Year: 1877

fi-hly2 There is no conceivable reason


why some Of this latter class Of passage


should not be seized upon a. furnishing


a key for the unlocking OF the treasure


house Of Gods blessing as well as those


others which give prominence to faith


In fact, il we must make a choice. tnt


conditions expressed in these passages
just quoted would seem to be more vita


and important than faith itself, especially


il the faith is made to consist in merely


believing that the thing prayed Tor will


come For there is an obvious inherent
propriety in Gods requiring as "A conGi


tiOn OF his promising to answer prayer


that the prayer shall be acceptable, that


it shall be for that which is according 10


his will. IL is reasonable that no sweep


ing promise should be made to o"e who


does not abide in Him Tor whose sake


God answers prayer IL would be AN act
! OF foolish indulgence for God to offer tu
| crafty any purely selfish request. But
| there is nothing unreasonable IN suppos-
! ing that God may, Tor good reasons, re-


iuse to hear some prayers, even though
hr who offers them is fully persuaded


that they will be heard. To suppose
! otherwise is practically to require God to


surrender his own government and. in


stead OF being our sovereign, TO become
our servant.


This is strong .nguage; but Is not
strong language rrquirrd2 II the theory
OF prayer in question affirmed no more


than that every truStiul. genuine prayer


j. certain to call down some blrs~ing


though not precisely the one asked Tor;
or Il faith were insisted on only 10 one


important element Of true prayer then


there would be- no occasion for these


stricturrs. But il is prayer for specific


temporal blessings. and belief that pre-.


cIsely these blessings will be granted.


that constitutes the essence of the theory


more or less distinctly propoundrd in


these repeated presentations Of the sub
jet of prayer cures. IL man may with


perfect confidence expect. without the
use OF ordinary means and IN direct an.
swer to prayer. TO be relieved from pain
and sickness. then there is equal reason
why poor man may, with the same con
fidence, pray Tor wealth. an unemployed
man for work, an ignorant man for
knowledge, or an ugly man FOR beauty.
Even though bodily health be allowed to
be the highest OF temporal blessing,
still it is a temporal blessing. To how
many hundreds has sickness itself been
made the means of spiritual good. l. it
not Gods will that many should gloIiiy
him by a cheerful submission to the
pains and disabilities of disease2 Or are
we. on the contrary, to expect that, with
sufficient faith, all disease can be abol-
ished and no one ever die except of old
age, il even OF that2 IL is clear that
Paul never had any such conception of
the privilege OF prayer as Is enjoyed in
modern times. IL he had had, he would
not have had occasion TO tell about his
tribulations and distresses; be would
never have had to learn that hard lrs-On
how. in whatsoever state he was the. =
with TO be content. lie would siLIp,y
have prayed To- have all those disagre"a
BILE things taken away from him. and
have got perfect release from them.


Is this caricature2 Then what j.
meant when these alleged Cases OF mar
velous cures are paraded before the pub
Lief Even when the narratives are not
accompanied with a practical inference
the inference will be drawn by many
that, il the stories are true. then any one
else, with like faith, may accomplish the
same result. And IN most cases the wri
ter does not leave it TO the reader to
draw the inference. But, we may BE-
asked, what is to be said OF the facts2 ]
reply: We are not called on to explain
the facts Perhaps God does sometimes
periorL. re-. arkable cures i'm answer To-
prayer Sometimes il may be according
to his will to do so. But TO infer that hr
grants tie sp-cifc thing asked Tor simply
because OF the faith exercised is gross
violation no less Of logic than of the
spirit and letter OF the Bible And, IL
Cases can be cited in which the perfect
faith seemed to be the effrctual agent IN
securing the blessing. cases can also b.
ci,rd in which, Notwithstanding the
faith. the blessing tailed to come. ]
Lhrw not lodg ago youbg man who was
praying Tor the recovery of a little child
from sickness lie p,1yed most earnest
ly aud iervrntly. lie offered what hs
felt TO be. the prayer of faith, and had
sort OF inward revelation that hecause q
his prayers the child would live. But
tre child died; and the young man ~
m 1T lost both his faith aud hi- reason
ia consequence OF the shock. Doubtlrss
there are other cases OF the symr sort
But these cases are not often published
Why, however, should they not br2 IL
our theory OF prayer is TO be- founded on
the historical examples OF the manner 10
which God answers prayer. then let all
the facts come out. Above all, let u not
forget that, while we are TO have iaiih ~
God. it is far more important IN oui
prayers to be- able to say from the heart
'' Not my will hut thine be done" than il
il to believe that by the mere exercise OF
faith we can secure from God the eraiih
cation of our whims or even of our most
ardent desires for worldly or physical
good.