The Unholy Prayer

“They oegan to pray Him to depart out of their coasts.” — Mark v. 17.

I THINK this the most unique specimen of prayer which is to be found in the Bible — perhaps the most unique specimen which is to be found anywhere. We are familiar with the prayerless lives of the ungodly. We are familiar with the prayerful lives of the holy. But that prayer should be a weapon of the unholy — this is a startling thing. Imagine a congregation assembled in their place of worship. Imagine that in solemn silence every knee is bent and every head bowed in reverent expectation of the preacher’s orison. Imagine that through the great stillness the voice that came was this: “O Christ, Thou Son of God, we come this day before Thy Divine Throne to beseech Thee that Thou wouldst be absent from our meeting. We fear Thy presence exceedingly. We find it a drag upon our lives. It forces us to do what we do not wish to do. It makes us submit to painful sacrifices. We feel that we should be richer men, more prosperous men, without Thee. We should have more liberty to cheat and steal, more freedom to appropriate what is not our own. In Thine absence is fulness of joy; in the withdrawal of Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore; depart from us, O Lord!” What a dramatic thrill of horror would run through the audience! It would be a far greater horror than if the speaker had proclaimed himself an atheist. Discords are always disagreeable; but they are specially so when they are made by a musical instrument. To fight against God by blasphemy is a dreadful thing; but to fight against God by prayer — that seems a thing almost inconceivable. Yet this latter is what was done by the men here spoken of; they breathed discord through a musical instrument. They came to Christ with a real supplication, a sincere supplication, an honest supplication. There was no hypocrisy about it; there lay its sting. It acknowledged Christ, it acknowledged the power of Christ, it acknowledged the character of Christ, it approached Christ on the basis of His character; and with all the forms of devoutness it besought Him to depart.

My brother, take heed to that for which thou prayest! — there Hes the difference between the pious and the impious mind. It is not thy praying that makes thee good — not even thy sincerity in prayer. It is not thy sense of want that makes thee good — not even though expressed in abjectness. It is not thy feeling of dependence that makes thee good — not even thy feeling of dependence on Christ. It is the thing for which thou prayest, the thing for which thou hungerest, the thing for which thou dependest. Every man cries for his grapes of Eshcol; the difference is not in the cry, but in the grapes. It is possible for thee to ask from thy God three manner of things. Thou mayst ask thy neighbour’s vineyard — that is bad. Thou mayst ask thine own riches — that is neither bad nor good; it is secular. Or thou mayst ask to be made unselfish — that is holy. It is not thy prayer that thy Father prizes; it is the direction of thy prayer. Dost thou deem thy child a hero because he asks thee for a holiday! Nay, though he sought it sorrowing and with tears. But if he asks thee to let him share his joy with a brother or sister, then thou art exceeding glad, then thou sayest, “Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee!” So with thy Father. He waits till thou criest for a crown — till thou prayest for His presence, longest for His light, sighest for His song, hungerest for His home, faintest for his footfall, callest for His company, tarriest for His tread, seekest for the sign of His coming. That will be thy Father’s highest joy.