The Lord would teach us in the words of our Gospel, as He did His disciples then, never to forget prayer in the hour of distress. To encourage them to this He adds the comforting declaration: “And I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God." It is true, Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us, as the apostle Paul says. Therefore we know that His intercession for us, both on the occasion of the last supper and afterwards upon the cross, has been effective and will continue to be so until the end of time. But you need not my intercession in your behalf, says Christ, for you yourselves have access to the Father with your prayers, and ought not to doubt that they are heard, for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved me. Yet from this it does not follow that the intercession of Christ is not of importance and full of comfort unto us, but simply this is meant, that we should have assurance respecting our own prayers because we love Christ. It is God's will, and we ought ever to know and remember it, that they who love Christ and trust in Him are beloved of the Father and will be heard by Him. It is therefore evident that the godless Papists lie when they direct us to trust in the intercession of the saints.

This exhortation and invitation to prayer by the Lord Himself is consolatory beyond measure. Our Lord and Saviour Christ made it possible for us, by His death and departure from this world to the Father, to have free access unto God, whether we be in church or at home, in the cellar or in the

kitchen, in the field or in the workshop; yea, if we are Christians and love Christ, we can under all circumstances of life come with our prayer unto our heavenly Father and pour out our hearts before Him.

All that is necessary for such prayer is for the heart to exclaim: Father in heaven, I know Thou lovest me because I love Thy dear Son, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, wherefore I come with my requests to Thee in confidence and assurance, not indeed because I am good or righteous, but because I know that for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, Thou wilt accept of me and give me all that I need. In His name I now appear before Thee and pray, fully convinced that Thou wilt not consider my unworthiness, but wilt graciously hear my prayer.

It would be a serious mistake for the Christian to refrain from prayer until he could deem himself worthy and fit for it. The devil frequently troubled me with thoughts such as these: I am not now ready to pray; I ought first to attend to this or that and afterwards perform my prayer undisturbed. If we indulge such thoughts which hinder and prevent prayer, we will always find something new in the way, and in the end will be entirely prayerless. The devil with his cunning tricks constantly endeavors to keep us away from prayer.

We must therefore be prepared to meet his opposition in this regard; and when troubles come we should know that now is the proper time for prayer. If we are not worthy to pray, God will make us so. He loves us for Christ's sake, and not on account of our own worthiness or righteousness, for we have none. This we fully believe.

Christ, in the words of our text, would urge us on to prayer, that we might not be like those prayerless, wicked people who, as they declare, eat and drink with much relish, though they have not prayed for a week. If we are Christians, or desire to be such, we must shun such brutish conduct. Let us, at least, pray in the morning when we arise from sleep, at the table, and again in the evening when we go to bed, saying: "Our Father who art in heaven," &c.

It is our duty as Christians to pray without ceasing, if not aloud, which is sometimes impossible, at least in our hearts. It should at all times be the earnest desire of all believing hearts that God's name be hallowed, that His kingdom come and His will be done on earth, also that He may grant peace to the country, favorable weather, health, and the like. Every true Christian wishes for such blessings every day of his life, even if he does not always give expression to his desires. Such prayer is true, earnest and spiritual; we stand constantly in need of it on account of the great dangers which ever surround the Christian on all sides, so that we are never safe from the devil, from our flesh and blood, from sin and shame.

But oral prayer must not be neglected; it ought to accompany these silent utterances of the heart. Christ teaches us here of what kind such prayer should be; He say: "Ye shall ask the Father in my name," and again: "The Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God." Whosoever believeth in Christ is a real priest with all priestly honors and dignity, so that he can assuredly come with his

prayer unto God to ask Him for help in reference to his own want or that of his fellow-men, saying unto Him: Lord I stand in need of this and my brother of that, grant us our prayer and give us what we need, for the sake of Christ, Thy wellbeloved Son.

The times in which we now live are full of distress and well calculated, on account of the daily sorrow which they bring, to teach us the importance of prayer; if we but heeded the lesson and were more instant in prayer, it would be well for us. For indeed the devil, that liar and murderer, is very busy; he endeavors to crush out the Word of God with his falsehoods, and strives to arouse seditions throughout the land, with murder and rapine. The Pope and the Turk, and other tyrants, are all fiercely opposed to the Word, so that we all have enough public calamity to urge us on to prayer, even if our own private sorrow would not do it. Yea, there are causes enough, within us and around us, to convince us of the great necessity of prayer. If we are perplexed amid so great a variety of complaints, sorrows and wants which demand our prayer, let us make good use of the Lord's Prayer with its seven petitions, which include everything for which we ought to pray.

SHORT EXPOSITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER.

In the first petition, "Hallowed be Thy name," we pray for all faithful preachers, but against all heretics and unbelievers, also against the Jews, the heathens, the Turk and the Pope; for these blaspheme and abuse the name of God. We pray God to resist these His enemies, and to grant us pious

preachers, who will proclaim His Word in its purity to the overthrow of all heresy.

In the second petition, "Thy kingdom come," we pray that the kingdom of death and the devil may fall. This is a very comprehensive petition; it deals with the entire domain of Satan, and requests God to make an end to it and to establish in us and others His own kingdom, by means of His Word and the Holy Ghost.

In the third petition, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven," we pray that every will opposed to the good and gracious will of God may be prevented in its execution. The devil and the wicked are wroth against this petition; it prevents much calamity, which they would cause every day of our life, if it were not for this prayer.

In the fourth petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," we pray for those in authority, for our parents, for our family, for the necessary food and the fruits of the field, for peace and all things pertaining to the support of our life, also that God would bless each one in his vocation and protect him mercifully from all harm.

In the fifth petition, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," we pray that God would be merciful to and avert from us His well-merited wrath, that He would not punish us on account of our sins, but bestow on us His grace that we may become better from day to day, do His will, and live peaceably with our fellowmen, ready to forgive one another our trespasses.

In the sixth petition, "Lead us not into temptation," we pray that God would cheer with His consolation all afflicted hearts and rescue them from