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POIIMH 01^ rilAYEE. « A zealous and intelligent Clmrclimati, Mr. Jones, noticing at church one Sunday a neighbour of his, Mr. Smith, and believing him to be an earnest- minded, sincere man, hut much prejudiced against the Church, resolved to avail himself of the first opportunity that might present itself to talk to him uhout it. This was j* wise resolution ; and it is to he much wished that other Churchmen would do the same. , It was not long hefore the opportunity wished for presented itself; and, accordingly, his friend, Mv. Jones, said ; *' I was glad to see you at church lately, Mr. Smith ; I hope that you were pleased Viitli the service.'* " I must acknowledge," replied the other, ^' there were some things with which I was pleased ; but, to he fc(iually candid with you, there ^vere other things that I did not like/' Mr. J.— That is very probable. Now, my friend, as you appear so candid, perhaps you will kindly let me know what are the things you liked, nnd what are the things you did not like, I\li., s._-_I am quite willing to do that. I liked the sermon very much. It was a sound Gospel discourse, although not Vvell delivered ; yet it contained so much truth, clearly and forcibly put, that, on my return home, I remembered most of it ; and, besides, it did me good, which, I always think is, after all, the main thing, I was also struck with the apparent devotion of the congre- gation, in which there was much less staring about than is usual with us. But I did not like the singing, it was too fine, and it was all done by the FOl(.M,< I'JIAYER. eMr. ^ don't tfiinl- Clinstians sTifjuld sm^ God's praises hjj projrt/, 1 like to liear the ^vUole con- gregatiou joi« in singing ; and Uiej^ as to your prayers^ thoy are nothing hnt forms. Mr. J.— We will not say atiytMng ta-dny in reference to t!ic singing ; about \vhich we do not tUffer mucl) ; but I feel tempted to say something about the (jucstion oi forms of 'pra?/er, Mr. S. — I sliall be ghul to hear all you can say on the subject; for I feel quite sure that you can licver convince me that sucli prjiyers are tlie best, or at all to be compared to those, wliich the man of Go(?, who Is untrainmeled by forms, offers up, ^vhen lie draws near tlie throne of the Eternal and pours forth, on behalf of liis people, sucli earnest, heart- felt supplications as can never be uttered by the man of forms ! Mr. J. — I am glad that you arc willing to liear 'what I have to say on this important subject, and I will endeavour, as well as I can, to shew you, that you should not object to our prayers merely because they are pre-composcd ; for v,'e find in the Bible many instances of pro-composed forms of devotion ; and I suppose that you will not call in ([uestion the authority of that blessed book. It is a fact worthy of consideration, that the first occasion of public worship, to wliich the children of Israel were summoned, after they had crossed the lied Sea, was celebrated by chanting a piece of litur- gical composition : " Tiicn sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake, saying, * I Avill sing unto the Lord, for ho hath triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider hath ho thrown into the sea,' " o:c. You will find the whole in Ex. xv., 1-19. This is one of the sublimest and most beautiful specimens of devotional composition ever written, and was admirably suited to the occasion, in itself sublime, FORMS or PRAYK'l. 8iTi^ Gad*8 ivhole con- as to your » to-day in I we do not ^ something you can say lat you can ire tlic tjcst, \ tlic niiin of rs up, when il and pours most, lieart- ereil by the Iln,:^ to hear subject, anil ow you, that rely because in tlie TJible 31 devotion ; in question It is a fact i occasion of i\ of Israel ed the Red )ce of litur- ses and the ) Lord and Lord, for ho so and his " &c. You .9. This is il specimens }n, and was self sublime, 5 imlill and triumph ant. ^ Thif? same hymn been me afler^arcFs a part oi' the Jewish litur^f}- : and it may now bo found in the Jewish iiioriiin<:- rfei vices of llome, Germany, and Spain ; and in several of the old liturgies of the Arabic Christians, who may he supposed to have retained it from tho^ JeW'i>h service. Again, for tlie expiation of uncertain murder, it was ordered by God himself, that *' the elders of tlie city next unto the slain man should take a heifer, ard, after havinff slain her, should wash their hands in her blood, and say, ** Our hands have not shed this blood, ncithe. have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people Israel's charge*" Again, God gave the priests a set form, by which they v:ere to bless the people : *' The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee,'-' &c. — Num. vi., 23-2G, The 2Gth ch;ipter of Deuteronomy is an interesting specimen of a prescribed liturgical service, cere- monial, responsive, and declaratory of covenant enjira^jrements : and in numerous other portions of the writings of Moses are found prescribeil lorms, adapccd to various occasions, allotted to persons, people, and priests, according to the portions assigned unto each. The temple service, ordered and arranged by Solomon, was minute and circum- stantial in its prescribed liturgical assignments. As restored after the captivity by Nehemiah, it was the mi: ?.^ for it was *' done according to the commandment of David and Solomon his son»"— Nell, xiih, 4(3. The Psalms of David, as seems to be generally acknowledged, are neaily all liturgical ) and were assigned to the priests, peo- pie, and choir. In short, the Hebrew ritual in process of time grew up to be a comprehensive r^ 9 rOKMS OF PRATSB. system for coraTnon and special "cmstotisj and ali Mni!ep the direction of thost 'Citlmrrded by AlMlflliTY OoD to arrange such u t^el vice. Here then, my friend^ we have ample authority for the use of forms of prayer in our public worship. Mr. §.— -But all this was under the Old Testa- ment dispensation, which was rmphatically one of forms and ceremonies ; all of wliich are done away in Christ. We find none such in the New Testament. ]Mr. J. — It 13 true, the Gospel does not, with th(? minuteness of the Mosaic law, pvcscribo any com- plete Liturgical service ; yet, I contend, wo can find enough in the New Testament fully to warrant our use of forms of prayer. Wo arc tohi by Josephus that the Jews had such forms of prayer in their tPirple and synagogues, in the time of our blessed Lord ; and his declaration is sustained by many subsequent writers of undoubted authority. Now we are expressly told, by the Evangelist, that our blessed Lord attended these services, both in temple and synagogue ; nor can we ever for a moment suppose, that he was there merely as an idle spectator^ while the ^'^ue Israel was worshipping the God of their fathers. Equally impossible is it for us to believe that lie would have sanctioned by his presence a mode of worship in itself un- becoming the service of the sanctuary, and un« authorized by Divine prescription. And it is a remarkable fact, that we find in the Gospel no con- demnation by our blessed Lord of this form of worship. He could denounce the profanity of the Sadducees and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees ; but we no where find him upbraiding any with using forms of fraifcr. Had he thought that men could not worship God in sincerity and truth, after a prescribed form, we can easily imagin ; how he would have objected to their use in plain and i lORMS OF PHAVKiU thorized hy i'ice. Here irity for the orship. Olp Testa- itlcally one \\ ure (lone n the New lot, tvith t!i(? any com- nd, we can y to warrant irc tol(i by 3 of prayer time of our Listained by 1 authority, ngclist, that ices, both in ever for a eroly as an worshipping )0ssib]c is it sanctioned k itself nn- y, and un- And it is a spel no con- lis form of anity of the Pharisees ; I any with ;ht that men truth, after in ; how he n plain and M) such objection was nothing t ; and, there- thc temple / formally ut» though his inspired nneqmvocal terms. Hut wu lind to thorn in the Gospel ; we rather hk; satisfied that he approved of them, inasmuch as he constantly FliKQUKNTKT) the place tvliere thei^ were nsett Mr. S. — But if Christ had intended forms of prayer to be used in his Church, would he not have prescribed them for the use of his ujcmbars, Mr, J. — Hefore coming to that conclusion, you should recollect that the Jewish ritual was in use during the whole of our blessed Lord's ministry, and during the liv \s of all the Apostles, except the latter part' of St. John's life in this ritual to which they co fore, there was the less rens stood» for superseding it by > prescribed for the use of Chris.. we do not claim that our blessed Lci Apostles set forth an} complete Liturgy, yet, I think, you must acknowledge, that when our blessed Lord gave his prayer to the disciples, he gave a strorirj and decided sanction to forms of prayer. It seems that John the Baptist, being the herald of a new dispensation, and preaching repentance for the remission of sins, it was neces- sary that his disciples should have forms of devotion adapted to their peculiar cu'cumstances ; and that, tlierefore, he had given them such a form of prayer. In like manner Christ's disciples, feeling that' they needed a new one, suited to their circumstances, on a certain occasion, as our Saviour was pray'ng, when he hav' ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said unto them " when ye pray say, Our Father, which art in hctiven," &c. Now I ask you, my friend, what higher authority can we demand for Forms of Prayer than this? What more encouraging assurance can we seek that such prayers, when r mm I I i f ORBIS OF PRATKR. offered mj bj dernut hearts, sliall rise wiih acceptanco to the iriccy scat ? And it is wcU worthy of remark, that ^ivhen our blessed Lord gave tlirections for private prayer \^a9 in the Otli chapter of St. Matthew, 5tl> and 6th versesj ho gave no fori, whatever; but when he gave direction for united worship ho gave that iuiuiitublc furra jm^t alluded tr». Bull this prayer of o«r Lord is not the only Bcir.ction that wo derive from the New Testament for forms of prayer t we find anotlier in Act^j iv., verses 24 to 30. This was taken, ir> fact, from the Jewish Liturgy ; and in *'egard to it, it is said by St. Luke that *' They lifted up their voice with one acord/' showing most distinctly, that there was unit?/ of worship among the disciples on that occasion. It is well known that liturgies were used in the Churches from the times immediately succeeding the Apostles. These are called ^^ Common Prai/erSf" by Justin Martyr, of the former pa?'t of the second century; '* Constituted Prayers^ " by Origen, of the first part of the third century ; and ** Solemn Prayers^" by Cyprian, of the middle of the third century. There was no controversy on this ques- tion from the days of the Apostles to the fifth ccnti- y, when various liturgies were published. From that time down to the Reformation, in the sixteenth century, it is uaiversallij admitted that liturgies, full and complete, were in constant use, all over the Christian world, and prescribed for the use of Christians by the ecclesiastical authorities of the difierent times. It is well worthy of remark, that the ancient Syrian Church, discovered in 1801, by Dr. Claudius Buchanan, on the coast of Malabar, in India, and which had never any inter- course with Home, and none with western Christians for thj':teen hundred years from the Apostolic age, \ ifOKMS 01' rUAifliU 9 )'is(> wiili I it is wcU (I Lord gave CtU chapter ho gave Tio ircction Tnr Ic furra jiu^t lot the only r Tcstumcnt in Acts iv,, r> fact, from it) it is said r voice with % that there pica on that 3 used in the f snccecdinf; mPrayerSf* f the f>ocond ' Ori^Tjon, of id " Solemn of the third m this ques- ; to the fifth c published, ition, in the dmitted that lonstant use, ribed for the I authorities y of remark, iscovered in the coast of er any inter- •n Christians puatoiic age, \ wa.> niierly tfjnonnif of , j- tempore prayer 8 ^ uud possessed ii Liturgy, believed by its Bisiiop to have been CO eval with ita origin. "There," says the excellent Missionary, "as in all Churches iu a state of decline, there is too much fornvUity iu tiic worship. But they have the Bible and a Scriptural Liturgy, arid tltJO wili save a Church ia thj worst of times." Mr. S. — For my part, I should rely most - ^re Bible. Mr. J. — And so, my friend, most assuredly would I ; and all sound Churchmen too. What I would endeavour to in^^ ress upon yon ia this, that in possessing the Praye:* Book -we have, under God, a great conservator of the faith ; and I think you Avould fully concur with me in the grei\t advantages we possess in this respect, if you could compare the state of many part'? of Protestant Christendom, where they use it not, with those where thev do use it, Mr. S. — That is a curious argument. Mr, J.— -But still, I contend, a just one, and, moreo'.er, a very conclusive one ; many once orihodox congregations, amongst those who rejected forms of prayer, have fallen from the faith once delivered to the sa'nts. But iv. can challenge the tvhole world to produce a ^iw/le instance- of a congregation, era respectable minority of a congre- gation, belonging to our Church, thus falling atvay! Some few of our clergy have at times, alas ! fallen into grievous errors ; but they could not carry their iiongregations with thon, Fortunately the teaching of the reading desk was an antidote to the teaching of the pulpit : the people were enabled to detect the false teaching of tiie latter, and thus were providentially saved. But it was not so with these who had rejected forms of prayer : ss their pastors iCii into errors, tiiuir prayers J ■« -.^s 10 FORMS OF PRAYER, (« r became as full of errors as their sermons ; and the poor people were carried alon;:; Avitli them, Mr. S. — This certainly appears to be a very creat advantaoje, and one of which I had never thought until now. Mr. J.— But this is not the only advantage of pre-composed prayers. We escape many other evils, beside that of heresy. A writer, who knows whereof he affirms, asserts, that by them we escape, 1st. '- Doctrina' prayers; or such as are calcu- lated to teach certain peculiar doctrines, 2nd. Historical prayers. 3rd. Hortatory prayers. 4th. . I)enunciatory prayers. 5th. Personal prayers, designed by the persons offering them to convey some rebuke or commendation to a person present. Cth. Eloquent prayers. 7th. Familiar, or irreverent prayers. 8th. Sectarian prayers, destitute of the loving spirit of the Gospel. 9th, Laudatory pray- ers. 10th. Political prayers. 11th. Unforgiving prayers. 12th. i31undering prayers," and fourteen other kinds "more or less objectionable. " If this be so, (and I should like you, Mr. Smith, as a, candid man to tell me if you have ever heard such prayers,) we certaifili/ escape a great evil by hav- ing the prayers, that we offer up in public, carefully prepared beforehand by those competent to prepare them, and carefully considered by us, before we oflfer them. Mr. S. — As you ask me, as a candid man, whether I have ever heard such prayers as you speak of, I must confess that I have ; and that I have been greatly pained when hearing them. Mr. J. — I thank you for your candour. I would ask you to look over our Book of Common Prayer, and see whether you can find one there, which gives you pain when it is offered up. Mr. S.— I shall be glad to do so; for I ccneeive i'^i\t.Xo\h^ ^i.'veryvrnportant 'pointy connected with FORMS OF PRAYER. 11; ns; and the [lem, be a very 1 had never [idvantage of many other •, Avho knows m we escape, s arc cal cu- rl nes, 2nd. rayers. 4th» lal prayers, im to convey rson present, or irreverent stitutc of the datory pray- Unforgiving and fourteen lie." If this . Smith, as a Y heard such evil by hav- )lic, carefully nt to prepare IS, before we candid man, yers as you ; and that I ig them, ur. I would :)mon Prayer, there, which 'or I conceive nnected with public worship, that the prayers oflered up he fit for G-od to hea)'f as well as for man to offer ; I will get a Prayer Book at once, and examine and judge for myself. Mr. J. — Allow me to mention to you a few com- mendations of our Book of Common Prayer, which are to be met with in the writings of eminent dissenters. Dr. Doddridge, an English Presby- terian minister, in the first part of the eighteenth centm7, and author of " A Family Expositor," says of the Prayer Book : *' The language is ^o plain as to be level to the capacity of the meanest, and yet so noble as to raise the capacity of the highest." Dr Adam Clarke, the distinguished commen- tator of the Wesleyan Methodists, declares it ** superior to everything of the kind produced by either ancient or modern times ; several of the prayers and services of which were in use from the first ages of Christianity." *' The Litany," he says again, " is almost universally esteemed by the devout and pious of every denomination, and next to the translation of the Scriptures into the English language, is the greatest ivork of the Reformation, As a form of devotion, it has no equal in any part of the Universal Church of God. Next to the Bible, it is the book of mif understanding and mg heart." The Rev. Robert Ilall, an eminent Baptist minister of England during the latter part of the last and the beginning of this century, says of our Prayer Book, " The evangelical puritg of its sentiments, the chastened fervor of its devotions,, and the majestic simplicitg of its language, have combined to pVacc it in the verg first rank of uninspired compositions." I would also mention that the late Dr. Morrison, an eminent Missionary to China from the London 12 FOKMS OP PRAYER. Missionary Society, although a dissenter, trans* latod our Prayer Book into Chinese for tlie benefit of liis converts in that great country, candidly con- fessing, that, finding his converts needed a form of prayer for public worship, ho knew of none at all to be compared with it, and utterly despaired of compiling anything at all like it. ♦ The Rev. Mr. Thomson, a Missionary from the American Board of Foreign ^Missions to the Malays, did the same for the use of his converts, assigning, for so doing, the same reasons. I feel bound to give you one caution, how- ever, when examining our Prayer Book. You must not expect to hear anything very eloquent in our prayers. Our Prayer Book does not afford our clergymen an opportunity of building up a reputation, for shining talents and eloquent appeals to God. But, if the Proyer Book enables all true worshippers with hearts and lips to pray, to lift up the voice with one accord, and either shout hosan- nahs, or implore the remission of unnumbered sins, then it does all that should be required from it. Besides, our forms of prayer give us an unity of worship, which is most delightful. In the beginning of our conversation on this subject, you stated that you did not think that Christians should sing by proxy, in which I agree with you ; provided they can sing at iill. But I go further ; and say, that neither should Christians l^rau hi/ proxj/. It has been well said by a living writer of this continent, when speaking of fashionable congregations, where they do not use a liturgy ; " they arc preached to, they are prayed for, and they are sung for ; they are merely an audience ; they uvo not wor- shippers; they are recipients, but not participants." Speaking of praying and singing I would remind you, my friend, of the striking passage of St. Paul : " I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray wHh the iinp|jjj|uwjt(i«ii"»iw. FORMS OF PRAYER. 13 icntcr, trans* or tlio benefit candidly con- !cdcd a form w of none at dy despaired ary from tlio the Malays, ;ts, assigning, jaution, how- Book. You y eloquent in les not afford juilding up a quent appeals lablcs all true ray, to lift up shout hosan- umbercd sins, uired from it. js an unity of the beginning ou stated that lould sing by irovided they and say, that ro.r//. It has his continent, [Rations, where are preached are sung for ; are not wor- participants." would remind re of St. Paul : pray w.Hh the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." A declaration that clearly sets forth the two promi- nent qualifications of public prayer and praise. The Jirst, that they must come warm from the heart ; the second, that they must be clothed with words, upon which the mind has been enabled to exercise its judgment. In this passage we find no difference wliatever m;'de between the tAvo kinds of devotion. The expressions applied to the one arc as emphatically applied to the other. Now, my friend, as you are quite satisfied to worship God by singing his praises from a pre-composed hymn book, many of which are really prayers, I cannot see how you can conscientiously object to worship- ping Cod from a pre-composed Prayer Book. But suppose tlic services of the sanctuary are conducted after your favourite pattern, I would ask you, if the prayers are not a form to you, and to all the other worshippers, except the ofliciating minister, and a form, too, from which there is no appeal, though, as you have already acknowledged, you have often heard prayers that shockedyou ? Beside, I have heard many who have been in the habit of attending on the ministrations of one minister for a length of time say, that his prayers were so regularly a form, that they could generally anticipate what he would pray for ; and foretell almost the very- words and phrases in which he would clothe his petitions. This, of course, I would consider rather an advantage than otherwise ; as it would enable the worshipper to join in the prayers, much more advantageously than he could do under other circumstances ; provided always the prayers were what they ought to be. That proviso is of more importance than you, perhaps, imagine. Many years ago two young college friends met together at a fashionable watering place, where thousands I sfc FORMS OF PRAYEB, .v-ere congrcgatea. The one ^vas a Presbyterian Minister, the other was a student of divmity belonging to that denomination. Ihey very wisely waited on an old and experienced minister of their body one whose worth, wisdom and piety were ^vell known, and asked him, among other things " bow they could best conduct the worship ot / Imi-htY God." His answer was clear and distinct. ''\liS-e are two ways, and two ways only, if your language is prompt and easy if your hearts over, flow with devout affections, it you have a thorough knowledt^e of the scheme of salvation by Christ, and if you can always trust yourself, you may forc^ro all previous preparation : but it such is not The case, you are bound to prepare your prayers .as thorouL^hiy as you do your sermons ihe gentleman who gave this account of the in erview ^vhichheand his young friend had with the Ayise old minister, says, that, on reflecting on this advice, he was led into this train of thought : " if this be so, (and of it I have no doubt,) would it not be better still if the prayers for public worship were prepared Dv the ablest, most experienced and most devout nfinisters amongst us, especially in the case of Youn.- and inexperienced ministers. But he ays he did not stop there; but reflected further ; *^ would it not still be better, if we coul.l get the best prayers that have ever been composed for public worship since the Christian era, prayers Lmposed by' men of whom the world was no worthy, by saints and martyrs who lived in the Ivs of fiery persecution." While he was ponder- g^n these'tlLgs a copy of our '' Jiook of Common Praver " was given him ; and on examination, he found it to be the very thing which his judgment had told him he wanted This incident changed the course of his life. Instead of entering e Presbyterian mi'ustry, he sought ordei^ at the hand of a Bishop, and has been himself for many 1 FORMS OP PRAYER. 15 Presbyterian t of divinity ley very wisely mister of their id piety were other things, le worship of ir and distinct. s only, if your !iv hearts over- avo a thorough ion by Christ, self, you may )ut if such is e your prayers rnions." The the intcrvieAV 1 with the wise ; on this advice, : "if this be so, .t not be better were prepared id most devout n the case of n-s." But he [iected further ; J coultl get the . composed for n era, prayers world was not .10 lived in the he was ponder- ook of Common ixamination, he h his iud<:;raent icident changed )f entering the orders at the imself for many years exercising the duties of that high office in the Church of Christ. Mr. S. — On reflection, it seems to mo that the old minister gave the youug men good advice ; for if speaking to men is important, as the minister does when he preaches, how much more important is it that he should use right words when he addresses himself to the Almighty ? Mr. J. — You are quite right, my friend ; and I can hardly see how this can be secured, except by having prayers for public worship prepared before- hand. This seems to have been the opinion of Calvin and John Knox, and John Wesley ; all of whom left liturgies for their followers. In the present day many excellent forms are put forth for family ivorslii^p^ by ministers, who are forbidden to use forms of 'public worship^ where surely they are still more suitable, than in family worship. I am also thankful to say that the yearning for liturgies is becoming very 6troug» whilst the prejudices against them are fast decreasing. Even the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, two years ago, at the close of the general assembly, recommended the return of the members of the Kirk of Scotknd to the use of forms of prayer in public worship. One of the ministers of Glasgow uses a liturgy regularly every Sunday in his Church. For these reasons, and many others which I could give you, (if time permitted) I prefer forms of prayer in public worship ; and I trust that you will ponder upon what you have heard and give it due consideration. Mr. S. — I certainly shall. I must acknowledge that I did not think so much could be said in favour of forms of prayer J and when I attend your Church again, I will, at least, look upon them with greater respect than I have yet done. I shall also examine the Prayer Book, and compare it with the Bible. Mr. J.— And may *^ God give you a right judg- ment in ail things! " Good h^^»