that dreads the winnowing process of tribulation; the cry of a soul that fears lest the fiery trials that confront him should prove too much for his strength. Complete exemption from trial is not sought, but merely escape from trials that might be greater than one was able to bear.

But when the trial has to be met, when faith has to be severely tested, our prayer must be, "Deliver us from evil." Emancipate us from evil, in whatever form it may come; break its power, that our souls may escape from its cruel grasp, “like a bird from the snare of the fowler."

6. It Emphasizes the Social Element in Prayer. It is not an individualistic but a social prayer, and as such appeals profoundly to the newly awakened social consciousness of to-day.

Frederick Harrison maintains that all prayer is a form of selfishness. It is not so. True prayer cleanses the heart from the veriest taint of selfish desire. It leads us to think of others; it forbids us to seek our own interests as against the interests of others. "Meum and tuum," says Luther, “are not Christian words." When we pray Christianly we not only remember our fellow suppliants but we seek to voice the unspoken desire of all those who do not pray for themselves. Hence, as Chrysostom has said, we are taught "to make our prayer common, on behalf of our brethren also. For he saith, not, 'My Father which art in heaven,' but, 'Our Father,' offering up his supplication for the body

in common, and nowhere looking to his own, but everywhere to his neighbor's good."

"The sky is the roof of but one family." Men are related to one another because related to the one Father. Sons of God are brothers one of another. There is no true brotherhood of man that is not founded upon the Fatherhood of God.

If God is the universal Father, men are bound together in fraternal bonds. They are members of a common household, which has common wants, common interests, and common ends. They ought, therefore, to live as brethren, each one seeking the family welfare as he seeks his own.

That brotherhood may be actualized Jesus has taught us to pray this prayer. We are not to go into the throne-room alone, but are to kneel by the side of every praying soul, letting the little rill of our prayer flow into the mighty stream of petition which is ascending to the eternal throne; we are to make common cause with all our brethren, making their varied needs the burden of our prayer; nor are we to pray merely for special advantages and favors for those within the circle. of our personal friendship, but are to pray for all alike. When a Christian asks God to supply his own needs he is to ask him to supply the needs of all his brethren also. He is to pray, "Our Father who art in heaven, give us our needful bread." The whole human family, of which he is part, is to be embraced in his benevolent desire. So in his prayer for spiritual blessings he is to ask, "Forgive

us our debts." As we are all involved in a common guilt, may we be objects of a common mercy! "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Let not the sifting process be too severe with any one of us; temper the wind to the shorn lamb; and when the hour of conflict comes, deliver our fluttered, defenseless souls from the power of the enemy.

Thus, far from being self-centered and selfish, this model prayer awakens world-wide sympathies, and binds men together as members of God's great human family. Instead of isolating it unites; instead of wrapping men up in themselves it draws them out of themselves to seek for others what the Father of all is seeking. It can be truly offered only by those who have been taught of Christ, and have imbibed his spirit. "Every Christian," says Luther, "offers an everlasting Lord's prayer." And since to his praying his life will be keyed, the praying of the model prayer will lead to the living of the model life.

CHAPTER II

THE SPIRIT IN WHICH WE ARE TO PRAY

As Jesus in his ethical teaching puts the emphasis upon the principle or spirit of moral action rather than upon the overt act, so in prayer he puts the emphasis upon the inner spirit rather than upon the outward form. He shows that the spirit, and not outward form, is the essential thing; that the form is only the shell which preserves the life within. One lesson-namely, that supplied by the model prayer

-was sufficient to deal with the matter and manner of prayer; in his subsequent teaching he deals almost exclusively with the spirit of prayer. His instruction on this point is very searching. It brings to light the hidden things of the heart, and shows what is to be avoided, as well as what is to be done.

1. He Teaches That We Are to Pray with Sincerity.

"When ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward" (Matt. 6. 5). These religious play-actors, whose example Jesus tells us to

shun, sought to attract the attention of others while performing their devotions. As they stood up in the synagogue or at the street corners they kept glancing around from under the tallith, or prayercloth, that covered their heads. Instead of thinking of God alone, and speaking to him alone, they thought only of man, and addressed a human audience. Their devotion was a pitiful masquerade. They were not what they seemed to be. They had no sense of God's presence, no conscious outgoing of the heart toward him. In the place of selfeffacement there was parade and ostentation; in the place of simplicity there was duplicity; in the place of childlikeness of spirit there was pride. Their praying was something which they expected to have laid to their credit. Looking to man's applause as their reward, they missed the reward of heaven. Their praying was everything that it ought not to have been. Hence the warning, "Be ye not like unto them."

2. With Thoughtfulness.

"In praying use not vain repetitions as the Gentiles do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matt. 6. 7). Wendt renders these words, "When ye pray, do not babble as the heathen do." Luther's word is "blatter." It is not repetition that is here condemned, but empty, meaningless repetition, like that of the worshipers of Baal, who called upon his name from morning even until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us." Earnest