The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-04-07

them deny themselves daily, for a
cody life is the best preparation for
an ideal meeting. Let them gather up
spiritual strength all the week and
concentrate it upon this service, max
ing it the supreme hour of the week
the hour
When heaven comes down our souls to
greet,
And glory crowns the mercy-seat.
II. The ideal prayer meeting has an
object as well as subject-a definite
object, never to be forgotten, by the
leader or the workers.
What is that subject? 1t is not
simply to have an interesting meeting.
A service may be interesting, and yet
be so devoid of spirituality as to sug-
gest only, sounding brass and tinkling
cymbals." The real object is to
awaken spiritual emotion, to bring the
soul face to face with God, to kindle
fires of devotion until the altar is all
ablaze with the sacrifice Of willing
hearts. and there comes over the audi
ence that indescribable thrill and holy
hush which betokens the presence Of
God, and which makes every heart
ready to say, 90 God, thy will be
done" t
This is the true object Of a prayer
meeting-to bring every soul to the
point where it is willing to do its duty,
SO that decisions may be made and re-
suits may be secured, right then and
there. At the close Of a meeting
where the theme was temperance the
tide Of feeling rose so high that "a
young men and women signed a total
abstinence pledge and thereby COM
pletely revolutionized the temperance
sentiment of that church
Whatever the subject of the meet
ing, never lose sight Of the object.
Feeling which does not lead to action
is of questionable value.
III The ideal meeting is cheerful,
social and hearty. Have a bright car
pet on the floor, appropriate pictures
on the wall, flowers on the table, and
the room seated with chairs Make it
look as little like a church, and as
much like a home as possible. Lay
off hats, wraps and overshoes. Let the
whole atmosphere of the service be
bright, breezy and cheerful.
Have "smile-'em-up committee" at
the door to welcome strangers and to
distribute the audience widely-the
small boys apart from each other, the
workers near the unconverted, and the
timid ones near the more spiritual
Into this rest for the weary" come
with your thanksgiving and rejoicing
Make the welkin ring with song. Let
the most spiritual members lead in
prayer until strong devotional at
mosphere has been created, which will
make it easy for anyone to confess
Christ.
Be simple, and, above all, sincere,
especially in prayer. Remember the
Quaker who was to share the room of
another at convention. After he had
knelt and prayed. the Quaker took his
hat and prepared to depart Hold
on" said the other, Il thought you
were going to spend the night with
me-" Il was" said the Quaker, "but
since l heard you pray 1 have changed
my mind. If you are the kind of man
you said you were in your prayer, am
afraid to sleep with you"
Be cheerful! Paul had his discour-
agements, but he kept them to him
self Cultivate the habit of handshak-
ing, and do not wait for an introduc-
ton. In short. strive to be
One of the spirit chosen BY heaven to
turn
The sunnyside of things to human eyes
". The ideal meeting is one in
which all take part. There are some
things that lie within the reach of all.
You can fill up the front seats, and
thus support the leader. You can
SPEAK early in the meeting, and one
Sentence then is worth a dozen later
Il
Anyone can repeat a verse Of Scrip
sture, and if it is selected with care
and prayer, God will use it to strength
en- the saints and to carry conviction
to sinners. Remember that the Word
Of God is the sword Of the Spirit. Use
it for purpose, and expect results
No believer should be satisfied until
he is able to express the feelings
which the Spirit awakens in his heart
Expression is the law of spiritual
growth The Dead sea is dead because
1t has no outlet, and even the water Of
life will grow stagnant unless it is
shared with other hearts. Therefore
LET the redeemed of the Lord say So
Jesus Christ is Oh trial before the
world. and we are his witnesses.
If we know anythfng4Hn his favor, let
Us speak it out, remembering always
that Q,la word of testimony is worth
an hour Of talk