The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-01-04

story. Has not many Q 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 renegades who have
looked into the door Of prayer meeting to
laugh and scof at it, who have been
drawn BY the power Of prayer until they
ran to the altar crying out for mercy? Did
not the blacksmith in Lyons, N. Y, pray
TO God until there came q great awakening
that shook the community?
In my parish in Philadelphia one night
at a meeting 1 asked q young man to 60
into q 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 10 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, DR.. John Scudder, Of India, wrote
to him, saying: 81 will pray for you
every day until such a day and then Twill
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.
l saw the letter and knew the young man.
But why should 60 so far? 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 and daughters of my
mother came ill., myself the last.
Sickness came to NV household-hope-
less sickness, as it seemed to many. At
three O'Clock Saturday afternoon the in
valid was carried to the steamer for Sa-
vannah. AT eleven O'Clock the next day,
being Sunday. standing in this very place,
a 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 deck. The
occurrence was as near to being miracu-
lous as l can imagine. That she was hope
lessly sick, people who sat up with her
night after night, and here, can testify.
That the prayer for her recovery was Of
fered in this pulpit, thousands of people
could testify. That at eleven O'Clock on
that Sunday morning she walked up on
deck. as by a miraculous recovery, l call
the passengers on the San JacintO, COM
manded by Captain Atkins, December 10,
to testify. This is no set ondh story.
Prayer impotsnt! 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 avalaDche has no power COM
pared with it.
Will you let the distractions and the
vagaries 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 devotion? or Of Latimer, who
stood with his hands on fire, in martyr
dom. praying for his prosecutors? Was
Washington weak? Was Havelock weak?
Was Wilberforce 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 day of eternity will show you
that the best investments you ever made
were your prayers, and though you may
have broken promises you made to God,
God never broke his promise to you. Let
God be true, though every man be found a
liar.
And now, in conclusion, have to present
you 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 q blank check with
your name to it. You do not know what
might be written above. But here is q
blank check which God says l can give
you; it is signed by the handwriting of
the Lord Jesus Christ and you can fill it
up with any thing you want TO- ASK and
it shall be given you, seek and We shall
find" do not say that your prayer will
be answered in just the way you expect,
but do say it will be answered in the best
way. o! will 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 prayer
answering God to rise up you would nearly
all rise up. In time of darkness and
trouble, as in time of light and prosperity,
He answered you. 1 commend you to that
God to whom your Parents dedicated you
in infancy. They believed so much in
prayer that their last word was a suppli-
cation for you. Having heard you in days
Of prosperity He will not reject your last
petition, when in the darkened 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
enough strength left to pray: Lord
Jesus receive my spirit"