man asked a gift from a brother, we should ask from God. This is the kind of prayer that Christ teaches us to address to God; and the Son who is in the bosom of the Father will rightly declare the Father's mind. Rev, WILLIAM ARNOT, The Parables of our Lord, p. 360. ... Lessons of Delay in Answers to Prayer. O God often seems as this unjust judge,1 with an ear deaf to the prayers of His people. For even the elect are impatient in affliction; they expect a speedier deliverance than He always wills to vouchsafe them; and count that they have a claim to be delivered as soon as ever their voices are heard on high. Left long, as they count length, to the will of their enemies, in the furnace of affliction, they are tempted to hard thoughts of God, as though He took part with the oppressors, at any rate was contented to endure them, while the cry of His afflicted people was as nothing in His ears. They are ready to exclaim- they do exclaim-with the storm-tossed disciples, "Carest Thou not that we perish?" It is this very temptation, to which the faithful in hours such as these are exposed, that the parable is intended to meet. . . . He may be slack in avenging His people “as men count slackness" (Rev. vi. 10; Psa. xxxv. 17; lxxiv. 10; xciv. 3), as compared with their impatience; but indeed "He will avenge them speedily," not leaving them a moment longer in the fire of affliction than is needful, delivering them from it the instant that patience has had her perfect work; so that there is, and is meant to be, an apparent contradiction, which yet is no real one between verses 7 and 8.2 The relief, which to man's impatience tarries long, indeed arrives speedily. It could not, according to the far-seeing and loving counsels of God, have arrived a moment earlier. Not while Lazarus is merely sick, not till he has been four days dead, does Jesus obey the summons of the sisters whom He loved so well (John xi. 6). The disciples, labouring in vain against a stormy sea, must have often looked to that mountain where they had left their Lord; but not till the last watch, not till they have toiled through a weary night, does He bring the aid so long desired (Matt. xiv. 24, 25). ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, Notes on the Parables of our Lord, p. 489. IV. Christ and Prayer; His Example. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come, He was there alone. Matthew xiv. 23. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed.—Luke v. 16. And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles.—Luke vi. 12, 13. And... He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered. Luke ix. 28, 29. And He came out, and went, as He was wont, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when He rose up from prayer, and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.—Luke xxii. 39–46. My dear Redeemer and my Lord, Such was Thy truth, and such Thy zeal Cold mountains and the midnight air Be Thou my pattern; make me bear ISAAC WATTS, 1709. CHRIST AND PRAYER: HIS EXAMPLE. Changes in Life regulated by Prayer. Christ's Example.-It is interesting to notice how, before several of the great changes in our Saviour's life, and before what appear to us the most important steps taken in it, He is especially mentioned as having been engaged in prayer. Is there not a gracious design in our being told that it was whilst He was praying that the Holy Ghost descended upon Him? that the night before He chose His apostles was spent by Him in prayer? that it was as He prayed that He was transfigured? that it was immediately after prayer that He raised Lazarus from the dead? that He was in an agony as He prayed before His betrayal and crucifixion? and that His last words on the cross were words of prayer? . . . . .... How blessed a thing it is to be able to make God our Counsellor . . . . in making those changes which evidently affect all our future life. How, indeed, can any who believe that their Heavenly Father hears and answers prayer, make choice in their occupation in life, form marriage connexions, take a partner in business, remove their place of residence from one town or neighbourhood to another, allow themselves to be placed in any influential position in the world, or take any other very important step in life, without very earnest prayer for Divine guidance on the occasion? Many of these changes result from very trifling circumstances, so that, almost imperceptibly to ourselves, we are sometimes impelled towards a course of action over which we feel we have little or no control; therefore the importance of frequent prayer in regard to what appears our trifling concerns. Often, however, it is quite otherwise; often there is abundant time for calm and prayerful consideration; and he who neglects this does it in spite of our Saviour's example. JOSEPH S. SEWELL, Lectures on Prayer, p. 38. Christ satisfies His human craving for Sympathy by Prayer.--Prayer would go forth from Jesus under the influence of a men. craving for sympathy and congenial fellowship. Prayer is refreshing as well as strengthening... Now there is no restorative for the weary so effectual as sympathy. How eagerly must the soul of Jesus have longed for it, yet how little of it could He find on earth! Even His chosen disciples did not understand Him, and could not sympathise with Him... He could not speak of His approaching death, without setting Peter on a strain that drew the reproof, "Get thee behind me, Satan." The memorable scene of the Transfiguration derives its interest, in a large measure, from the fact that of all who were His companions on earth there was not one with whom He could speak "touching the death He was to accomplish at Jerusalem." If He wanted sympathy, then, He could not get it from living There was no human heart on earth into which He might pour His own. And whatever He might derive from Moses and Elias, that was but a transient gleam-the momentary glow of an angel's visit. But in prayer, in fellowship with the Father, He found, rich and full, the delightful balm for the worn and weary. No man knew the Son, but the Father; neither knew any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son should reveal Him. It was impossible that the Father could be indifferent to anything that concerned Him. Well would the Father love to hear the voice of the Son carrying on alone in a bleak world the mightiest and most glorious enterprise in His name, as He told Him of His anxieties, His sorrows, and His difficulties. Sweet would be the sense of sympathy to the harassed soul of Jesus; it would send Him on His way rejoicing; it would shield Him from Elijah's feeling when he fled to the wilderness; it would fit Him for again encountering the scowling Pharisee and the bitter railing of the Sadducee; and it would nerve Him at last for that heroic resolution when, in the full knowledge of the bloody horrors that awaited Him, He set His face stedfastly to go up to Jerusalem. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D., Glimpses of the Inner Life of our Lord, p. 238-240. Christ's Example and Precept concerning Prayer.-In prayer, as in every other department of His ministry, the Lord Jesus gave His disciples both example and precept: He prayed in their presence, and taught them to pray. The order of events at the beginning of this chapter1 is worthy of notice; it was the Lord's ' Luke xi. |