Incentives to Prayer. If we were to attempt a definition of prayer, we would point out that it is the expression of the needs of the creature dependent upon the goodness and power of the almighty Creator. This presupposes a relationship to God beyond the fact that He is Creator; for it means that He is in some measure known, not only in His power, but in His goodness and willingness to bless. And this brings us to the great and wondrous fact of Redemption through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is here we have the foundation of what is really Christian prayer. Until the soul has trusted in Christ as his Saviour, his prayers are either the effort to bring something of merit to God, or the fickle cries of unbelief. "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6). On the other hand, who would stop the first and feeblest cries of faith which turns to Christ? The very fact that the soul thus cries to the Lord is the mark of the dawning light. But we speak here of that which marks the entire relationship of the saved soul throughout his entire earthly life. He is dependent, needy, helpless, and therefore he must pray.
Our Dependence. In whatever way we look at it, our life is one of dependence. In ourselves we are and have nothing. Salvation is the eternal link of the soul with Christ. He is our all. Were the impossible to occur, and the soul be severed from Him, all would be lost forever. It is "because I live ye shall live also." Thus we gratefully accept our dependence, in the completest way. Would we have it otherwise?
Our Need. And who can overestimate our need? It reaches to every department of our being; in the spiritual and the earthly; in the individual life, and the corporate; in the family and in the world; in our circumstances and our testimony; in our communion and in our service-wherever we turn we are confronted by the fact that we are a needy people.
Our Helplessness. This too is a necessary part of what we have been saying. We have no strength or help in ourselves. Instinctively when we feel our need, we seek to better our condition through some effort of our own. Like Jacob, we make our plans, and seek to use our strength, only to find ourselves wrestling with a Power which can wither all the strength of nature-for our blessing and good. Painful, ofttimes slow, but blessed is the lesson which teaches us our helplessness.
The Call to Prayer. These then are some of the considerations which should stir our souls to the constant need and the blessed privilege of prayer. And from the side of our blessed God and Father, and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, what encouragements we have. The throne of grace is open to our constant access; the Priest is ever there to present our feeblest cry; the Holy Spirit within us maketh intercession with groanings which we cannot utter; the Father is graciously bending to hear our faintest whisper. Surely if there is straitness, it is not in God but in ourselves.
Promises and Commands. Let us recall a few of these:"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7); "Men ought always to pray and not to faint" (Lk. 18:1). "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13); "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17); "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). Surely with these and many other "exceeding great and precious promises," we cannot hesitate to cast ourselves afresh upon a love that never fails.
The Example of our Lord Jesus. If ever one was exempt from the need of prayer it was our blessed Lord. Perfectly sinless and holy, living in constant communion with the Father, we see Him ever in the spirit and attitude of prayer. Into the "higher mysteries" of His holy Being as one with the Father, we do not enter here-may we ever be worshipers-but as we see "the Man Christ Jesus," as set forth in all the Gospels, and especially in Luke, the Gospel of the perfect Manhood, we find prayer to have been His constant habit. Coming out from the seclusion of His private life, He presents Himself for baptism (the only One who had no sins of His own to confess), and as He was "praying," the Holy Spirit as a dove came upon Him (Lk. 3:21, 22). God puts His seal upon Him in the life of perfect dependence to which He was at that moment giving expression in prayer. He withdrew from the activities of public service in healing, and "departed into a desert place" (Lk. 4:42), which we are told in another Gospel was marked by prayer (Mk. 1:35). Again, Lk. 5:16, we see Him thus engaged. Later on, when He was about to choose the twelve apostles, He spent the whole night in prayer to God (Lk. 6:12). We may well believe the choice of those who were to be with Him, one the traitor, would be part, at least, of the subject of that whole night's prayer. The glory of the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:18,28) is preceded and ushered in with prayer. His example (Lk. 11:1, etc.) stirs the disciples also to prayer. In the supreme hour of Gethsemane (Lk. 22:39, 41, etc.) He pours out His soul in "strong crying and tears." Shall we not in spirit share, in our feeble measure, His holy vigil of grief? Upon the cross, He intercedes for His persecutors (Lk. 23:34). And when all is accomplished, He breathes out His holy soul in one last prayer-"Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit" (Lk. 23:46).
Lord, teach us to pray. S. R.