The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1911-04-13
A PRAYER
FOR You
By REV. STEPHEN PAULsoN


TExT-For this cause bow my knees
unto the Father h. that Christ may
dwell In your hearts by falth.-Eph. Ills
HfT
This is part Of prayer Of St Paul
for HIS people. Paul was in a Roman
prison. The liberty OF his movements
was restrained: he was In a stone cell.
and he was chained to a Roman sol
dier-but his prayers we're not
chained.
st. Paul says: "The prayer of o
righteous man availeth much" and
there are surely more things wrought
by prayer than We ever imagine. 4
tell you Il Is worth while having ono
who carries you on his heart to such
an extent that he prays for your safety
and welfare. When Lots family was
In danger Abraham prayed until Coo
promised them safety. When the EpheI
sian church was going through tina
fires at persecution, Paul sent up prayj
ers IN their behalf from his prison cell,
When Peter was In danger of backslid,
ing, Jesus prayed for him: "Simonl
Simon, behold Satan hath desired ID
have thee. but have prayed for thed
that thy faith fail not"
Do not many faithful pastors send
up prayers. as Paul did. for tho
churches committed to their carer DID,
they not pray for the homes Of the conf
gregation and for individuals who ara
going through some trial and for the
vo,po vo~cYo xwbr az, NJ artSpu ont tutn
lief And now as Of old. the prayer
Of a true, sincere man availeth much,
It is a part of q faithful minister's
service which II very often overlook1
ed and yet Is OF the first Importance
What fine thing 1t was for the Ephei
SLAMS to have St Paul praying for
them upon every remembrance. AL
though he was far away. he was still
their pastor. the shepherd Of their
souls.
But for what did he prayf Did he
pray that they might live In comfort
and ease and have plentys Did he
pray that they might be free from per!
secution and that the church might
grow without hindrance2 That. prob
ably would have been our prayer un.
der like circumstances. But his pray@
er was That Christ may dwell In
your hearts by faith"
How wonderfully comprehensive
that prayer Is when we begin to an
alyze 1t. Oh, II takes the inspiration
Of the Holy Spirit to make prayer
like that. It takes insight into the
deep things Of God. and into the
needs OF the human hearts.
Do you think that there IL anything
you need more than that? Do you
not honestly think that that would
make most things right which ara
wrong. would bind up broken hearts.
would heal things that hurt. and drive
out evil things which are spelling your
life? Yes, you know It. and l know
it. SO let our prayers be that Christ
may dwell in our hearts by faith.
This Is the Substance of your faith.
"A better and mere comprehensive
definition of our religion could not be
given. 1t contains the whole of
Christianity as the acorn contains the
cak.
The whole Jewish law had its di.
vine inspiration, its secret spirit, but
1t was hidden In a vast system Of
forms. Christ said. II come not tn
destroy but to fulfill" and the trua
spirit Of the law was seen In him. In
winter an old apple tree Is homely.
gnarled and twisted. But In spring
when II is covered with blossoms
there Is nothing more beautiful. So
the old Jewish Law blossoms fntn
beauty and comes to fruit In Jesus
Christ.
Christianity Is not a system Of
laws, but a state of the heart. Christ
In a man-that Is the Christian religi
ion. It is Christ dwelling In tho
heart by faith, and then q man be.
gins to know the length and the
breadth and height and depth Of the
love OF Christ which passeth knowE
edge. Outside OF personal experk
ence, Christianity Il pale as a lunar
rainbow. :
There are three avenues of expo
rionce by which Christ may come To
nan--sight. intellect. the heart To
have seen Christ was deemed OF great
Importance In the early days. Those
who had seen Jesus possessed a GER
tain distinction. Paul. defending his
apostleship. says. Have l not seen
him." But how meager was tho
Christian life of those days COM
pared with that OF later ages. and did
not Jesus pronounce blessing ON
those who had not seen and yet
believed2
Christ may be- presented to q mans
intellect There are certain facts to
be- known and understood concerning
him, bat there are also many that arc
beyond our understanding. Creeds
sum up few great facts Of our relig,
ion. Not that the repetition of
creed will make anyone a Christian.
but creed is like the astronomers
telescope. He sweeps the heavens
to find a particular star. BY and BY
the telescope brings II to his eye.
Il Is not the instrument TINT sees the
star. but the mans eye. A blind man
could not see the heavenly bodies
with a telescope. no matter how pow
erful Il might be. 30 q creed may