1 A. J. Woriledge, Prayer, 1(50.
ST. MATTHEW vi. 9 133
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," is to desire (and surely also to be moved to work for) the reorganizing of man's broken life on the basis of a universal subordination to God, orderly and loyal, because willing, enlightened, and free. Think of the power that lies in a series of intercessions like that to educate the intercessor in the true meaning and inwardness of the history behind him and being made around him ! Think of its stores of impulse to a cosmopolitan outlook, its potent force as a solvent of the parochial spirit ! And then think of the range and depth of the insight of the " Galilsean peasant " who thus per- ceived and read the universal needs of man ! How came He to have those eyes which, like the eyes of God, "are over all the earth " ?
Tj In each petition we ask to be blessed with God Himself. In each petition we therefore see the Trinity, while one Person of the Trinity is more prominently brought forward. The name is the Son revealing the Father ; the kingdom is the Father beheld and loved in the Son ; the will renewed is the Holy Ghost ful- filling in us what the Father ordains and Christ mediates. In these three petitions there is no sequence — they are co-equal, co-ordinate — hence there is no conjunction.1
(2) The remaining four petitions of the prayer are no less marvellous as a transcript of the cry of the world-wide heart of man. " Give us this day our daily bread " — give us, for we can neither manufacture nor for very long so much as store the raw material of life's nourishment. " Forgive us our debts " — forgive, for we can neither pay for, expiate, nor endure unexpiated, the irreparable past. "Lead us not into temptation" — for life is beset with risk as well as opportunity. "Deliver us from evil" — for that is the deep-set root of all woes. Is it not the unani- mous voice of mankind that sighs through these petitions ? Has there ever been so perfect, so adequate an articulation of the murmur of the hungering world-soul ? Is prayer for more than this prayer includes essential ? Would prayer for less be less than vicious ? Men vary in their power of calling up from the subconscious region the thoughts and sympathies that wander to the farthest frontiers of personality and seem to travel even beyond; but this is more than telepathy in excelsis: it is a
1 Adolph Saphir, Tfie Lord's Prayer, 58,
i34 THE LORD'S PRAYER
knowledge of universal man gathering itself in such a way within the compass of a single mind that the inference is irresistible that this Man's consciousness was more than "individual," and that these things He had learned in some residence in God antedating His residence on earth. The vast sweep of the Lord's Prayer, and its astounding grasp of what is deepest in the necessities of the world in every age, go far to make credible even the saying attri- buted to Christ in the Fourth Gospel, " Before Abraham was, I am.
^[ Of symbolical numbers in Scripture, there are none whose meaning is so certain and obvious as the numbers three, four, and seven. Three is the number of God, as in the threefold blessing which the high priest pronounced, the threefold "holy" in the song of the seraphim, and in various passages. The mystery, most clearly expressed in the institution of baptism and throughout the Epistles, is contained in germ in all the manifestations of God unto His people. The number four is evidently the number of the world, of the manifold mundane relationship of creation in its fulness and variety. This symbolism finds its expression in nature — the four directions in space, the four corners of the earth, the four winds, from which all the elect shall be gathered. It is to be noticed in the Tabernacle, the measures, curtains, colours, and ingredients, where it denotes regularity and completeness. With this correspond the facts that we have a fourfold account of the life of Christ, and that the creaturely life and perfection is represented by the four living Beings. Seven is the number symbolizing God manifesting Himself in the world. From the very first chapter of Genesis to the closing Book of the inspired record, this number is invested with a special dignity and solemnity. The seventh day is not merely the day of rest, but the day on which are completed and perfected the works of God. Seven is the number of clean animals which Noah was com- manded to bring into the Ark. Seven branches had the golden candlestick in the holy place of the Tabernacle ; seven days lasted the great festivals in Israel ; on seven pillars was built the House of Wisdom ; walking amid seven golden candlesticks Jesus is represented in the Apocalypse ; seven spirits are before the throne ; seven words the Saviour uttered from the cross ; seven petitions He gives to His people.1
1 Adolph Sajihir, The Lord's Prayer, 59.
ST. MATTHEW vi. 9 135
The Father.
"Our Father which art in heaven."
"After this manner therefore pray ye." This then is the right way of praying. Our Lord here in the Sermon on the Mount is telling men how to do the three eminent duties — " When thou doest alms," " When ye fast," " When ye pray." About each of the three He has the same thing to say — Do not advertise it ; but when He speaks of prayer He goes further, for it is by far the most difficult of the three ; He goes on to tell us the right method. " After this manner therefore pray ye." The Lord's Prayer is given, not to tie us down to that particular form of words (though, indeed, there are none so good), but to show us how to pray. "After this manner." This is the right way.