Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-05-06
DO YOU PRAYg

| DO YOU PRAYS
Abraham did. And God gave him an heir
in whom all nations should be blessed and
promised to his descendants the land of Ca
naan; and would have spared even Sodom
at his request, had there been but ten right.
eous men in it; and made him the honored
founder of mighty nation and an ancestor
of the great Messiah.
with God and prevailed and was blessed by
Him at Penel; and again at Padan Aram
and was spared through the famine; and
richly blessed in his person, bis family and
his descendants through all the Jewish nation.
Moses did. And God made him the de-
liverer of his people, to lead them out Of their
bondage in Egypt, and conduct them through
the opening sea and to the very border Of the
promised land, and to give them His law and
His ordinances; and when his end was come,
buried him with His own hand in the valley,
after he had died upon the mount.
Joshua did. And he was permitted to 60
into the promised land and possess it, and
overthrow the enemies of his people, and es-
tablsh them as a nation in their promised
possession.
David did. And though the cares of
kingdom pressed upon him, he still found
time for communion with God, and has left
us in the Psalms the richest treasury Of devo-
ton that the world ever seen.
Hezekiah did. And his life was prolonged
for fifteen years and the Assyrians were des-
troved, hundred and fifty thousand of them
in single night; and the Babylonish cap
tivity was delayed till he had gone to his rest.
Daniel did, And though the mobiles of
Babylon conspired for his ruin, God kept him
in safety, and closed the mouths of the lions,
that he should not be injured, and gave him
the highest honors of the kingdom.
Paul did. And it was the first pulsation
of his new life in Christ Jesus "Behold, he
prayeth," was the mark, divinely given, of
his conversation and discipleship-from his
being the bitter prosecutor Of the saints to
being saint himself. And his life of prayer
led him to life of labor for his couutrymen,
for the Gentiles, for the Church of Christ,
till at last his prayers were merged in the
endless praises of heaven.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did.
And we should never forget it. Though him.
self perfect and divine, with no sins to be par
doued, no evil passions to be subdued, no
temptations that He could not resist, no weak
ness that He could not overcome, no enemies
that He could not conquer, still, as a man,
He prayed. In the desert, in the garden, on
the deep, by the wayside, by Himself, with
His disciples, and on the cross, He prayed.
And His prayers were heard and answered,
in blessings on His followers, and the Church,
and dying but ransomed world.
| 49, Nd
results in view, do you pray? With all the
commands, and encouragements and promises
to prayer, do you pray? Do you ask, when
God has said you shall receive? Do you
seek, when He has promised you shall find ?
Do you knock, when He has declared it shall
be opened unto you? When He has said He
is more willing to grant His Holy Spirit to
them that ask it than earthly parents are to
give good gifts to their children, do you come
and ask, that you may receive that Spirit,
and so live forever? With all these encour.
agements and promises in view, 90 you pray
american Messenger.
A CALLED PEopLE.-The people of God
are called people. They are not driven to
their churches, nor are they brought there BY
any trick or mercenary plans. The church
is body made up of those who are called to
membership in it, and who respond as under
the influence of the divine Spirit. This should
make US feel more thoroughly the voluntari-
ness of religion, and also the conservation
which it demands. 1t should also teach US
that the honest, frank, earnest presentation
of the gospel is that which the genius of
Christianity requires, and which God will
bless to an effective end. The tricky, tiashY
senspti~--