Fergus County Democrat., 1909-02-02
SOME QUEER PRAYERS
Curious Mistakes That Have
Been Made by Preachers.
A CAUTIOUS SCOTCH ELDER.
The Way He Qualified In His Petition
His Praise Of the Pastors Wife
The Blunt Appeal Of Father Taylor
the Boston Preacher.

The Blunt Appeal Of Father Taylor
the Boston Preacher.
The most frequent cause Of inappro
pirate petitions is no doubt the per
sistence of habit. Certain phrases are
used again and again until they come
to be repeated without any thought OF
their immediate application, says the
Christian World. We may similarly
explain the stories Of the workhouse
chaplain who prayed that those pres.
ent might not trust in uncertain riches
and the prison chaplain who besought
the Lord that he conduct the worship,
ers in safety to their respective places
of abode.
The sense of humor must surely have
been lacking in the old man of eighty
supported by crutches, who regularly
included among his petitions at the
weekly prayer meeting the request that
he might be kept from running with
the giddy multitude to do evil. Fa.
miliarity with conventional phraseology
was the undoing of the minister who
after the sermon on the Pharisee anG
the publican, asked that there might
be poured out upon his hearers dou
BILE portion Of the publican's spirit
Not very complimentary was the use
of a we'll known Scripture passage
made by a minister at wedding:
MAY these persons live together in
such harmony in this life that they
may finally attain unto that state Of
felicity where they neither marry nor
are given in marriage" AS a conclud.
ing example Of the thoughtless use OF
familiar language one may quote this
remarkable amalgam: 30 Lord. we
praise thee that we are thine; we feel
that we are thine; we know that we
are thine; Lord, make us thine"
AS in a sermon, so in a prayer, the
| attempt to correct hasty utterance
sometimes leads to surprising results.
| A cautious Scotch elder, it is said, had
| taken supper at his pastors house and
| in returning thanks after the meal en-
tered upon a detailed exposition Of
various causes of gratitude. He con-
| cluded by invoking the divine blessing
upon the pastors wife as his godly
helpneet. who had always upheld his
! hands in every good work-"at least" "
he added in saving clause, 'as far
as we know" 1t is related Of a COM
| patriot that in Il moment of fOrgetful-
| ness he once thanked God for 1.-The sal
vation Of all men, but immediately
redeemed himself from haterodoXy by
the qualification, (which, O Lord as
thou knowest, is true in one sense, but
| not in another"
There are some men who seem to
think that an indirect manner Of eX-
| preston is especially suited to sacred
| things, as the Scotchman quoted by
DR. Boyd as saying, For as thou
knowest, men do not gather grapes Of
thorns nor figs of the national en-
| blem," and the Englishman who thus
pledged himself, "And, O Lord, if thou
wilt move the heart Of any young man
| to enter thy service, we will show our
| approval in way which thou wilt
appreciated
Father Taylor, the Boston sailor
preacher, was one of the most direct
of men and on the one recorded occa-
| o1OL uCH IlG SSSdy
style nature triumphed over artifice.
| It was the Sunday before the state
elections, and he was praying fervent-
ly that man might be chosen for
governor who would rule in the fear
of God, who would never be afraid of
the face Of clay. who would defeat the
ringleaders Of corruption, who would
defy his own party If it yielded to wire
pullers, who suddenly Father Taylor
paused and then exclaimed: 20 Lord,
what's the use Of boxing the compass
in this way? Give us George N.
Briggs for governor. Amen!
The temptation to use public prayer
as vehicle for the conveying Of infor-
nation has sometimes been too strong
to resist. In his lively "reminiscences
published some years ago in the Wes-
leyan Methodist Magazine the late DR..
Benjamin Gregory recalled how GER
tain Methodist minister of an earlier
| generation was accustomed "tO convey
all necessary directions to his younger
| colleagues through the medium of the
throne of grace" Here Is an example:
20 Lord. bless thy dear young servant.
Thou knowest his appointment for to-
morrow is at =, and he will have to
stop at Brother IS. who keeps lit
| tie shop opposite the church. oh. grant
that thy dear young servant may not
forget to let the people have the maya
zines and to bring home the moneys"
The famous Dr. McCosh of Princeton
was accustomed to meet the students
In the college chapel every morning,
when he would make any necessary an,
| nouncements as well as conduct devo-
tions. One morning in the prayer with
which the service concluded he prayed
for the president Of the United States,
the cabinet the members of both
houses of congress, the governor OF
New Jersey. the mayor and other Off
cials Of Princeton. and he then came to
the professors and instructors in the