The Prayer Prompted by Heaven

‘‘ Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance.” — Psa. ii. 8.

HE words are spoken by God to the Messiah. The Father prompts His Christ what to

ask for. I believe all successful prayer to be a prompting from the Father. My prayer does not change His mind; it is His mind that dictates my prayer. Efficacious prayer is not so much a petition as a prophecy; it is my Father saying to me, “This is My will; ask this.” And what is this prayer which the Father prompts the Christ to offer? It is worth while to mark it, for we may be sure that we too may offer it unconditionally — that it is always on the lines of God’s will. It is the prayer that Christ may possess the secular world. ‘“Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the secular world for Thine inheritance” — so speaks the Father to all who wish that Christ’s kingdom should come. And who at the present day does not wish it? Is it not the aim of our day to make Christ a secular power! Do we not want to give Him an inheritance in things which were once deemed outside! His religion used to be something apart from the world; it was limited to the sanctuary. But now we are claiming for Him the world also. We are resisting the separation between Nature and Grace. We begin to feel that Nature is also a grace from our Father. We have ceased to speak of earthly beauty, of temporal gifts, of natural virtues. To us, all beauty is Divine, all gifts eternal, all virtues graces of the Spirit. We have claimed for Jesus what the tempter offered Him — the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. We have claimed the wine of Cana and the feast of Bethany. We have claimed the Sabbath walk in the cornfields and the Sabbath work out of church and the good work done by one who followed not. We have done for the common things of life what was done for the little children — we have brought them to be blessed by Jesus.

Ever more, O Christ, may Thy secular kingdom come! Ever in deeper measure may the Father give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance! I do not ask that my secular gifts should be put to a sacred use. I do not ask that my voice should sing in a choir, that my poetry should write hymns, that my architecture should build churches. No; that would be for Thee only a partial victory. I want these things to be for Thee while remaining in their old sphere. I want my voice to sing for Thee the world’s songs. I want my brush to paint for Thee the world’s scene. I want my poetry to hymn for Thee the world’s story. I would claim for Thee, not alone the old powers, but the old fields. I would make Thine my social hours, Thine my domestic joys, Thine my moments of gaiety. I would dedicate to Thee my music and my dancing, my buying and my selling, my winning and my wearing. I would value all my powers, not only as a gift from Thee, but as a gift for Thee. The things once claimed for the heathen I would make Thine inheritance.