things should be resolved on and then those things be prayed for. A good plan is to take a beatitude, or a virtue, or a gift of the Spirit, and pray for that; or else to pray for grace to overcome a certain sin, or to keep a particular commandment. Thus prayer, becoming definite, necessarily becomes also earnest. а (e) By Persevering is meant that prayer is to be continued through all discouragements, through dryness of soul, and through apparent want of success. "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,' our Lord says; by this repetition expressing the necessity of perseverance. S. Peter toiled all night and took nothing, but, by persevering till dawn he drew a miraculous draught of fishes. See for examples of perseverance, S. Luke vi. 12; xviii. 1-8; S. Matt. xv. 22-28; Eph. vi. 18; Judith iv. 9-13, с 7. Prayers are not always answered immediately, for several reasons. (1) From sin continuing unrepented of. (2) From want of fervour in prayer. (3) From want of perseverance.d (4) From want of faith. (5) From the prayer being badly offered. (6) Because if the prayer were granted it would be for our ill. (7) Because God desires the intercession of others.h (8) Because presumptuous.i e f a S. Matt. vii. 7. Is. i. 15; lix. 2. Jer. xxix. 12, 13. xi. 8. S. James i. 6, 7. S. James iv. 3. 2 Cor. xii. 8. xix. 2; xxii. 14; Rom, xv, 30 S. Matt, xx, 22. 48. Luke h 2 Kings d 8. Prayer should be offered with reverent postures of the body, for prayer is the offering of the whole man, body, soul and spirit to God. "O come let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker."a Solomon kneeled on his knees," Daniel "kneeled on his knees three times a day and prayed, the leper kneeled to Christ, also the father of the lunatic, Simon Peter and the Syrophoenician woman fell down before Him, Jesus Himself set us the example of kneeling, S. Peter kneeled to pray," so did S. Stephen, and also S. Paul, and such was the general Christian custom.k e f THE LORD'S PRAYER. HIS is the very best of all prayers. It was taught the Church by our Lord Jesus Christ.1 Christ. "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou a Ps. xcv. 6. b 1 Kings viii, 54; 2 Chron. vi. 13. 4 S. Mark i. 40. S. Matt. xvii. 14. S. Luke v. 8; $ S. Luke xxii. 41. Acts ix. 40. i Acts vii. 60. Eph. iii. 14. Acts xxi. 5. S. Matt. vi. 9-13; S. 1 c Daniel vi. 10. S. Matt. xv. 25. J Acts xx. 36; Luke xi. 2. liest down, and when thou risest up." a Let this prayer be thy morning mirror in which to contemplate the imperfections of thy soul, thy daily bread to satisfy thee during the day, thy spur to urge thee on to heavenly meditations, thy guiding lanthorn to direct thy feet, thy shield wherewith to ward off the arrows of Satan. The Lord's Prayer is divided into three portions. The Introduction, "Our Father which art in heaven." The Prayer, which is divided into seven petitions; and the Doxology, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and Entroduction.-Our Father, which art E call God Our Father, because we pray, not as separate individuals, but "as members one of another." But we say, "I believe," because profession of faith is an individual We can pray for, and with others, but we can not believe for others. As in a well-ordered family when one brother earns any money, it goes act. a Deut. xi. 18, 19. for the common fund, so when one prays in the Church the whole society profits thereby. We call God our Father, because He is our Father by the right of creation, and also by the right of adoption. This name by which He has: taught us to call on Him, gives us great confidence, for if "ye 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." By Baptism "we have received the: spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." bThis name by which He has taught us to call on. Him should excite in us a consideration of the greatness of our calling; it should also prove a warning to us against degeneracy. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham," said Christ to the Jews, and if we be the sons of God we should walk as children of light, for God is light. с We say Who art in reference to one of the names of God. "God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I-AM; and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." A name Christ claimed as His own, being one with the Father. "d We say in heaven because although God is everywhere He is present specially in the midst of the a S. Luke xi. 13. Rom. viii. 15. 1 S. John iii. 1—3. a Ex. iii. 14. eS. John viii. 58. Angels. "Our conversation is in heaven." a By this prayer beginning with heaven, it bids us leave earth and soar above; "unto thee lift I up mine eyes; O thou that dwellest in the heavens," says David. b Where our treasure is, there also will be our heart. God is our exceeding great reward, our prize and treasure, therefore by these words of the prayer we are also bidden to set our affections on things above.c 1. Hallowed be Thy Name. HE first petition of the Lord's is that the name of God may be sanctified throughout the world, (a) by the extention of the Church, (b) by the santification of the members of the Church. (a) The work of Christ in the world was the declaration of the name of God. "I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world." d "So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israeland the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel." e a Phil. iii. 20. b Ps. cxxiii. 1. c Col. iii. 2. a S. John xvii. 6; |