The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1889-01-03

We ancient battle fields, ye Oriental
thrashing- floors, We Judean corn-felds,
We Galilean ishing-smacks, is God deaf
and dumb and blind before all human
petition? That God answers prayer, L
bring 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-u until he knelt beside her
in the old homestead? Have there not
been desperadoes and renegades who
have looked into the door of prayer
meeting to laugh and scoff at it, who have
been drawn by the power of prayer until
they ran to the altar crying out for mercyi
Did not the blacksmith in Lyons New
| York; pray To God until there came
| great awakening that shook the COM
munity?
In my parish In Philadelphia, one night,
| ut a meeting, asked q young man to go
| into a room at the side of the church and
talk upon the theme of religion. He grew
violently angry and shook his fists at me.
| We resolved to pray for that young man,
and We prayed that he might yield his soul
to God. And when, next night, at the meet
/ ing, the side door was flung open, he was the
! first to step in. Prayer had captured him.
| had a classmate in college whose uncle,
Or. John Scudder, of India, wrote to him
/ saying: 81 will pray for you every day
until such day, and then will give my
attention to some other subject" The
last day of these prayers, when they had
all gathered up before the throne of God.
my classmate surrendered his soul to
Jesus. This is no second hand story. /
saw the letter, and knew the young man.
But why should go so far? l have had
in my own experience, and have had in
the history of my own family the evidence
that God answers prayer. My mother,
with three Christian women, assembled
week after week, and prayed for their
children. They kept up that prayer-meet-
ing of four persons year after year. The
world knew nothing of it. God answered
all those prayers. All the group came in;
the eleven sons aud daughters of my
mother came in, myself the last.
Sickness came to my household-hope-
less sickness, as it seemed to many. At
three O'Clock on Saturday afternoon the
invalid was carried to the steamer for Sa-
vannah. At eleven O'Clock the next day,
being Sunday, standing in this very place,
man of God prayed for the recovery of
the sick one. At that time, eleven O'Clock,
she who had been Frustrated three weeks,
with some help, walked up on the deck.
The occurrence was as near to being
miraculous as l can imagine. That she
was hopelessly sick, people who sat up
with her night after night, and are hero,
can testify. That the prayer for her re-
covery was offered in this pulpit, thou
sands of people could testify. That at
eleven O'Clock on that Sunday morning
she walked up on deck, as by miraculous
recovery, l call the passengers on the San
Jacinto, commanded by Captain Atkins,
December 1G, to testify. This is no Sec
ond-hand story.
Prayer impotent! If dared to think
there was no force in prayer, methinks
God, after all He has done for ME and
mine, would strike me dead. Prayer i'm
potent! Why, it is the mightiest force in
the universe. Lightning has no speed, the
Alpine avalanche has no power compared
with it.
Will you let the distractions and the
yagaries Of few skeptics, or good many
skeptics, stand beside the experience of
General Havelock, who came out in front
of the English army, lifted his hat and
called upon the Lord Almighty? Or of
George Washington, who at Valley Forge
was found upon his knees in prayer? Or
of William Wilberforce, who went from
the British Parliament to the closet of de-
votion? Or Of Latimer, who stood with
his hands on fire, in martyrdOm, praying
for his prosecutors? Was Washington
weak? Was Havelock weak? Was Will
berforce weak? Was Latimer weak?
Bring all the affairs of your store, of your
soul, of your body, of your friends, Of
your church before Him, and the great
1elS,. hoe
investments you ever made were your
prayers, and though you may have broker
promises you made to God, God never
broke His promises to you. Let God be
true, though every man be found liar.
And now, In conclusion, l have to pre-
sent you with some checks, blank checks,
on the bank of Heaven, written in blood,
and signed by the hand wounded on the
cross. 1t is not safe for you to give
blank check with your name on it. You
do not know what might be written above.
But here Ia blank check which God says
| can give you; it is signed by the hand
writing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
can fill it up with any thing you want to.
"Ask, and it shall be given 10 you; seek,
and We shall find" do not say that your
prayer will be answered in just the way
you expect, but l do say it will be an
swered in the best way. Oh! VIII you
test Him? This Is the outcome of all this
subject.
If should ask the men and women in
this audience who have found God a
prayer answering God, to rise up, you
would nearly all rise up. In time OF
darkness and trouble, az in time of
light and prosperity, He answered
you. l commend you to that God to whom
your parents dedicated you in infancy.
They believed so much in prayer that
their last word was supplicatiOn for
you. Having heard You in days Of pros
perity, He will not reject your last petit
ton, when in the darkenod room, after
they have wiped the dew of death from
your brow, and the whole group of loved
ones have kissed you goodbye, you have
only strength enough left to pray: Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit"
Apborlsms from the Study.
Some one should preach a sermon on the
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