Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-22

O. AS a Bible school teacher, am
continually asked the questions: What
use is there in prayer; does God alter
His plans because we ask Him to do
so; when He seems to alter them, what
reasons have we for supposfng that he
did not intend to do what He does?
purely subjective?
A. It cannot be denied that prayer
has an immense subjective significance.
! No person ever truly and sincerely
prayed for anything worthy without
| being the better for the act. But
! fundamentally, prayer is the fellow
ship of man with his Maker. So to
surrender it because some forms of
prayer are unsatisfactory would be the
height of folly True communion with
the All Father is lifes deepest strength
and joy.
The prayer of petition becomes in
tercession when we pray not for our
selves alone, but for others, and for
causes dear to God and essential for
humanity. Such prayer may avail.
and again 1t may not. 1t is subject
to superior wisdom. Yet it would
not be beneficial for us or for others
II we ceased to pray. Who shall say
how much God can effect for good
through our personal interest in other
! lives?
Consider the prayers of st. Paul,
of st. Augustine, of ST. Francis. and
those Of other saints who proved that
| prayer is mighty to prevail in the
| hearts of their fellow creatures. Surely
human wills are open to notifications
or how can We account for the trans
| formations wrought by the supplica-
tons of faithful pastors and devout
parents? What is more, the will can
and does affect the course of human
events in innumerable instances.
Prof. A. S. Eddington, the eminent
| scientist, has shown that the careless
dropping of lighted match can start
forest fire which in turn would else
where precipitate a rainstorm. Again,
the minerals extracted from the earth
, can be shaped by us for the sword or
the plowshare. When we are so linked
with God that His will is our desire,
who doubts that the sword will dis
! appear?
In other words, man. nature and
I God are so closely interrelated that
it is sheer dogmatiSm to urge a mans
prayers influence nobody and nothing
| outside himself Experience attestS
the truth of Tennyson,s line that more
things are wrought by prayer than
this world dream of"
@. Upon what acts or teachings OF
Jesus do you Christians base the Lord
Supper? I feel it is an exaggerated
rite and that in some churches it is
superstitiously observed.
A. Jesus always closely identified His
ministry with refreshment of body and
| soul. He evidently regarded the feed
| ing of the multitude as one of His most
| significant acts, regard stimulated by
the fact that among Oriental people
nothing was more sacred than hospi-
tally. Consequently their religious
feasts, including those of the Jews, had
a prominence and a meaning which
Western nations do not readily appre-
bend.
The Passover was Israel's seal and
! sign of her covenanted relation with
Jehovah. Her expectation of a coming
Messiah was embellished by concep-
lions of His temporal pomp and circum-
| stance, and of a great banquet to which
all faithful Hebrews would be sum-
moned. Here their destiny was to
reach its height and their hopes as the
chosen race would be realized
The fourth Gospel, which is the
nobleSt religious document extant, ex-
presses the mind of Jesus on these mat
/ tiers. Read for yourself His discourse in
the sixth chapter of that Gospel
Plainly, His feeding of the multitude
had already taken on a sublime i'm
portance connected with His redemp-
tive mission. He focuses the attention
Of those who heard Him on the imper-
ishahle food of immortality. As the