The Pulpit Speaks: February 21, 1959

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

The latter section of the first verse of Luke in the eleventh chapter reads: “Lord, teach us to pray!” As one reads this challenging verse, many times the question “Why?” pops up in our minds. Why all of this concern about prayer?

A minister went to the hospital to visit one of his members who happened to have been a soldier wounded in battle. As he looked at this young man writhing in pain, the minister asked, “Son, do you pray?” The young man looked up and said, “Yes, I pray sometimes.” That is the tragic thing about the whole matter — far too many of us pray sometimes. In many instances, the times are too far apart.

The question now arises, why pray at all? I know that this is the question in many of our minds today. We look about us and see that in all things, we are most secure. This security has lulled us into a state of complacency. We can paddle our own canoe. Religion in itself is built upon the fact that we believe in a force far superior to ours, a force that is capable of supplying all of our needs. To the person who feels that he is self-sustaining, there is no need for religion.

Daily I come in contact with people who feel that they have moved themselves into a position where religion is no longer necessary. How tragic it is that there are those of us who feel that, with the acquisition of a few earthly goods, we no longer need God! A few degrees, a few dollars, a nice home, a little social fame and a few other non-essentials in this world have done much to warp the thinking of many people. Yet as I move about from place to place, I observe that time has a peculiar way of devaluing many of the things many of us have adopted as our salvation.

I know people who never think in terms of God as long as everything is going along as they would expect it to. But the moment things start running contrary to the way that they think things should be going, it is at this point that prayer and religion become meaningful. PRAYER IS JUST AS IMPORTANT IN DAYS OF PROSPERITY AS IT IS IN DAYS OF ADVERSITY. This is a hard lesson for many of us to learn, but it is a valuable lesson nonetheless. It is a lesson that all of us must learn sooner or later.

Every now and then we set aside a certain day as “World Day of Prayer” but why? We live in the richest nation in the world. Many of the people — in fact, most of the people — of the United States never know the hardships of other nations. So why set up a special “World Day of Prayer?” Are not our degrees, bank accounts, social fame and the life sufficient for all of our needs? Oh no. There are people of high intelligence, much money and the like who already know that, in spite of all of these, there is an unrest that cannot be satisfied by these. In spite of all of these, there is a longing that needs to be satisfied. To these things, only prayer can bring an answer.

These apostles who came to Jesus had the joy of daily walking with Jesus but like many of us, they walked with Him but did not communicate with Him. The greatest need of our world today is a nation that is in constant communication with God. When we are in constant communication with Him, our whole outlook on life is changed. When these apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray, they were only asking for an opportunity to learn how to communicate with Him.

Prayer — as simple as it is and as insignificant as it is — has a peculiar way of getting the job done that nothing else can do. There are thousands of people now living who can testify to the full value of prayer but these thousands are far too few. We need a whole nation this morning that is fully aware of the real value and power of prayer.

The answer of this young man, “Yes, I pray sometimes,” is true in far too many cases today. We — each of us — should and must pray unceasingly if the Kingdom is ever coming on earth as it is in heaven. Then and only then will the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man be realized and men will walk in fellowship with each other. If you don’t believe it, try it for a while and see if things don’t change.