to me most suited; and to such I would affectionately commend it. May the God of all grace use it as his instrument in leading some anxious spirits into the way of peace, and guiding others along the first steps of their journey heavenward!

July, 1854.

S. G.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

MATTHEW VI. 9.

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven.”

Ir is very plain, that in giving his disciples this exhortation our Lord had a far higher purpose than that of furnishing them with a form of prayer. That it is quite according to his will, that the words should be so used, I do not see how we can reasonably doubt. But that such was the chief purpose of them appears to me a most unreasonable supposition. The words, indeed, were twice spoken. Once as recorded by St. Luke, in answer to a request of the disciples to teach them to pray as John also taught his disciples, on which occasion our Lord prefaced it with "When ye pray, say." And, as no doubt it was the wish of the disciples to have words put into their mouths by Christ himself, we

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may perhaps suppose that He meant to do what they supposed Him doing. And once again, in our text, in which, after reproving various faults in prayer, those especially of display, wordiness, and wearisomeness, He gave a pattern of prayer to show his disciples what prayer might be and should be, and showed this to be his purpose by expressing it thus,-"After this manner, therefore, pray ye."

We may be sure there is much in a prayer so introduced to demand our deepest attention. Its subject, its manner, its arguments must all be full of teaching. And so in fact we find it. Each word in it tells. It is truth compressed into the smallest possible compass. In teaching the disciples to pray, our Lord taught them many other lessons; for we cannot know how to pray aright without the knowledge of many other things, and these many things our Lord has compressed into the compass of this short prayer.

The first point of inquiry is, Who is the Hearer of prayer? The heathen in all times had worshipped gods many and lords many, and when a better thought arose in their hearts, as it sometimes did, and they felt dissatisfied with this unworthy imagination, knowing no better, they worshipped the unknown God. This is a refined kind of heathenism. It is not necessary that a man should live in India or China, to be a heathen of this class. Suppose him when he prays to have no other thought than this, that he is praying to God, he is in the same posi