New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-01
EFFICACY OF PRAYER.


fed in the Son II ye. shall ask anything. in My
on The w S nsht s sSss Ma sn and M
Il shall be done unto YOU John xv. / MANY
the Saviour for upward Of half n century, John
wrote AND whatsoever we ask We receive OF HIM
things that are pleasing in His sight" | John
6% nc hDST Rf Sf again
Suysned by an and
cried to Heaven. and the Lord sent an angel which
ers and the captas in the camp Of eth the King Of
hhissyra, SO ne reI rned with shame OF face into
II Kings, xix. 30. Again in the day when Judah's
enemies came up against them in countless hordes
OF the Lord and the Lord set ambushments against
their enemies and they Were smitten" II
chronices, Xxx. g. II and %
When Peter was In prison guarded by sixteen
soldiers and chained. and doors and gates locked
angel and brought him forth" Acts xii. ) to IT,
When Paul and siIas were. thrust into The inner
prison and their feet made fast In the stocks.
they PRAYED unto God, and there was an earth
quake. and the foundations Of the prison we're
shaken and they were set free and the TALLER was
saved
EXAMPLES FROM HISTORY.
Thirdly, we know the power Of prayer by Chris
t!an history outside Of the Bible. In nothing IS
Christian history richer than I'm Illustrations OF
the mighty power OF prayer. The wonderful de-
uycrance OF Leydcn In the days Of the siege is
swer to prayer, sent into the harbor OF Rochelle
to feed the starving Huguenots Is another The
history Of the Covenanters in Scotland furnishes
numerous examples. The ineXplicable ending OF
the awful grasshoppcr plague IN Minnesota. when
Governor Pillsbury In their extremity appointed 4
Mullers orphan homes with their thousands OF
children, supported year after year for many lonr
years by appeals 70 no one but God. and vet never
once going hungry though sometimes the supplies
came only at the last moment. is another illusra-
ton.
Fourthly, W. know the power of prayer again
hopelessv lex rise from .5nr beds seen the
ners saved, r"vivais break out and thousands OF
dollars come In direct 10 prayer
one day n5on ne said we necd o at Once ana 10
a e esvsHy T our our nea e. al us
at the table and prayer was offered Before We had
to Mr. Moody. He read 1t and passed 1t to me. Il
from his Conference, then in session. and read
some aid Have taken collection this noon Of 5000
have the same reason for knowing that God
answers PRAYER that have FOR knowing that water
literally lived by PRAYER Many philosophical, theo
Logical and scientific objections have been urged
T. NO need Of consdering them They may seem
very wise and learned and unanswerable. but they
contradict the unGuestonabe facts Of history. They
contradict the absolutely certain facts OF our own
stratei by experiment. that God does answer prayer
PRAYER does move re nand tnat NOES me universe
THINGS THAT PRAYER WILL DO
What will prayer do? Let us look briefly at some
specific things that prayer will DO. First Of ALL
prayer promotes as almost nothing else our own
spiritual growth. Every precious spiritual blessing
Is given in answer to prayer. The more time we
spend in real, true prayer, the more we will grow
IN likeness 10 our Master
John Welch the son-in-law OF John Knox, the
great reformer IL said to have given one-third Of
his time 10 prayer. and often he spent whole
night IN prayer and IS said that from the begin
ming OF his ministry to mis- death he reckoned the
in prayer the testimony Of orc who remem-
bered him was that The WAS type Of Christ"
family. 4 mother with an incorrigible boy came
20 me for advice Her son Was Great trial to-
she began TO pray definitely for him. and
q great chaage came over his NE, ..o,,- .or,.
DO YOU desire tho divine blessing In your sunday:
il your yGn wor in you" Pa rS or IT.
There Is not a minister Of the GOSPEL nor hum
bic Christian worker here that cannot have power
in his work II he will hold On TO God for It in
earnest persistent. believing prayer, in the holy
boldness that Will not take no for an answer.
SAVING OTHERS BY PRAYER.
Fourthly prayer viii bring salvation to others.
err any man sec his brother sin a sin which Is not
unto DEATH he shall ask and he shall give him
life for them that sin not unto death" Saul of
Tarsus, the most dangerous human enemy the
cross OF Christ ever had. became Paul the Apostle
In answer to prayer. Prayer often avahs where all
There was one whom God once laid upon my
breast made many Efforts to win nm 70 onr,sd
to be nothing lefI TO- d5 ana TOOK ire b S Hs
In pr3yer GOD wTqufmt IN b ,"t mn snrii ard that
nan came to mo and asked me TO tell him how TO
ar enTsa on fed dO SF " years
Filthy prayer will bring a blessing into ne
root out heresy and bring down
gracious REVEALS from GoG One Of the sreatest
rs human origin could be traced, In the prayers
Of a woman IN Ncwyork State who he'd on to
In ali true deep and lasting spiritual awakenngs
e naS eTf hsre avs been great revva without
much preaching and with ALMOST no macnlnety.
has rvsT 9n o STFa' soed avis are
gotten up BY mans machinery Genuine reviVals
SlrfhIy prayer will bring wisdom and power 10
he pa stor nd worker Paul was doubtless great
touid Get along without the prayers Of Gods people
and 10 every church 10 which he wrote. save one,
he backslidden church In Galatia. he asked them
10 pray for him. .ooa
Prayer transform poor preacher into 400. sood
Minister YOU can get better one by praying for
aim and - YOU 10 think your present minister
'o-e rraver Little do many Christians realize how
much they have to do with the good or poor power.
~ their prayer or neglect OF prayer In beginning
NY present passionate said TO my peop,e hr ",
'hIs chu-ch stayed up late Saturday night or
.ose W early Lords Day morning 70 pray TOT me ana
10 tfdIv Snirfts power upon my preaching Some
- tho neople took me at my word, and the church
has steadily filled up conversions have gone stead
- az ,nd more than 100 people have been added 10
he church in Chicago within the last few months.
THE PRESENT NEED.
The great need Of the day is more prayer. not
moro organizations. not new methods, not even
more work. but more prayer. that there may be
mora OF Gods power In the organizations now In
existence and the methods now used and the work
,reat need OF the churches throughout the land the
,reat need OF work abroad. the evangelization OF
he world Is prayer.
/ with that Mr Moody some one else would do
n orr dav what jonathan Edwards did in his.
namely issue O call to the churches OF America TO
mile FOR PRAYER But II this Is not done let
Individual ministers and laymen from this day give
themselves TO the ministry OF prayer.