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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 3a

Of Prayer

Of Prayer.

God asks no prayer. This little globe of our is a very Pandora box of treasure, and He does not ask a cent back. He has given all to us. How dare any man say He is not a good God to us. He would rather we honoured and reverenced our parents before honouring Himself. The whole treasure of the earth is ours and yet He remains absolutely unknown to us. It is the clergy who have set up blatant public prayers, so as to levy their toll upon humanity. One true secret prayer is worth a hundred prayers in public. God's Jaws can be preached to us and we can sing His praise; but the fewer prayers we say the better. (Note.—See "The Amended Book of Common Prayer," 1886, Lyon and Blair, now Whitcombe and Tombs, Wellington, N.Z. In this I tried to minimize past evil theological teaching, but did not go far enough.) All a person need do is to firmly trust in Him, and he will be saved many evils; but on no account to neglect our business or family affairs. The whole clerical aim is to make us do so, and lead objectionable spiritual lives in order that they can more easily levy their toll upon us. New Zealand people will be better men and women if they give up so much praying and aiming at spiritual lives, and keep their money in their pockets. No good can possibly follow being a monk or a nun. If we devote too much time to religion we shall inevitably suffer for it. Serve humanity first, and we shall best serve God. Avoid religious or spiritual hysteria and throwing yourselves in the arms of Jesus as much as ever you can. It grows upon one; weakens the moral fibre and debases the mind, as God does not want it. He would rather that we did good, sought the truth about His natural laws, helped the weak and page 24 unfortunate, cultivated a true spirit of forgiveness, loved one another, and paid our debts honourably, than to be constantly throwing ourselves upon Christ, who never paid anybody, but lived upon his friends and enemies indiscriminately. It is astonishing the number of Christians we have who do not pay their debts. Yet if there be any man, like General Booth, who wishes to preach God's grace by all means let him, only when he has done so let some other take up the work I specially asked the worthy General, during his late visit here, to marshal! his soldiery in God's name, and told him his organisation would then sweep the earth; but he declined, and it will not long survive his death. Already it is at a standstill in New Zealand. No organisation—except Roman Catholicism—can long carry the canker-worm of Trinitarianism. The Roman Church does not allow truth and freedom, and it rules by fear. If the nations desire to give up these two great blessings and place their necks beneath the clerical heel, of course the Cross will continue to flourish, and everybody will become Roman Catholic—even my friends the Salvation Army—a most worthy set of people. These sheets of moral lessons I am publishing may assist in saving New Zealand from that fate, which has ruined every nation in Europe that has tried it, and also the nations under the Greek Church. What man is there who will say that a religious life contains now in itself any joy, happiness, progress or human advancement? In truth it is but the negation of these blessings. Yet the happiness of God might be preached to us ! Why should it always be sorrow, sorrow, sin and death ! Why should the world be condemned to follow "A Man of Sorrows" when God really means joy and happiness, beauty and plenty, if we but share what He gives us. As a late poet puts it:—

You can sing a joyful song—
If you cry;
You can help a friend along—
If you try;
You can scatter golden seeds,
You can give to others needs,
You can live in kindly deeds—
If you try.

A wealthy widow of New York has given £1000 a day for the last three years to the poor. In that she did right, and followed Buddha's teaching of giving the surplus she had to the poor. The Gospel asks her to give all she had, in which the Gospel is clearly wrong. God does not ask that.