ever. Some lose it for want of avowing it in proper times and places. Mr. Fletcher said he lost it twice in this way. Some persons lose it through ignorance of Satan's devices. We may be tempted to evil so violently that the temptation may appear sin, and thus cast away our confidence. But what," he asks, "if through ignorance, or mistake, or temptation, a man should be overtaken in a fault? In this case," says he, "own it; give it its proper name; but at the same time sink reproved, and rise encouraged.' If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.' 999 (To be concluded in our next.) MISCELLANEOUS. To the Editors of the Methodist Magazine. DEAR BRETHREN-The following article on the Attitude of Prayer was originally an attempt to collect the thoughts that had for years occupied my mind on that subject, intending only my own satisfaction and improvement; but since then several who have seen it expressed a desire that I would have it published. Perhaps its novelty may render it agreeable to the readers of your Magazine. It is therefore submitted for insertion, if you think proper. ROBERT BOYD. xxii, 8: "And I John saw these things and heard them; and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things." Mount Pleasant, Penn., June 25th, 1825. THE custom of standing in the exercise of prayer, though practised by many at the present day, appears to have been unknown to all those worshippers presented to our notice in the sacred Scriptures, whether upon earth or in heaven. In all these instances we uniformly find the worshippers of the most high God either prostrate upon their faces or knees, or in some way falling or bowing downe Following the light of revelation with regard to this subject, I. Let us examine the posture of those who worshipped God upon EARTH; and see, 1st, as it respects falling down in general, Mat. ii, 11:"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him."Rev. i, 17: "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead." Rev. 2d. As it regards falling on the face, see Num. xvi, 22: "And they [Moses and Aaron] fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh !"1 Kings xviii, 39: "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, the Lord he is the God, the Lord he is the God!" Ezek. ix, 8: "And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah! Lord God," &c. Ezek. xi, 13: "Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah! Lord God." 3d. With respect to kneeling, see Dan. vi, 10: "Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime." Ezra, ix, 5, 6: "And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness, and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O, my God!" Mark i, 40: "And there came a leper to him, kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Acts vii, 60: "And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge: and when he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts xx, 36: "And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all." Acts xxi, 5: "And when we had accomplished those days, we departed, and went our way; and they all brought us on our way with wives and children, till we were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." Eph. iii, 14: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you," &c. To the many testimonies already given in favour of falling or kneeling down in the exercise of prayer, we might add the word of God to his servant Elijah, when he thought himself the only worshipper of the true God that was left in Israel. See 1 Kings xviii, 19: "I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal:" from which it is clear that while the people generally bowed to Baal, seven thousand bowed to the living God. Before I leave this point, I wish also to notice the solemn prohibition contained in Exodus xx, 5: "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." Here it is evident that what the Lord prohibits in regard to idols, he of course claims to himself, which in this connexion amounts to a command to bow down, and worship the living God. But perhaps by this time the reader is ready to ask what judgment he ought to form of those Scriptures which speak of standing connected with prayer. Before I answer this question I would first bring into notice the only passages of this nature which I now recollect. The first is Mark xi, 25: "And when ye stand praying, forgive," &c. Luke xviii, 11: "The Pharisee stood, and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee." Luke xviii, 13: "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner." 1 Kings viii, 22: "And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, and said, O, Lord God of Israel." After producing these passages, I would remark that the words stand and stood, in the above cited passages, do not necessarily. mean that those suppliants were erect as to the posture of their bodies, or that they stood upon their feet: so far from this that the last quoted passage, concerning Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, must be understood of kneeling, though it is there said he stood. That we may have the clearest evidence of this, let us turn to the parallel passage in Therefore I think the most that can with certainty be concluded from any of the above passages where standing is connected with prayer, is, that those persons appeared for the purpose of prayer, but might, notwithstanding, have offered up their prayers upon their knees, as well as Solomon. But to conclude my observations on this point, and to give additional weight to the remarks above made, I would remind the reader that the words stand and stood are frequently used where no posture of body is alluded to. See Psa. i, 1: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners." Again-Psa. iv, 4: "Stand in awe, and sin not." So that it yet remains to be proved that any of the Old Testament saints or New Testament Christians ever stood on their feet to offer up their regular stated prayers to God, while it has been clearly proved that they kneeled, and otherwise prostrated themselves in prayer. Having examined, according to the Scriptures,the posture in which the pious on EARTH have worshipped God, let us II. Turn our attention to the HEAVENLY orders, and see what agreement exists betwixt these pure worshippers who appeared before the heavenly throne, and those who worshipped God at his earthly footstool. And who that considers this matter attentively but must be struck with the correctness of the poet in the following lines: "Thee in thy glorious realm they praise, See Rev. iv, 10: "The four beasts and the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever." Rev. v, 8: "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb," &c. Rev. v, 14: "And the four beasts said, Amen; and the four and twenty elders fell down, and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever." Rev. vii, 11: "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts; and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God." Thus we see, as before stated, we uniformly find in Scripture that all the worshippers of the most high God, whether upon earth or in heaven, either bowed or in some way prostrated themselves when they approached the King of kings and Lord of lords. But inasmuch as falling down, falling on the face, and kneeling,are all spoken of in the foregoing quotations as postures used in the worship of God, perhaps the reader by this time is ready to ask which of these attitudes are the most proper. To this I answer that all these modes of expression are used nearly or quite synonimously, and signify some kind of bowing or kneeling down; and as a proof of this I would here bring into notice the accounts given by three evangelists of the prayer offered by our Saviour just before he was betrayed: Mat. xxvi, 39: "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed." Mark xiv, 35: "And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed." Luke xxii, 41: "And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed."Now it is unquestionably evident from St. Luke's account in this case, that our Saviour offered up this prayer upon his knees, though the others express it by falling on his face, the ground, &c. To make this still plainer, let us suppose A. retiring to a garden or grove for the purpose of private prayer: : when he gets to a certain spot of ground, he first bends his knees to the earth, and next, with his hands somewhat on his face, he places his face near the ground. Now, suppose B., C. and D. were all looking on at a small distance from A.: B. says A. fell on his face; C. states that he fell on the ground; but D. affirms that A. fell on his knees, or kneeled down.Now, in this case there would be no contradiction, though D. gives the clearest account; and suppose E. would also add his testimony to the former, by saying that A. bowed down, it would also agree with the rest, And now I think this illustration sets the whole Scripture account of the attitude of prayer (and particularly the account given by three evangelists of one of Christ's prayers) in a clear and just light; only it might be here noted that falling on the face, in some passages of Scripture, may be intended more particularly to point out complete prostration, which form was sometimes used by individuals or persons in great distress: in other cases, bowing or kneeling appears to be the uniform practice. Having dwelt so long on Scripture testimony, and having, as I humbly conceive, proved thereby that bowing down or kneeling, in opposition to standing, is the correct attitude of prayer ;-let us next hear the testimony of reason on this subject; and when reason takes into view the greatness and holiness of God, and the weakness and sinfulness of man, together with his entire dependance upon his Maker, it at once concurs with revelation in declaring that the most humble posture best becomes such a supplicant. But perhaps by this time some may be ready to say that the subject above treated is not of sufficient consequence to occupy the attention of any wise and judicious mind; and they would therefore tell us that, provided the heart be right, it matters not what posture our bodies are in when we pray. To such I would reply, 1st, by asking them how they know that it makes no difference what form the body is in when a man prays to God. I fear such would be quite at a loss to give any solid reason for such an assertion,though it be made with an air of confidence. 2d. I would ask such if the most worthy examples found in the word of God, accompanied with Scripture precept and sound reason, are all matters of so little consequence in a praying circle, you find that it makes no difference whe- them on their knees, of whatever ther we act up to them, or take a denomination they may be. If you contrary course? find penitent mourners praying for mercy, you see them on their knees, or otherwise prostrate; and I confess that I never saw any converted to God in their standing prayers, nor any thing like it. But I reply, 3dly, that the principle in this case, on which the objection is grounded, is false and self-contradictory. What! to say that "it makes no difference what posture our bodies are in when we pray, provided the heart be right!" Here let me ask, Is there no connexion between body and mind? or, in other words, if it is no difference what posture our bodies are in when we pray, why of course a man may as well pray standing on his head as on his feet, or get down all-fours, hands and feet alike, as to kneel, or do it any other way. But does not every person see at once that such forms or postures of the body would be unfriendly to a devotional spirit; and in some degree, though not to an equal extent, standing upon the feet in prayer is in itself unfriendly to the devotion of the heart; or at least even a sincere worshipper cannot in general be so fervent on his feet as though he were on his knees?— Should this assertion be doubted, I am ready to vouch for its truth by an appeal to facts. And here it is known to many that men may and often do say over fine words of prayer standing on their feet; but it is equally well known that such prayers are generally languid and void of energy. This is a fact, and cannot be denied. But let us turn from the individual who thus prays as an organ for the congregation, to those standing around him, and you will seldom see or hear any thing like prayer among them: this is also the truth, and cannot be denied. In short, if you find general and powerful engagedness VOL. VIII. October, 1825. But, on the other hand, I have seen hundreds rising from their knees, and with a loud voice giving glory to God for his saving mercy. I have been the more plain and pointed in my remarks on this part of the subject, because many who are esteemed both wise and pious have said that it is "no difference what posture our bodies are in when we pray, provided our hearts be right." Believing this assertion incorrect and self-contradictory, I knew no way to make this appear so plain as in the severe observations above made; and though they may sound harsh to some, they must appear to be correct to every man of candour that will look at facts. Before I close these remarks, I wish, notwithstanding all that truth and candour has compelled me to say unfavourable to standing prayer, to have it distinctly understood that I charitably trust and believe that many who, through the force of education and surrounding example, still continue to offer up their prayers to God standing on their feet, are nevertheless among the children of God, and on their way to a better world. And I do feel a sweet fellowship with such of them as do, when they come into a congregation where it is the usage to kneel, conform in this respect, though they may stand in their own churches; and I think common civility requires this mutual conformity among the several Christian denominations: but the 49 |