The references to praise in the Apostolic Fathers bring out the same underlying ideas. We find in Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Cor. i. 61 : ' O Thou, who alone art able to do these things, and things far more exceeding good than these for us, we praise Thee through the High Priest and Guardian of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom be the glory and the majesty unto Thee both now and for all genera- tions and for ever and ever. Amen.'
The ancient homily known as 2 Clement exhorts to give God ' eternal graise not from our lips only but from our heart ' (li. 9).
The Epistle of Barnabas (7) bids 'the children of gladness understand that the good Lord mani-
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fested all things to us beforehand, that we niifjht know to whom we oujjht in all things to render thanksgiving and praise.' The author of the Odes of Siilomon (Ode 6) compares a soul at praise to a harp, as both I'hilo (i. 374) and Plato (PIm'.du, SGa) had done : ' As the hand moves over the harp and the strings speak, so s]ieaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak of His hive.'
Ignatius also writes to the Phihulelpliians (ad Phil. 1) of their Inshop as 'attuned in harmony with the commandments, as a lyre with its strings.'
Delight in self-surrender quickens adoration. In the beautiful words of J. K. D. Maurice: ' What we desire for ourselves and for our race, the greatest redemption we can dr(^am of, is gathered up in the words, "Thine is the glory"' {I'he Lord's Prayer, London, 1848, p. 130).
Literature. — In addition to the Commentaries referred to in tlie text, see A. J. Wcrlledgre, Prayer, London, 1902 ; W. Milligan, The Ascension and Heavenly Prienthond oj aur Lord-, do., 1S94, p. 299 f. ; A. Ederslieim, The Temple: its Mittislry and .svrr/ces an they vere at the Time of Jegus Christ, do. , n.d. ; E. Leyrer, art. ' .Musikbei den Hebriiern'in PHE"-; J. Stainer, The Mu.'iicof the Bible, new ed., London, 1914.
A. E. Burn. PRAYER. — 1. General. — Prayer was to the
Apostolic Church the very secret of a 'life, hid with Christ in God' (Col 3^). It was to them the most natural thing in the world to pray for guid- ance in perplexity, for strength anil blessing when the will of God was manifest. In a word, their intercourse with God passed through the whole scale of feeling from the low note of penitence to the highest notes of thanksgiving and praise. Petition for themselves invariably grew into inter- cession for others and was never the last word of prayer. Alike when the apostles were about to choose a successor to Judas (Ac 1-'') and when the Church of Antioch sent forth Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey (13^), prayer was ottered. When Paul was kept in prison, he desired and e.x'pected such earnest prayer of the Church unto God for hiiu as was oli'ered by the Church of Jerusalem for Peter (12^).
At first the Temple was the centre for the Chris- tians' devotions. They clung to it as ' the house of prayer,' and used 'the prayers' (3') of Jewish devotion at the customary hours. The third hour was marked by the gift of the Spirit ('2'^), the ninth by the miracle of the healing of a lame man by Peter and John on their way to prayer (3'), the sixth by the vision which taught Peter to re- ceive Gentile converts. The ill-will of priests and Sadducees only drove them to more earnest prayer for grace to speak God's word 'with all boldness' (Ac 4--'-™). There is a deep thought in 1 Jn 3°- where prayer is spoken of as the boldness with which a son appears before the P'ather to make requests. Every such prayer is answered ' not as a reward for meritorious action, but because the prayer itself rightly understood coincides with God's w^ill ' (Westcott, nd loc).
The chief characteristic of Christian prayer is the new power which the fellowship of the Spirit brought to Christians, and the grace of persever- ance (Eph 6'*). It is the Spirit whose voice within each child of God cries ' Abl>a, Father' (Gal 4").* And, when Me are weak and know not what to pray for, ' the Spirit itself entreats for us with groans which are not to be expressed in words,' ' bears His part in our present difficulties ' and makes ' our inarticulate longings for a better life . . . audible to God . . . and acceptable to Him since they are the voice of His Spirit' (H. B. Swete, The Hnly Spirit in the NT, London, 1009, pp. 220, 221). In this deepest teaching of Paul we are led to associate with the w'ork of the Spirit within the
* A reminiscence of the Lord's prayer in Gethsemane or a reflexion of the litur<?ical use of the Church of Jerusalem. VOL. II. — 17
intercession of the Son at the Right Hand (Ro 8*"). And we lind the clue to the great prayers of Paul.
Beginning with 1 Th 1--^, we tind that the Apostle includes thanksgiving, intercession, and consciousness of the presence of God as of the needs of others. He lays stress on the need of intelligence if prayer is to edify (1 Co 14'''"-)- And along with intelligcnice ho demands from the Christian soldier the resolute perseverance which characterizes his own [U'ayers.