| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 11 |
Page 7 |
It is very comforting, however, as we go on, to find that there is a place in the Master’s model of prayer for the commonest wants of daily life; that we may ask our Father even for the bread which our body needs. Only we should never forget to keep self and all personal wants and troubles in their true place, far secondary to our longing and asking for the things of God. Only that prayer is effectual in the largest measure which puts the honour of God and the interests of God and His cause above all else in its desire. Self creeps into our praying so easily and so insidiously that we need always to be on our guard lest we dishonour God. If we do, our prayer cannot avail.
Another condition of effectual prayer suggested in our Lord’s model form is the spirit of forgiveness. “Forgive us as we forgive.” Then so important did Jesus regard this petition that He returned to it again, saying: “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” It is very clear that forgiveness is one of the essentials in the prayer which God will hear and answer. Supplications breathed out of a bitter, resentful heart do not find their way to heaven.
Indeed the whole of the Lord’s Prayer is a strong protest against selfishness. We are not to go to God with our own wants only. All the petitions require us to unite others with ourselves We must come to god as “Our Father,” and when we ask for daily bread we must think of all who are hungry; and when we plead for the forgiveness of our sins we must ask forgiveness for others as well. Selfishness at the throne of grace vitiates the most eloquent pleading. Love is a condition of effectual prayer.
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