Untitled article by Elder R. A. Underwood

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 26, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 21.

THE LORD'S PRAYER. NO. 1.

By Elder R. A. Underwood

BY ELDER R. A. UNDERWOOD.

"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." Matt. 6:9-13.

It only takes about thirty seconds to repeat this wonderful petition, yet it embraces every physical and spiritual need of humanity. How brief, yet how complete! It is from the great Teacher. It will bear much study.

This prayer is repeated by many thousands daily; but by how few understandingly?

Long public prayers are always out of place. Christ spent many long hours in secret prayer; even all night he often plead with the Father for divine power to continue his work (see Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12); but how brief are all his public prayers! Two or three minutes is sufficient time to repeat the longest public prayer of Christ that is on record.

A few seconds are all the time that is taken in Christ's prayer at the grave of Lazarus. It expresses so much in so few words I will give it here: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. . . . Lazarus, come forth." Three distinct points stand out in this effectual prayer at the grave of Lazarus. It opens with thanksgiving; it expresses a constant, cloudless faith on the part of Christ; and it is brief. If ministers and people would study the example and teaching of Christ with reference to prayer, we would hear no more long, dry prayers from the pulpit, in the prayer meeting, or at the family altar.

By turning to Luke, chapter eleven, we will see that the Lord's prayer, this model prayer, is given in answer to the request of the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." Notice how Christ calls the attention of the disciples to the point of long prayers, which are usually more of a display of self than of a longing desire for the power of God, in these words: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. . . . But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." These words of Christ, and the short prayer that follows, in answer to the request, "Lord, teach us to pray," are a standing rebuke to the long prayers so often heard in public congregations. Let those who are guilty do so no more. Let the long praying be done in the secret chamber, and our prayers will be accepted of God and answered on the earth if presented in faith.

Not many months since the writer asked his congregation which would add most to the interest of a prayer meeting, if there was only ten or fifteen minutes to be devoted to prayer, for one or two to occupy the whole time in prayer, or have ten or fifteen persons pray. The latter was the unanimous opinion of the congregation, and yet the next day a minister who was present on the above occasion, and spoke in favor of short public prayers, consumed ten minutes in offering prayer in opening a meeting. I mention this because many have formed a habit of praying in a certain way, mentioning many things which neither edify the congregation nor add to the interest of the occasion. The congregation feels a relief when the "amen" is reached in such prayers. Christ's public prayers were short, and he admonishes us, "After this manner therefore pray ye."

The prayer begins, "Our Father which art in heaven." Many have repeated this prayer many times, and yet had no sense of what they were saying. Oh, how much is embraced in this opening sentence! Do we realize that God is "our Father," that we are his children, hence heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of the Almighty, members of the royal family of the universe? If so, we will come with the confidence and simplicity of a child, and with reverence say, "Hallowed be thy name."

Reverence lies at the foundation of all allegiance to the throne and government of God. One of the alarming features of our times is a lack of reverence. This is so among all classes; the young, the old, the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, are all wanting in this important grace. The house of God, the altar of prayer, in the family or elsewhere, are often treated as common things. The angels veil their faces and bow in holy reverence to God and sacred things, but how different with wayward man!

After the introduction of one into the presence of the Almighty, the petition continues: "Thy kingdom come." Some have supposed that this part of the prayer could not be answered until Christ should come the second time to earth, with all his mighty angels, to gather his people unto himself. Does Christ teach his disciples to daily pray for something that could not be answered for more than eighteen hundred years?—I think not.

The literal kingdom of Christ is not set up in its fullness for more than one thousand years after Christ's second coming, hence, if this petition primarily refers to that event, it cannot be answered for more than a thousand years to come. While the petition may embrace the restoration of the lost dominion of man, through Christ, yet primarily this part of the prayer, the same as the rest of it, is designed to meet man's present needs. Upon this point look at the following scriptures:—

"And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." Matt. 12:27, 28.

If I should not quote another text on this point, it is clear that when Christ by his almighty power casts out a devil or a wicked spirit from a man, then the kingdom is come to that individual, and that prayer is answered. In this we give "thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Col. 1:12, 13.

Again, in Luke 10:10: "But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you; notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." The grace and power from God's throne, able to cast out devils, set the captive free, and regenerate the soul of sinful men, had been rejected; nevertheless, the kingdom of God had come nigh unto them. One more text upon this, and we will conclude this part of the prayer (Rev. 12:10): "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

Now is come salvation. Has it come to you? Now is come strength. Has it come to you? Now is come the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. If so, the accuser of your soul, that has held you in bondage and under condemnation so long, is "cast down" and you are a free child of "our Father which art in heaven," because the prayer has been answered, "Thy kingdom come."

O reader, if you have been putting off to eternity the realization of what this prayer means, no longer delay its answer to your soul by unbelief. By faith let Christ enter the citadel of the soul, and by his power bring salvation from sin and the power of Satan, and then the kingdom is come, and this prayer is answered. We must have the King and the power of the kingdom in us and with us now, to give us a title to the "prepared," glorious kingdom that awaits all the loyal sons and daughters of Adam.

(To be continued.)