Waiapu Church Gazette May 1st, 1945. THE POWER OF PRAYER.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 36, Issue 2, 1 May 1945, Page 5

Waiapu Church Gazette May Ist, 1945. THE POWER OF PRAYER.

In England' a weighty appeal was made by the ''Church Times" for the observance of the? 60 days days between Easter and, Whitsunday -as a. period of special prayer for the grace 61 the Holy Spirit. ,It is therefore appropriate at this time to offer some reflections onHthe duty, of prayer; for, although all Christians, would agree that it lays upon them an obligation that they are bound to ; fulfil, it is to be feared that a great deal of the energy which is put into the practice of prayer is dissipated through the lack of a clear understanding of its' nature' and it's end. : Like every other creature, man is made by God and for God. The existence of all finite, beings" is grounded m God's -■.•will and framed m the design of God's purpose. But only m man and the t angels can this essential dependence on God become articulate : m that conscious and joyful, offering of self to God which is the very heart and substance of prayer. In man; therefore, the material world' finds its voice and acclaims its Maker. A'li things glorify' God by. existing, for their very existence witnesses to the power of Him who has made them and the infinite splendour which each m its partial and splin-, tered way reflects. But man can glorify God m a higher mode than this by the offering of- rational service. Prayer; then, does not exist for the sake of action. Rather it, is true that r action exists for the sake of prayer. The whole justification of man's concern with temporal affairs is that by their, proper conduct he may be enabled . to offer a fitting homage and service to God. But it is also true-tjiat action of the most intense. lgi^|^e^n issue from the life of .pray||||§S||ii. great contemplatives number^^|if^|[|e|r ranks some of the most y^i^6its||ahd even tempestuous figures ; has seen. $t,

Paul, St. : Bernard/ SiT. Francis of Assissi and St. Teresa are. far re r moved from the popular idea of the contemplative as an enervated or disillusioned creature perpetually mooning round the cloister : It is precisely because the modern world has riot ';based' its action bri prayer that its ; activities are. largely undirected, mutually conflicting ,and. self-frustrating, The common assumption is that so long as a man can find some sort of work to do, no matter what it may be, he is entitled to receive the necessities of* life, but that the man who is without work is looked on. as a needless encumbrance of the economic order. . This fallacy is the direct outcome of the repudiation of the truth that, ' however 'ira-. pbrtant work may be, it is .neither the beginning nor the end of men's existence, but . must, ■ m the ..true ordering of things, proceed from and find its issue^in the Contemplation of the Creator, „, ....,• •.-..■ . < r - ; The.. true pattern of , all ..human work is to be found m the creative activity of God Himself,- who,-exist-ing m His own perfection from all eternity, poured forth His goodness by calling into being a world of finite Teative's; and rested from His work on the seventh day, having seen that all that He had made was good. God's own, activity thus proceeds from contemplation to comtemplation; how. much "more . then the activity of man, who possesses nothing of himself, but derives all that he. has from the God who. has made him. ■..''..■. .■; ■ . ...... , To pray, then, is man's N very essence as a finite being; Nevertheless, Christian prayer -is of a vastly higher order 'than the prayer which belongs . to man simply as. man. For God. has Himself become man m the historical figure of Jesus Christ, who, having died and risen again, is man for all eternity, and now m heaven offers tp. the Father the perfect

human prayer.;; Into His glorified' ;h^na|ityoy^ry;; ; ;|Clir||tr^^i|' ii^r-; p6ra^be<yi)^^ his incorporation; everything that is Chrises is communicated to him. ■ I^gwithjhe $$ostie, vhe^can;; say, "I live, yet it is ijpt £that live, but Christ livetfrf m me,?' hi^an also say, "I pray, yet it is not I that pray, but Christ prayeth .m '.me." Christian prayer is the prayer pf Chr^prayed by Christ m his members; or, looking at it .from thie. other end, it is the prayer of Christ. Christian prayer is no more arr" act of individuals m separation:, than is V the Christian liturgy; it' is, the act ; of : )he .whole mystical Body, Head and members, m indissoluble union. It is the act of the Whole Christ;. Human prayer is the articulation of the nature of man;. Christian prayer is the articulation of the nature of the: Christian. The traditipriai direction of prayer to Qc>d the Father through . Jesus Christ who reigns with Him m the jahity of the Spirit is • not a- mere .formality; it expresses, the. very nature of Christian prayer. „: , ;- ; •" ' .;' ' - ;. & ' v . ■.••".;.'.. . Ad Patrem, per Christum, m. Spirtu, is the ; pattern .of Christian living. It is the , pattern : of the life into which the Christian was caught up m his baptism.^. ; It Jis the pattern of the prayer m ' which . that . life speaks to Him by whom it was con-, ferred and to whom it looks., as. its end and its beatitude.