Jackson County journal., 1919-12-19

2I11 - SI1uCt lOT prayer.
Never has a ma
ton existed so low and degraded that
it did not worship the Supreme Being
In some form.
Instinct Must Be Trained.
Prayer is an instinct, but it requires
proper training or it may lead to dis
aStrOuS cOnSequences-as it leads the |
Hindu woman to throw her child into
the Ganges to appease the wrath Of
the gods.
The first lesson in prayer which our
Savior gave to his disciples is pre-
served in Mathew 7:7 "Ask, and We
shall receive; seek and We shall find;
knock and it shall be opened unto
you" Here the Lord teaches us that
it is our privilege to ask things Of
God. He does not promise US that we
will receive what we ask for but he
encourages us to ask and to make that
the habit Of our lives. Our attitude
should be that Of a child, who might
say, II do not always obtain what I
ask my father for, but I always get
something, and he gives me good
things So it is with the soul who
turns to God in extremity or graft
tude; it is sure to receive some bene-
fit. Perhaps it will be the benefit Of
will see our own hearts more truly in
the light Of his countenance, and thus
realize our own sinfulness and self
ishneSS.
Not Substitute for Work.
Our Savior further teaches us that
prayer is never to be regarded as a
substitute for work, but rather as
supplement to our normal activities.
; If a child asks his mother to pick up
: his playthings a wise parent will re-
) fuse. What the child can do, he must
do; but what the child needs to have
: done and cannot accomplish himself,
} that the mother will gladly do.
In John Is Z our Savior gives US a
lesson in prevailing prayer, by which I
mean prayer which prevails with God
, and secures the very thing for which
it asks. There Christ says: IF ye
abide in me, and my words abide in
+ shall be done unto you." This prom
" ises that if we fulfill certain condi-
e tons God will give US our desire.
e Appeal Sets Even Law Aside.
The place Of prayer may be illus.
trated by an appeal which Senator
!: George Hoar of Massachusetts carried
to Theodore Roosevelt when the latter
was president Of the United States.
An Armenian who lived in the sen
ator's home city had earned enough
money to send to his native country
for his wife and two children. WheI
they arrived at New York it was dis
! covered that the children had an in
: durable disease of the eyes which, un
: der the laws Of the United States
: made them ineligible to land in thi'
! country The Armenian engaged law
yer, who went from one immigration
officer to another seeking permission
for the afflicted children to land.
Meeting failure on every hand, tn
! lawyer enlisted Senator Hoars in1u
s ence. The senator came to New York
: but found the immigration officials in
movable. He then wired the facts i
: the case to President Roosevelt, an
concluded his telegram by saying
: ~If this is the law, then the law Ough
to be changed, and you are the man
: start the revolution" Twenty minute
later the officials in New York wer
- directed to allow the children to lant
IL What the parents, the lawyer an
Senator Hoar could not do, Presider
70 Roosevelt could and did do. Even 81
what we cannot do for ourselves an
what our friends cannot do for q
Jesus Christ can and will do. He
rs the one to whom we are hidden
Ut come at all times for all things thu
ne pertain to our own, or cur friends we
w fare. The Savior who sits upon til
Of +Arox,, ca +ho ,,,,;,,,,-sa and who hs
.ir- 49,, ,,<,. ,e ~, u,.+t,,r ;S ohio +o do a