eally are,--spirits who came from God, who are doing a certain work
for God here, and are to return to God. The moment of prayer is a
great moment, for then it is that "deep calleth to deep", and spirit
calleth to the Father and Source of all spirits. And so it comes to
pass that in the moment of prayer it is not merely that this man or
woman, called by this name or that here on earth,--a workman, a
business man, a housekeeper,--but an eternal spirit of God is calling
upon the Author of all Spirits. Such is prayer. "Prayer is that act
by which man, conscious alike of his weakness and his immortality, puts
himself into real and effective communication with the Eternal, the
Self-Existent and the Uplifted God."[1]

WHY SHOULD WE PRAY.

In trying to answer the question, "What is prayer?" we have, in part,
answered this question also, but it is so important that it must have a
section to itself.

In the first place, we should pray in order to make acknowledgment of
the glory and the power of God. It is because of what God is Himself
that we have need to fall down before Him in adoration and praise. We
are inclined to think too much of our own needs in relation to prayer.
Indeed when we mention the word prayer, we begin at once to think of
our needs, of what we want, and of what other people want. These are
important, but these are not first; and until we understand that they
take the second place in prayer, and do not constitute its chief
argument, we cannot realize the real reason for Christian Prayer. The
real, the first reason for prayer from the Christian point of view is
to glorify God,--to praise Him for what He is, and to fall down before
the greatness of His power. We have a model prayer which teaches us
about this. Among many other things it teaches us the chief reasons
for prayer. It comes to us full of answers to our question, Why should
we pray? "When ye pray, say, Our Father, Which art in Heaven, Hallowed
be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in
heaven." This surely means that God must be first in our prayers.[2]
We are half way through the Lord's Prayer, we are more than half way
through, before we begin to talk about our needs. Our Lord Jesus
Christ has taught us that in prayer we are to think first of such
things as the Father, Heaven, His Name, His Kingdom and His Will,
before we say anything of the bread and our other needs. Yes, surely
the great reason for p