Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-02
HFFiUACY OF PRAYER.
The Conditions Upon which sup
piicatiOn Is GRANTED.


Az the First Presbyterian church
YESTERDAY forenoon, Rev. W. j. Chi
chester, the pastor. announced tha
this would be week OF prayer IN al
the Evangelical churches, and nc
would therefore take for the sublec
of his discourse the efficacy Of prayer
There were three conditions indispen
cable to secure the full fruitage o
prayer. First, the supplicatol
must be endued with holiness; sec
ond, he must have faith, and, third
he must be perfectly Submissive ,C
the Divine Will. The efficacy Of pray
er Ia shown in numberless instances
throughout the Bible; but in every
instance where the supplication has
been answered it has been to q MAI
of holiness. We all remember how
Daniel, having consulted The books
OF the prophecies, and knowing that
the captivity was nearing its end, fer
vently implored the Almighty for a
message. For three weeks no an
swer came, but at the end Of that
time an angel came 10 him
and said that his prayer had been
granted at once, but that the angel
was delayed on his way by the pow
ers OF darkness, until the Archangel
Michael forced for him q passage.
This showed that prayer from one
who is holy is answered at once.
All prayers would not be answered,
for the Divine Will would exercise its
discretion as to the propriety of the
thing asked for. But one fully wrapt
up in holiness would have
his spiritual vision so clar.
fled that he would ask only for
that which could or ought
to be granted. 1t sometimes happens
that good Christians pray for dir, city
opposite things, when, of course, one
side must be disappointed. An Incl
dent which occurred du ing the War
of the Rebellion would illustrate this.
Just on the eve Of great battle, the
opposing forces being very near each
other, Confederate Christians on one
side were supplicating for victory
to their arms, whilst on the other
Union soldiers were praying for sue
cess to Their arms. Both petitions
cold not be granted, an 80 each was
left to abide the result of Cromwell =
maxim, "to pray hard, but be sure to
keep their powder dry" Prayer was
etfieacious TO the extent that the
thing asked for was consistent with
the higher objects OF God, and came
from source that was a fitting i'll
strument to supplicate with holiness
and faith the Throne Of Grace. God
would grant in response to prayer
whatever. He considered for
our good and consistent with
His own great designs and Submission
to His divine will whatever the result,
was the duty Of the true Christian.
We pray for the sick when the pliysi-
cal laws established, by the Omni-
potent would be violated if the prayer
We're granted. Yet We cannot but feel,
even if the prayer be not answered
according 10 o;ir desire. that II has no,
been unavailiag OF good both tc
the one prayed for and the one praying.
We must not look for miraculous
Intervention whenever we are threat
ened with O. great calamity.
Yet, far beyond what we may
conceive ought to be the re-
Spouse TO our invoca' ion, there
may be resulting blessings in the pc
titions we have sent Throneward.
God has established His own laws to
govern the Universe. We are but an
atom in his great scheme. What we
may think is best for ourselves, He
may know is not or it may be incOn-
sistent with His higher objects. But
whether the prayers of the Christian
are Immediately answered or not
whether we feel that the blow has
been av-rted or not; whether we
realize that we have been
at the time denied our petition or not
we all know and feel that there has
been something gained by prayer. 1t
is in the spirit that We approach God
in pra,e that we shall realize the
benefits from it. No physical test
offered to be tried by the scientist
as to the efficacy OF prayer will
prove or disprove it. God will
not subject His will, His laws or His
designs to the test OF the laboratory
or to the impious indicature of pre-
sumptuous mortals. The true Chris
tian knows--for he has an inner con
seriousness OF the fact-that his
pray rs IRE answered. Ii he be holy
have faith and is submissive, he will
ask for nothing that should not b5
granted, and therefore his petitions
to the Throne OF Grace are always
efIicacious, for they bring to him that
balm aud consolation that can only
come from OH high. 1t is not to bt
presumed that He who denied ever
the prayer of His own son in the Gar
den OF Gethsemane, when he asked
that he might be spared the cup o
agony, that to mere creature. like
ourselves He would grant petititioni
that were inconsistent with his grea
designs, or that He knew would not D'
for our own good. Shakespeare
whom the more we read the more We
love, has said:
--"whats In prayer but this tNof0.d force
To be forestalled ere We come to full,
Or pardoued, being DOWN."
Prayer truly averts the evil of sill
and secures its forgiveness When com
mitted. The solace which the tru'
Christian has in prayer is an imme
date reward; and the favorable re
sponses he consciously receives to hi
petitions assure him Of the efficacy o
prayer. Therefore, let none OF Il
absent ourselves from the daily pray
meetings this week. We can all prA,
for the conversion OF sinners AM
thank God for the boundlees favor
- Il II roaoiv.H