Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-08

meeting is prayer, especially for the
sick, distressed, sinful and tempted.
Il have prayed for the sick all my
life in the church, but 1 confess l
have seen apparently few results, per
haps because we have not looked for
them.
IF prayer is real thing it is sub
ject to law. One of these laws is the
more direct, heartfelt and earnest the
prayer the more our heart and soul
flow out in one direction = the more
our prayer is answered. Jesus said:
ASK and ye shall receive; seek and ye
shall find
1.-THE prayer of faith always accom-
plishes something. Perhaps it is de-
ferred a long time.
Prayers in Writing
cat our services we always have the
requests for prayer written out. 1 re-
member the case Of a clergyman who
wrote me a note asking us to pray
that he and his wife be given strength
to bear the death of their only child,
who could not live through the night.
The child was suffering with tubercu-
lar meningitis, considered an absolutely
incurable malady by physicians. We
prayed that the child might live, and it
did live over until the next week, and
then we prayed for it again. This went
on for month, and I received a letter
from the mother saying that the child
was apparently well. 1 cannot say that
was an absolute answer of prayer.
Probably the doctors would say it was
a wrong diagnosis and that it was
ptomaine poisoning, but the child is
alive.
There is a possibility of a new life
in Christ Jesus. This is one of the
wonderful things about Christianity;
it despairs of no one and has an I'M
conquerable spirit of optimism.
oscar Wilde once said that the
Greeks. taught that no one, not even
the gods, could find separation from
themselves. Jesus Christ taught the
possibility for the meaneSt sinner to
escape from his sin.
"Some believe in fatalism and say
that man is bound hand and foot from
the cradle to the grave. They even go
further and speak on heredity and en-
vironment and that it is impossible for
man to make any great change in him
self.
Jesus said that man must be born
again. The person who does not desire
to be helped is the only person who
cannot be helped. If you have the de-
sire, the help is at hand. Very often
it comes so suddenly that it is awe
inspiring. When you see man who
for twenty years has been fighting
some habit and when you see that
is no longer temptation. then it is plain
that there is a new power in his life.
Appeal to the Sick
'What takes place I know no more
than you. We have the finest the
best-I won't say the only true, but
the truest religion in the world, and
/ believe that the church has erred in
addressing itself almost exclusively to
the normal, the well, the happy and
rich; those persons innocent and good.
and has forgotten that the object of
Jesus Christ in his church was to con-
tinue his spirit of compassion for the
poor, the sick and the abnormal.
Christ was here on earth but few
years. and he had a great mission. We
might think that he would only have
had time to establish his church and
send forth his disciples, but he lived
his life almost as though he had no
interest but to care for the sorrewful
and distressed. If we could only get
that spirit back again we should see
our religion conquering.
1.-THE old idea that the church exists
chiefly for the benefit of our members
is getting played out. We will never
save the world that way.
1.-The old idea of the ministerial life
is changing. The minister seemed to
think his whole duty was to care for
his health read and go to the pulpit
clothed with majesty and thunder
That is getting played out. People
don't want majesty and thunder We
ought to recognize our congregations
as fellow laborers. We are like a
family united in one ideal