Read it from the Original.
Start at the Beginning.
(Page 210)
I. Religion, having expressed itself towards God in worship, next expresses itself in regard to ourselves. Adoration and gratitude are our duty to God; asking from God is our duty towards ourselves. This action is very generally spoken of as Prayer, in a special and limited sense. God is the supreme and only source of all good; from Him we must seek everything, and not from any creature. Prayer, strictly speaking, is addressed only to the Supreme Divinity. We pray to the Lord Jesus also as being true God of true God, but more commonly we pray through Him as being Man as well as God, and therefore our Mediator with the Godhead. His participation in human nature gives our prayers such merit as they have; and by Him only do we deserve to be heard. So we always pray through Him, and conclude every prayer with His name. It is our duty further to avail ourselves of the prayers of our brethren in addition to our own. Scripture teaches us to pray for others and to ask their prayers. The prayer of the just avails much on earth; in heaven it is their function to present our petitions before the throne. In a subordinate sense we pray to the friends of God on earth and in heaven, that they consent with us concerning the thing that we ask, that it may be done to us by our Father in heaven (Matt, xviii. 19). The one kind of prayer is supreme worship of God; the other is the deference paid to those who are nearer to God than ourselves. Petition is an important duty. Always ask much of God. He is honoured by our petitions, and delights in granting them.
II. The first object of our prayer should be our own spiritual necessities. That supernatural instrument should be in the first instance devoted to supernatural purposes; under this condition its effect is infallible according to Our Lord's promise. We begin with ourselves; for the first duty of each one is to glorify God by his own salvation; his own soul is the first and principal charge committed to him (Page 211) by God. We should ask unceasingly for light and truth, grace and strength, the accomplishment of God's will, and our eternal salvation. But we are allowed also to solicit the assistance and the intervention of God in our temporal necessities. Our Lord when on earth often addressed Himself to the Father, and employed His own divine power for the bodily relief and comfort of men, as in feeding the hungry and healing the sick. We may ask for such favours; but we must remember to do so subordinately to our spiritual welfare; we must ask conditionally, "if it be possible; and we must not expect that we shall infallibly have our petition granted. We often know not what we ask, so that God refuses us in His mercy, and gives effect to our prayers in some other way. In such petitions say always, "Not my will but Thine be done." We are also bound to pray for other men. Hence your prayers must be accompanied with confidence if they are for spiritual objects, with resignation when for temporal objects, with charity in praying constantly for others.
III. Consider the various conditions laid down for our guidance in prayer. Sometimes "you have not because you ask not," and again "you ask and receive not, because you ask amiss" (Jas. iv. 2, 3). You must be full of faith in the promises of God, and of confidence in being heard; otherwise you can expect nothing. You must pray always; your desires must be habitual and your petitions frequent. It is necessary also to persevere even with importunity, as Our Lord teaches. You must not be content with asking once; you may have to continue for years. Do not grow weary or discouraged if God test your patience and confidence by making you wait, or if even He refuse your petition, as He refused to deliver St. Paul from his temptations; for prayer cannot go to waste, it produces its effect in some other way. Let prayer be your constant occupation and delight." Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid" (Heb. iv. 16).
All for Jesus, all for Mary.
Such shall be our password gentle reader.
Til next time.
