Publisher's Synopsis
Prayer is intercourse with God, as unconstrained as that of children with their father, in which we speak with Him of what concerns His glory, His good pleasure and the interests of our soul.Such is the idea of prayer given us by Jesus Christ Our Lord in answer to the Apostle's request that He should teach them to pray: Thus shall you pray: " Our Father who art in heaven." This answer shows that in meditation we are holding converse not only with the Creator and Sovereign Lord of all things, but still more as respectful, loving and beloved children with their Father.Our Lord adds: " Hallowed by thy name! Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!" By these words He shows that the subject of the conversation should be God's glory and His good pleasure, before all else.He concludes with these words: " Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." From which it is evident that the second subject of this conversation are our own interests, that is, our eternal happiness and the means of attaining it.In conformity with the teaching of Our Divine Lord, St. Gregory of Nyssa says that prayer is a communing and conversation with God, and St. Chrysostom, that it is a colloquy with God.-- from the Preface
