The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained/Chapter22
XXII.—Prayer.
All Christians believe in the need of prayer. It is enjoined as a duty and its importance and use are clearly implied in both the Old and New Testament Scriptures. The Psalmist says: "Evening and morning and noon will I pray." "The Lord will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer." " Elisha prayed unto the Lord," and his prayer was answered (2 Kings vi. 71, 18). Moses and Samuel and Hezekiah and Ezra and Jeremiah and Daniel and all the prophets of old, were men of prayer. So were Peter and Paul and Silas and John. And our Savior himself while in the flesh, often prayed, sometimes "continuing all night in prayer to God" (Luke vi. 12). And He told his disciples that "men ought always to pray " (Luke xviii. 1); and that "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matt. xxi. 22). And not only this, but He taught them how to pray, counseling them not to use "vain repetitions, as the heathen do;" nor to be like the hypocrites, who love to pray "standing at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men;" and He gave them a form of prayer which, for simplicity, depth, and comprehensiveness, infinitely surpasses every other prayer that was ever uttered, and will remain as a perfect model for all future ages.
And so all professing Christians agree as to the importance and use of prayer. But what is the use of it, or in what way is the use accomplished? Does it change the disposition or purpose of the all-wise and loving Father, and cause Him to do differently from what He otherwise would have done? So have Christians hitherto believed. But a large and constantly increasing class are coming to reject this theory or philosophy of prayer. They cannot believe that the purpose of the infinitely Wise and Good, is ever changed by the prayers of feeble and erring mortals. They require a different explanation of it to satisfy the demands of their reason. And the New Church has a different explanation to offer.
According to its teaching, the essence of genuine prayer is the heart's sincere desire for such things as the Lord is ever ready and waiting to give. It effects no change of purpose in the Divine Being, but changes the disposition and feelings of the suppliant, bringing him into a higher and holier state. It opens the interior avenues of the soul to a freer influx of the divine wisdom and love, and so makes it appear as if a change had actually been wrought in God himself—as if He felt differently toward the suppliant from what He otherwise would have felt.
When the earth's atmosphere is laden with smoke, the sun appears dim or fiery red; but when the smoke is dissipated and the atmosphere purified, he appears in all his native brightness. A change appears to have taken place in the sun; but this appearance is caused by the change in our own atmosphere. In respect to the earth, it is as if the sun itself had changed. And so the apparent changes in the Divine Being, are all caused by the real changes in our own minds and hearts.
God's gifts are all bestowed on certain conditions; and we cannot receive them without complying with the conditions. You desire an increase of bodily strength: Well, exercise your limbs regularly and within the bounds of moderation, and an increase of strength will be given you. Or you desire a field of corn; but it will not be given unless you prepare the soil, and plant the corn, and weed and tend it according to the requirements of its nature? And if you desire that the corn be converted into bread, you know the Lord will not do this without your intelligent co-operation. You must do your part of the work. You must gather and thresh and grind the corn, and make the meal into bread.
Precisely so is it in regard to God's higher or spiritual gifts. The graces of heaven are never bestowed except on certain conditions. And one of these conditions is, that we recognize them as all belonging to and coming from the Lord, and humbly and earnestly ask for them. They can be given only to those who sincerely desire them; for no others are in a state to receive them. Therefore it is written: "Ask, and it shall be given you."
Sincere and earnest prayer, then, for patience, forbearance, self-denial, uprightness, courage, resignation, contentment, trust, fidelity to duty—for all the heavenly graces which the Lord is ever ready to bestow, and which are the only things proper for rational beings to pray for—is always sure to prevail. Such prayer offered every day, as we take our daily food—every hour, in the secret closet of the heart;—such prayer, when it has become the habit of the soul, and is not the mere babble of the lips, is as sure to be answered as bodily health and vigor are sure to follow obedience to the laws of health.
And the reason is plain; for it is in the nature of true prayer to operate upon the interiors of the suppliant. It is in its nature to open the inner avenues of the soul, through which flow the light and warmth of the upper spheres. The Lord is ever ready to give. All we need to do, is to put ourselves in an attitude to receive. We must, therefore, desire the heavenly life—must long for it, strive for it, pray for it, and—obey the Divine behests.
Pray, then, for light to enable you to discern your evil inclinations, and power to overcome them, and new strength will be given you day by day. When your pathway seems dark, pray that the Lord will shine upon it, and the light of his countenance will guide you. When a wilderness of difficulty is before you, and you know not which way to turn, look to the Lord Jesus Christ in humble faith and earnest prayer, and He will be to you a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When you go to your daily duties, pray that his Spirit may go with you and shield you from the tempter's snare, and keep you diligent and kind and just and faithful, and the coveted blessing will not be withheld. If in your family, your business, or your social relations, you have peculiar trials, pray that the Lord will give you grace to bear them with meekness and patience, and your prayer will certainly be answered. Pray for a blessing on your enemy, if you have one; and the very petition, if sincere and earnest, will soften your heart toward that enemy, and so bring down a blessing on yourself—perhaps on him likewise. Pray for the prosperity of a righteous cause, and your prayer will be answered—in this, if in no other way: It will open your soul to a fresh influx of God's grace, and bind your heart more strongly to that cause. Pray for the poor, the sick, the tempted, the sorrowing, and you will grow more into sympathy with them, and your heart will be imbued with a sweeter, tenderer and broader humanity. Pray for the persecuted, the down-trodden and enslaved, and your prayers, oft-repeated, will open within you the gates of heaven, through which the Lord will pour his grace upon you more abundantly, making you more tender and compassionate like Himself;—making you feel more sensibly the wrongs of others, and nerving you with fresh courage and resolution to do your part toward breaking their bands asunder.
And since thought and affection have extension, prayer for the sinning, the sick and the sorrowing, may sometimes (according to the depth or intensity of the desire, and the condition of the person prayed for) be effectual in removing the malign and infesting spheres, and thereby bringing the individual into new and more orderly relations with the Lord and heaven.
Thus it is that sincere prayer for whatever is just and pure and righteous—prayer that the Lord's kingdom of truth and love may be established and built up—is always answered. For such prayer tends, by an unfailing law, to bind the affections of the petitioner more closely to the things of his kingdom. It is among the divinely appointed means of drawing the soul into closer fellowship with the Lord, and renewing us after his own Divine likeness. And this is the end of all prayer,—as indeed it is of all doctrine, of all faith, of all instruction, of all obedience.
The Highest Kind of Worship.
Formal worship—praying orally on bended knees in the temple or the closet—was the only kind of worship that Christians generally thought of a hundred years ago. But Swedenborg, without in the least discouraging this practice, tells us of another and higher kind—a worship which consists in the conscientious and faithful performance of each one's daily duties, and for which it is the chief end of oral prayer to fit and prepare us. And this higher kind of worship is held by the New Church to be that of all true worshipers—that of which the Bible speaks—that which the Heavenly Father especially approves and loves, and which is said to be in "spirit and in truth;" a worship offered continually, and in all places where the voice of duty is reverently heeded—where sorrow and suffering are patiently borne, where loving service is faithfully rendered, and useful work of whatever kind is honestly done. To cite two or three passages by way of confirmation:
"By the worship of God at this day, is meant principally the worship of the mouth in a temple morning and evening. But the worship of God does not consist essentially in this, but in a life of uses." (A. C. n. 7884.)
"He who thinks that the worship of the Lord consists solely in frequenting the temple, hearing preaching there, and praying, and that this is enough, is much deceived. The real worship of the Lord consists in the performance of uses; and uses consist, during a man's life in the world, in the faithful discharge of every one's duty in his particular vocation; that is, in serving his country, society and his neighbor from the heart, in acting with sincerity in all his relations, and in performing duties prudently according to the nature of each. These uses are in the highest degree the exercises of charity, and those whereby the Lord is principally worshiped. Frequenting the temple, listening to sermons, and saying prayers are also necessary; but without uses, they are of no avail, for they are not of the life, but teach what the quality of the life should be. The angels in heaven have all their happiness from uses and according to uses, insomuch that uses are to them heaven, . . . these being the things according to which happiness is there given, and by which the Lord is principally worshiped." (A. C. 7038.)
"A man, while he lives in the world, should not omit the practice of external worship, for by this internal things are excited; and external things are kept by external worship in a state of sanctity, so that internal things can flow in." (A. C. 1618.) "Yet [the real] worship does not consist in prayers and outward devotion, but in a life of charity. . . . The life of charity is the essential of worship, and posture and prayer its instrumental; or, the primary part of worship is a life of charity, and its secondary is praying. From which it is evident that they who place all divine worship in oral and not in actual piety, err exceedingly. Actual piety is to act in every work and office from sincerity and rectitude, and according to what is just and equitable; and this, because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word." (Ap. Ex. 325.)