The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-16
How Not TO Pray.

The Cnngrcgaiionnlist, in mn article headed "Poor
I reaching In Public Prayer" wonders " SONS or the
how poorly they preach when they pray IN public
The writer SAYS God Is omniscient Why. then,
should He be discourscd to. and this and tlat be
doctrinally or practically explained to Him? The
editor continues as follows:
"If we were not afraid of the ps%rilous edge Of rldi-
Guile of sacred things, we should be tempted to Illus.
tra,e what we mean by what We can recall oil the man.
Hesitation of the fault to which we refer In late ex'
annie. We will tone 1t down rs much as may he,
preferrlng to risk fiatness in llace Of something worse.
The speaker informed the Lord that 1t was a Singh.
larry beautiful morning, and that after the storm the
ocean was very quiet; that Gains after storms ae
exceedingly pleasant, and indeed useful that after n
man has been very angry, md sets over 1t, he has a
chance to he ashamed OF himself; that s'orms src
~salutary, and do things good In . general way that
tie sun never seems so bright, and earth such m
agreeable residence rs after a few days Of cloudy
weather and the gloom Of Storms; that 1t Is q blessed
thing to have sunshine In our hearts. and We oil may
have 1t II wo vii! but remember that God Is the gr.n
Sun who shines for all, and open those hearts to His
gracious shining that our tears Of p~rniteDce may be
considered rain-dr0ps which will tertilIze the dry ana
thirsty earth Of good resolutions. d~csiccated BY pro-
crastinatinn, which Is the thief "f time that the
brightness Of morning, 1t behooVes us to remember,
however. introduces quite often the fervors OF the
midday Of toll, and tho1engthenlng shadows OF sensi-
bility that we all must die, and that some die In the
morning OF life, while 0thers last till the sere and
/ yellow Leaf OF a trelnulous old acc ~lnt,ers to the
ground, and leaves theu-to die ut last that many
OF usare now in the midday Of the worlds anxirties
and snhlunary concerns; that each morning sees
some task begin. each evening sccs 1t close. 0 may
something attempted, something done, have earned q
nights repose; that the past week has been one O.
good health generally In this congregation, for which
we hope we are duty thankful that the fields seem
to promise to be fertile, and the husbandman may
reasonably anticipate q prosperous season, provided II
the morning he SOW his seed. and In the event, 9
withhold not his hand from the (why didn'thc say 20
ta'o bugs md be done with it?) protection OF his mas
-.A -.,, f.4.,, yInun ,nrotnrt,nu IN uthiNf
seem to have been PERMITTED by an infinitely wis.,
Providence to remind us once more that the price o
liberty is eternal vigilance; that-we stopped remam
bering just then, and our mind wandered.
He kept on about ten minutes longer And n happy
looking gentleman. seeing we were q stranger, asked
in o pleasant way as We came out If We didn't thinl
that was q great praycr-sucb as them Ep!scopaliat
fellows don't get out Of their book, you know Ant
we said we thought 1t was-Quite s~o.-C0urfer
Journal.
II ANYBODY recognizes the following rambling re
marks as a prelude TO a discourse to the Lord, befor'
an audience Of worshippers, we are not to blame: :,
Almighty and most Gracious King, who En0Tetf
the heart of man, and who is ever present with him
even unto the remotest bounds OF the earth, and wht
knoweth all our needs before we can ask. and VIII,
stands ever ready to henr prayer and grant the psti
ton Of thy servants of whom l am a special iavorlte
we would look to Thee as the Governor OF the Uni
verse, who even holdcth the waters Of tho sen In tn
hollow Of thy hand, and who upturneth the noun
tains ut thy will, and whose power and dominion GOV
erns even the armies Of heaven, which Is lighted D.
the glory of God our Father, we would In great hl
mility acknowledge our own nnworthiness to TAX
thy holy name upon our lips, and acknowledging ais
that II thou vert strict to mark iniquity against VI
we could not answer for one sin In a thousand. Wit
these few preliminary and complimentary remarks "
would come to business. In full confidence OF my loV
Ing favor approach the Throne Of Ora e, where thy OF
, loved Son, our Snvioar. stitch Mt thy right hand t
Judge OF the merits Of thy children on the final day
when VIC shall come forth from our narrow beds q
clay In the habiiments of the grave and when tn