Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-09-24


clouds off the sky, and it was dry
weather The breath Of Elijah's prayer
blew all the clouds together, and 1t was
wet weather. Prayer, in Daniels time,
walked the cave as a lion tanner. IL
reached up and took the sun by its gold
en- bit and stopped it and the moon by
its silver bit and stopped it
We have all yet to try the full power
of prayer. The time will come when
the American church will pray with its
face toward the west, and all the prai-
ries and inland cities will surrender TO
God and will pray with face toward the
sea, and all the islands and ships will
become Christian. Parents who have
wayward sons will get down on their
knees and say, Lord, send my boy
home, " and the boy in Canton will get
right up from the gaming table and 90
down to find out which ship starts first
for America.
None Knows How to Pray.
Not one of US yet knows how to pray.
All we have done as yet has only been
pottering A boy gets hold Of his ia
theirs saw and hammer and tries to
make something, but it is a poor affair
that he makes. The father comes and
takes the same saw and hammer and
builds the house or the ship In the
childhood of our Christian faith we
make but poor work with these weapons
Of prayer, but when we come TO the
stature Of men in Christ Jesus then, un-
der these implements, the temple OF
God will Use and the worlds redemp-
ton will be launched. God cares not
| for the length of our prayers, or the
number Of our prayers, or the beauty OF
our prayers. or the place of our prayers
but it is the faith in them that tells
Believing prayer scars higher than the
lark ever sang plunges deeper than div
| ing bell ever sank. darts quicker than
lightning ever flashed Though we have
used only the back Of this weapon lD-
stead of the edge, what marvels have
been wrought! If saved, we are all the
captives Of some earnest prayer. Would
God that, in desire for the rescue OF
souls, we might in prayer lay hold Of
the resources Of the Lord Omniporontl
We may turn many 10 Righteousness
by Christian admonition. Do not wait
until YOU can make a formal speech
Address the one next to you You will
not 90 home alone today. Between this
and your place Of stopping you may de-
eide the eternal destiny Of an immortal
spirit Just one sentence may do the
work. Just one question, just one look.
The formal talk that begins with sigh
and ends with a canting snutfie is not
what is wanted but the heart throb OF
q man in dead earnest. There is not
soul on earth that you may not bring to
God if you rightly 90 at it. They said
Gibraltar could not be taken. 1t Is a
rock |. 500 feet high and miles long,
but the English and Dutch did take 1t.
Artillery and sappers and miners and
fleets pouring ont volleys Of death and
thousands of men reckless Of danger can
do ANYTHING The stoutest heart Of sin,
though il be rock and surrounded by an
ocean of transgression, under Christian
bombardment may hoist the flag OF re-
demption.
But is all this admonition and prayer
and Christian work for nothing: My
text promises to all the faithful eternal
luster "They that turn many to right,
eousness shall shine as the stars forever. "
As stars the redeemed have borrowed
light. What makes Mars and Venus
and Jupiter so luminous? When the sun
throws down his torch in the heavens,
the stars pick up the scattered brands
and hold them in procession as the
queen Of the night advances SO all
Christian workers, standing around the
throne. will shine in the light borrowed
from the Sun Of Righteousness-Jesus
in their faces, Jesus in their songs, Je-
, sus in their triumph.
To Shine on Forever.
Christ left heaven once for tour Of
| redemption on earth. yet the gloriiieo
r ones knew he wOuld come back again
But let him abdicate his throne and &c
| away to stay forever, the music would
? stop. the congregation would disporse
{. the temples Of God be darkcned. tho
D rivers of life stagnate and ever chariot
I would become a hoarse, and every bel
would toll, and there would not b'
e room Oh the hillsides to bury the doaC
\ of the great metropolis, for there woulC
$ be pestilence in heaven But Jesus lives
- and so all the redeemed live with him
/. He shall recognize them as his comrade
d in earthly toll and remember what the,
v did for the honor Of his name and 10
d the spread Of his kingdom All thel
o PRAYERS and tears and work will rise be
S fore him as he looks into their faces
It and he will divide his kingdom witt
/. them-his peace, their peace; his holi
Q ness. their holiness; his JOY, their Joy
The glory of the central throne reflecte'
from the surrounding thrones the las
. spot of sin struck from the Christial
!, orb. and the entire nature a-trembl
10 and a-Aash with light, they shall shin
"a as the stars forever and ever.
n Again, Christian workers shall b
70 like the stars in the fact that they hav
- q light independent Of each other Loo
>. up at the night and see each worl'
. show its distinct glory. IL is not ik
10 the conhagration, in which you canno
\, tell where one fame stops and anothe
70 begins Neptune, Herschel and Mercur.
are as distinct as if each one Of then
10 were the only star. So our individual
80 ism will not be lost in heaven a grea
II multitude-yet each one as observable
N as distinctly recognized, as greatly ceie
re brated, as If in all the space, from ga'
er 10 gate and from hill to hill, he wer
rs the only inhabitant-no mixing up u
T: mob. no indiscriminate rush, eac
III Christian worker standing out iilustrl
he ous all the story o. earthly acniev'
ed ment adhering to each one, his self d'
at malls and pains and services and vi'
y tories published
oy Before men went out to the last wa
ke the orators told them that they woul
~ all be remembered by their country al
80 their names be ecommemorated in poetI
- and in song. But go to the graveyard
ha Richmond, and you will md thel