ng / which concern Gods glory.
3. Confession \
4. Petition / which concern our individual needs.
5. Intercession, which concerns the needs of others.
The efficacy of prayer rests on the Mediation of Christ, and its
warrant is to be found in the words, "Ask and it shall be given you;
seek and ye shall {215} find; knock and it shall be opened unto you."
God our Father has promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in
His Son's Name, and who faithfully call upon Him and we know that
His promise cannot fail. There are many remarkable instances of the
power of prayer to be found both in the Old and the New Testaments,
as well, also, in the lives of many earnest and faithful men who, in
this present time, continue "instant in prayer."
Prayer Book, The.--The title of our manual of devotions is "The Book
of Common Prayer." It is called _Common Prayer_, because it is
to be used by the Congregation in Public Worship, and is thus
distinguished from prayer in private. As such it comprehends the
needs, feelings and devotions common to all. The efficacy of Common
Prayer consists in its being a united service and to this end arises
the necessity of a prescribed form. Such prescribed form had its
origin in the Christian Church from the very earliest ages, and so
early were Liturgies introduced that four of them are mentioned
under the names of St. Peter, St. Mark, St. James and St. John. (See
LITURGIES.) Liturgies thus became an inherent feature of the
Christian Church, and wherever it was planted its worship was
according to such prescribed form. Thus when Christianity was
introduced into Britain we find a Liturgy in use there from the
beginning. This Liturgy continued in use, although varying in many
details in different dioceses, until it was superseded by the Book
of Offices set forth by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, in A.D. 1078,
known as the _Sarum Use_. This was adopted with little variation by
{216} most of the Churches of the Kingdom. But gradually the Public
Offices became defaced by the innovations and corruptions of Rome;
these, however, were expunged at the time of the Reformation and the
Book of Common Prayer was set forth. The Prayer-book as we now have
it is the result of a long period of study and legislation. It is to
be noticed that it was not the object of the English Reformers to
create something new, to introduce innovations, but simply to
exclude errors and corruptions. To this end, they retained
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