Photo Prayer:
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.
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.
