RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 21518, 16 September 1933, Page 3

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.] 1 Lord, make us pure; enrich our life With heavenly love ter evermore; Give us Thy strength to taco the strife, And serve Thee better than before. TRAINING IN PRAYER. At a discussion on the best means of maintaining and deepening the prayer life of the church we were greatly impressed by the diversity of views expressed and the common concern lest the habit of tree prayer should die with the passing generation. It was admitted that young folk to-day, speaking broadly, shun the prayer meeting, and that in many churches the regular prayer meeting has disappeared. Numerous reasons were advanced for this. Some thought that tho modern scientific type of thought made prayer difficult; some that ” free ” prayer was the gift of the few and should be exercised by them on behalf ot the many who cannot easily express themselves in public. Others thought the pace ot life made the traditional prayer meeting too difficult to maintain; while others traced the present poverty ot free prayer to a failure to provide the occasions for prayer in the mid-week groups, in teachers’ meetings, at the close of the evening worship, etc., and in the decline of such opportunities for brief prayer as are offered in the Christian Endeavour and similar societies. But however explained it was generally agreed that free prayer as exercised by the saints of former days was a mighty gift to the church and ot untold value as a spiritual force. Can it be recovered!’ The opener of the debate was not very sanguine. Ho thought the mind of youth in this matter had to be consulted, and some modification of our own ideas accepted. His own suggestions were the general use of three forms of prayer in public worship —liturgical, silent, and free prayer. Books of prayers with responses, he thought, were helpful to many. Even directed prayer combined with silence could be made an aid to devotion. And he advocated more frequent celebrations of the Lord’s Supper, without an address, especially in the early morning hours on special occasions. Instead ot a regular prayer meeting at a fixed time. bo proposed giving fifteen minutes to prayer, say, once a month, at all the group meetings held—choir, teachers, mothers, clubs, etc. All these suggestions have their value but they do not seem to us to get at the root of our difficulties. It is not much use organising the devotional lire until there is a devotional life to organise. Whv do people pray when they really pray? Is not prayer the natural upwelhng Godwards of a heart lull ol love to Him? Maybe there is a wrong idea of prayer in the minds ot sonic. They regard it as simple petition-ask-ing for things, or seeking to deflect the Divine will to their own ends. That view, of course, empties prayei of hai its meaning, and creates all kinds ot difficulties. We need clearer teaching upon the nature of true prayer, and upon the duty ot praise and the need ° E One of S the speakers made a reference which led ns to the deeper roots ot o n nroblem. Pie wondered whether the decay of family worship had not someth! nf to do with the decay ot hce prayer in the church. Our own conviction is that there is a close connection between the two facts. May not tins be the real explanation of that deling of unreality which kills P raj J el ‘:- there is poverty ot prayer in the family it is not surprising that it s j ho ’ l . l( | tend to the larger family of thei churc, 1. Bui where God is honoured and con fessed in the daily life of the homo it it the most natural thing in the world for Him to be honoured and confessed £ the church. Carlyle, m a famous passage, recalls the impression made upon his own boyish mind by the sight of his parents engaged in pi ay ci. Anci it would be impossible tor any person to regard prayer as f a r ” iy , l |“S and unreal performance it they naa rrrown up alongside its daily' oxpressioii . In some wav however hard it may be in modern life to do it. prayer must be given its rightful place in the borne, and then we shall more easily secure its exercise in public fellowship. We would not make a fetish of its form or frequency. What we want is truth and reality and the simple expression of natural feeling. Length and ornateness and sterotyped forms are not central. A form of words may help some: it may become a snare ter others. Silence is a means of grace to one mind; to another it is a mere oppression. Sentence prayers especially phrased in the words of Holy Scripture, may often free the heart and prove a training ground in the habit of expression. For we are convinced that in this matter it is the first step that costs. If we can get our young folks, in their own meetings, and perhaps when the older folk arc absent, to let the love in their hearts find natural expression upon their lips, wc shall remove many barriers and start numbers on the path of free prayei. We must wisely train and encourage in nraver, and then our young people will not need liturgical aid nor the shield of silence. On the contrary, their hearts, burning ’ with love, will overflow in natural and even lovely speech. For while in one sense prayer is a supernatural .gift, in its deope.-st sense it is instinctive and entirely natural —the spontaneous conversation of a child with a loving Father. It is this form of prayer our Lord desires. for He said; “ When wc pray say our Father.” WORSHIP IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. It has been noticed that hoys and girls will attend the public worship of the church, and maintain the best possible behaviour, but during opening and closing worship of the Sundayschool there is often a lamentable absence, of order or decorum, with little or no indication of reverence. It has been suggested that it would greatly help if that part of the school session which precedes and follows the teaching of tho lesson should no longer be termed “ opening exercises, but should be known as “ the period of worship,” having it clearly understood that young and old shall behave in tho same way as if they were seated in the pews of the church at the Sunday morning service. A_ great .advance has been made in this direction, ami most schools now recognise tho value of the worship period. However, some still cling to the “ opening exercises ” with little thought and little reverence. If the idea of worship could be universally _ carried out it would eliminate indiscriminate conversa-

tioii, the shuffling of chairs, and other disturbances, doing away absolutely with the noisy bell that has often been so overworked. What has been accomplished in the “ junior church ” in many places in securing order and attention should be an encouragement to Sunday School officers and teachers to aim at the same results:. This part of the service should be carefully prepared in advance, time and thought being given to every detail. To have the opening of the school delayed while the superintendent is looking up the hymns to bo sung is simply intolerable. The best hymns should bo sung, and these as far as possible ought to help in impressing the lesson of tho hour. For instance, if there has been a lesson on right-doing, what could be more appropriate then to close the session with Dr Norman MacLeod’s impressive hymn. ‘ Trust in God, and Do the Right.’? The prayers should bo expressed in simple language that the young folks can understand, and should not bo lengthy. If possible tho departments should meet separately, with worship suited to each grade. in this way it is possible to train our children in worship and reverence from their earliest childhood right on through youth to manhood.