pray against. Let it teach us the relative place and proportion which we should give to each subject in our prayers. The more we ponder and examine the Lord's Prayer, the more instructive and suggestive shall we find it to be. NOTES. LUKE XI. 1-4. 1.-[As He was praying.] We see in this place another instance of our Lord's diligence in private prayer. In this respect He has left a pattern which all Christians ought to copy. [Teach us to pray.] Quesnel calls attention to the benefit which this man's request has obtained for the whole Church of Christ :-"One single person, moved and edified by the good example of our Lord praying, conceives a love for prayer, desires to know how to pray, is sensible that of himself he is not capable of doing it, addresses himself to Christ, obtains from Him this divine pattern, procures this treasure for the rest of the disciples, and for the whole Church, and becomes the occasion of the infinite good which the prayer has produced, and will produce to the end of the world." 2.-[When ye pray, say.] Let it be carefully noted that the Lord's Prayer was twice delivered by our Lord, upon two distinct occasions. This accounts for the slight variations in its form, which appear on comparison. Mede remarks, "As Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dream is doubled unto Pharaoh, because the thing is established, so the delivery of this prayer was doubled, that we may know the more certainly that our Saviour intended and commanded it for a set form of prayer to His Church." [Our Father.] Chrysostom and Augustine both remark, that to address God as "Father," is peculiar to the New Testament dispensation, and that the Old Testament saints never use the expression. The remark is undoubtedly true, but requires fencing with cautions.—We must be careful not to suppose that the Old Testament saints were destitute of the Holy Ghost, as some say, and were not born again. Their light was undoubtedly far less than ours. The way into the holiest was not made manifest. The precise manner in which God would be just and yet justify the ungodly, was not clearly understood by them. They could not therefore look up to God with that boldness and freedom which the Christian believer can, as to a reconciled Father. But to say that God was in no sense the Father of Old Testament believers would be going much too far. He is the Father of all who are saved by Christ, and without Christ no man was ever saved. The expression "Our" in the beginning of the Lord's prayer, should not be overlooked. It teaches believers that in all their prayers they should think of others as well as themselves. They should remember all the members of Christ's mystical body as their brethren and sisters in the Lord. [Thy name.] To see the full meaning of this expression, we should note the many places in which it is used in the Psalms. Such, for instance, as these, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren." Psalm xxii. 21.-"They that know thy name will trust in thee." Psalm ix. 22.-"I will wait on thy name." Psalm lii. 9. Unto thy name give the glory." Psalm cxv. 1.-" The righteous shall give thanks to thy name." Psalm cxl. 13.-In all these cases, and many more, the idea is evidently that of "God's revealed character and attributes." [Thy kingdom.] The plainest and simplest sense of this word is the promised kingdom which God is one day to take to Himself over all the world, foretold by Daniel and the other prophets, when Satan shall cease to be "prince of this world," and the millennium shall begin. [Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth.] To see the full beauty of this prayer, we should read the description of angels, in Psalm ciii. 20, 21. Heaven is the only place now where God's will is done perfectly, constantly, unhesitatingly, cheerfully, immediately, and without asking any questions. 3.-[Give us day by day our daily bread.] The English translation of the Greek words in this verse admits of some question. The literal sense appears to be, "Give us for the day, or day by day, the bread which is sufficient for our subsistence." The Greek word which we have rendered "daily," is only found in this place, and in Matt. vi. 11. Some think that the words should be translated, " our super substantial bread," understanding by it, the bread in the Lord's Supper. This is a most unlikely and improbable sense. Even Stella, the Spanish Commentator, remarks that the Eucharist is not bread for every day. Some think that the words should be rendered, “Give us day by day our to-morrow's bread-a future bread." This seems a very harsh and awkward sense. The true meaning appears to be that which has been already given, "the bread which is convenient, or sufficient, for our daily subsistence." This is the interpretation maintained by Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Suidas, and ably defended by Parkhurst 4.-[Forgive us our sins.] Let this expression be carefully noted. It provides an answer to those who say that the believer ought never to ask for pardon of sins. One text like this is worth a hundred arguments. The Lord Jesus bids us do it, and therefore it ought to be done. The justification of every believer no doubt is a finished and perfect work, and one admitting of no degrees, no increase and no diminution. The moment a man believes on Christ, he is as much justified as St. Paul or St. John, and cannot be more justified if he lives to the age of Methuselah. But all this is no reason why he should not daily confess his sins, and daily seek fresh application of Christ's blood to his conscience. In fact, it is the life of faith to do so. The words of our Lord, in another place, are very teaching: "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet." (John xiii. 10.) [Indebted to us.] Whitby and Hammond both remark that this expression has a sense much stronger than it appears, at first sight, to bear. Hammond says, that in the Syriac language, which our Lord very probably spoke, a sinner is called " debtor." a Let it not be forgotten that every unforgiving and implacable man, who uses the Lord's Prayer, is practically praying that his own sin may not be forgiven at all. He is professing a lie. [Lead us.] The Greek word rendered "lead" is only used seven times in the New Testament. Excepting in the Lord's Prayer, our translators have always rendered it "bring into." Luke v. 18, 19; Acts xvii. xx; 1 Tim. vi. 7; Heb. xiii. 11. [From evil.] The words so translated might have been rendered, with equal correctness, "the evil one," that is, "the devil." They are so rendered in Matt. xiii. 19, and xiii. 38, and 1 John ii. 13, 14, and 1 John iii. 12, and v. 18. I cannot leave the subject of the Lord's Prayer, without remarking that those who profess to believe in an "unanimous consent of the Fathers" in the interpretation of Scripture, would do well to observe the exceedingly various senses which the Fathers attach to the several clauses of the Lord's Prayer. No man can investigate this point without discovering that the Fathers are no more agreed among themselves as to the meaning of Scripture, than Gill and A. Clarke, or Thomas Scott and Mant. A summary of various interpretations of the Lord's Prayer by the fathers will be found in Cumming's Lectures for the Times. (Edit. 1845. p. 174.) LUKE XI. 5—13. 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall | find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? IN these verses our Lord Jesus Christ instructs us about prayer. The subject is one which can never be too very root of our practical Christianity. Prayer lies at the It is part of the daily business of our religious life. We have reason to thank God, that upon no point has our Lord Jesus Christ spoken so fully and frequently as upon prayer. We learn for one thing, from these verses, the importance of perseverance in prayer. This lesson is conveyed to us in the simple parable, commonly called the "Friend at Midnight." We are there reminded what man can obtain from man by dint of importunity. Selfish and indolent as we naturally are, we are capable of being roused to exertion by continued asking. The man who would not give three loaves at midnight for friendship's sake, at length gave them to save himself the trouble of being further entreated. The application of the parable is clear and plain. If importunity succeeds so well between man and man, how much more may we expect it to obtain mercies when used in prayer to God. up The lesson is one which we shall do well to remember. It is far more easy to begin a habit of prayer than to keep it up. Myriads of professing Christians are regularly taught to pray when they are young, and then gradually leave off the practice as they grow up. Thousands take a habit of praying for a little season, after some special mercy or special affliction, and then little by little become cold about it, and at last lay it aside. The secret thought comes stealing over men's minds, that "it is no use to pray." They see no visible benefit from it. They persuade themselves that they get on just as well without prayer. Laziness and unbelief prevail over their hearts, and at last they altogether "restrain prayer before God." (Job xv. 4.) Let us resist this feeling, whenever we feel it rising within us. Let us resolve by God's grace, that however poor and feeble our prayers may seem to be, we will pray on. It is not for nothing that the Bible tells us so frequently, to "watch unto prayer," to "pray without ceasing," to "continue in prayer," to "pray always and not to faint," to be "instant in prayer." These expressions all look one way. They are all meant to remind us of a danger and to quicken us to a duty. The time and way in which our prayers shall be answered are matters which we must leave entirely to God. But that every petition which we offer in faith shall certainly be answered, we need not doubt. Let us lay our matters before God again and again, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. The answer |