Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-07-31
PRAYER.
BY REV. s. II. CHUBB.

1t is not the elegance of writing,
the correctness of composition, the
faultlessness of photography, the
material on which the correspond
ence is expressed, the place from
which it is forwarded, the length Of
communication, the nature OF wants
unfolded, or the hour Of arrival
which creates JOY in the parents
heart upon receipt of intelligence
from the absent, but the fact that
news has come--the child lives, re
members and loves. So is it with
our pra, ers to our Father. God can
understand the meaning though the
writing may be in characters hero
glyphic. The mother can read the
letters of the little one who only
scrawls upintelligible figures on the
paper. She knows the wherefore Of
the effort. Love moved the tiny
fingers, and that was the all i'm
portant-the sufficient. God looks
on the writer, not the writing; the
speaker, not the address; the die
tator, not the dictation. The earnest,
pleading, loDgings Of the heart is
the all-necessary with Him. If out
of the tangled web of our prayers
God can find threads of love, then
the applications in His sight are
transformed into patterns bright and
beautiful; and He is well pleased.
The scribble becomes copper plate.
The unintelligible ito man perhaps)
becomes lucid, argumentative, and
overcoming. The blots become
transparent, The blnnders cause pity,
the helplessness becomes a power
which is God-atlracting. Often
have the prayers, which some
counted stupid performances, had
the power OF Il thousand ayalanches
to break down sins stronghold, and
the force vi IA myriad levers To raise
the people heaven ward. 1T Is pos
slble To move heaven, earth, he'll
yet cruelty The laws Of Murray's
RIdiuiiais TbN ~ 10 po5sio'o W haS'
"A hupplIcallon rs long AS a Welsh
mile, beautiful iii composition AZ
IngersoPs Grafton over his dead
brother, delivered with all the pomp
OF Il temple Pharisee, ellcIting bril-
liant eulogles from assembled wor-
shippers AS nasterful exhibition
ot brilliant utlerances, aud yet 80
charged with the strictly human
that II falls immediately on delivery
could not 90 10 heaven for it was
all earthly; impossible To rise, had
no wings, could not be delivered,
though addressed all right, Oh ac-
count of not having the stamp of
the heavenly government.
Prayer to DO successful must be
prepared by faith. All, this is what
counts stamp of faith. BE sure
get your letters To God stamped,
then the communication Will be re-
celved and answered, not 10y return
of mail perhaps, on as we would
wish 1t might be, yet III the best
way Tor us--abundantiy, glorlously
answered. Christ Is an adept at
reading, and can make cat The worst
kind vi penmanship. lie knows
how through experience AS well AS
mate capacity. What scrawIs he
does gel. Poor writing prepaid Is
delivered AT headquarters. But
Gaskilis compendium could never
teach the sender To write sufficiently
beautiful to reach the eye Of God if
not IN The corner is the government
impress. Don't forget the stamp
faith. Let us pray correctly If we
can. This is desirable. LII we can
not, let us learn. Honor God with
the best of language we can, and
give Him our brightest gifts, but
don't delay starting, or quit because
somebody can do better than we
can. Remember postage; let us
know what we want. Don't let us
ask for anything else, and don't let
us ask for what we do not expect