The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1913-07-08
STALWAYs PRAY
Wisdom of the Master EyInced
in His Words ASK, and
Ye Shall Receive"
M EN- ought always to pray. The
Wh Master said so. He knew what

available through prayer. Tor he had
tested it to the full.
He prayed himself He had more
to say about prayer than any other
speaker whose words stand recorded
in the Bible He would go apart in
the mountains and pray all night. His
efficiency in this spiritual exercise
was so manifest that on one occasion,
when he had ceased his deyotions,
his disciples came to him. saying,
Lord, teach us to pray
It Is sufficient that the One whom
the most enlightened and progressive
portions of the world have with one
accord selected as the Ideal Man, was
thus conspicuous1y man of prayer.
Human life in highest reaches of
moral achievement, prays. If Jesus
had not prayed, he you'd not stand
today even in the eyes of those whose
habits Of prayer are fitful and feeble.
as the Perfect Man.
The man who offers to God sin
cere and thoughtful prayer brings the
best that Is in him to its best. While
he prays, he breathes the air which
is native to the noblest type of char
acter. The noxious gases in the mine
settle to the ground because they are
heavier than pure air. The dog fol-
lowing at the heels of his master
will inhale them until he falls in a
stupor The tall man, standing high
er, breathing an upper and a purer
air, passes on unframed. The attitude
OF prayer Is the act of a man rising
to what higher level of thought and
feeling where that quality of life
which most clearly differentiates him
from the brutes finds it's native air.
Sets in Motion New Force.
The man who prays enables God to
more fully bestow his helpfuIness
upon that beseeching life. You may
hold magnifying glass in your hand
and concentrate the rays Of the sun
upon your coat sleeve until you have
steadily with that same power, no
matter how your glass may be held.
But it makes profound difference in
utilizing the rays of the sun whether
the glass be held squarely toward the
sun and the rays focused upon the
object TO be ignited, whether the glass
be clean or half covered with mud.
The act Of prayer cleanses the life.
1t also brings the moral aspiration,
the human affection, the kindly inter
est of the man who prays sQuarely and
fairly before Gods moral interest. BY
that very fact the rays of divine af-
lection are concentrated and focused
upon the objects of our prayerful in
terest until they become effective.
The man who prays introduces a
new force into given situation,
which enters decisively into the de-
termination of the issue. When the
child's balloon is growing stale, it
tends to settle to the floor by the pow
er of gravitation Yet a single
breath, soft, unseen, but real, will
carry it to the ceiling. There is no
violation of natural law here. but the
introduced of a higher force which
alters the situation.
ASK, and We Shall Receive"
We have not reduced the POSSIBLE
in the large uniformities OF God to
anything like an exact science. We
have not reduced to an exact science
the influence of a mothers love upon
her children, nor the subtle effect of
a mans good name upon his prospects
for success in the world, nor the re-
i suits upon the physical process Of di-
gestion of a cheerful habit of mind.
But the fact that all these beneficent
forces shade off into mystery does not
incline us to refuse the help of the
mothers love or the good name or
the cheerful habit of mind, simply be-
cause we cannot measure their re-
suits with a foot rule or lay them out
by metes and bounds,
It sufices the farmer to know that
II he sows he will reap. The harvests
in prospect are sufficiently sure to
| make his hope of a return an encour-
agement to effort. True Christians,
assured by the promises of the Master
and by an overwhelming volume of
religious experience, continue to
ASK knowing that they will re
| CCAfO' ACy oOOh1 hAOW4HS LHdt
they will find" They perseveringly
knock" knowing that the doors will
open into the treasury house of the
! Unseen
| 1t was said of One. "As he prayed
| the fashion of his countens.nce was
altered His face changed under the
power of his devotion. The, look OF
sympathy and of spiritual interest in
the face of any man is skestched in
finer lines when he becomes man OF
prayer. And there Is cogency and
a persuasive note in the very voice
of man who prays; it carries in its
very tones the subtle and command
ing accent OF spiritual veracity. The
soul of the prayerful man moves upon
/ its royal way with the strength of ter
because it has been empowered from
on high with the enduement received
in prayer.-Rev. Charles R. Brown
DID.
A word unspoken is, like the sword