CHAPTER XVII.

CONCERNING THE DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE

1. PRAYER.

IT has been shown that, constituted as we are, the manifestations made of the character and attributes of God in the Scriptures, are adapted to produce the greatest good in the human spirit; and, in order that that good may be effected, it is necessary that the truths of the Scripture be brought intc contact with the soul that it may be impressed and influenced by them. The truths and manifestations of revelation are the elements of moral power, which, apprehended by faith, are effective in purifying the fountain of life in the soul, and in rectifying and regulating its exercises; it follows, therefore, that the requirement to bring those truths before the mind in a particular manner, would be a duty necessarily connected with the revelation of the doctrines, as directions for taking the medicine are connected with the prescription of a physician into whose hands a patient has submitted himself. Now, prayer, or worship, is one method by which the truths and manifestations of revelation are directly brought before the contemplation of the soul. Prayer brings the mind to the immediate contemplation of God's character, and holds it there, till by comparison and aspiration the believer's soul is properly impressed, and his wants properly felt.

The more subtle physical processes and affinities become, the better are the analogies which they furnish of processes in the spiritual world. The influence of believing prayer has a good analogy in the recently discovered Daguerreotype. By means of this process, the features of natural objects are thrown upon a sensitive sheet through a lens, and leave their impression upon that sheet. So when the character of God is, by means of prayer, brought to bear upon the mind of the believerthat mind being rendered sensitive by the Holy Spirit-it impresses there the Divine image. In this manner the image of Christ is formed in the soul, the existence of which the Scriptures represent as inspiring the believer with the hope of glory.

In the introductory chapter it was shown that the impulse which leads men to worship proves a curse to the soul, where the objects worshipped are unholy, and that the only remedy for the evil was the revelation of a holy object for the supreme homage of the human soul. So soon as a righteous and benevolent God is presented before the mind, then prayer becomes a blessing instead of a curse to the soul. Look at the subject in the form of a syllogism— Man, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the moral character of the object that he worships:

The God of the Bible, as manifest in Christ Jesus, is the only perfectly righteous and perfectly benevolent being ever worshipped by man:

Therefore, man can become righteous and benevolent in no other way but by that worship which will assimilate him to the God of the Bible.

And further, as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and benevolence produce the rectitude and the happiness-the greatest good-of the

soul, man can gain the great end of his being only by that worship which assimilates his nature to the moral image of God.

It follows, therefore, that prayer is a necessary and most important means of grace—a duty growing out of the nature of the case, and a duty upon which depends, in a great measure, the well-being of the human spirit. The apostle understood the philosophy of this subject when he said-" But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Therefore it is that the commandment that men should pray is presented in the Bible in every variety of language; and it is constantly repeated by the inspired writers and by the Son of God himself, who commended, by his precepts and example, private, social, and public prayer; and who taught by a parable that "men ought always to pray and not to faint."

The importance of strong desire and importunity in prayer.

It is impossible to produce grateful feelings by granting a benefit for which the recipient has no desire. If a child asked for bread when it was not hungry, and if, while the child had no feeling of want, its unfelt request was answered by its father, it could neither appreciate the gift, nor be grateful for it. The soul is so constituted, as has been fully shown, that it must really feel the need of the benefit, before it can appreciate its importance, or be grateful for the favour received. So it is in the case of the suppliant in prayer: if he has an anxious desire, a spirit of importunate solicitude, for the blessing which he asks, when he receives it,

gratitude and praise will, as the consequence of gratified desire, spring up in the heart. Now, mark, if there was not a feeling of importunate desire in the mind of the suppliant, God could not be glorified, nor the creature benefited, by an answer to prayer. God could not be glorified, because his goodness would not be felt and acknowledged in the answer. And the creature could not be benefited, because it is the feeling of gratitude and praise in his own heart which constitutes the spiritual blessing, so far forth as the suppliant himself is concerned; and this exercise is never produced, only so far as it is preceded by dependent and anxious desire for the blessing sought. When the supplication is for spiritual blessing upon another individual, two minds are blessed by the answer, the individual prayed for, and the individual who prays. And if a thousand individuals desired spiritual mercies for that soul, God would be glorified by a thousand hearts, and a thousand hearts would be reciprocally blessed by the answer. The time may come, when all the angels in heaven, and all the saints upon earth, will be blessed by mercy bestowed upon a single individual; when the last unregenerated sinner stands in solitary and awful rebellion upon the earth, should tidings be circulated through earth and heaven that he had submitted himself to God, and that his affections began to take hold on Christ, every being in the universe, who had strongly desired the conversion of the last sinner, would feel the thrill of "glory to God and good-will to men," arise in his soul. It follows, therefore, that a fervent, importunate state of mind, is, from the nature of the case, necessary,, in order that God may be glorified, and man blessed, by the duty of prayer. It was in view of these constitutional

principles that Jesus constantly taught the necessity of desire and importunity, in order that mercies might be received in answer to the supplication of saints.*

The importance of faith and a spirit of dependence upon God, as concomitants of acceptable prayer.

The necessity of faith, as a primary element in all acceptable religious exercises, has already been noticed. A feeling of entire dependence upon God for spiritual mercies is the only right feeling, because it is the only true feeling. As a matter of fact, the soul is entirely dependent upon God for spiritual mercies; truth, therefore, requires that our dependence should be acknowledged and felt.

But, further, without faith in God as the immediate bestower of mercies in answer to prayer, he could not be honoured for blessings received. Suppose two individuals desired with equally strong feelings the same blessing, and that both received it; each would rejoice alike in its reception: but suppose there was this difference in their state of mind, one regarded the blessing as coming immediately from God in answer to prayer, the other did not. The result would be, that the one who had faith in God would be filled with love to his Maker for the mercy-the other would rejoice in himself; or, at least, he would not rejoice in God. In the one case, God would be honoured and praised for his acts of grace; in the other he would neither be honoured nor loved for his goodness. We do not present this illustration as applicable in all its bearings, because we do not suppose that

Matt. v. 6; Luke xi. 5-10, and xviii. 1—14.