The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-11-22

three miles underground 70 the shaft
where was lifted to the top, ana
when that newspaper was taken on
NY wound, read on 1t something tnaS
,aved my soul, and 1t was one OF your
sermons. Good night" he said as ne
passed on, leaving me transtxed Win
grateful emotion.
And who knows but the words !
now speak, blessed of God, may reach
some wounded soul deep down in the
black mine of sin, and that these
words may be blessed to the staunch-
ing of the wound and the eternal HE
Of the soul? Settle this matter IN
Stantly, positively and forever. Stay
the last "if." Bury deep the last NJ.
How to do it? Fling body, mind and
soul in prayer as earnest as that OF
Moses in the text. Can you doubt the
earnestness Of this prayer in the textY
It is so heavy with emotion that IL
breaks down in the middle. 1t was SO
earnest that the translators In the
modern copies of the Bible were obliged
TO put mark, straight line, dash,
for an omission that will never be filed
up. Such an abrupt pause, such
sudden swapping off Of the sentence
You cannot parse my text 1t Is an,
offense to grammatical construction
But that dash put In by the typesetters
Is mighty suggestive. "If thou Wilt
/ forgive their sin," then comes the dash
''and II not, blot me, pray thee, out
of Thy book" Some Of the most earnest
prayers ever uttered could not be
parsed and were poor specimens OF Ian
guage. They halted, they broke down.
they passed into sobs or groans OF ST.
lence. God cares nothing for the syn
tax Of prayers, nothing for the rhetoric
of prayers. o, the wordless prayers!
II they were piled up they would reach
to the rainbow that arches the throne
of God. A deep sigh may mean more
than whole liturgy. Out OF the one
hundred and sixteen thousand words
of the English language there may not
be a word enough expressive Tor tne
soul. The most effective prayers have
ever heard have been prayers that
broke down with emotion; the young
man for the first time rising In a prayer
meeting and saying: 20 Lord Jesus|
And then sitting down, burying the face
in the handkerchief; the penitent In
the inquiry room kneellng ana saying
"God help me-" and getting no further;
the broken prayer that started great
revival in my church in Philadelphla'
A prayer may have in style the grace
fulness of an Addison, and the suolm-
ity of Milton, and the epigrammatic
force Of an Emerson and yet be tali-
ure, having horizontal power, out no
: perpendicular power, horizontal power
, reaching the ear of man, but no per.
pendicular power reaching the ear OF
, God.
Between the first and the last SEN
tences of my text there was parox-
: vsm of earnestness too mighty for
words. II will take half Of an eternity
/ 70 tell of all the answers OF earnest
3 and faithful prayer. In his last jour
: nal. David Livingston, in Africa, re-
cords the prayer so soon to be an
swered: 40 March-Birthday MY
Jesus, my God, my Life, my All,
again dedicate my whole self to Thee
Accent me, and grant O gracious fa
: ther that ere this year is gone, may
b finish nv task. In Jesus name, ! ash
: n Amen" When the dusky servan
1 looked into Livingston's tent ant
/ found him dead on his knees, he sav
/ that the prayer had been answered
: But notwithstanding the earnestnes
+ Of the prayer OF Moses in the text
b was defeated prayer and was not an
: swered. / think the two 'ifs" in tn
:, PRAYER defeated it, and one II
/ enough TO defeat any prayer, whateVe
!. other good characteristics 1t may have
. ''If Thou wilt forgive their sins: an
y II not, blot me, pray Thee, out OF IN,
. book God did neither. AS the fol
lowing verses show, he punished thel
II sins. but am sure did not blot out on
IS letter OF the name of Moses from Tn
n book Of life. ;.
u There Is only one kind Of prayer II
which YOU need TO put the III, an
that Is the prayer for temporal bies'
y inps. PRAY for riches and they nigh
X en1ulf us. or for fame and IL may be
Ie witch US, or for worldly success OF an
3, sort Il NAV destroy us. Better say
" "If Il be best" 'Tf can make prope
q. use of IT," ''If thou seest need It,
II A wife. praying for the recovery OF nc
husband from illness, stamped her los
and said with frightful emphasis,
II will not have him diei God snail DC
;. > take him."
~ Her prayer was answered, but fe
p: years after, the community W.
" shocked by the fact that he had IN
1t moment of anger slain her. A mothe
40 PRAYING for sons recovery from Il
ness told the Lord he had no right
- take him, and the boy recovered o'
ie plunged into all denominations and di'
c. a renegade. Better in all such praye
er and ali prayers pertaining to our ter
Sc moral welfare, put an 'if, saying "
&c Il be Thy willis But praying for spiri
Is ual good and the salvation OF our so
~ we never need insert an 'ff" 0,
~ spiritual welfare is sure TO be for u
u best, and away with the "ifs"
rs Abraham's prayer for the rescue
y sodom was n grand prayer in son
O. respects, but there were six ifs
Q, Il, or "peradventures," which mea
nj the same thing. "Peradventure the
~ NAV be fifty righteous in the city, pc
adventure forty-fve, peradventu
.e forty, peradventure thirty, peradve
~ ture twenty, peradventure ten.' Tho
&c six peradvcntures, those six Ifs
In killed the prayer, and Sodom WEI
re down and went under Nearly all u
10 PRAYERS that we're answered had
,d 'ifs' in them. The prayer Of Elijt
tiI that changed dry weather TO W
~ ~ weather. The prayer that chang
v, Hezeklah from a sick man TO we
ca man. The prayer that halted sun Al
OF moon without shaking the univer
ur 10 nieces. o rally your soul wi