The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-09-24

placate a Divine Being. and shall th,', |
instructive longings of the human soul,
be disappointed and ihwarted2
Men in all ages, in all nations have be-
licved in prayer. No religion is rccog-
nized in history that has not had
prayer as one OF its functions, it may be
doubted whether any man ever lived to
maturity, who did not, in some eN-
igency, pray. Ii such an one could be
found, he would not be moral man.
Put Tom Paine in peril OF shipwreck
and he will pray; put the unbeliever up
hetwixt two cyclones and he will pray.
Hottentot bows down to his fetish,
though it be but snake or q stone. The
polished Greek worshippcd the mar
vclous works of sculpture which he
exalted and deitied.
Now, | say, if prayer is not power,
then this universal instinct ot man
kind is a delusiun and a snare. We
have been in the habit OF basing many
conclusions on the concurrent instinct
OF mankind in all ages and in all coun-
tries, but all this argument must go by
the board if there I've no power i'll
prayer.
Again, ii prayer be not u power, the
voice of our environment in this uni
verse is u false and delusive voice. We
here find ourself in the midst OF forces
we cannot control. As we dwell upon
nature in her grandcr aspects, the
cataract, the mountains, the boundless
ocean the starlit sky, the voice of
nature bids us adore.
When in harvest time the watts are
full OF wine and the graneries bursting
with grain and our hearts are filled
with Joy and gladness, the voice OF
natural plcanty, bids us give thanks.
The mysteries Of the spiritual world for
this world constitutes u part OF our
environment the mysteries OF the
character and province and of our
own immortality, these bid us seek
light from God. Our social environ
ment brings US into relations Complica-
ted and peculiar, into emergencies try
ing our knowledge and our skill. We
see our influence molding other lives
lives perchance at the antipodes. We
find ourselves affecting generations yet
unborn; the gravity of our responsible
ity bids us seek help from God. Unless
the voice of nature, with her plenty, her
;.
and the voice of our social alliances
and the voice of the spiritual world, are
all lying voices, then prayer is force
in the universe OF God.
If prayer be not power, then God is
not father. To me the sight of a
group of orphan children, nursed by
alien hands in an asylum, is one of the
saddest of sad sights. pity child that
never consciously beheld the face of its
mother; that never intelligently felt
the impressure of its fathers hand. or
heard ITS fathers voice. But infinitely
sadder is the condition of all of us. IT
we have n Heavenly Father, none to
hear our CRIES, to answer our perpleXi-
/ ties with His counsel. to respond to our
repentance with His forgiveness.
need not consult my Bible but only my
paternal heart, to know that it is the
fatherly nature to give good gifts to
ones children. God may he omnipo-
tent. He may be omnisent, but He is
no father if in response to our appeals
for bread He gives us the stone of cold
silence; if in response to our appeals for
fish He gives us the scorpion of con-
temptuous indifference. If God mocks
us, hearing our prayers and answers
them not, | have no hesltancy in saying
that He is no father.
And ii prayer be not power, then
the scriptures are impeached, for they
clearly and Enthusiastically represent
prayer to be power. They give us
commando to pray, the conditions OF
PRAYER, promises OF answer to prayer,
. illustrations of the conquests OF prayer.
To deny the power of prayer is to deny
/ the reliability OF the entire bible, for its
declarations concerning prayer are in
/ terlaced with the whole OF divine truth
and constitute a part OF the very warp
and wool OF the scriptures. The whole
bible must 90 by the board if prayer is
not n power.
Moreover, If prayer is not a power
then Jesus Christ is not divine; more
than this, He is not Il safe religious
teacher-for no teacher ever eXhorted
to prayer more than did Christ. In
answer to this disciples request He gave
them formula for prayer. Hesitate to
deny the power OF prayer until you are
willing to give the lie to the Savior of
mankind and discredit Him forever as
an eXampler and instructor.
Ii prayer be not a power then it is
| impossible to establish any fact Of history
| in human testimony, and all the
weight and validity OF all human
! testimony must 60 by the board !;
/ for there have been thousands upon
/ thousands in every Christian generation
who have testified, that in their own
experience, prayer has been answered;
and these have not been fanatics, but
calm, reliable witnesses, the purest and
best men of their respective generations,
whose testimony would stand unim-
peached in any court of justice.
If prayer is not a power, then a prac-
tice which has proved itself essential to
the highest personal and social charac-
ter of man is proved to be a delusion
and lie.
Henceforth let no man deny the
power of prayer until he is willing to
discredit universal instinct of man
kind, to declare the voice of our human
environment false and delusive voice,
to deny that GCd is a Father, to impeaCh
the Holy Scriptures, to discredit both
the divinity and reliability of the
Savior of mankind, to cast contempt on
the highest human testimony, and to
insist that the best men and the most
perfect human society have been de-
veloped by practice, idle and proftless
as a procuring cause.
The speaker then proceeded to give
the conditions of availing prayer and to