The Henson Journals

[13]

3rd Sunday after Trinity, June 12th, 1921.

'O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us: & grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended & comforted in all dangers and adversities: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

That lowly description, we to whom Thou hast given an hearty desire to pray" can be accepted for one's self without misgiving. About the difficulty in praying, the mental perplexity, the absence of fervour, the lack of faith, there is, alas!, no question: but about the desire to pray, and the certainty that it is God's gift, there is, happily, also no question: and the last assurance goes some way to counterbalance the first. S. Paul's words are not without meaning even to an unhappy "modernist" placed in a bishop's throne: In like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered: and he that that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God". That Kindly Power, from whom the "desire to pray" comes, will not fail us as we seek to gain the object of our desire. The whole process of prayer – desire, petition, answering grace – is Divine, and only as we realize this, and surrender ourselves to the Divine Power in, and with, and for, us do we in any genuine sense pray at all. But how difficult is that indispensable self surrender! and at best how partial and intermittent!

[14]

I motored to Belmont, picking up Wilson on the way, and there I admitted Maish to the perpetual curacy. There was a very large congregation, & the attention and interest were exemplary. I celebrated the Holy Communion. The communicants numbered no less than 140, including Alexander (who had come out to witness the function) and William. I returned to Auckland after the service, carrying Wilson & Clayton as far as Durham. During the afternoon I reposed myself, and then, at 5.30 pm I motored to Etherley. Ella and Fearne accompanied me. Here I read the lessons, and preached the sermon. There was a large congregation, which was curiously interlarded with children, for it was the "Sunday School Festival", & the juniors were naturally in evidence. I preached from notes, taking as my text Acts XI.26. "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch". The congregation was attentive, & even the children showed no signs of fatigue. After the service, I returned with the ladies to the Castle. The new regulations, which have abolished the delivery of letters, having come into force, there was no post today. The weather has been dull with threatenings of rain, which never got beyond minatory but fallacious droppings. There can be no doubt that the country needs rain badly. The roots look woeful, the turf is already taking a burnt up aspect, and there is hardly any water in the river.

---