Milford chronicle., 1904-01-22

: Prayer is the Christians vital breath,
3 The Christians native air;
= His watchword at the gate OF death,
He enters heaven with prayer7
ra-H - ,lss.ss! " ts 5.y,ssagsa.
t A Fatal Maneuver.
William T. Sherman in his famou.
, journey from Atlanta to the sea brok,
loose from his military base Of SUD
: plies and fed his army on the surround
ing country through which he marched
But a course that may be safe for a
military strategist is certainly and in.
evitably disastrous for a soldier of Je-
sus Christ A Christian convert should
never get out Of prayer touch with the
heavenly city. 1t is a fatal maneuver.
1t will ultimately mean the Christian
falling a victim to spiritual ambuscade.
entrapment and overthrow. You have
no more reason to expect the flames Of
a candle to burn in a chemical retort
emptied Of all oxygen than you have
a right to expect your spiritual fires to
burn in your bedroom which is not
charged and surcharged with the holy
4 -+N--AN'H1IAt VI oCIAEL DA4lEIs
1t is necessary for true spiritual life
to pray in public Oh. yes. But it is
just as necessary to pray in private.
The Lord thy God is a jealous God"
That means in one sense that there are
times when God wants US to be alone
with him, alone as Christ was alone
with the Heavenly Father when Jesus
again and again went off alone to pray.
He wants MS to be alone with him in
holy fellowship as some of us have
often been alone with our mothers.
Blessed and tender were those hours
of sweet communion with our mothers.
who have now gone beyond. After the
rest of the family were all in bed we
used to sit up toward midnight telling
her what we wanted to do and asking
her if she thought it was best for US
to do it. So God. the Heavenly Father.
wants us at times to come to him
when we are alone He wants us to
tell him all our plans George White
field would never accept any invitation
to do anything of any import unless he
had first talked it over with his best
friend" In the darkness Of the bed /
room and in the solitary walks through /
the streets and in the quiet of the office /
or in the kitchen. God wants us to
frankly and freely and lovingly talk
with him.
Benefits of Prayer.
Christian convert, never feel that the
hours are wasted which you spend on
your knees talking with Christ in Sc
cret prayer. You cannot find one man
Oh earth who has ever attained to a
life of eminent Christian usefulness
unless he climbed there by grasping
irmly and gladly. rung by rung, the
golden ladder of secret prayer. What
said Charles H. SpurgeOn in reference
o the power of secret prayer? When
ome one asked him the cause of his
usefulness for Christ. Spur (
'eon pointed to the floor of his taber-
lacle, saying: In the room beneath :
'ou will find 500 praying Christians. :
livery time l preach here they gather 9
ogether and uphold my hands by con- \
nuous prayer and supplication. There u
on will find the secret Of all the bless /,
ngs." As Charles II. Spurgeon's /,
band" by secret prayer swept n
heir pastor on to spiritual victories :
by the power of secret prayer we "
IN lift ourselves up toward God and =
hristian usefulness. As Philip Dod- II
ridge. of blessed memory, once said. 7,
The better | pray the better l study" cl
say. The better you pray the better 81
u will work" The better you pray si
e better as mother you can look "
ter your children. The better you n
ay the better you will live and the
tier you will preach and the wider III
III be your influence for Christ. os
Prayer in public necessary for spir- ct
lal development? Oh. yes! Prayer ii,
hind the locked door prayer in Sc +t
ct. prayer where only Gods ear can 10,
ar and Gods eye can see just as i'm no
rtant for the spiritual life and hope. on
lring the Revolutionary war high o,.
Id soldier was caught creeping into y,
mp during the darkness of the night g
was charged with being a spy and 90
zen before the commanding general. -,
ing asked why he had left the camp. Iio
soldier replied. 81 merely left in or,
Ter to 90 out into the darkness of the 90
DDS and be alone with God and have .
ret prayer" "Then down on your -
ses!' thundered the officer. within Oh,
enty hours you shall be shot as a soI
. You never needed to pray as a.,
ch as you need to pray now" The ,n+
iier dropped on his knees and offer 49,,
such simple. earnest prayer OF CO..
h and love that the tears sprang o~a
n the commanders eyes. He turn vor
% the guard and said: let that sol -,
go. He is telling the truth. He must +bo
g often been on his knees in prayer 49,,
or else he could not have prayed ~,
well in public review" The great H..
lvenly Commander judges the sin ,,,,,,
ty Of our public professions by the foo,