The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-01-09

himself and come out anyhow Did Jesus
lose his place in his sermoa and make
mistake when he said: ASK, and 1t shall
b given you. seek. and We shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you"
And, lest some were so stupid they could
not understand it, he goes on: "For every
one that asketh receivath, and he that
seeketh flndeth, and to him that knocketh
1t shall be opened"
But some one persists In saying: II
don't believe any thing of the Bible"
Then l appeal to your own instincts.
Prayer in certain circumstances is as nat
ural to man as the throbbing in the pulse, as
the respiration of the lungs. Put a com.
pany of men-I don't care how bad they
are--in some mm nent peril, and they will
cry out! "God have mercy on us!"
challenge that these men who don't believe
in prayer charter steamer 60 out in the
"Narrows," swing out eight or nine hum
dred miles to sea, and then heave to and
wait for cyclone. 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, 1t 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 Hezekah. Tell me,
ye ancient battle fields, ye Oriental
threshing floors. we Judean corn-felds,
We Galilean fishing. srnacks, is God deaf
and dumb and blind before all human p
tition! That God answers prayer, 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 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 a prayer-meeting
| to laugh and scott at II, 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 . great awaken
ing 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 fist 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
meeting, the side door was flung open, he
was the first to step in. Prayer had cap
tured him. had classmate in college,
whose uncle, DR.. 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 oil
God, my classmate surrendered his soul t.
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 evi
dence that God answers prayer. My
mother, with three Christian women
assembled week after week and prayed To-
their children; they kept up that praye
meeting of four persons year after year
The world knew nothing of 1t. Col an
swered all those prayers. All the groul
came in; the eleven sons and daughter
of my mother came in, myself the last.
Sickness came to my household-hope
less sickness, as 1t seemed to many. A
three O'Clock on Saturday afternoon tn
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 O
the sick one. At that time eleven O'Clock
she who had been Frustrated three weeks
with some help walked up on deck. Th
occurrence was as near to being miracu
lous as can imagine. That she was hope
J lessly sick, people who sat up with he
night after night and are here, can testify
That the prayer for her recovery was OF
fered in this pulpit thousands of peopl
could testify. That at eleven O'Clock O
that Sunday morning she walked up O
, deck, as by a miraculous recovery, ca
, the passengers on the San Jacinto, com
} manded by Captain Atkins, December II
: to testify. This is no second hand story
, Prayer impotent! II dared to thin
, that there was no force in prayer, me
thinks God, after all be has done for m
and mine, would strike me dead. Praye
impotent! Why 1t is the mightiest fore
, in the universe. Lightning has no spec
the Alpine avalanche has no power, com
pared with it
Will you let the distractions and tn
vagaries of few skeptics, or a goo
many skeptics, stand beside the expert
5 ence Of a General Havelock who came on
, in front of the English army. lifted hi
hat and called upon the Lord Almighty
Or Of George Washington, who at Valle
5 Forge was found upon his knees in prayer
? Or Of William Wilberforce, who wen
. from the British Parliament to tn
. closet of devotions Or of Latinler, VII
stood with his hands on fire,
D martyrdom, praying for his prosecutors
8 Was Washington weak! Was Haveloc
weak? Was Wilbeforce weak? Was Lat
s mer weak? Bring all the affairs Of you
< store, of your SOUL Of your body, of you
: friends, of your church, before Him, an
t the great day Of eternity will show 20
| that the best investments you ever mad
were your prayers, and though you ma
, have broken promises you made to Goo
God never broke his promises to you. Ii
3 God be true, though every man be found
) liar.