The enrichment of prayer

Contents

I. The Enrichment of Prayer 1

II. Encouragements to Prayer 11

III. Suggestions About How to Pray. . 25

II

One of the most helpful devotional books is called "With Christ in the School of Prayer." This title is suggestive. It suggests that if we make earnest with our prayer life — as we should with the most serious work in the world — we must take more than one lesson in prayer. It should be a daily and sustained exercise. Do we not all continually need fresh and enriching lessons? Who of us is not ashamed of the irregularity and poverty of his prayer life?

This title suggests also that Christ is the great teacher of prayer. We can have no more profitable task than making a careful study in the gospels of His teaching and practice in prayer. If He could not live His life and do His work without constant and unreserved prayer, how foolish of us to attempt it. He needed prayer less than anyone who has ever lived, but He knew such deep experiences with God that He is our best example and teacher. There are many other ways in which we may learn to pray better: by reading devotional books, by personal Bible study, and most of all simply by praying. But the association with those who have learned how to pray will teach us more than anything else.

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In this way this book may help. We may associate not only with those who are now living but, in a sense, with those in all the centuries past who in their turn have been with Christ in the school of prayer. We can profit by their experience and enjoy the rich treasures of spiritual lives. In those churches where written prayers are not regularly used, we are likely to miss the contribution to our prayer life which such communion with the saints so abundantly affords. It is a misfortune if the fear of formalism is so strong that one refuses to make any use of such prayers. For those of us who are young in Christian experience there is special helpfulness in a limited and studied use of some of these gems of devotional literature. For our chief difficulty is not in our longings for God's power, guidance, and companionship — how real these are only youth knows — but rather in our inability to express ourselves in fitting and adequate words. We are quite capable of understanding deep truths when they are clearly formulated by others, even though we are not yet able to formulate for ourselves statements at all adequate to our visions and convictions. So we sometimes gain measureless profit from the heartfelt use of some simple prayer, which may be the gathering-up in a few sincere sentences of a whole lifetime of precious personal fellowship with Christ. In no way, of course, will these prayers take the place of daily, personal, private prayer. "They may be used when the heart is full but wordless. They may suggest thoughts of prayer in the busy and distracting hours of the day."

It will be noted that without any attempt to make a historical list of prayers, those here given have been written by men of many centuries and of many diverse creeds. The sources given are at once, therefore, an acknowledgment of indebtedness and an evidence of that real unity which characterizes those, of whatever age and creed, who have seen "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

In most cases where no authorship is indicated, it has not been possible to locate the original source of the prayer. Many of the choicest selections, like ancient palimpsests, show reverent changes made by earnest souls in many ages. 6

IV

It may be useful to suggest a few counsels which come to us as the almost universal experience of those who have made real headway in learning to pray.

1. No time of day is so conducive to profitable prayer as the morning. It is unfortunate that so many pray only once a day and then at night. In the morning our minds are refreshed from sleep and undisturbed as yet by the cares and work of the day. Then we need God's help most as we go out to mingle with others in the day's work. An interesting movement is developing among Christian college students, namely, the keeping of the Morning Watch. By this is meant the giving of half an hour as early in the day as possible to Bible reading, meditation, and prayer. Will you not enlist in this movement. 1

2. To avoid the disturbances of a busy day some find it best, whenever possible, to spend their Morning Watch before dressing. If they wait until they bathe and dress, it is much harder to keep their quiet time uninterrupted.

1 See "The Morning Watch** by John R. Mott, Association Press, five cents.

3. Prepare for the Morning Watch the night before. This will mean in many cases resolute adherence to a rule of early retiring. It will also mean before sleep comes putting one's mind in an attitude of calmness and receptivity to heavenly impressions. In a striking phrase, the truth of which both experience and modern psychology attest, the Psalmist, according to the Revised Version, says, "He giveth unto His beloved in sleep."

"Then comes the Spirit to our hut "When fast the senses 9 doors are shut, For so divine and pure a guest The emptiest rooms are furnished best."

4. Make the regular periods of prayer vital and real at all costs. This will require practice in concentration and the observance of those conditions, physical and mental, which help us to guard against wandering thoughts. A change in posture will sometimes help. In kneeling with closed eyes we assume our natural position of humility and worship before God. "The world is shut out, in order that God may be supreme and that we may see no man save Jesus only." But the one all-important thing is our communion with God, and sometimes standing or walking may be of greater help to us. Sometimes it is well to pray aloud or to write out our prayers. We should guard this point and never become for a single day content with wasted moments or mere repetition of words during our times of prayer. "Saying prayers" is a habit to be early abandoned for more satisfying fellowship with a loving God.

5. Learn new aspects of prayer in common worship. There are untold messages for us in united prayer and even in united silence. Strive to use the Holy Communion, or Lord's Supper, as a real "means of grace."

6. Never give up if reality is hard to seek and you come upon "barren times." Like all things worth while, prayer costs.

7. Allow no rush of work or of pleasure to crowd out time for prayer. Luther once said, "I have much work to do today, so I will arise an hour earlier in order to have time for quiet prayer." Those who make a rule of the Morning Watch should resolve never to allow a single exception. When away on vacations, or sleeping in the same room with others, on camping parties when we sleep under the stars, or out in the thick of life's work, cling unshakably to the regular observance of this life-giving habit

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

OUR Father, Which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive

us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us

from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and

the glory, forever. Amen.

II

WHY sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest, Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, f ainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.— Isaiah 40:27-31.

r 1^0 pray in all places where quietness invit- -■- eth; in any house, highway, or street; and to know no street in this city that may not witness that I have not forgotten God and my Saviour in it; and that no parish or town where I have been may not say the like. To take occasion of praying upon the sight of any church which I see, or pass by, as I ride about. To pray daily, and particularly for my sick patients, and for all sick people under whose care soever. And at the entrance into the house of the sick to say, "The peace and the mercy of God be upon this house." After a sermon to make a prayer and desire a blessing, and to pray for the minister. — Sir Thomas Browne, 1605-1682.

ORD, what a change within us one short hour -■-^ Spent in Thy presence will avail to make!

What heavy burdens from our bosoms take; What parched grounds refresh, as with a shower !

We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; We rise, and all the distant and the near Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear.

We kneel, how weak! we rise, how full of power!

Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this

wrong, Or others, that we are not always strong;

That we are ever overborne with care;

That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with Thee?

Archbishop R. C. Trench, 1807-1886,

NO soul can preserve the bloom and delicacy of its existence without lonely musing and silent prayer: and the greatness of this necessity is in proportion to the greatness of the soul. There were many times during our Lord's ministry when, even from the loneliness of desert places, He dismissed His most faithful and most beloved, that He might be yet more alone. — Dean F. W. Farrar 9 1831-1903.

PRIVATE prayer, when it is real action, is the greatest forge of personality. It places a man in direct and effective contact with God, the Creator, the source of originality, and especially with God, the Redeemer, as the source of our new creation. . . .

Prayer is for the religious life what original research is for science — by it we get direct contact with reality. — P. /. Forsyth.

RUBINSTEIN, the great musical composer, once said: "If I do not practice for a day I know it; if I miss two days my friends know it; and if I miss three days the public knows it." May not the same be said of the practice of the presence of God and the practice of the service of man? May not the lack of harmony in one's relation to the Infinite and the false notes struck in one's relation to men be explained by the neglect of daily devotions and service? — Robert P. Wilder.

IF the chosen soul could never be alone In deep mid-silence, open-doored to God, No greatness ever had been dreamed or done; The nurse of full-grown souls is solitude.

James R. Lowell, 1819-1891.

MORE things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them

friend?

For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809-1892.

FOR from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou wast wroth, and we sinned: in them have we been of long time; and shall we be saved? For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us by means of our iniquities. But now, Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand — Isaiah 64:4-8.

L/'OR there is nothing that makes us love a ■*- man so much as praying for him; and when you can once do this sincerely for any man, you have fitted your soul for the performance of everything that is kind and civil toward him. This will fill your heart with a generosity and tenderness that will give you a better and sweeter behavior than anything that is called fine breeding and good manners. — William Law, 1686-1761.

"DERNARD . . . considering the great pa- -*-* tience of St. Francis . . . invited him to his house and had a bed prepared for him in his room. Francis, believing that Bernard was asleep, rose from his bed and betook himself to prayer, raising his hands to heaven with the greatest fervor of devotion, and saying, "My God, my God!" and so, shedding many tears, he remained till morning, continually repeating "My God, my God!" and nothing more. Bernard, seeing the devout acts of Francis . . . was touched and inspired by the Holy Ghost to change his life. — "Little Flowers of St. Francis."

FT is worth while making any efforts, however -*- desperate, to learn to pray. , . . Often when I desire to see the Truth come home to any man, I say to myself, "If I have him here he will spend half an hour with me. Instead, I will spend that half-hour in prayer for him." — Forbes Robinson.

IN nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4:6, 7.

WHAT I am trying to do is precisely to get away from the ordinary, conventional ideas about prayer, and to carry our minds to the point of view of those who knew more about it by experience than most of us have attained to — people like Saint Augustine, Saint Bernard, Saint Teresa, Brother Lawrence and many others; and behind them the apostles and prophets on whom the Church is built; and behind them Jesus Christ Himself the head Corner-Stone. All these knew by vivid, compelling personal experience that prayer is not a mere telephoning to God to ask Him to do things, but a developing life, an expanding, deepening, heightening, intensifying, of the whole being, by allowing it to be drawn in the embrace of God nearer and nearer to Himself. — "Self -training in Prayer" by A. H. McNeile.

WHO ever managed a greater empire than Constantine? Yet "every day," as Eusebius reporteth, "at stated times shutting himself up, he alone privately did converse with his God." — Isaac Barrow 9 1614-1650; quoted by Bishop Boyd Carpenter.

AS we look back over the history of the world, we cannot help being struck by the fact that the men of prayer are the men of power. There is a connection in history between prayer and power. Take, for instance, the great reformer of the past century, who was able to break down the most determined opposition to his reforms, and to free the little children of England from terrible slavery — Lord Shaftesbury. What was the secret of his supernatural power? If we read his life we shall see. That man was praying continually. He was praying in the House of Commons before he made his speeches; he was praying in everything he did. It would not be intelligent reading of biography to disconnect his prayer from his power. Or take General Gordon, who left us the record of a stainless soldier who could stand alone. What gave him the strength to do it? Here, again, we cannot intelligently disconnect his extraordinary power, his extraordinary personal influence, from the white handkerchief outside his tent, so regularly placed there two or three times a day, which meant that General Gordon was at his prayers. Continuous prayer brings personal power. — James Hastings.

STONEWALL JACKSON had also acquired this habit of reminding himself of the presence of Christ. He literally carried the saintliness of the cloister into the turmoil of the camp. He began each day with an unhurried time of Bible study and secret prayer. It is said he prayed without ceasing while under fire as well as in camp. — John R. Mott.

ASK, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? — Matt. 7:7-11.

IT is a great word in the letter to the Hebrews which declares that we "may find grace to help us in time of need." I have always felt that I should like to discover some idiom of my own language which would gather the thought of the Greek phrase, and I am not sure but that it is perfectly done by saying that the message declares we may find grace to help us "in the nick of time." — G. Campbell Morgan.

T) E not afraid to pray — to pray is right. -"-"* Pray, if thou canst, with hope ; but ever pray, Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay : Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.

Far is the time, remote from human sight, When war and discord on the earth shall cease, Yet every prayer for universal peace

Avails the blessed time to expedite.

Whate'er is good to wish, that ask of Heaven, Though it be that thou canst not hope to see;

Pray to be perfect, though the material leaven Forbid the spirit so on earth to be;

But if for any wish thou darest not pray Then pray to God to cast that wish away.

Hartley Coleridge, 1796-1849.

T)EHOLD, I stand at the door and knock: if -*--* any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. — Rev. 3 :20.

SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO PRAY

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SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO PRAY

METHINKS I was as if I had seen Him . . . walk through the world from the cradle to the Cross, to which also when He came I saw how gently He gave Himself to be hanged and nailed upon it for my sins and wicked doings ... 0, friends, cry to God to reveal Jesus Christ to you. . . . There is none teacheth like Him. — "Grace Abounding" by John Bunyan 9 1628- 1688.

THERE are two things which make our Lord's example in the life of prayer of special significance. In the first place, if ever anyone could have dispensed with prayer, it was He. In the second place, His experience tried out the whole reality of prayer. Whatever He found in it, we may be sure is there. — Robert E. Speer.

GOD requires no great matters of us: a little remembrance of Him from time to time; a little adoration ; sometimes to pray for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, and sometimes to return Him thanks for the favors He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles, and to console yourself with Him the oftenest you can. Lift up your heart to Him, sometimes even at your meals, and when you are in company: the least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him. You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are aware of.

It is not necessary for being with God to be always at church: we may make an oratory of our heart wherein to retire from time to time to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love. Every one is capable of such familiar conversation with God, some more, some less: He knows what we can do. Let us begin, then. Perhaps He expects but one generous resolution on our part. Have courage. We have but little time to live. . . . Let us live and die with God. Sufferings will be sweet and pleasant to us while we are with Him ; and the greatest pleasures will be, without Him, a cruel punishment to us. . . .

Accustom yourself, then, by degrees thus to worship Him, to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time in the midst of your business, even every moment if you can.

SUGGESTIONS HOW TO PRAY

Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules, or particular forms of devotion, but act with a general confidence in God, with love and humility. — Brother Lawrence.

Cautions to Those Who Pray

THE Spirit of God will not dwell in a divided heart. We cannot feel the pleasures of devotion while the world is our delight.

2. He who would be devout, must beware of indulging a habit of wandering in prayer. It is a crime that will grow upon us, and will deprive us of the blessings we pray for.

3. The oftener we renew our intercourse voith God, the greater will be our devotion.

4. Make it a law to yourself, to meditate before you pray; as also to make pauses to see whether your heart goes with your lips. — Bishop Thomas Wilson, 1663-1755.

Different Phases of Prayer

AT least once each day there should be an unhurried period of prayer, including the following:

1. Meditation — that is, a brief time of recol- 29 lection in order to realize who God is and who you are. There must be a little time to feel the wonder of His vastness and of your littleness, of His love and of your coldness, of His holiness and of your sin. . . .

2. Prayer for Grace. Then the heart must be lifted up for the divine help which is needed in order to pray, to learn what things to ask for, to feel the strength of desire, to gain the power of wrestling or, in a word, to receive the Holy Spirit.

3. Confession. . . . The great sins of our lives have perhaps been wept over, repented of, confessed, and forgiven, but our life is choked with the little sins that are hardly remembered — faults of motives, slurs, the omissions, the negligences which require contrition and confession all the more because they escape all eyes but God's; and to these minor sins that text is well applied, "Take me the little foxes that destroy the vines." . . .

4. Intercession. Then requests have to be made for all sorts and conditions of men, for the world and for the Church, for our country and for our own Church, for Christ's servants abroad and at home, for friends and for enemies, for

SUGGESTIONS HOW TO PRAY

relatives and connections, for classes and for individuals mentioned by name. . . .

5. Thanksgiving. It is well to keep a journal of mercies, and in every act of prayer to recollect the numerous particulars which call for praise. It is the besetting sin of some temperaments, and a frequent temptation of all, to be far more conscious of the trials than of the benefits of life. — Robert F. Horton.

Prayer and Labor Prayers

Slow, recollected, persevering. Peaceful, calm, resigned.

Simple, humble, trusting.

Always reverent, as loving as possible. Charitable. Have I not always opportunity to give? to thank?

Labor

Begun cheerfully.

Continued perseveringly.

Interrupted and resumed patiently. Finished perfectly and devoutly. Repose and care for the body, as in God's sight, under God's protection.

"Gold Dust."

r\0 not pray for easy lives! Pray to be -■-^ stronger men!

Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers! Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come in you by the grace of God. — Bishop Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893.

TESUS said, "Watch and pray"; but if prayer ** had been the same thing as watching, Jesus would either have said "watch," or else He would have said "pray." But He said, "Watch and pray." In the same way it may be shown that prayer is different from thinking, meditating, planning, deliberating, and striving with the hands or with the brain. . . . We notice in the following passages how by both words and actions it is implied that prayer was not with our Lord a mere glance, or sign, or attitude of mind, or passing ejaculation, but rather a sharply defined effort, so engaging and focussing the faculties as to demand all the circumstance of time and place which is demanded by the most serious engagements of business life.

SUGGESTIONS HOW TO PRAY

"In the morning He rose early, while it was still quite dark, and leaving the house He went away to a solitary place and there prayed." — Mark 1:35.

"At one place where He was praying, when He rose from His knees one of His disciples said to Him, 'Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.' " — Luke 11:1.

"One day when He was praying by Himself the disciples were present." — Luke 9:18.

"He made the disciples go on board the boat . . . and leave Him to dismiss the people. When He had done this He climbed the hill to pray in solitude: 9 — Matt. 14:22, 23.

"Sit down here whilst I go yonder and there pray."— Matt. 26:36.

"He Himself withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed repeatedly."— Luke 22 -Al.

The phrase "as he was wont" (Luke 22:39), referring to His going out to Gethsemane and the subsequent reference to it as "the place," would seem to imply that Gethsemane was one of our Lord's places of regular resort for prayer.

The type of prayer that is exhibited by the above passages, which deal with our Lord's practice, is that kind which may be described as "seasonal." At least we may say that it presents prayer to us as a regular, unhurried, deliberate, and definite concentration of the faculties, in undivided attention, upon a specific work. — "The Discipline of Prayer"

RELY not on a single prayer in matters of great concernment; but make it as public as you can, by obtaining of others to pray with you; this being the great blessing of the Communion of Saints, that a prayer united is strong like a well-ordered army. — Bishop Jeremy Tailor, 1613-1667.

IS it not true that most people fail much in prayer, because they will not take the trouble to prepare for prayer? With a written list of the subjects we select for our prayers, a few collects or prayers from books of devotion carefully selected and marked, and a fixed time allotted to our prayers, we shall find we can do much better than we generally do now. — Bishop Walsham How, 1823-1897.

SUGGESTIONS HOW TO PRAY

NO man is likely to do much good in prayer who does not begin by looking upon it in the light of a work, to be prepared for and persevered in with all the earnestness which we bring to bear upon subjects which are at once most interesting and most necessary. — Bishop Hamilton, of Salisbury.

THE supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. — James 5:16.

PRAYERS FOR USE IN THE MORNING

IV PRAYERS FOR USE IN THE MORNING

AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run; Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise To pay thy morning sacrifice.

OLORD, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day; Defend us in the same with Thy mighty power ; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in Thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — "Gelasian Sacramentary" 494; "Book of Common Prayer" 1549.