The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-01-18
The Efficacy of PrayeF-.A Case
for Prof TymdalIo

Mrs. Wintringham, a~Fespectable wild
owed gentlewoman of Sheffield, Eng
land, while recently upon a visit to
some friends in a northern county, was
taken to hear the eloquent defamation
of a noted dissenting eXhorter, who had
become particularly celebrated for his
exaltatiOn of the efficacy of prayer.
This favorite topic of his was the one
he had chosen on the occasion in ques-
ton; and his earnest, vivid manner of
explaining that, in addition tOits super
natural value, deVOut invocation was
a beneficent, magnetic energy, capable
of the most wonderful natural effects,
induced the Sheffield lady to seek an
introduction to him after the meeting"
for the especial purpose of relating a
striking illustration from her own ex-
p~erience. The preacher, a man of re-
fined and intellectual appearance, and
with a curious timidity in his manner,
heard the annecdote with an interest
%nerVOusly disprOpOrtiOnate to its ap-
parent consequence, then after an awk-
ward pause begged that its narrator
would not again relate it in that place
until he should first have an OpDOrtuitv
to use it in the pulpit. In some sur
prise Mrs. Nottingham acceded to the
request, ultimately attributing it to the
good mans eccentricity, and the two
did not meet again until they were once
o. speaker and nearer in the sane
tuary. Upon the latter occasion the
subject of exhOrtation was again ''the
souls sincere desire, uttered or unex-
pressed" and the principal illustration
was as follows: "Four OF five years
! intensity of manner, ga lady living in
an old fashioned house in one of our
southern counties discovered. upon re-
firing to herrOom about midnight, that
there was a man concealed under her
bed. Almost alone in the house, and
quite alone in that wing of it, the lady
knew not what to do. She was afraid
togo to the door and unlock it, lest the
burglar should suspect she was about to
summon help, and intercept her. To
gain time she sat down and took her
Bible from her dressing-table. Open
ing the sacred book at random it so
happened that the chapter lighted on
was that containing the parable of the
Prodigal Son. Kneeling down when
the chapter was ended she prayed aloud
prayed earnestly and f~ervently. She
besOught safety for herself during the
perils of the night, and cast herself
in supreme confidence on the Divine
pLOlCSlIOAs 44lCu pAlSSN lOI OLLlSiS
who might have been tempted into i'll
doing that they might be led from evil,
and brought into the fold of Christ; that
to such might be ~vOuchsafed the ten
der mercy and kindness promised to
all who truly repent their sins. Lastly
she prayed that, if he willed it, even to-
night some such sinner might be saved
from the wrath to come, might, like the
Prodigal, be made to see that he had
sinned, and might be welcomed back
with the joy that awaits even one peni-
tent. The lady rose from her knees
and went to bed. The man got up as
noiselessly as he could, and said: 'Imean
you no harm, ma'am; I am going to
leave the house, and thank you for your
prayers With difficulty he opened the
bedroom door, and presently she heard
him open a window in another part of
the house and drop down into the gar
den, Upon reaching this apparent end
Of the narrative the speaker bowed his
head for a moment, as in silent supplica-
ton, and then added in a broken voice,
"The good woman of whom I have
told you is with us now, and the sinner
to whom her simple, womanly prayer
was shame, remorse, penitence, and a
future of repentant explanation is he
who.here confesses himselft to you andto
his Maker ~