For prayer is an
expression of the filial spirit towards our Father, and the more
simply and naturally we approach GOD as children, making our petitions
before Him with childlike hearts, the more truly will our prayers be
in accordance with that spirit of sonship which is the mind of Christ.
At the same time, the knowledge that our Father is wiser as well as
greater than we will forbid us to clamour for what in wisdom is denied
us, and will in general govern the spirit and scope of our petitions.
Just as our Lord points out that an earthly father, if asked for
bread, will not give his child a stone, so conversely in the
experience of every Christian it often happens that in his blindness
he asks a stone, and is given bread. But no Christian will ask
deliberately and knowingly for stones.
CHAPTER III
SELF-EXAMINATION AND REPENTANCE
"The unexamined life," said Plato, "is not worth living." Similar
advice was given by Marcus Aurelius. The practice of self-examination,
therefore, is not distinctive of Christianity: it is an obvious
dictate of wisdom, wherever life and conduct are regarded seriously,
that a man should from time to time take stock of himself in the light
of his ideals and learn to know and recognize in detail where and how
he has fallen short, and what are the besetting sins and weaknesses
against which he must contend.
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