MEN ought to pray. The holy angels need not prayer. They have all their wants supplied. Wicked angels need much: but they are in despair; they know that God will not hear them. Men, that is, people on earth, should pray. But let all on earth pray. The aged who never prayed before; the aged who have long served God; the middle-aged, pressed with cares, or flushed with success; the young, so unsuspecting, so excited with passion, so full of bright visions, and so poor in experience; the little child, so helpless, so dependent: these, all these should pray. Yes,
Men ought to pray. Nature teaches the feeble to cry to the strong for aid. All nations have held prayer a duty. Besides, God commands us to pray. He invites us to it. He has promised to hear it, and his word cannot fail. Jesus Christ spent whole nights in prayer. We are weak and poor and sinful and guilty. God is strong and rich, and full of grace and mercy. Let us come to him. Good men have always loved prayer. It is certain that prayer is efficacious. God has said so, and good men know it to be so. They have often gotten their petitions. Therefore,
Men ought always to pray. They should pray in prosperity, lest they be proud and forget God: the day of darkness may come. They should pray in adversity, that they may not murmur nor despond. They should pray in the morning, for every day has its trials. They should pray in the evening, for none can say that he may not die before morning. They should pray at home, for God's blessing is needed in every house. They should pray abroad, for God only can preserve the stranger. Men should pray in health, that they may not live like atheists, and in sickness, that they may be able to say, 'Not my will, but thine be done, O God.' Men should pray always.
But what is prayer? It is calling upon God. It is adoring him for what he is, thanking him for what he has done and promised, confessing our sin and misery before him, supplicating his rich and unmerited blessings, and filling our mouths with arguments drawn from his word. It should be sincere, otherwise we mock God. It must be humble. Praying is the act of the poor; and to be both poor and proud is monstrous. It is better to die crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner," than to die exulting in any false logic. "A proud heart and a lofty mountain are never fruitful." Prayer should be in faith. The stronger the faith, the surer the answer. Faith among the graces, and prayer among the duties, hold a very prominent place. Without faith it is impossible to please God in prayer or in any other duty. Prayer should also be fervent. Languid petitions are but little worth, because they are not the fruit of the Spirit. A prayer that moves not us will not move God. True prayer is accompanied with groanings which cannot be uttered. Prayer should also be importunate. To this end Christ spoke two parables. "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." The word translated, to faint, means to despond, to be timid, to play the coward, to remit attention to duty. Prayer must also be in the name of Christ, with faith that relies on his merits alone, as a reason why we should be heard and answered. If men ought always to pray and not to faint, then,
1. It is very wicked not to pray at all. It is better to have no home than no prayer, to be a praying prisoner than a prayerless king. He who does not love prayer, does not love God. No man is more to be pitied, no man needs more solemn warnings, no man is in greater danger than he who never prays.
2. How foolish are they who pray only occasionally. Some pang of conviction, some sore affliction, some apprehension of evil, may stir up even the hypocrite to this duty; but "will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?"
3. Those who pray always with all prayer, are safe. Nothing shall harm them. They are princes, and have power with God and prevail. Christ himself prayed much and fervently. "In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, he was heard, in that he feared." Pray as he prayed, and overcome as he overcame.—Am. Messenger.