The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1888-12-28


pray, devotion and work going to-
gether. Luther came TO Melancthon's
bedside and prayed for his recovery,
and insisted, at the same time, that he
should take some warm soup, the soup
being just as important as the prayer.
In the time of the great plague that
came TO York, of England, tho priests
prayed all night and all Gay for
tho removal Of the plague, but did
not think Of clearing out the dead
dogs and cats that lay in the cutters,
causing the sickness. We must use
means us well as supplication. If a
man has evening prayers" ask
ing for health, and then sits
down to a full supper Of indi-
gestibles at II o'clock at night, his
prayer is mockery. A farmer has
no right to pray for the safety Of his
family when he knows there is no
cover on the cistern. The Christian
man, reckless about his health, ought
not to expect the same answer to his
prayer as the Christian man expects
who retires regularly at 10 o'clock at
night and takes his morning bath with
the appendix of a Turkish towel. Paul
said to the passengers Of the Alexan-
drian corn ship that they should get
safe ashore, but he told them they
must use means, and that was: "Stick
to the old ship" God is not weak,
needing our help, but God is strong,
and asks us to cooperate with him
that we may be strong, too. Pray by
all means, but don't forget the fig
poultice.
THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER ILLUS
TRATED.
That God answers prayers offered in
the right spirit seconded by our own
effort, is the first and the last lesson Of
this text, and it is lesson that this
age needs to learn. If all communi.
cation between heaven and earth is
cut off, let us know it. If all the
Christian prayers that are going up
toward God never reach him, then, I
say, let silence smite the lips Of the
afflicted world, and the nations smother
their groans and die quietly. God
does answer prayer. The text shows
it. You say: 81 don't believe the
Bible; / think that those things were
merely condolences, which are
often brought as answers to prayer"
Do you say thats Was it mere
happen so that Elijah prayed
for rain Just as the rain was going to
come anyhow Did Daniel pray in
the wild beasts den just at The time
when all the lions happened to have
lockjaw9 Did Jesus pray at the grave
of Lazarus just at the time when Laz-
arus was going to dress himself and
come out anyhow Did Jesus lose his
place in his sermon and make mis-
take when he said: "Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto
you9" And, lest some were SO stupid
they could not understand it, he goes
on: For every one that asketh re-
ceiveth, and he that seeketh findeth,
and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened. {"
But some one persists in saying: u
don't believe anything Of the Bible.
Then / appeal to your own instincts.
PRAYER in certain circumstances is as
natural to man as the throbbing in the
pulse, as the respirationltof ~ lungs.
Put company of men-I don't care
how bad they are-in some imminent
peril, and they will cry out: God
have mercy on usl" l challenge that
these men who don't believe in prayer
charter steamer, 60 out in the Mar
rows" swing out eight or nine hun
dred miles to sea, and then heave to
and wait for acyclone. And after the
cyclone comes and the vessel has gone
under ten times, when they did not
expect it would rise again, and the
bulwarks have been knocked in, and
the masts are gone-if they do not
pray, will surrender my theory. Do
you tell me that this instinct which God
has put in us, he put there just to
mock us for his own cruel amusement
If God implanted that instinct in the
human heart, it was because in his own
heart there was something responsive.
To prove that God does hear prayer,
! put on the witness stand Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Ezekiel, jeremiah, Micah,
John, Paul, Peter and King Hezekiah.
Tell me, ye ancient battlefields, We
Oriental threshing floors, We Judean
corn fields, ye Galilean fishing
smacks, is God deaf and dumb and
blind before all human petition9 That
God answers prayer, I bring the ten
million facts Of Christendom to prove.
There has never paper enough come
out of the paper mills to write the
story. Has not many a mother prayed
back her bad boy from the ends Of the
earth-from Canton, from Madras,
from Constantinople-until he knelt
beside her in the old homestead Have
there not been desperadoes and rene
gades who have looked into the door
Of prayer meeting to laugh and scott
at it, who have been drawn by the
power of prayer, until they ran to the
altar crying out for mercy9 Did not
the blacksmith in Lyons, N. Y, pray
to God until there came great ava
kening that shook the community
A STORY OF HOW PRAYERS WERE AN
SEVERED.
In my parish, in Philadelphia, one
night, at meeting, / asked young
man to go into room at the side Of
the church, and talk upon the theme
of religion. He grew violently angry,
and shook his fists atme. We resolved
to pray for that young man, and we
10Y l. l. A.,