won for us. Let us beware of the prayer for\nforgiveness becoming a formality: only what is really confessed\nis really forgiven. Let us in faith accept the forgiveness as\npromised: as a spiritual reality, an actual transaction between\nGod and us, it is the entrance into all the Father's love and all\nthe privileges of children. Such forgiveness, as a living\nexperience, is impossible without a forgiving spirit to others:\nas _forgiven_ expresses the heavenward, so _forgiving_ the\nearthward, relation of God's child. In each prayer to the Father\nI must be able to say that I know of no one whom I do not\nheartily love.\n\n'_And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil\none._' Our daily bread, the pardon of our sins, and then our\nbeing kept from all sin and the power of the evil one, in these\nthree petitions all our personal need is comprehended. The prayer\nfor bread and pardon must be accompanied by the surrender to live\nin all things in holy obedience to the Father's will, and the\nbelieving prayer in everything to be kept by the power of the\nindwelling Spirit from the power of the evil one.\n\nChildren of God! it is thus Jesus would have us to pray to the\nFather in heaven. O let His Name, and Kingdom, and Will, have the\nfirst place in our love; His providing, and pardoning, and\nkeeping love will be our sure portion. So the prayer will lead us\nup to the true child-life: the Father all to the child, the\nFather all for the child. We shall understand how Father and\nchild, the _Thine_ and the _Our_, are all one, and how the heart\nthat begins its prayer with the God-devoted THINE, will have the\npower in faith to speak out the OUR too. Such prayer will,\nindeed, be the fellowship and interchange of love, always\nbringing us back in trust and worship to Him who is not only the\nBeginning but the End: 'FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER,\nAND THE GLORY, FOR EVER, AMEN.' Son of the Father, teach us to\npray, 'OUR FATHER.'\n\n'LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.'\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nO Thou who art the only-begotten Son, teach us, we beseech Thee,\nto pray, 'OUR FATHER.' We thank Thee, Lord, for these Living\nBlessed Words which Thou hast given us. We thank Thee for the\nmillions who in them have learnt to know and worship the Father,\nand for what they have been to us. Lord! it is as if we needed\ndays and weeks in Thy school with each separate petition; so deep\nand full are they. But we look to Thee to lead us deeper into\ntheir meaning: do it, we pray Thee, for Thy Name's sake; Thy name\nis Son of the Father.\n\nLord! Thou didst once say: 'No man knoweth the Father save the\nSon, and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal Him.' And again: 'I\nmade known unto them Thy name, and will make it known, that the\nlove wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them.' Lord Jesus!\nreveal to us the Father. Let His name, His infinite Father-love,\nthe love with which He loved Thee, according to Thy prayer, BE IN\nUS. Then shall we say aright, 'OUR FATHER!' Then shall we\napprehend Thy teaching, and the first spontaneous breathing of\nour heart will be: 'Our Father, Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, Thy Will.'\nAnd we shall bring our needs and our sins and our temptations to\nHim in the confidence that the love of such a Father cares for\nall.\n\nBlessed Lord! we are Thy scholars, we trust Thee; do teach us to\npray, 'OUR FATHER.' Amen.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    +-----------------------------------------------------------+\n    | Typographical errors corrected in text:                   |\n    |                                                           |\n    | Page 18: undertand replaced with understand               |\n    |                                                           |\n    +-----------------------------------------------------------+\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"Lord, Teach Us To Pray","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":7959}