Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

pray"prayers"LESSON HELPS FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7, 1954THE FIELD IS THE WORLD, TUB 5EO (S THE WORD Of- GODVOLUME LIII WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1954 NUMBER 16"Th i n e Bet ween V)by Edwin Raymond Anderson"There is a line that is drawn . . . says one ofthe gospel hymns. And there are also drawn lineswhere the Christian life is concerned as well, markof difference and distincing out the definite by waytion. One of these concerns the gap between sayingprayers . . . and praying . . .Happy indeed is that man who has learned thedifference and distinction, and has passed from thepoor first into the rich second, where the Lord wisheshim to be. And manyneed to learn that in this day,for it is a truth which needs to be run deep under thepoint of sharp emphasis. There is a vital need ofgetting back to the basic beginnings in this business.Note how the apostle Paul pointed that up in hisword to the church at Ephesus "praying alwayswith all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Eph.6:18). He did not say, "praying always with allPRAYERS,"but rather, "praying always with allPRAYER."There is a world of spiritual differencein the dropping of that letter S! That letter wouldbetter serve to be carried over to spell the energizingpower of the S-pirit ; the Holy Spirit Who marks thedistinctive difference. Paul was calling the Ephesiansonto genuine PRAYING GROUND, sound and orthodox as they might otherwise have been. Paul wascalling for a work of the Holy Spirit to conduct theminto the reality of this, lest they be found merelygoing through prayer-motions. And what was written to that church in that early day, surely needs tocome down and home to us in these last days; thereis the need of taking a stand on PRAYINGGROUND!Do not think that we are engaging in hairlinetheological quibbling when we thus differentiate between saying prayers and praying. We face the difference between a ritual and a reality, between whatall too often is a dead form, and what is alwaysmeant to be a living fountain of power direct andfresh from heaven. Of course if one really meansbusiness with the Almighty by "sayingthen well and good! . . . just so long as one realizesthe need of a practical laying-hold upon the throneof grace, the getting further and further away fromselfly aspirations and ambitions and accountings,closer and yet closer to His preciousthe drawingbleeding side with the passion of knowing more andyet more of Himself for His own sake (Phil 3:10),so that unto Him be the glory of the increase. If thatbe realized, then everything will be right.But the trouble is that we know so much aboutprayer, that we know next to nothing about praying !We have read all the books, listened to all the sermons, but the reading has not turned to reality,and the hearing has not been honored with the genuine heeding. We know all the facts as a theologicalproposition, but when it comes to the neverthelessafterwards of the doxology of the daily doing in living acts, we are known for our pathetic ignorance.Sooner or later it all shows up in the Christian life,more "sooner" than "later" at unexpected times. Weare weak and worn out and have not the strengthto prevail for the heat of the day, nor the strife ofthe course.It is always a positive step forward when wereach the place of perceiving our spiritual poverty.We need to enter more into the spirit of the disciplesas they came to the Lord with their heart-searchingrequest, "Lord teach us to (Luke 11:1). Theydid not ask Him to teach them HOW to pray ; theywere beyond the stage of being fascinated withmeans and methods, and they were not interested in(Continued on page 249)