Domestic worship

Introduction

To pray is one thing; to express prayer, another. We are commanded to do both. And the command is written in our nature.

To pray is to want : the consciousness of a want is, substantially, a prayer. It is the imperfect looking out of itself, seeking what it has not, the blind yearning of a dependent and finite nature toward the Supreme. Vain then is it to say, 'I cannot pray.' For all men are praying continually, although not for the same things, nor to the same God. Whether the thing desired be lawful or unlawful, good or evil, still the desire is a prayer. From the very first, the heart is in the attitude of supplication. Even when we distinctly recognise no object of prayer, we pray. We are conscious of various cravings

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springing within ns, seeking something out of ourselves. These are prayers.

The question, then, is not between praying and not praying. But, Shall I pray to the One Almighty and Only Living, for those things which alone are supremely desirable, or shall I pray for that which is falsely esteemed a good, looking for my wants to be supplied, my prayers to be answered, I know not by whom? They, whose desires are selfish, who seek only sensual indulgences, are idolaters, and of the lowest description. They bow day and night at the unclean altars of false gods, however pure their outward forms and professions may be. While he who thirsts for truth and personal virtue is, spiritually regarded, praying to the Supreme Spirit. In the eye of truth, he is prostrate in supplication before the everlasting throne. No matter what may be his forms of worship, or by what name he invokes the Invisible, or even whether he have any distinct apprehensions of the Being to whom his aspirations ascend, still he prays. Prayer thus defined, even the cavils of Atheism cannot reach.

Do you ask now concerning the nature of

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V prayer ? Look into your own heart. You are conscious of wants, many and urgent. Then, question as you may, you are praying. You have within you the substance which prayer is made of. And take care, while you secretly or openly despise those who confess the obhgation of prayer, that you yourself be not the true object of pity. Do you witness a good deed ? And does it create within you a sense of the beauty of holiness? Does it awaken your moral wants, 'the sacred hunger' of your soul after righteousness? Then may you know what it is to pray, in the highest sense of the word. The splendours of creation, the generous acts and heroic sacrifices of men, whatever touches the heart and awakens a desire to possess the worth that w^e see, all these are voices from God, summoning us to prayer, and we cannot disobey, let our understandings be never so bewildered.

But they who deny the propriety of prayer, do not content themselves with a bare denial. They urge reasons. 'God,' say they, 4s all-wise and all-powerful and all good, and He will deal with us according to his perfection. To pray to him is to imply that he needs in^

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formation or importunity, and is therefore a reflection upon his knowledge and goodness. It is inconsistent with worthy apprehensions of his nature.'

Such is the argument which has been brought thousands of times against prayer. It lies with equal force against all human agency, against the common culture of the earth. But were the husbandman to withhold his hand from the plough, saying, 'The Almighty is infinitely wise and good. If it be his pleasure, I shall be fed. I shall live, whether I labour or not. And if it is not his pleasure, my labour is vain,' then, to be consistent and carry out the argument to its full extent, he should cease to want, cease to desire food and life. If this reasoning were good against labouring for food, it would be equally so against desiring it. But by no weight of argument can we annihilate the desire of subsistence. We may refuse to employ the means of its gratification. Still the want exists, and only becomes the more urgent for being denied, until we are made to know that it is the authentic dictate of nature, and that God has formed us after this fashion,

INTRODUCTION.

namely, to desire food and love life, so that these inherent wants, by the activity to which they prompt, may be instrumental to their own supply. It is His will to sustain us in this way and in no other. And to suppose that He will uphold us in being in any other than the natural and appointed way, is not only an idle supposition, but an absurdity. For it implies, that because he is perfect in wisdom he may do what is unwise, forsake the methods which his own unerring wisdom has devised.

So stands it with Prayer. As 'the soul's sincere desire,' it is the means established in our very nature, whereby we obtain good. In order to have, we must first desire. This is the law of our being. And when the Scripture saith, ^Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,' it only expresses what was already written in the everlasting truth of things. The consideration, therefore, of God's perfections, so far from furnishing any argument against prayer, discloses the foundation laid for it in our nature. As God lives and fills all things, those desires that stir within

INTRODUCTION.

you, those wants of which you are conscious, are not chance-impulses. They are awakened not blindly and without purpose, but in divine wisdom and for divine ends. Give heed to them, therefore, and cherish and express them with undoubting confidence, for it is God who worketh within you, and his will, thus expressed in your nature, cannot be defeated.

This general view of the nature of prayer requires to be qualified. It does not follow, because our wants are natural, implanted by the Creator, and are therefore prayers, that they are all to be always cherished and gratified. It is true, all our natural wants are right and innocent in themselves, but some of them are liable to dangerous excesses, and, although never to be extinguished, are occasionally to be denied and habitually regulated ; because they are inferior to other and higher wants. Of this character are our physical appetites. (Mark the word, by the way. Its very derivation — peto^ to seek — accords with our statements.) If we are capable of discerning the divine wisdom in our constitution, if we hear the divine voice

INTRODUCTION.

IX within us, we know that all our wants are not equally enduring and important. Our nature demands the subordination of the appetites to higher principles. As we want food or pleasure, as truly, but infinitely more, do we want Truth and Right, and a resemblance of the whole character to that idea of perfection, revealed to us in God. The great end of life is to establish a dominion within, ^to be strengthened with might in the inner man,' This we know, if we know aught of our religious relations ; and this knowledge will supply all the needed qualifications of the general doctrine of prayer now laid down.

The reader will remark that I have thus far confined myself to prayer, considered purely as an inward service, an act of the mind. There is another and quite a distinct subject of consideration, the expression of prayer in rvords and otherwise. Every emotion, just as naturally as it rises within us, seeks expression. Its nature is to manifest itself outwardly in various ways, by the eyes, the countenance, the lips and the life. And moreover it acquires in this way a force

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which it would otherwise lack. These two simple facts reveal the use and need of praying in words.

Observe the working of nature. We desire bread; and, as I have said, the desire is virtually a prayer. It moves to activity. It stimulates the mind, and sets us upon devising the ways and means of its gratification. Thus it leads to the cultivation of the earth, and to all those labours and offices which result in the acquisition of food. So the appetite is gratified, and the original prayer of our nature is answered.

With the mode in which our natural wants are supplied, namely, by our own agency, we are familiar, and it awakens no surprise. And yet, in strict truth, it is as mysterious, as significant of superhuman power, as if a visible hand were extended from the heavens to give us food, every time the appetite of hunger is awakened. Nay, were the whole earth and air thronged with celestial beings, going to and fro, ascending and descending in the ceaseless work of providing sustenance for man, we should not have a more impressive token of the provi-

INTRODUCTION.

XI dence of God than is afforded in the actually existing arrangement, whereby onr natural appetites, the prayers of our physical being, are heard and answered. What a pity it is that we should be so blindfolded by custom, and fail to discern the agency of heaven, because it is always busy around and within us ! God is here, hearing prayer and answering it in his own wise methods, and although we have eyes, we do not see Him.

Here it will be asked, ' If the natural mode of expressing our desire of food is by the hands, set diligently at work to procure food, why should we use our lips? Why repeat that petition of the Lord's prayer, Give us this day our daily bread ? If we labour for our food truly and faithfully, will the asking for it in words make any difference? Shall we be more likely to receive for the asking than if we did not ask V I answer. Yes, unquestionably yes. And in this way. It is the office of language, words, not only to communicate toothers our thoughts and emotions, but to give them a habitation and a name in our own consciousness, increased power in our own hearts. Every one knows that a

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sentiment is deepened by being expressed in words. We give utterance, therefore, of our desire of food in a form of words, which implies an acknowledgement of the one only Giver of life, not to communicate information to Him, but because nature prompts such an utterance, and the act tends to render the natural feeling which it expresses more pure and true. It sanctifies the natural appetite, and associates it with the Being who implanted it, and with the purpose for which it is implanted. I do not say that the mere utterance of the words of prayer will of itself and alone create the spirit of prayer, but simply that it has a tender cy to this effect, and harmonizes with the other and indispensable means whereby the spirit of devotion is fostered. The habit of making mention of our natural wants in prayer helps to hallow and chasten those wants. And if so, then are we more likely to receive what we ask, because we are more likely to labour for it more wisely and every way more faithfully. We put ourselves more completely in the position of true recipients, and the spirit within is adjusted more perfectly to

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the truth of things, and acts in truer consonance with the laws and the will of God. He prays superstitiously and ignorantly, whether for temporal good or spiritual, who dreams that his prayers are to supersede the necessity of his own exertions, when their sole use is to animate and sanctify his personal efforts. When we truly pray for our daily bread, no diminution of our faith in the necessity of our own labour as a means of subsistence is implied. On the contrary, the prayer is a virtual avowal (and this constitutes all its value) of our faith in the worth of our exertions, and tends directly to increase this faith, and make it more active, and of course to make the possession of the desired good more certain. In a word, the prayer inspires us to labour aright, because it reminds us of the grounds of our labour and of Him by whom our labour is ordained and blessed. Is my own life or the life of a friend in peril? I desire deliverance. I express the desire in devout supplication, and invoke the Divine aid. By so doing, I am not led to relax, but to redouble my own exertions, with a wiser aim and more entire self-possession.

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Means of escape from the impending danger are revealed to me in the more elevated state of my mind, which would otherwise have been concealed ; and the divine power is put forth in my behalf, not the less divine because it is manifested through my own agency, nor the less gratefully to be acknowledged.

If these remarks are just in relation to the expression of prayer for temporal blessings, much more manifest is the advantage of giving utterance to our desires for spiritual good. By expressing these in the sacred language of devotion, we deepen them, and the more earnestly we hunger after righteousness, the more direct and steady will be our moral progress, the more abundant the strength we shall receive from God. The words of prayer are the symbols of religion, artificial, human symbols it is true, akin in their influence to the pictures which cover the walls of so many churches, and like these liable to be abused and to be mistaken for the spiritual things that they signify. But not so liable. Of all mere human symbols they are the purest and the most elevating. They help to animate the devotion which they express. And

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I doubt not that many a spirit which has commenced the office of prayer in a languid frame has gathered fervour as it advanced from the kindling associations of the language which it has used. Our social forms of devotion usually begin with what may be termed a meditation upon the Divine perfecfections. And fitly so. By bringing up before the mind thoughts of the infinite purity and majesty of God, we awake the spiritual cravings of the soul, fill it with adoration, and humble it under a sense of its unworthiness. Among all the aids to devotion the Psalms of David are pre-eminent. Multitudes have there found a voice for their inner nature; and the sacred phraseology of the Bible has in all times tended powerfully to feed the spirit of religion in the hearts of men.

The outward act of devotion, praying with the lips, is in danger of being abused, and has been and is abused to the hurt of the soul. It is liable to become a mere formality, the husk and shell of relimon. It is essential to

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true prayer that the heart be concerned in it.

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But then, if what is done regularly is apt to be done mechanically, it is also true that what is not done regularly is very likely not to be done at all. All acceptable prayer is spontaneous. Still it is unquestionable that by putting ourselves under a law, by binding ourselves to observe certain times and services, we may enjoy seasons of spiritual elevation with which we should not otherwise be visited. Well would it be for us if, on the threshold of every day, we could pause for a moment and consider, ere we rushed into the thick of this world's occupations. The sun rises every morning alike.

* It never rests nor goes astray, But our immortal spirits may.'

And the simple thought of our weakness and exposure would suffice, one would think, to fill us with the spirit of prayer. A thoughtful habit of mind is indispensable to the right discharge of the offices of devotion ; and where such a habit is formed, it is hardly possible that we shall not be fitted to pray with the heart as well as with the lips, at any seasons that we may appoint. The

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XVII domestic circle offers the most favourable spot for the altar of social worship. And they who acknowledge their parental obligations, and know, as they must, the numerous and fearful perils which beset the path of their children, can hardly fail to perceive what strong inducements they have to the observance of stated acts of family devotion. It is true, Christianity does not enjoin domestic worship. It has instituted no special forms of religious service, but not because it would discountenance them, but because they may safely be left to that ' elder revelation' which is written in the heart, which has dictated social religious services in all times and countries, and with which our Saviour himself complied. Families are natural associations, churches instituted by nature. And here especially should the incense of social worship arise. To all social services regularity is necessary.

I am aware that some will say, ' What need is there of these stated forms ? There are the daily duties of life, the work which every man finds to do all around him, in his family and in his ordinary relations. When

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a religious spirit stirs within him, let it send him, not to kneel at altars, but into the haunts of misery. In the relief of the wretched it will find an ample sphere. Let acts of duty and love be our religious ceremonies.' All this has a reasonable sound. Beyond all controversy, this is the best way to manifest the religious principle, in living soberly, righteously and godly. Show us the men who thus worship, and although they worship in no other way, we will accord them our hearty reverence, and do homage to the spirit of religion which they breathe. To him whose whole life is a religious service we will render the highest honour. But why should we refuse the aid which prayer affords ? It will help us to reach this exalted condition. Jesus Christ, filled as he was with the holy spirit, used this assistance, and was wont to pray with his disciples. Possibly, in some higher state of being, we may be rapt into that constant communion with God which transcends the imperfect offices of prayer and praise. But not here. Not yet may we safely dispense with the means of spiritual elevation which the outward forms

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XIX and institutions of religion provide. They who are indisposed to their use will do well to consider whether the indisposition do not arise rather from the lowness of their spiritual state than from its exaltation. The soul may fancy itself expatiating in the upper sphere, when it is sunk in the darkest depths, and its chains may be the heaviest when it"boasts most loudly.

The present volume has been prepared in compliance with repeated requests, and under the conviction that it will meet the wants of many, and foster in the hearts of others the spirit of prayer which it aims to express. To those who are disposed to ask with the disciples of Jesus, ' Teach us how to pray,' I hope this book may render some assistance, and that its influence may be to encourage them in the use of forms of their own. The prayers are divided into sections, and are not specially appropriated to the several days of the week, that opportunity may be given for selection, omission and variety.

ERRATA.

Page 41, line 17, omit on

Page 128, last line, for elude read eludes

Page 193, line 2, /or unfinished read unfruitful

Contents

INTRODUCTION.

MORNING.

Fifteen Prayers 25

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When we awake, we are still with thee, Lord God most merciful, and thy hand is over us for good, and thine eye is fixed upon us evermore ! No other friend, no other being is nigh unto us as Thou art. Infinite is thy power, and boundless thy will, to do us good. No tongue can tell, no thought can fathom, the depths of thy love. A mother may forget her infant child, yet never, O Lord, wilt thou forget us. We lie down, and it is under the shadow of thy wings. We rise up, and thy hand leads us, and thy right hand upholds us, and in Thee we live and move and have our being.

Thy mercies are more in number than the stars of heaven, or the sand upon the sea shore. Create in us, we beseech thee, a lively sense of our infinite obligations. Inspire us with the thoughts and purposes c

MORNING.

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which become thy children. Let not our hearts, wherein thou dost especially delight to dwell, let them not be the only places where Thou art not ; but be Thou fervently acknow^ledged there, and worshipped and obeyed without ceasing. We would not be forgetful of our Benefactor and our God. We have been forgetful in times past, and have rejoiced in thy bounties without a thought of the Giver. We confess it, O our Father, with shame. We see how base it is to seize thy gifts, and to depend, as we do every moment, upon thy mercy, and yet cherish no thankfulness. Still we w^ould love Thee. Insensible as we have been, still our desire is unto Thee. Bless the Lord, O our souls, and no longer forget his benefits !

But, Heavenly Father, we would be possessed of a living sense of our obligations, not only because it is the dictate and want of our hearts to be grateful; we need the great thought of God as a fountain of o-nidance and salvation. We need thy love, shed abroad within us, to save our souls. Thou art orivingr US another day, and we know not what it may bring forth. We know not what perils await us, what temptations may assail us this day, what evil passions may menace our

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MORNING.

peace, polluting our hearts, involving us in the guilt and v^retchedness of sin ; and we need light and strength from on high. Without the heavenly armour of religious faith and obedience we may make shipwreck of our dearest interests. Give us then, we pray Thee, give us a sacred sense of Duty, to shield us in the conflict, to guard us from sin and death. Lead us not into temptation ; or, when we are tempted, deliver us from the power of evil, and make us circumspect and vigilant : and may every act and word and thought bear witness that our hearts are right with Thee, that the fear of God is upon us, and that we remember the prayers which we now utter before the throne of thy grace.

Giver of every blessing ! Thou hast shown us what is good ; and how clearly, how divinely is it set before us in the life of thy beloved Son ! May the same mind be in us that was in him, the same gentleness towards others, the same forgetfulness of self. Thou hast bound us to one another by strong ties, and given us affections which make offices of love easy and delightful. Let no root of bitterness spring up this day between us and any of our brethren. If occavsions of unkind-

MORNING.

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ness arise, let not this day's sun go down upon our wrath. Give us grace to subdue every angry passion, to quench the unholy flame, to stop the hasty word. May we overcome evil with good, and, in our humble sphere, imitate that perfect benevolence of Thine which bestows upon all, upon the good and the wicked, the just and the unjust, the blessingrs of a common Providence. So shall we cause our light to shine, and aU around us shall rejoice therein and be sanctified thereby and give glory unto God.

In all our duties to others, to ourselves and to Thee, may we live this day as if it were our last, and as it becomes those to live who know not what a day, what an hour may bring forth. Like the sun, which never pauses and never goes astray, may our immortal souls run their race of glory, the emblems and images of thy spirit, dispensing light and life, and shining, like the stars, for ever and ever !

And now. O God, that the languao^e of praise and prayer ceases from our lips, may the spirit of prayer abide within us and never cease. Let us not think that we quit thy presence as we turn from this domestic altar.

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MORNING.

But, by every duty faithfully discharged, by acts of self restraint and kindness, by all the discipline of this day, may we be entering farther and farther into the kingdom of thy Son, and approaching ever nearer to thy throne, and preparing ourselves for higher scenes of life and a purer happiness beyond the grave ; and thine, O God, shall be the praise and the glory for ever. Amen.

MORNING.

II. Morning Prayer

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In the morning, O God, the voice of praise shall ascend to Thee in the heavens, for thy providence has overshadowed us, and Thou hast watched over our defenceless slumbers. Again the light of day returns, and all thy works break forth before Thee into singing. The heavens declare thy glory. The earth rejoices, and is glad, at the visits of thy love. And we, formed in thy likeness, endowed with thine inspiration, distinguished as we are among thy creatures, would join with universal nature, and call upon all around and within us to praise and magnify thy great and holy Name.

But how shall we approach Thee ? What offerings shall we bring? The sacrifices of the Lord are a broken and contrite spirit. A broken and a contrite heart Thou wilt not despise. More pleasing is it to Thee than clouds of incense and the smoke of a thousand altars.

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MORNING.

Prepare this offering for thyself, and give us now those humble and fervent dispositions of mind so precious in thy sight. Then shall pur acts of v^orship find acceptance with Thee, and the lifting up of our heart be as the morning sacrifice, and an instant and abundant answer be returned to our prayers in the peace and power of holy affections, in lowly and devout thoughts, kindled by thy spirit shining and burning within.

Almighty God ! May this day be thine, and every event which it brings come to our souls, like a messenger from heaven, to lead us nearer to Thee, to increase our faith and hope and love. In the world we shall meet temptation ; but may we be of good cheer and overcome the world, and keep ourselves unspotted from its corruptions. May we hold our appetites in the strictest subjection to thy pure law, written upon our hearts and commanding us to abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good ; and let us not in any unguarded moment fall into any sinful indulgence, into the bondage of any base habit. To this end, and for the sake of our soul's salvation, do Thou inspire us with profound humility and a godly penetrating fear. We have offended against Thee

MORNING.

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in times past. O may we do so no more ! May the thought of our sins break down our pride, lest, through a vain self confidence, we fall into temptation and a snare. Habitually conscious of our weakness and exposure, may we be serious and watchful unto prayer, and pass this day of our sojourning on earth as in thy holy presence. In every righteous purpose, in every virtuous emotion, there, may we discern the agency of thy spirit working in us to will and to do. And may this be the rock of our faith, the fountain of our strength, the pledge of our triumph, that Thou, the Lord God Omnipotent, dost inspire and sanctify and assist all good resolutions, all right aims, and that it is thine own awful voice which speaks in our souls.

In our intercourse with one another and with our fellow men this day may we be governed by the generous spirit of the religion which we profess, and find our standard and guide in the life of him who went about doing good and poured out his blood upon the cross for the salvation of the world. May v/e be cautious and just in our judgments, slow to condemn, swift to forgive. Let not our sympathies be restricted by outward and artificial

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distinctions ; but in all, the poorest and most despised, beholding our brethren and thy children, may we be ready to aid and defend the feeble and the destitute, and resist all injustice, all violence and cruelty ; remembering that, inasmuch as we do good to the least of our brethren, we shall be accounted as doing it unto him who was the friend and brother of all men, and thy beloved Son. As his disciples we offer these our petitions, acknowledging thy goodness, seeking thy grace, and ascribing unto Thee all praise and glory for ever. Amen.

MORNING.

III. Morning Prayer

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O Thou at whose word the sun ariseth, and man goeth forth to his work and to his labour until the evening, we invoke thy presence. We ask thy blessing. Without Thee we can do nothing. With Thee we can have nothing to fear. Thou art all in all. For every step that we take, for every breath that we draw, strength cometh from Thee ; and thy favour is life, and thy loving kindness is better than life.