The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord's Prayer BY BERTHA ECCLES WRIGHT, OF THE WEBER STAKE, UTAH

The belief in the universal Fatherhood of God has been called the world-wide creed. If this be so, prayer is the world- wide form of worship. For there never has been found a race or tribe that did not believe in some god, or did not, in some way, pray. The heathens pray, bowing to gods of wood and stone. The children of the desert worshiped the sun and the stars, and unto them offered prayers. The children of the faithful have ever been marked by their belief and power in prayer. This was true from the time when Abel stood by the first offering and, con- fessing his sins, besought divine mercy from the long years of ;

Enoch's and Noah's lives, made blessed by their prayerful habit from the ancient days of the Pa- triarch Abraham who builded an altar unto Jehovah, in each new home and from the deep, heart- ;

felt prayers of Moses for the children of Israel. The great periods of the peo- ple of God have ever been times of prayerful devotion, and eras of prayerful men. Then why should we not have a model prayer? A pattern, so to speak? MRS. BERTHA ECCLES WRIGHT And who best fitted to give that prayer but Christ, our example in all things good and grand ? So, many years ago, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples this prayer

"Our Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen."

*This oration took first place in the grand finals of the Senior speaking contest, M. I. A. conference, June, 1915.

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Where could we find a prayer more beautiful, yet so plain and simple, and so complete? A prayer of so few words, yet covering all the needs of men? One that made its influence felt long ago on Judea's hills, and passed right on down through

the years and centuries of trials and tribulations, of joys and of happiness ? Take the words, "Our Father." Not, "your father," nor "my father," but "Our Father." Unselfishness expressed in the very beginning. Then, Father: something so tangible, so close to our every-day life. A word that brings us more in kinship with God Almighty, and makes us feel we are his children. He is our Father.

"Which art in heaven" distinguishes between our earthly father and the Father of our spirits. "Hallowed be thy name." A phrase that reveres, honors and glorifies God. We all think, or should think, much of the name given us by our mortal fathers, and we try to honor it, and live to be a credit to it. And yet how few of us realize the importance of glorifying the name of our God. the Giver of all, and living a life of credit to him. How many take the name of our Ford in vain, using it lightly and often times in such a way that it would cause us to burn with anger, were it so used of our earthly father. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." Will it not be glorious to have our earth as heaven ? Or as we believe it to be, his kingdom here, and all done as he wills it? No vice, no hatred, nor contention; but peace, joy and happiness, and that divine love for all humanity that Christ alone displayed. "Give us this day our daily bread." Here we have other beautiful truths. One, that we may go to the Father for more than spiritual blessings. Go to him for all that is necessary for our temporal welfare. And here, again, it is not for me alone or for you, but for all. Neither is it for one to have his wants supplied through the sufferings of others. Next we have, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Here we ask for pardon for forgiveness for our trans- ;

gressions and imperfections. But only in the degree that we for- give. Do we ever stop to consider how little we forgive? And that our forgiveness from the Father need be no more, for Christ said, "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Then, "Lead [or leave] ns not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Man has ever had temptations; even Christ, the Son of God, had his. And so in his sfreat understanding,', he

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asked that we might be given the wisdom and courage to face it and overcome it. Last, the beautiful words of praise, adoration and acknowl- edgment "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, :

forever. Amen." Is this not a prayer to be remembered ? Do you wonder that it has lived these many, many years, and that its wondrous influence has been the guide and strength to so many lives? Lives such as Luther, the poor miner's boy who sang in Germany's olden streets for money with which to buy his books, which later brought the countless blessings of the Reformation. He drew from this prayer his life's best strength. John Knox, reared amidst Scotland's heather, so learned the blessings of this prayer, that even his sentence to the galley ships could not cause him to. give it up. Scotland's lads and lassies learned its power and sweetness from his lips, and so Scotland became free. Gustavus Adolphus made it a companion of his daily thoughts upon the battle-field, as he waged the war for Norway's and Sweden's freedom. And our own Washington and Lincoln drew comfort from it, in America's darkest hours. Many are they that received power from this prayer, this our Savior's prayer. Good then, good now, good forever, for

"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, The Christian's native air; His watchword at the gates of death; He enters heaven with prayer."