The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-01-04
SUBSCRIPTION: sl.oo Per Year.


put on the Witness stand Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Micah, John,
Paul, Peter and King Hezekiah. Tell me,
ye ancient battle fields, ye Oriental
thrashing- floors, ye Judean corn-ieldsg
We Galilean fishing-smacks, is God deaf
and dumb and blind before all human
petition? That God answers prayer, /
bring ten million facts Of Christendom to
prove. There has never paper enough
come out Of the paper rmills to write the
story. Has not many mother prayed
back her bad boy from the ends of the
earth-from Canton, from Madras, from
Constantinople-unt he llnelt 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 mercyf
Did not the blacksmith in Lyons New
York; pray to God until there came q
great awakening that shook the COM
munity?
In my parish in Philadelphia, one night
at a meeting, l asked 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 yopSg hissi,
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 IT,
first to step in. Prayer had captured him.
/ had a classmate ia college whose uncle,
DR.. John Scudder, of India, wrote to him
saying: 81 viii pray for you every day
until such day, and thenI viii 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 secondhand story. 1
saw the letter, and l knew the young man.
But why should go so far? 1 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
children. They kept up that prayer meet
ing of four persons year after year. The
world knew nothing Of Ii. God answered
all those prayers. All the group came in;
the eleven sons and 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 tho
invalid was carried to the steamer for So
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 prostrated three weeks,
with some help, walked up on the deck.
The occurrence was as near to being
miraculous as 1 can imagine. That sha
was hopelessly sick, people who sat up
with her night after night, and are here,
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, call the passengers on the San
Jacinto, commanded by Captain Atkins
December 18, to testify. This is no sec
ond-hand story.
Prayer iinpotentl If dared to think
there was no force in prayer, methinkB
God, after all He has done for me and
mine, would strike me dead. Prayer i'm
potent! Why, IL 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
vagaries of a few skeptics, or a good mEny
skeptics, stand beside the experience OF
General HavelOek, 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 prayerf 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 persecutOrs2 Was Washin gton
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, or
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 DO
true, though every man be found liar.
And now, IN conclusion, 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 IL. You
do not know what might be written above.
But here is a 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 to youi seek
and ye shall find" / do not say that your
prayer win be answered in just the way
you expect, but / do say 1t will be an
swered in the best way. Oh VIII you
test Him? This is the outcome Of oil 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, as IN time OF
light and prosperity, He answered
you. / commend you to that God 70 whom
your parents dedicated you In infancy.
They believed so much in prayer that
their last word was a supphcaton Tor
you. Having heard you in days OF pros
| perity, He will not reject your last petit
| ton, 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: 4Bord
/ Jesus, receive my spirttp