, 1876-09-30

I'0 10 'hIlh'l ".'.' 'N- ''' 49,
rrmcc: and the king OF the OIymponN
,rnd, messenger to see that the storm
i.aIlaycd and the ships arc permitted to
Gain a harhor Of safety.
Such were the early ideas OF the place
and the work OF prayer.
All through medieval Christianity sim,
liar ideas prevailed. Each city or pco,
pIc or convent had its special mtc'NIy
saint: and to him, rs to Il iaYorte at
court. their petitions were addressed
He was supposed to have influence IN
heaven. and to look after their peculiar
and personal wants. God, to them, was
not the allprc,cnt, watchiuI father
/ They thought they needed special inter
cc,sors and friends at the heavenly court.
/ And even to-day throughout Romlsh
/ CmistcndOm the great majority oi
prayers 90 up to the saints and to Mary,
whoc tender mothcrh heart is supposed
TO bc most easily touched and moved at
their requests. And Il thought like this
last seems to he injecting all Protestant
ism. The Bible nowhere gives cOuntc-
nance to making Jesus the object Of
PRAYER; and most intelligent and
thoughtful writer's oppose 1t as unscrlpt-
ual and wrong. But in the popular
mind the Father has come very largely
to represent the law, while Jesus is the
embodiment of the loving and saving
god, and thus to him the tenderness and
love Of all hearts turn and to him are
addressed the plcadingS and the prayers
OF the anxious and fearful souls.
The common idea of prayer to-day is,
in the main, that of the ancient heathcn
world AS | have many times heard 1t
from the lips of a prominent evangelist,
"Prayer is the power that moves the
arm that moves the world 1t is sup
posed that by it God can be prevailed ON
to do many things he otherwise would
not. Stillingtlcct, an old English writer,
says, Prayer is supposed means to
change the person to whom we pray" "
1t is believed to have power to bring to
pass the things prayed Tor all over the
world
Within n few years in Scotland the
whole church was ordered to hold u ser
vice Of fastening and prayer for deliver
ance trpm Il severe disease among the
cattle. Only year or two since the
whole church Of England was holding Il
special service for the recovery Of the
Prince of Wales, who was sick. Muller,
in his Life of Trust" claims that hc
has established, and that he constantly
supports, an immense orphan.housc
simply by prayer. He seems entirely 10
overlook the fact that such claim, con
tinualIy rcpublished and kept before the
popular mind, is the most ingenious and
effective kind Of advertising possible 1t
is perpetual appeal and prayer to the
popular sympathy and help. TO one
who at all appreciates the springs that
move the popular heart and the popular
imagination, there is nothing strange
about it. DR.. Cullis here in Boston
makes n similar claim concerning his
Cousumptives' Home. And yet hardly
an institution in the city il more per-
sistently advertised. He also has his
troops of children travelling all over the
State, visiting the churches, and exciting
the popular interest in the pety and the
wonder Of the work he is doing. la one
Of his books of sermons, Mr. Talmagc as
cribcs the remarkable success and safety
Of Il certain line of ocean steamers to the
fact that the wife of one of the hcad,pro-
prietors, makes each ship, as it starts
from port, the subject of special prayer.
This theory is slightly interlercd with
by the knowledge that another line,
that has no proprictor's wife to pray
for it, has lost less ships in thirty
years than it has. And, besides, were
this all true, insurance companies would
be an impertenence as well as an useless
outlay Of money. Most Of our church.
es in America have ceased praying for
rain though still the annual Fast is APP
pointed, and is supposed to have some
influence on the general welfare Of the
people.
Now, all Of these illustrations simply