A Neglected Side of Sympathy

“His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat.” — John iv. 31.

This I regard as the type of a very peculiar kind of prayer — the prayer expressing soHcitude, not for our own welfare, but for the welfare of the Divine Being whom we supplicate. The great mass of petitions addressed to Jesus in the gospels are petitions for our own comfort — for the healing of disease, the recovery of sick friends, the pardon of personal sins, and the like. But this is a prayer of the disciples, not for themselves or their belongings, but for Christ! They are anxious for His outward comfort, for His physical well-being, for the supply of His daily bread. The only prayer in the gospels which I interpret in the same way is the request of the men on the road to Emmaus: “Abide with us, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent.” I think, spite of the popular hymn and spite of the undoubted truth of its sentiment, their solicitude was not for themselves, but for Jesus. I think they wished

Him to find rest after the burden and heat of the day and to avoid the darkening shadows which presaged the coming night. Be this as it may, in the passage before us there never could be a doubt of the interpretation; it is a cry to Christ for Christ: ‘* Master, eat.” Angels ministered to Him in the wilderness; but men ministered to Him in Samaria. The human ministry took the form of prayer — the prayer for His sustenance. I think this prayer must have been very dear to Jesus. Gold is precious because it is rare. This form of petition was also rare, is still rare. The mines of the human heart have seldom yielded such a treasure. Our habitual cry is, *’ Provide for our human wants, O Lord! “I do not mean that we are purely selfish; we often pray for the satisfaction of needs not individually our own. But it rarely strikes us that these needs are shared by the Divine, We often beseech a human friend to take care of himself, to watch his own interests; but we seldom say to the Father, ‘* May Thy interests prosper, may Thy desires be fulfilled! “We forget that God, too, has a want — the craving of an infinite love. We forget that it is God who says to man, and not man who says to God, ‘* Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” We forget that the very infinitude of Divine Love deepens its hunger. There is a need which can only be felt by the Divine heart. A smaller heart can be satisfied; but the boundless ocean of the Father’s love has found no bay in which to rest its waters.

Lord, in my prayers let me remember Thee! Let me remember that the well of Samaria cannot fill Thy thirst — that the demand of Thy heart exceeds its sources of supply! I pray a hundred times for the satisfaction of my desires; have I ever breathed a wish for the satisfaction of Thine! I have borne in my memory my human brothers who are waiting round the well — those whom I call the objects of charity, those who have been denied the use of the earthly streams. But I have not realised that Thou, too, art waiting at the well. I have not borne in my memory the wants of the Divine. I have not carried in my sympathy the unsatisfied hunger of my God. I have heard the children’s cry for bread, but not the Father’s cry for fellowship. I have heard the suppliant knocking at my door, but not Thine entreaty knocking at my heart. I have begun to learn that what I call humanitarian sympathy stretches down to the beast of the field, but it has hardly dawned on me that it should also stretch up to heaven. Send me the dawn of that light, O Lord! Help me to frame golden wishes for Thee!

Make me glad when Thou art glorified, sad when Thou art stained! Make me jubilant in Thy joy, transported in Thy triumph, proud when Thou art praised, blest when Thou art beautified, happy when Thou art heralded, light-hearted when Thou art loved, cheered when Thou art cherished, radiant when Thou hast found Thy day of rest! My heart will reach its summer by its entrance into Thy joy.