that is from the heart is welcome in heaven.

But

unquestionably He silences here the silly tradition that nothing can be prayer but that which is extemporaneous and sudden. Neither with regard to prayers nor to sermons does the question lie between written. and unwritten, but between formal and spiritual." Archbishop Leighton says of forms: "We are not to be bound to their continual use in private or in public; nor is there anything in the word of God, or any solid reason drawn from the word, to condemn their use." A learned and devout Principal of a Nonconformist College (Dr. Reynolds) says: "God does not listen to our words at all, but to our spirits. There is nothing in a form, when rightly used, inconsistent with the spirituality which is the indispensable condition of acceptable prayer. Sympathy with the blessed dead, communion with those who have passed within the veil, and holy fellowship with all who claim this rich inheritance of the Church, is possible in the use of hallowed, time-honoured forms of praise and prayer; but the refusal to any man of the right to pour out his heart to God in words, fresh-coined there by his own personal sense of infinite need, seems like deliberately quenching the Holy Spirit, and resisting His mightiest operation in the heart of man." The author of the Pilgrim's Progress says, "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart."

Each method has its advantages, and therefore neither should exclude the other. To make human

forms binding on the Church which Christ has left free; or to bind the Church not to use forms which He has not forbidden, is equally a restriction of Christian liberty. Forms may degenerate into formalism; and the absolute forbiddal of forms may deprive the Church of much help from the piety and wisdom of past ages, and of the special advantages furnished by concerted prayer, as well as concerted praise. Why should not the Church avail itself of all the help both methods may afford, and rejoice that "all things are ours"? But in vain do we pray, whether in words of our own, or in forms composed by the holiest men and sanctioned by centuries of worship, or in these very words taught by Christ Himself, unless the heart ascends to God. Alas! how often we have to confess

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
Words, without thoughts, never to heaven go."

-SHAKESPEARE.

Another question arises. Our Lord gave us, as a model, a prayer characterized by brevity. Did He mean that no prayer should be longer? His own example is opposed to such an idea. We read of His continuing "all night in prayer to God." In the garden He was long in prayer, "saying the same words." After His ascension the disciples "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." St. Paul exhorts Christians to "pray without ceasing," and to "continue instant in prayer." The Scribes were condemned, not for long prayers, but because they made them "for a pretence." The Lord censured mere verbal

utterances in place of heart-desires; prayer to be noticed by man instead of to be accepted by God.

It is a bad sign when the prayers made before men are longer than those heard only by God." Every prayer, however few the words, is long if it comes not from the heart; no prayer is long which is the soul's true expression.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

This title might more accurately be given to the prayer of intercession recorded by St. John; our Lord's own desires to His Father. In it there is no mention of sin to be forgiven. This is the disciples' prayer. But as it was solemnly given on two occasions by their Lord, as suitable for sinful and frail men, the Church, from early times, has loved to designate it as specially His own.

Its Authorship.-Some critics have said, that as the several petitions may be found in Jewish writings, the prayer is not original, and therefore not "the Lord's." Tholuck says that the agreement which has been asserted between this prayer and prayers of the Rabbis is wholly null. Our Lord expressly said that He had come, not to destroy the older revelation, but to fulfil; not to ignore any portion of truth already known, but to supplement it. Accordingly, His teaching abounded with allusions to the Old Testament. He often quoted its words as expressive of His own feelings. He died with them on His lips. It would indeed be strange

if the petitions in a form solemnly given as being specially in accordance with the Divine will, had no parallel whatever in the thoughts and devotions of the Old Testament Church. Thus, although the character of God as Father was not prominent, yet it was known. "Doubtless Thou art our Father;" "If then I be a Father, where is mine honour? saith the Lord of hosts." The hallowing of the Name was commanded through Moses: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;" illustrated by David: "From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised ; and guaranteed by Jehovah: "I will sanctify my great name." The kingdom was portrayed and prayed for by David, and predicted by Daniel. The doing the will of God was the subject of frequent petitions : "Teach me to do Thy will;" " Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies." Agur prayed : Agur prayed: "Feed me with food Forgiveness was assured by "The Lord God, merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity;" and for it the Israelites were encouraged to pray, "Let the wicked return unto the Lord, and He will abundantly pardon." To be delivered from temptation and saved from evil was the burden of many of David's prayers: "Oh, let me not wander from Thy commandments. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. Let not any iniquity have dominion over me." And this was answered by the Divine promise: "The Lord will preserve thee from all evil. He will preserve thy soul."

convenient for me."

There was no need, therefore, for our Lord to search the writings of Jewish Rabbis in order to compile this formulary. Its truths were already revealed by His own Spirit through the prophets. What He did was to gather into a focus the scattered rays; to bring out into clearer light what had been indistinctly seen; to give prominence to what had been in the background; to arrange in progressive order what had hitherto existed in disjointed fragments. It is this combination, this concentration of so much into a space so small, this taking up of gems which had lain about amid the general stores of the Church, and setting them all together in this circlet of purest gold; it is not only what is included but what is omitted; it is not the separate petitions, invaluable as they are, but their combination in a prayer unrivalled not only for its substance, but for "the full brevity, the deep plainness, the comely simplicity of expression (Barrow);—it is all this which constitutes its superiority to all mere human utterances of devotion. "The Lord's Prayer, for a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great points, for suitableness to every condition, for sufficiency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of its petitions, is without an equal or a rival" (Paley): these features entitle it to be called "The Lord's Prayer."

The General Scope.-As the Ten Commandments are a summary of our duties, so the Lord's Prayer is a summary of what ought to be our desires. The