Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-07-30
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PRAYER AND IT'S POWER.


Does the Christian world pray any
less or any less earnestly than 1t
used to; what are the facts2 Perhaps
there is as much saying Of prayers Ga
ever before; but saying prayer and
really praying are two different things
ali together; there is just about as
much difference in a real prayer and
the mere saying Of a prayer as rnere
Is in real, thick, warm, tender, per-
sonal letter, addressed In well
known hand, and very common, Or
binary, cheap, finely printed l cent
circular letter, addressed by an ad-
dressing bureau with an address
ing machine; and l doubt not
that there is just about as much
difference in the results obtained. |
imagine that Gods waste basket is
Just as capacious and just as handy
and Just as necessary as ours is; and
when this second or third class stuff
comes to Him that has no heart In 1t
and no love in it and no hunger in 1t
and no passion in 1t and no yearning
in 1t and no faith IN 1t and no sub
mission in 1t and no conservation IN
1t, imagine great deal OF that
stuff goes just where 1t ought to go,
into the waste basket
Now, let US test this matter out a
little on the plane Of personal expert
ence A minister told me recently
in a confidential conversation that the
morning prayer was burden to him;
that it was the hard part Of the serv-
i've; that he was glad when 1t was
over and he wished he could conduct
the service without It, What lies back
of that confession? Simply this, that
in reality he no longer believes IN
prayer; God Is no longer to him per
sonal Father, with whom he speaks
face to face even as a man speaketh
to his friend; the conceptions that
made prayer a power in his life have
been dispel1ed, and 1t is now only
mere performance; no wonder 1t Is
hard for him to pray; you have little
sweet faced, rosy checked girl In your
home. It Is not very hard for you to
put your arms about her and draw
her up close to you and let the little
head rest on your shoulder and kiss
the red lips again and again, but 1t
would be very unsatisfying perform
ance If she were not there. You
travelled 500 miles one day, and 30 did !,
to have the blessed privilege of sitting
down by mothers side and taking the
dear old hand in yours and talking
to her for hours. 1t was not very
hard to do, but it would have been
exceedingly unsatisfying If mother
had not been there.
Let us examine the natural and rea-
sonable and scientific basis Of reality
in prayer. Generally speaking the
philosophy of our day quite universal
ly admits that the material universe
is sustained and upheld by an unseen
spiritual energy. The finest express
sion Of that spiritual energy is man !;
man made in the image Of God; man
with the power to know and feel and
choose and do; now mans personality
is not in his body, but it is in this
spiritual essence that is a very part
of God; and this spiritual essence is
not centered in one place in my body
as in my brain or my heart or my
blood, but it is suffused all through
my body and is the spiritual counter
part of my material body. So just as
my spiritual personality is thus i'm
manent and present in every part Of
my body all the time in like manner,
Gods spiritual personality is 1mman
ent in the great universe and the
finest and highest expression of that
immanence Is in man; we are very
part Of God; no wonder it has been
said, He is nearer to US than breath
ing and nearer than hands and feet"
His very heart beats within us; our
hands are fairly clasped In His and
His heart is against our heart. What
real, reasonable, intelligent and
natural basis of reality for prayer
this gives us.
True prayer is not telephone bust
ness. 1t is living in the conscious
presence of God and believing that He
can and will do the best things for
us ana CQdL 10 commune Win Him
constantly makes US ready to receive
a larger and larger measure of His
gifts. We dwell in God and He in
us. Our lives are far more closely
linked together than the lives of an
earthly parent and child can be. The
life of a child is constant prayer in
the life of a parent; it is a constant
tug at the parents heart and the par
ent does a thousand things for good
that he would never do but for that
abiding prayer of the child in his life
So the life of a good woman is con
slant and abiding prayer in the life
of a man, not only for negative good
ness, but for positive Righteousness.
The grip of her life upon his life
brings about countless things that
never would have come out of his life
but for this constant and abiding
prayer that her presence and influ
ence furnishes. We are His children.
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