The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-03-04
MANY HEAR
HIS WORDS
Large Concourses Hear
Dean BOsWorth
Preach.

rs a man intellectually justified In
praying?" was Dr. Bosworth's subject
in Central Union church yesterday
morning. The building was crowded
with notable audience. The speaker
began and continued in the quiet con-
versational tone. so attractive to his
hearers of the past few days, while
the people listened with the intense
eagerness characteristic of all the
Deans audiences wherever he goes.
He spoke just thirty minutes and left
scores asking Why didn't he go on?'
The line Of thought may be summa-
rized as follows:
| Matthew 7:11-"If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts into
you children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give
| good things to them that ask hin?"
These are the words of a great spe-
cialist in the spiritual realm spoken
out of his own experience. A woman
on the Syrian hills once looked into
His face and said, ''Sir, 1 know that,
whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God, God
viii give ii Thee. This man who could
make this impression voiced His life
experience in these words, and, how
ever startling they may be, they are
worthy of consideration.
If a young man should say to you
in New York city, Speak into this
tube and someone in London standing
just inside St. Paul's cathedral will hear
what you say you would hesitate to
credit the statement because such a
thing has as yet. never been done But
if he should add, Edison has so per-
fected the telephone as to make it pos
the ocean, you would listen because
of the authority of the great special
ist.
These words of Jesus are built upon
the theory that God is a Heavenly
Father always present with US. They
are a voice, 20 heart, speak to the
heart that made thee" Prayer is an
appeal of the heart made to the Great
Heart that made it. Prayer is far
more than mere asking for definite
things. Prayer is the intercourse OF
the human spirit with the Great Spirit |
that made it. We do violence to
Jesus when we view prayer as an ap-
peal to God for specific things, for
then we reduce God to a mere conve-
nience. No man can overestimate the |
great value to the individual of reach
ing out to the Father. Sometimes your
boy comes to your room and you ask
What do you want, my boy?" Moth
ing, I only want to be with YOU" The
best prayer is wanting nothing but to
be with God.
Yet in the teaching of Jesus prayer
includes asking for good things. Here
We come upon the great question. DO
things ever happen in answer to pray
er that otherwise would never hap
,en?" To many men prayer IS esthet-
ca1ly beautiful in children an orna-
mental bit of ritual at the opening OF
/ religious service or in some sharp
,risis a cry of the heart for which
Lpology must thereafter be made to
he intellect. If this be all, prayer will
ease or degenerate into a mere solil-
guy Hence we must look fairly In
he face this second view of prayer,
hat it includes asking for good things
What troubles us is the increasing
ppreciation of the relation of cause
nd effect in this universe of change
ass law We have the greatest rea-
on for gratitude that there is fixed
rder of nature. 1t is essentially good
hat no man in keen distress is able i
V prayer to shorten the duration OF
mis- day by two hours so that he may
bridge his suffering. If il were alb (
1lutely uncertain whether the tenn =
erature in this island six months from
ow would be 40 deg. below zero or 100
eg. above, civilization would be Inn
ossible. There are certain things
hich children know they cannot get
Y asking.
But the more a man learns about the
,rces of nature the more he is able a
} do not in spite of them but because
have no doubt they will be good
Continued on Page Four.) l.
ustomers in the future. With aloha
vi,
"Belleve me, yours sincerely,