is in himself; secondly, in
"thanksgiving,"--in which we express our sense of gratitude for all His
kindness and care, and do homage to Him for the benefits which He has
bestowed; thirdly, in "confession,"--in which we express our sense of
sin in having transgressed His law, and do homage to Him as our moral
Governor and Judge; and, fourthly, in "petition,"--in which we express
our sense of dependence alike on His providence and grace, and do homage
to Him as the "Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and
perfect gift." Of these, the _three first_ are so evidently reasonable
and becoming, so necessarily involved in the simplest idea which we can
form of our relations to God and of the obligations which result from
them, that few, if any, of those who admit the existence and providence
of the Supreme Being, will deny that the sentiments themselves are
appropriate to our condition, however they may doubt the necessity or
the duty of giving formal utterance to them in the language of religious
worship. But in regard to the _fourth_, which, if it be not the most
sublime or elevated, is yet the most urgent motive to the exercise of
devotion, many difficulties have been raised and many objections urged,
which do not apply, at least in the same measure, to the other parts of
Prayer, and which, in so far as they prevail with reflecting minds,
would soon lead to the practical neglect of _all_ religious worship. The
practice of offering up "petitions" either for ourselves or others, with
the view of thereby obtaining any benefit, whether of a temporal or
spiritual kind, has been denounced, and even ridiculed, as an
unphilosophical attempt to alter the established course of Nature, or
the preordained sequences of events. The supposition of its "efficacy"
has been represented as a flagrant instance of superstitious ignorance,
worthy only of the dark ages, and even as a presumptuous blasphemy,
derogatory to the unchangeable character of the Supreme. Some have held,
indeed, that while prayer can have no real efficacy either in averting
evil or procuring good, it may nevertheless be both legitimate and
useful, by reason of the wholesome _reflex influence_ which it is fitted
to exert on the mind of the worshipper; and they have recommended the
continuance of the practice on this ground, as if men, once convinced of
its utter inefficacy, _would_ or _could_ continue, with any fervency, to
offer up their requests to God, merely