Reverence and adoration were frequently declared in prayer by the Master and were beautifully expressed in the Sermon on the Mount when he gave this counsel: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” ( Matt.
He, more than any other in this world’s history, was willing to humble himself, to bow down, and to give honor and glory to the Most High. Furthermore, he acknowledged that the work and the will he came to fulfill was his Father’s, not his own. He prayed constantly and sought faithfully the divine direction of his Father in heaven. Jesus looked up throughout the course of his ministry. We must continually look up and acknowledge God as the giver of every good thing and the source of our salvation. Perhaps what this world needs, as much as anything, is to “look up” as the Psalmist said-to look up in our joys as well as our afflictions, in our abundance as well as in our need. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” ( Ps. “Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation,” the Psalmist sang. If there is any element in human life on which we have a record of miraculous success and inestimable worth to the human soul, it is prayerful, reverential, devout communication with our Heavenly Father. We should remember the Most High day and night-always-not only at times when all other assistance has failed and we desperately need help. If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, then it is utterly selfish, and we come to think of God as a repairman or a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. If we let them, they will humble us, soften us, and turn us to respectful prayer. Perilous moments, great responsibility, deep anxiety, overwhelming grief-these challenges that shake us out of old complacencies and established routines will bring to the surface our native impulses. And yet, skeptical “modern” men have need for prayer. Our modern times seem to suggest that prayerful devotion and reverence for holiness is unreasonable or undesirable, or both. There is now before us a danger that many may pray skim milk and live that not at all. William Drysdale, New York: Appleton, 1887, p. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk.” ( Proverbs From Plymouth Pulpit, ed.
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