5.-The Twofold Aspect of Prayer

"Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141 :2).

We have in our previous chapter looked at prayer in connection with our personal needs. We regarded it as an out-pouring of the heart before God in our trials, burdens and wants. This it surely is, but it is also more than this. Let us therefore consider it now in the aspect of homage and intercession.

In the passage which heads this chapter, the Psalmist very beautifully compares prayer to the incense and sacrifice which were daily offered under the old dispensation as types of what it is now our privilege to offer to God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" Let my prayer be set before Thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." And let us connect this with that other scripture of exultant praise, "Unto Him that loveth us and hath washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever." Every Christian therefore is a consecrated priest "to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ " (i Peter i:5).

If any ask what are the sacrifices here spoken of ? They are, first, our bodies presented as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God "-that is, as His intelligent servants (Rom. 12:i). Then our prayers (including under this general term, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, no less than petitions for ourselves) are to ascend as the fragrant incense-cloud, which arose to God from the golden altar in connection with the evening and morning sacrifice upon the brazen altar :the altar representing the Person of Christ-"the Altar which sanctifieth the gift."

The view of prayer thus sketched out is very distinct from that which has our personal needs in view; and the importance of it should be manifest to every one; for prayer is to be not only serviceable to man, but honoring to God. As you kneel down before God, therefore, think of yourself not simply as a suppliant for help as to your personal needs, but as a priest to offer thanksgiving and praise to God the Giver of all good-our Saviour-God and benefactor. With this there is to be intercession "for all men, for those that are in authority-that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty"-for the spread of the gospel through the earth, for the saints in their temptations, and our fellow-men in the various trials through which they pass.

Prayer, like faith, is a perfectly simple thing; but, practically, how constantly hindered is this "coming to God"-what obstacles are thrown in its way! Our adversary, the devil, is well aware of the power of real prayer; all his devices therefore are employed to hinder it. So long as it is a mere routine, a lifeless exercise with no sanctifying power in it, he is quite content, and has no concern as to it; but if it be real communion with God that we seek, then his efforts in one shape or another will be put forth to hinder it. And, besides this, the carnal mind, the flesh, is in us, hindering, diverting and distracting the soul in its desires for communion with God-and by what very trifles it often does it! The experience of true saints will bear witness to this.
There is, too, a needed state or condition of soul in this coming to God, which is pointed out by our Lord in Matt. 5:23, 24; 6:15, and Jas. 5:16. Therefore we are exhorted to " be sober and watch unto prayer" (i Pet. 4:7); to "pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints" (Eph. 6 :18).

There is a tendency, and this of frequent occurrence, to desist from prayer when the comfort and satisfaction desired by it is not forthwith realized. Such unjustifiable demeanor is traceable, in part at least, to misconception. It is forgetting, or failing to see, that prayer is an act of homage to God, as well as an expression of our needs. Prayer is so often regarded simply as a means to obtain inward peace, comfort of mind, or deliverance from trial, that we become utilitarians as to prayer, and are ready to leave off praying when need is unfelt, or sensible benefit is not realized. If it were regarded as homage to the Divine Majesty, as well as a means of access to our Provider and Friend, the leaving off of prayer would then appear as a dereliction of duty. Has not prayer often an aspect of peevish indulgence, in which God is merely appealed to for help, but robbed of His due of praise?

Let the Christian, therefore, persevere in presenting himself before God with his tribute of praise, spite of all hindrances-come they from within or without. It was a quaint but excellent saying of an aged saint, that "a Christian should deal with distractions in prayer as a man would with dogs that run out to bark at him-Go on straight forward, and take no notice of them." This quiet, resolute perseverance is surely most acceptable to God; and be sure of this that, as we persevere in prayer, it will not be long before the treasury of God's bounties will open to us as to the Syro-Phoenician woman who, having taken the lowest place, the Master admiringly turned to her, saying, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt."

But with how many, even earnest Christians, has the character of homage in prayer, which has reference to God's glory rather than to man's wants, seemed to have dropped out of sight. Robbed of this character, prayer soon becomes entirely selfish, being narrowed to our own necessities. How desirable therefore to redeem it from this purely selfish aspect, that it may have a wider scope and grander bearing. But keeping in mind what has been said as to its priestly character will help to this desirable end.

First, then, as to intercession, acquire the habit of interceding for others. Consider their wants, trials, difficulties, and bear them in priestly service as you bear your own before the Throne of Grace. The very form of what we call "the Lord's prayer" should teach us this more emphatically than many sermons. Notice how it is constantly "our" and "us." After the first petition with regard to God's honor and glory, it is "give us," "forgive us," deliver us "-it is prayer as members of a family whose wants, sins, temptations, are upon the petitioner's heart ; it forms the style, and is the burden of prayer as taught by the Lord.

Secondly, let praise, not only thanksgiving, but praise, be found in our prayers. We thank God for what He is to us, for the benefits He confers upon us, and the blessings with which He visits us. But we praise Him for what He is in Himself-for His glorious excellences and perfections, independently of their bearing on the welfare of the creature. In praise, thoughts of self vanish from the mind; therefore, to delight in praise, counteracts the natural tendency to selfishness which is found in mere prayer.
Remember that, as a priest, thou art called to render praise to God. Merely as a man, thou art made in God's image, possessing an immortal spirit by which thou art related to God-His offspring! Thou art also connected with the lower creatures, in virtue of having soulish sensations and appetites, and with matter also by virtue of thy material body. Thus, in thy songs of praise to God, all Creation in a manner sings in and with thee. And it shall often happen that, if thy heart is numb and torpid, when thou recount to thyself these endowments and mercies of thy God, it shall begin to thaw, and at last burst like the breath of Spring from its icy prison, with the warmth and genial outflow of praise. The deadness and distractions thou deplorest shall melt away, and thy harp be strung to celebrate the Divine perfections Consider that the angels above are offering unceasing praise. Nature, in her every sphere-from the heavens above which declare the glory of God, down to the dewdrop sparkling with the colors of the rainbow; and as the lark tuning her cheerful song salutes the rising sun, the whole creation sends up a chorus of praise to the throne of God. And thou, redeemed by the Lord who shed His own blood, poured out unto death for thee, hast thou not double praise to mingle with the heavens and the earth in celebrating the wonders of God's power, love and grace-over-abounding to thee ? The sense of it shall kindle life in thee; and prayer shall become, not a wrestling, but a solace, bringing light, joy and peace. E. M. G.