Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/630

 The  necessity  of  prayer.  The  words: ask! seek! knock! convey a command. We must, therefore,  pray,  because  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ has commanded  us  to  do  so.

If you  will  examine  what  are  the  qualities  of prayer,  you  will  find  that  you  have  very  seldom  prayed  well. Your prayers  rarely  come  from  your  heart,  being  mostly  lip-service. In order  to  pray  with  devotion  you  ought  to  meditate  on  the words which  your  lips  utter. St. Elizabeth  often  took  a whole hour to  say  one  Our  Father,  weighing  each  single  word  in  her heart. As she  pronounced  the  word  “Father”,  she  meditated  on the  goodness  of  God,  and  excited  in  her  heart  feelings  of  love towards Him. The word  “our”  made  her  remember  that  all  men are the  children  of  God,  and  ought  to  love  one  another. The word “heaven”  awakened  in  her  heart  a longing  desire  for  everlasting happiness,  and  she  resolved  to  win  heaven  at  any  price. And so  she  went  on  to  the  end. You too  might,  sometimes,  meditate in  this  sort  of  way  on  the  words  of  the  Our  Father,  which are so  rich  in  meaning;  and  remember  that  07ie  Our  Father  said with devotion  is  worth  twenty  said  carelessly.

ESUS spoke  also  the  following  parable  in  order  that  He might  show  forth  the  difference  between  true  and  false  prayer: “Two men  went  up  into  the  Temple  to  pray,  the  one  a Pharisee,  and  the  other  a publican. The Pharisee,  standing , prayed thus  with  himself :  ‘O  God,  I give  Thee  thanks  that  I am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  as also  is  this  publican. I fast twice  in  the  week:  I give  tithes