Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-01-07
N U NJ b 3 B l5,

against his, influence, and the Lord an.
swered him by assuring him. NY grace
is sufficient for thee Who does not
know that II was, and that PauPs influence
ultimately triumphed sz@1=
But admitting that Paups prayer was
not answered by granting the particular,
thing for which he prayed, In order To- !
make out this case as an exception to the
prayer of faith, they are obliged to assume
the very thing, to be proved; end thai. is, !
that the apostle prayed In taitk There
is no reason to suppose that Paul would
always pray in faith any more than that !
any other christian does lie very man
.ner ia which God answered him shows
that it was not in faith, He virtually tells
him, That thorn is necessary for your
sancti6cation, and to keep you from. being
exalted above measure. Isentit upon You
in love. and in faithfulness, and you have
No buSinessto pray that should takeit
away.-LET ITALONE.9 go ~ 3
= There is not only no evidence that he.
prayed in faith, buta strong presumption
that he: did not From the history tits
evident that he had nothing on.Which to,
repose faith: There was no express prom
tse, no general promise, that could be APP
plicable, no providence of God, no proph-
.ecy no teaching of the Spirit that God
would remove this thorn; but the presump-
ton wasthat God would not removesit.--
He had given it to him for a particular
purpose, His prayer appears to have been
selfish, praying against mere personal In
convenience, This was not any personal
suffering that retarded his usefulness, but
on the; contrary it was given HIM to in
crease his usefulness by keeping him hum
Bile, and because on some account he
found it inconvenient and mortifying, he
set himself to pray out ofhiss own heart,
evidently without being led to IT By the :.
Spirit of God But didtPauI pray IN
faith without the Spirit Of God, any more
than any other man2 And will any one.
undertake to say that the Spirit Of God
led himto pray thatthis might be removed,
when God himself had given ii for par
hcularpurpose, which purpose could not
be answered only as the thorn continued
with him -: - ;s7szsst.%:.
Why then is this made an excep.~
ton to the general rule laid down in the
text, that man shall receive whatsoever
he asks infaith! Twas once amazed and
,grieFed at a public examinationlat Theo3
logical Seminary, to hear then darkeir
counsel by words without knoWledpeon
this subject. This case of Paul and that
of. Christ Just adyerted to, were both of
them cited as instances to prove to their
students that the prayer of faith would not =.
be'ansWered in the particular thing for
which they prayed Now toteaeh such
sentiments as these In or out of a. Theolo-
gIcai Seminary, is to trife with the word
of God, and to break the power of the
Christian ministry. Has it come to this,
that, our grave doctors in our seninafies,
are employed to instruct Zion watchmen,
to believe and teach that it is not to beck
.pected that the prayer Of faith is to be an
swered in granting the object for which
we, pray? Oh, tell it not tn Gath, nor Let
the sound reach Askalon What is to-
become of the church while such are the
views of its gravest and most influential
ministers :, would not be unkind nor
censorieus, but as one eftLe ministerscf
Jesus Christ, feel bound to bear testimo-
NY against such perVersion of the word
of God -
/ 5. 1t is. evident that the prayer of faith
will obtain the blessing, FROM the fact that
our faith rests on evidence that TO grant
that thing is the will Of God. Not evil
deace that so netting else will be gran
ted but that this particular thing will be-
But how, then can we have evidence that
this thing will be granted, if another thing
is to be granted! People often receive
more than they pfay~for, Solomon prayed
for wisdom, and Sod granted him riches
and honor in addition So a wife some
times prayls for the conversion of her hiis-
band, and ifshe offers the prayer,offaitfl,
God may not only grant that blesseng, but
convert her child and her whole family.->
Blessings sometimes seem to hang foeeth-.
en-, so that ifa Christian gains one he gets
them all. - 49, - 81
V. amsto show how we aresto come
into this state ofhmind, in which 5wecan
offer such poayer. People sometimes
ask, How shall I offer such prayer -
Shall say, Now will pray m faith for =
such and such zblessings?" Nc, the hui
man mind is not moved in this Way.
You might just as well say, Now will
ealf up spirit from the bottonfless pit u -
Ianswer, 800
Il. You must first obtain eeidenee that
God viii bestow the blessing How did
Daniel make out to offer the prayer Of
faith? He searched the Scriptures
Now you need not let your Bible lie on
a shelf, and expect God to reveal his prom=s
ises to you. Search the Scriptures. and
see where You can get either general
or special promise, or prophecy, on
which Yon can plant your feet when YOU