Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-01-02
eth fludeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall de nnanad.O

| Dub bUuld Ou0 DcI6lbL5 jill EdJ tuS. oOd
believe anything of the Bible" Then al
peal to your own instincts. Prayer in &C
tain circumstances is as natural to man E
tie throbbiug ia the pulse, as the respir'
tion of the lungs. Put company of mem
minent peril, and they will cry out: 5000
have mercy on usl'' challenge that thes
men who don't believe in prayer charter
steamer, go out in the 'Narrows," swim
out eight or nine hundred miles to sea, an
then heave to and wait for cyclone. An
after the cyclone comes and the vessel ha
gone under ten times, when they did no
expect it would rise again, and the bul
warks have been knocked in, aud the mast
are gone-if they do not pray, | will sur
render my theory. Do you tell me tina
this instinct which God has put in US, b
put there just to mock us for his own crue
amusement? If God implanted that instinc
in the human heart, it was because in nj
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 ms
ye ancient battle-felds, ye Oriental thresh
ing floors, ye Judean corn-fislds, ye Gall
lean corn-felds. ye Galilean fishing -smacks
is God deaf, and dumb, and blind before al
human petition? That God answers pray
er, bring the ten million facts of Christen
dom to prove. There has never pape
enough come out of the. paper mills tt
write the story. Has not many mother
prayed back her bad boy from the ends o.
the earth-from Canton, from Madras
from Constantiuople-unti he knslt beside
her in the old homestead? Have there moi
been desperadoes aud renegades who have
looked into the door of prayer-meeting te
laugh and scoff at it, who have been drawn
by the power of prayer. until they ran to
the altar crying out for mercy? Did moi
the blacksmith in Lyons, New York, pray
to God until there came great awakening
that shook the community?
In my parish, in Philadelphia, one night,
at meeting, / asked a young man to 90
into 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,
aud we prayed that he might yield his soul
to God. And when, next night, at the
meeting, the side door was flung open, he
was the first to step in. Prayer had cap
tured him. l had classmatc 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 l 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. l
saw the letter and l knew the young man.
But why should l go so far? l have had
in my own experience, and l 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
they kept up that prayer meeting
of four persons year after year. The world
knew nothing of it. God answered all
those prayers. All the groap came in; the
eleven sons and daughters Of my mother
came in, myself the last.
Sickness came to my household-hopeess
sickness, as it seemed to many. At 8 O'Clock
On Saturday afternoon the invalid was car
ried to the steamer for Savannah. At II
o'clock the next day, being Sunday, stand
ing in this very place, man of God prayed
for the recovery of the sick one At that
time, II o'clock, she who had been pros
trated three weeks, with some help,
walked up on deck. The occurrence was
as near to being miraculous as / can
imagine. That she was hopelessly sick,
people who sat up with her night after
night, and are here, Can testify. That the
prayer for her recovery was offered in this
pulpit, thousands of people could testify
That at IL o'clock on that Sunday morning
,he walked up on deck, as by miraculous
recovery, call the passengers on the San
Jacinto, commanded by Captain Atkins,
10
second hand story.
Prayer impotent If dared &c think
here was no force in prayer, methinks GOO,
after all he has done for me and mine,
would strike me dead. Prayer impotent
Why, it is the mightiest force in the uni
verse. Lightning has no speed, the Alpine
avalanche has no power, compared with it.
Will you let the distractions and the
of few skeplics, or a good many
skeptics, stand beside the experience of
the English army, lifted his hat, and called
upon the Lord Almighty or of Georg
Washington, who at Valley Forge was
found upon his knees in prayer? or Of Will
liam Wilberforce, who went from the
British Parliament to the closet of devotion?
or of Latimer, who stood with his hands on
fire, in martydom, praying for his perse-
cutors? 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 promises to
you. Let God be true, though every man
be found liar.
And low, in conclusion, have to pre-.
sent 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 blank check
with your name to it. You do not know
what might be written above. But here is
a blank check which God says 1 can give
you; it is signed by the handwriting of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you can fill it up
with anything you want to. 'Ask, and it
shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall
fiud." 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. Oh! will you test him? That is the
outcome of all this subject.
If / should ask the men and women in
this audieacs who have found 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. 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 supplics-
ton for you. Having heard you in days of
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
only strength enough left to pray: "Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit? ?"
MY love. what magic spell is thrown
Upon your face? Its charm own.
Whence came thy pure and pearly teeth?
Thy rosy lips? Thy perfumed breath?
She said in accents sweet and clear.
"'Tis only SOZODONT, my DEAR"
The Atmosphere of Love