| The Glory of the Common Life |
Chapter 7 |
Page 4 |
There are suggestions of the incompleteness of human communion and fellowship. You and your friend come together in the most sacred intimacy possible, and yet he knows only a little of you. Your life and his touch at only a few points. But when you enter into your inner chamber and shut the door upon you and God, you are in the presence of One who knows you perfectly. It was said of Jesus, “He knew what was in men.” That is, he looked into the life of everyone who came into his presence, and saw everything that was in them. He read the thoughts and feelings; he saw the insincerity, the hypocrisy, the intrigue, the enmity of those who were plotting against him. He saw the heart hungers, the cravings, and the shy love of those who wished for his friendship. He knew what was in every man and woman. When Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, lovest thou me?” the answer was, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” He knew all.
This brings us to the very heart of the meaning of prayer. You may not find great comfort in communion with even your best human friend, for he does not understand you. He sees too little of your life. But it is your Father who is in the inner chamber with you, and he knows all, understands all, and he loves you with a love that is infinite in its compassion and its grace.
“Pray to thy Father.” God seeks in every way to make his love plain to us, to show us how he wants to bless us. Of all the revelations he has made to us of himself, no one means quite so much as the name Father. We know something of fatherhood as we see it in imperfect man, in ourselves, if we are fathers. A writer says, “I never can forget the hour when I first became a father. A new feeling swept through my soul, and transformed all life and all the world for me. Then a moment later came a vision of God. God is my father. My newborn love for my newborn child is a shadow at least, a revelation, of the love of God for me.” It is your father whom you meet in the inner chamber when you enter in and shut the door. No other answer is needed when some one asks you if you believe in prayer. Just say, “God is my Father, and of course I can pray to him.” You cannot conceive of a true father to whom a child cannot come with his questions, his difficulties, his dangers, his sorrows, his sins. If God is your father, there is nothing you cannot bring to him.
Page 4