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Literary
June 14, 1839
Southern Christian Advocate
Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
A short essay advocating for simplicity, earnestness, and direct supplication in prayers to God, criticizing rhetorical displays, lengthy wanderings in prayer meetings, and overly comprehensive petitions by lay participants.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
PRAYER.
Simplicity is ever becoming in our petitions to the Most High. Prayer to God should be prayer--and not an indirect exhortation to fellow men. Neither should it contain a description of the future world, or any thing else which leads off the mind from the simplicity of supplications for needed blessings. All rhetorical display is utterly unbecoming in this solemn duty. Earnest desires will naturally be presented in fervent, yet simple and unaffected language.
We seldom attend a prayer meeting without being made sensible of the bad effect of long and wandering prayers--had any particular request to make, or that it is not his duty to embrace in his petition every object which a pastor would be expected to pray for in the pulpit where none else take part in the exercises.
Simplicity is ever becoming in our petitions to the Most High. Prayer to God should be prayer--and not an indirect exhortation to fellow men. Neither should it contain a description of the future world, or any thing else which leads off the mind from the simplicity of supplications for needed blessings. All rhetorical display is utterly unbecoming in this solemn duty. Earnest desires will naturally be presented in fervent, yet simple and unaffected language.
We seldom attend a prayer meeting without being made sensible of the bad effect of long and wandering prayers--had any particular request to make, or that it is not his duty to embrace in his petition every object which a pastor would be expected to pray for in the pulpit where none else take part in the exercises.
What sub-type of article is it?
Essay
What themes does it cover?
Religious
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Prayer
Simplicity
Religious Devotion
Moral Instruction
Prayer Meetings
Literary Details
Title
Prayer.
Key Lines
Simplicity Is Ever Becoming In Our Petitions To The Most High.
Prayer To God Should Be Prayer And Not An Indirect Exhortation To Fellow Men.
All Rhetorical Display Is Utterly Unbecoming In This Solemn Duty.