Árdís - 01.01.1954, Page 61

Árdís - 01.01.1954, Page 61
Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna 59 at Valley Forge for the new-born Republic when its death in the cradle seemed inevitable. Abraham Lincoln spent three hours in his bedchamber with God when the forces from the North and South met at Gettysburg. Woodrow Wilson and his Cabinet had a prayer meeting in the Capitol at Washington when the war clouds were gathering in 1917. Martin Luther spent the whole night in prayer before meeting the Diet of Worms. That gave him the indomitable courage which enabled him to say in the presence of enemies: “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise, so help me God. Amen.” He was not alone—God was with him and that sufficed. Every great life and every great movement has been born of prayer. Let us now proceed to our second question. “What should be the substance of our prayers?” When I ask that question, I am thinking of our whole prayer life, not of our prayers individually considered. The first and the most important element of prayer is thanksgiving, praise, adoration and worship. These attune our souls to the Infinite God and prepare us for divine guidance as well as for our own utterances at the Throne of Heavenly Grace. Thanks- giving is paramount; but it is probably the most neglected element of our devotional life. A story tells us about two angels who left the portals of Heaven and came to earth, to gather up the prayers of men. The one was the angel of petitions, the other the angel of thanksgiving. The latter returned with his basket almost empty, while the basket of the former was more than overflowing. Selfish- ness is always regrettable; but it is nowhere so dangerous as in our prayer life. A pastor once told his congregation that they should never ask God for new blessings until they had given a receipt for the old ones. We say “Thank you” to our friends for even the slight- est favours. Should we feel less grateful to our Heavenly Father? The second element of prayer should be the confesstion of our sins. It is of vital importance that we confess our sins with our whole heart and soul. We all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Confession of sins was wholly absent in the prayers and discourses of our Blessed Lord, because He was absolutely sinless. He is the ONE and ONLY FAULTLESS character of the ages. He is the one exception. All of us have need of saying with the publican of old: “Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner.” The third element should be intercession. Oh, how beautiful it is to bring our near and dear ones, our friends and acquaintances,
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