,,purpose ,,in ,,prayer ,illustration3 ,,edward ,m4 ,,bounds ,,purpose ,,in ,,prayer ,,by ,e4 ,m4 ,,bounds ,author of 8,power through ,prayer40 ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,chicago ,,toronto ,fleming ,h4 ,revell ,company ,,london ,,and ,,edinburgh ,copyright1 #aibj1 by ,,fleming ,h4 ,,revell ,,company ,new ,york3 #aeh ,fifth ,avenue ,chicago3 #ag ,north ,wabash ,ave4 ,london3 #ba ,paternoster ,square ,edinburgh3 #ge ,princes ,street ,,introduction ,,edward ,,mckendree ,,bounds was born in ,shelby ,county1 ,mo41 ,august #ae1 #ahce1 and died ,august #bd1 #aiac1 in ,washington1 ,ga4 ,he received a common school education at ,shelbyville and was admitted to the bar soon after his majority4 ,he practiced law until called to preach the ,gospel at the age of twenty-four4 ,his first pastorate was ,monticello1 ,mo41 ,circuit4 ,it was while serving as pastor of ,brunswick1 ,mo41 that war was declared and the young minister was made a prisoner of war because he would not take the oath of allegiance to the ,federal ,government4 ,he was sent to ,st4 ,louis and later transferred to ,memphis1 ,tenn4 ,finally securing his release1 he traveled on foot nearly one hundred miles to join ,general ,pierce's command in ,mississippi and was soon after made chaplain of the ,fifth ,missouri ,regiment1 a position he held until near the close of the war1 when he was captured and held as prisoner at ,nashville1 ,tenn4 ,after the war ,rev4 ,e4 ,m4 ,bounds was pastor of churches in ,tennessee and ,alabama4 ,in #ahge he was assigned to ,st4 ,paul ,methodist ,church in ,st4 ,louis1 and served there for four years4 ,in #ahgf he was married to ,miss ,emmie ,barnette at ,eufaula1 ,ala41 who died ten years later4 ,in #ahhg he was married to ,miss ,hattie ,barnette1 who1 with five children1 survives him4 ,after serving several pastorates he was sent to the ,first ,methodist ,church in ,st4 ,louis1 ,mo41 for one year and to ,st4 ,paul ,methodist ,church for three years4 ,at the end of his pastorate1 he became the editor of the ,st4 ,louis 8,christian ,advocate40 ,he was a forceful writer and a very deep thinker4 ,he spent the last seventeen years of his life with his family in ,washington1 ,ga4 ,most of the time he was reading1 writing and praying4 ,he rose at #d a4 m4 each day for many years and was indefatigable in his study of the ,bible4 ,his writings were read by thousands of people and were in demand by the church people of every ,protestant denomination4 ,bounds was the embodiment of humility1 with a seraphic devotion to ,jesus ,christ4 ,he reached that high place where self is forgotten and the love of ,god and humanity was the all-absorbing thought and purpose4 ,at seventy-six years of age he came to me in ,brooklyn1 ,n4,y41 and so intense was he that he awoke us at #c o'clock in the morning praying and weeping over the lost of earth4 ,all during the day he would go into the church next door and be found on his knees until called for his meals4 ,this is what he called the 8,business of ,praying40 ,infused with this heavenly ozone1 he wrote 8,preacher and ,prayer10 a classic in its line1 and now gone into several foreign languages1 read by men and women all over the world4 ,in #aiji1 while ,rev4 ,a4 ,c4 ,dixon was preaching in ,dr4 ,broughton's ,tabernacle1 ,atlanta1 ,ga41 ,i sent him a copy of 8,preacher and ,prayer10 by ,bounds4 ,hear what he says3 8,this little book was given me by a friend4 ,i received another copy at ,christmas from another friend4 #8,well1' thought ,i1 #8there must be something worth while in the little book or two of my friends would not have selected the same present for me4' ,so ,i read the first page until ,i came to the words3 #8,man is looking for better methods1 ,god is looking for better men4 ,man is ,god's method4' ,that was enough for me and my appetite demanded more until the book was finished with pleasure40 ,this present volume is a companion work1 and reflects the true spirit of a man whose business it was to live the gospel that he preached4 ,he was not a luminary but a ,,sun and takes his place with ,brainerd and ,bramwell as untiring intercessors with ,god4 ,h4 ,w4 ,,hodge4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,my ,creed leads me to think that prayer is efficacious1 and surely a day's asking ,god to overrule all events for good is not lost4 ,still there is a great feeling that when a man is praying he is doing nothing1 and this feeling makes us give undue importance to work1 sometimes even to the hurrying over or even to the neglect of prayer4 ,do not we rest in our day too much on the arm of flesh8 ,cannot the same wonders be done now as of old8 ,do not the eyes of the ,lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth still to show ,himself strong on behalf of those who put their trust in ,him8 ,oh that ,god would give me more practical faith in ,him6 ,where is now the ,lord ,god of ,elijah8 ,he is waiting for ,elijah to call on ,him4 --,,james ,,gilmour ,,of ,,mongolia4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,i ,,the more praying there is in the world the better the world will be1 the mightier the forces against evil everywhere4 ,prayer1 in one phase of its operation1 is a disinfectant and a preventive4 ,it purifies the air2 it destroys the contagion of evil4 ,prayer is no fitful1 shortlived thing4 ,it is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence4 ,it is a voice which goes into ,god's ear1 and it lives as long as ,god's ear is open to holy pleas1 as long as ,god's heart is alive to holy things4 ,god shapes the world by prayer4 ,prayers are deathless4 ,the lips that uttered them may be closed in death1 the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat1 but the prayers live before ,god1 and ,god's heart is set on them and prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them2 outlive a generation1 outlive an age1 outlive a world4 ,that man is the most immortal who has done the most and the best praying4 ,they are ,god's heroes1 ,god's saints1 ,god's servants1 ,god's vicegerents4 ,a man can pray better because of the prayers of the past2 a man can live holier because of the prayers of the past1 the man of many and acceptable prayers has done the truest and greatest service to the incoming generation4 ,the prayers of ,god's saints strengthen the unborn generation against the desolating waves of sin and evil4 ,woe to the generation of sons who find their censers empty of the rich incense of prayer2 whose fathers have been too busy or too unbelieving to pray1 and perils inexpressible and consequences untold are their unhappy heritage4 ,fortunate are they whose fathers and mothers have left them a wealthy patrimony of prayer4 ,the prayers of ,god's saints are the capital stock in heaven by which ,christ carries on ,his great work upon earth4 ,the great throes and mighty convulsions on earth are the results of these prayers4 ,earth is changed1 revolutionised1 angels move on more powerful1 more rapid wing1 and ,god's policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous1 more efficient4 ,it is true that the mightiest successes that come to ,god's cause are created and carried on by prayer4 ,god's day of power2 the angelic days of activity and power are when ,god's ,church comes into its mightiest inheritance of mightiest faith and mightiest prayer4 ,god's conquering days are when the saints have given themselves to mightiest prayer4 ,when ,god's house on earth is a house of prayer1 then ,god's house in heaven is busy and all potent in its plans and movements1 then ,his earthly armies are clothed with the triumphs and spoils of victory and ,his enemies defeated on every hand4 ,god conditions the very life and prosperity of ,his cause on prayer4 ,the condition was put in the very existence of ,god's cause in this world4 ,ask of ,me is the one condition ,god puts in the very advance and triumph of ,his cause4 ,men are to pray--to pray for the advance of ,god's cause4 ,prayer puts ,god in full force in the world4 ,to a prayerful man ,god is present in realised force2 to a prayerful ,church ,god is present in glorious power1 and the ,second ,psalm is the ,divine description of the establishment of ,god's cause through ,jesus ,christ4 ,all inferior dispensations have merged in the enthronement of ,jesus ,christ4 ,god declares the enthronement of ,his ,son4 ,the nations are incensed with bitter hatred against ,his cause4 ,god is described as laughing at their enfeebled hate4 ,the ,lord will laugh2 ,the ,lord will have them in derision4 8,yet have ,i set ,my ,king upon ,my holy hill of ,zion40 ,the decree has passed immutable and eternal3 ,i will tell of the decree3 ,the ,lord said unto ,me1 ,thou art ,my ,son2 ,this day have ,i begotten ,thee4 ,ask of ,me1 and ,i will give ,thee the nations for ,thine inheritance1 ,and the uttermost parts of the earth for ,thy possession4 ,thou shalt break them with a rod of iron2 ,thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel4 ,ask of ,me is the condition--a praying people willing and obedient4 8,and men shall pray for ,him continually40 ,under this universal and simple promise men and women of old laid themselves out for ,god4 ,they prayed and ,god answered their prayers1 and the cause of ,god was kept alive in the world by the flame of their praying4 ,prayer became a settled and only condition to move ,his ,son's ,kingdom4 8,ask1 and ye shall receive2 seek1 and ye shall find2 knock1 and it shall be opened40 ,the strongest one in ,christ's kingdom is he who is the best knocker4 ,the secret of success in ,christ's ,kingdom is the ability to pray4 ,the one who can wield the power of prayer is the strong one1 the holy one in ,christ's ,kingdom4 ,the most important lesson we can learn is how to pray4 ,prayer is the keynote of the most sanctified life1 of the holiest ministry4 ,he does the most for ,god who is the highest skilled in prayer4 ,jesus ,christ exercised ,his ministry after this order4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,that we ought to give ourselves to ,god with regard to things both temporal and spiritual1 and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling ,his will1 whether ,he lead us by suffering1 or by consolation1 for all would be equal to a soul truly resigned4 ,prayer is nothing else but a sense of ,god's presence4 --,,brother ,,lawrence4 ,be sure you look to your secret duty2 keep that up whatever you do4 ,the soul cannot prosper in the neglect of it4 ,apostasy generally begins at the closet door4 ,be much in secret fellowship with ,god4 ,it is secret trading that enriches the ,christian4 ,pray alone4 ,let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt at night4 ,the best way to fight against sin is to fight it on our knees4 --,,philip ,,henry4 ,the prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the ,great ,jehovah yields4 ,prayer is the sovereign remedy4 --,,robert ,,hall4 ,an hour of solitude passed in sincere and earnest prayer1 or the conflict with and conquest over a single passion or subtle bosom sin will teach us more of thought1 will more effectually awaken the faculty and form the habit of reflection than a year's study in the schools without them4 --,,coleridge4 ,a man may pray night and day and deceive himself1 but no man can be assured of his sincerity who does not pray4 ,prayer is faith passing into act4 ,a union of the will and intellect realising in an intellectual act4 ,it is the whole man that prays4 ,less than this is wishing or lip work1 a sham or a mummery4 ,if ,god should restore me again to health ,i have determined to study nothing but the ,bible4 ,literature is inimical to spirituality if it be not kept under with a firm hand4 --,,richard ,,cecil4 ,our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works1 but in doing that for ,god's sake which we commonly do for our own4 ,the time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer4 ,prayer is nothing else but a sense of the presence of ,god4 --,,brother ,,lawrence4 ,let me burn out for ,god4 ,after all1 whatever ,god may appoint1 prayer is the great thing4 ,oh that ,i may be a man of prayer4 --,,henry ,,martyn4 ,,ii ,the possibilities and necessity of prayer1 its power and results are manifested in arresting and changing the purposes of ,god and in relieving the stroke of ,his power4 ,abimelech was smitten by ,god3 ,so ,abraham prayed unto ,god3 and ,god healed ,abimelech1 and his wife1 and his maidservants2 and they bare children4 ,for the ,lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of ,abimelech1 because of ,sarah ,abraham's wife4 ,job's miserable mistaken comforters had so deported themselves in their controversy with ,job that ,god's wrath was kindled against them4 8,my servant ,job shall pray for you10 said ,god1 8for him will ,i accept40 8,and the ,lord turned the captivity of ,job when he prayed for his friends40 ,jonah was in dire condition when 8the ,lord sent out a great wind into the sea1 and there was a mighty tempest40 ,when lots were cast1 8the lot fell upon ,jonah40 ,he was cast overboard into the sea1 but 8the ,lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up ,jonah4444 ,then ,jonah prayed unto the ,lord his ,god out of the fish's belly 444 and the ,lord spake unto the fish1 and it vomited out ,jonah upon the dry land40 ,when the disobedient prophet lifted up his voice in prayer1 ,god heard and sent deliverance4 ,pharaoh was a firm believer in the possibilities of prayer1 and its ability to relieve4 ,when staggering under the woeful curses of ,god1 he pleaded with ,moses to intercede for him4 8,intreat the ,lord for me10 was his pathetic appeal four times repeated when the plagues were scourging ,egypt4 ,four times were these urgent appeals made to ,moses1 and four times did prayer lift the dread curse from the hard king and his doomed land4 ,the blasphemy and idolatry of ,israel in making the golden calf and declaring their devotions to it were a fearful crime4 ,the anger of ,god waxed hot1 and ,he declared that ,he would destroy the offending people4 ,the ,lord was very wroth with ,aaron also1 and to ,moses ,he said1 8,let ,me alone that ,i may destroy them40 ,but ,moses prayed1 and kept on praying2 day and night he prayed forty days4 ,he makes the record of his prayer struggle4 8,i fell down10 he says1 8before the ,lord at the first forty days and nights2 ,i did neither eat bread nor drink water because of your sins which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the ,lord to provoke ,him to anger4 ,for ,i was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the ,lord was hot against you to destroy you4 ,but the ,lord hearkened to me at this time also4 ,and the ,lord was very angry with ,aaron to have destroyed him4 ,and ,i prayed for him also at the same time40 8,yet forty days1 and ,nineveh shall be overthrown40 ,it was the purpose of ,god to destroy that great and wicked city4 ,but ,nineveh prayed1 covered with sackcloth2 sitting in ashes she cried 8mightily to ,god10 and 8,god repented of the evil that ,he had said ,he would do unto them2 and ,he did it not40 ,the message of ,god to ,hezekiah was3 8,set thine house in order2 for thou shalt die and not live40 ,hezekiah turned his face toward the wall1 and prayed unto the ,lord1 and said3 8,remember now1 ,o ,lord1 ,i beseech ,thee1 how ,i have walked before ,thee in truth1 and with a perfect heart1 and have done that which is good in ,thy sight40 ,and ,hezekiah wept sore4 ,god said to ,isaiah1 8,go1 say to ,hezekiah1 ,i have heard thy prayer1 ,i have seen thy tears2 behold1 ,i will add unto thy days fifteen years40 ,these men knew how to pray and how to prevail in prayer4 ,their faith in prayer was no passing attitude that changed with the wind or with their own feelings and circumstances2 it was a fact that ,god heard and answered1 that ,his ear was ever open to the cry of ,his children1 and that the power to do what was asked of ,him was commensurate with ,his willingness4 ,and thus these men1 strong in faith and in prayer1 8subdued kingdoms1 wrought righteousness1 obtained promises1 stopped the mouths of lions1 quenched the power of fire1 escaped the edge of the sword1 from weakness were made strong1 waxed mighty in war1 turned to flight the armies of the aliens40 ,everything then1 as now1 was possible to the men and women who knew how to pray4 ,prayer1 indeed1 opened a limitless storehouse1 and ,god's hand withheld nothing4 ,prayer introduced those who practised it into a world of privilege1 and brought the strength and wealth of heaven down to the aid of finite man4 ,what rich and wonderful power was theirs who had learned the secret of victorious approach to ,god6 ,with ,moses it saved a nation2 with ,ezra it saved a church4 ,and yet1 strange as it seems when we contemplate the wonders of which ,god's people had been witness1 there came a slackness in prayer4 ,the mighty hold upon ,god1 that had so often struck awe and terror into the hearts of their enemies1 lost its grip4 ,the people1 backslidden and apostate1 had gone off from their praying--if the bulk of them had ever truly prayed4 ,the ,pharisee's cold and lifeless praying was substituted for any genuine approach to ,god1 and because of that formal method of praying the whole worship became a parody of its real purpose4 ,a glorious dispensation1 and gloriously executed1 was it by ,moses1 by ,ezra1 by ,daniel and ,elijah1 by ,hannah and ,samuel2 but the circle seems limited and shortlived2 the praying ones were few and far between4 ,they had no survivors1 none to imitate their devotion to ,god1 none to preserve the roll of the elect4 ,in vain had the decree established the ,divine order1 the ,divine call4 ,ask of ,me4 ,from the earnest and fruitful crying to ,god they turned their faces to pagan gods1 and cried in vain for the answers that could never come4 ,and so they sank into that godless and pitiful state that has lost its object in life when the link with the ,eternal has been broken4 ,their favoured dispensation of prayer was forgotten2 they knew not how to pray4 ,what a contrast to the achievements that brighten up other pages of holy writ4 ,the power working through ,elijah and ,elisha in answer to prayer reached down even to the very grave4 ,in each case a child was raised from the dead1 and the powers of famine were broken4 8,the supplications of a righteous man avail much40 ,elijah was a man of like passions with us4 ,he prayed fervently that it might not rain1 and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months4 ,and he prayed again1 and the heaven gave rain1 and the earth brought forth her fruit4 ,jonah prayed while imprisoned in the great fish1 and he came to dry land1 saved from storm and sea and monsters of the deep by the mighty energy of his praying4 ,how wide the gracious provision of the grace of praying as administered in that marvellous dispensation4 ,they prayed wondrously4 ,why could not their praying save the dispensation from decay and death8 ,was it not because they lost the fire without which all praying degenerates into a lifeless form8 ,it takes effort and toil and care to prepare the incense4 ,prayer is no laggard's work4 ,when all the rich1 spiced graces from the body of prayer have by labour and beating been blended and refined and intermixed1 the fire is needed to unloose the incense and make its fragrance rise to the throne of ,god4 ,the fire that consumes creates the spirit and life of the incense4 ,without fire prayer has no spirit2 it is1 like dead spices1 for corruption and worms4 ,the casual1 intermittent prayer is never bathed in this ,divine fire4 ,for the man who thus prays is lacking in the earnestness that lays hold of ,god1 determined not to let ,him go until the blessing comes4 8,pray without ceasing10 counselled the great ,apostle4 ,that is the habit that drives prayer right into the mortar that holds the building stones together4 8,you can do more than pray after you have prayed10 said the godly ,dr4 ,a4 ,j4 ,gordon1 8but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed40 ,the story of every great ,christian achievement is the history of answered prayer4 8,the greatest and the best talent that ,god gives to any man or woman in this world is the talent of prayer10 writes ,principal ,alexander ,whyte4 8,and the best usury that any man or woman brings back to ,god when ,he comes to reckon with them at the end of this world is a life of prayer4 ,and those servants best put their ,lord's money #8to the exchangers' who rise early and sit late1 as long as they are in this world1 ever finding out and ever following after better and better methods of prayer1 and ever forming more secret1 more steadfast1 and more spiritually fruitful habits of prayer1 till they literally #8pray without ceasing1' and till they continually strike out into new enterprises in prayer1 and new achievements1 and new enrichments40 ,martin ,luther1 when once asked what his plans for the following day were1 answered3 8,work1 work1 from early until late4 ,in fact1 ,i have so much to do that ,i shall spend the first three hours in prayer40 ,cromwell1 too1 believed in being much upon his knees4 ,looking on one occasion at the statues of famous men1 he turned to a friend and said3 8,make mine kneeling1 for thus ,i came to glory40 ,it is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends1 for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of ,god4 ,when thou feelest thyself most indisposed to prayer yield not to it1 but strive and endeavour to pray even when thou thinkest thou canst not pray4 --,,hildersam4 ,it was among the ,parthians the custom that none was to give their children any meat in the morning before they saw the sweat on their faces1 and you shall find this to be ,god's usual course not to give ,his children the taste of ,his delights till they begin to sweat in seeking after them4 --,,richard ,,baxter4 ,of all the duties enjoined by ,christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer4 ,most people consider the exercise a fatiguing ceremony1 which they are justified in abridging as much as possible4 ,even those whose profession or fears lead them to pray1 pray with such languor and wanderings of mind that their prayers1 far from drawing down blessings1 only increase their condemnation4 --,f,,nelon4 ,,iii ,more praying and better is the secret of the whole matter4 ,more time for prayer1 more relish and preparation to meet ,god1 to commune with ,god through ,christ--this has in it the whole of the matter4 ,our manner and matter of praying ill become us4 ,the attitude and relationship of ,god and the ,son are the eternal relationship of ,father and ,son1 of asking and giving--the ,son always asking1 the ,father always giving3 ,ask of ,me1 and ,i will give ,thee the nations for ,thine inheritance1 ,and the uttermost parts of the earth for ,thy possession4 ,thou shalt break them with a rod of iron2 ,thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel4 ,jesus is to be always praying through ,his people4 8,and men shall pray for ,him continually40 8,for ,my house shall be called a house of prayer for ,my peoples40 ,we must prepare ourselves to pray2 to be like ,christ1 to pray like ,christ4 ,man's access in prayer to ,god opens everything1 and makes his impoverishment his wealth4 ,all things are his through prayer4 ,the wealth and the glory--all things are ,christ's4 ,as the light grows brighter and prophets take in the nature of the restoration1 the ,divine record seems to be enlarged4 8,thus saith the ,lord1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel and ,his ,maker1 ask ,me of the things that are to come1 concerning ,my sons1 and concerning the work of ,my hands command ye ,me4 ,i have made the earth1 and created man upon it3 ,i1 even ,my hands1 have stretched out the heavens and all their host have ,i commanded40 ,to man is given to command ,god with all this authority and power in the demands of ,god's earthly ,kingdom4 ,heaven1 with all it has1 is under tribute to carry out the ultimate1 final and glorious purposes of ,god4 ,why then is the time so long in carrying out these wise benedictions for man8 ,why then does sin so long reign8 ,why are the oath-bound covenant promises so long in coming to their gracious end8 ,sin reigns1 ,satan reigns1 sighing marks the lives of many2 all tears are fresh and full4 ,why is all this so8 ,we have not prayed to bring the evil to an end2 we have not prayed as we must pray4 ,we have not met the conditions of prayer4 ,ask of ,me4 ,ask of ,god4 ,we have not rested on prayer4 ,we have not made prayer the sole condition4 ,there has been violation of the primary condition of prayer4 ,we have not prayed aright4 ,we have not prayed at all4 ,god is willing to give1 but we are slow to ask4 ,the ,son1 through ,his saints1 is ever praying and ,god the ,father is ever answering4 ,ask of ,me4 ,in the invitation is conveyed the assurance of answer2 the shout of victory is there and may be heard by the listening ear4 ,the ,father holds the authority and power in ,his hands4 ,how easy is the condition1 and yet how long are we in fulfilling the conditions6 ,nations are in bondage2 the uttermost parts of the earth are still unpossessed4 ,the earth groans2 the world is still in bondage2 ,satan and evil hold sway4 ,the ,father holds ,himself in the attitude of ,giver1 ,ask of ,me1 and that petition to ,god the ,father empowers all agencies1 inspires all movements4 ,the ,gospel is ,divinely inspired4 ,back of all its inspirations is prayer4 ,ask of ,me lies back of all movements4 ,standing as the endowment of the enthroned ,christ is the oath-bound covenant of the ,father1 8,ask of ,me1 and ,i will give thee the nations for thine inheritance1 and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession40 8,and men shall pray to ,him continually40 ,ever are the prayers of holy men streaming up to ,god as fragrant as the richest incense4 ,and ,god in many ways is speaking to us1 declaring ,his wealth and our impoverishment4 8,i am the ,maker of all things2 the wealth and glory are ,mine4 ,command ye ,me40 ,we can do all things by ,god's aid1 and can have the whole of ,his aid by asking4 ,the ,gospel1 in its success and power1 depends on our ability to pray4 ,the dispensations of ,god depend on man's ability to pray4 ,we can have all that ,god has4 ,command ye ,me4 ,this is no figment of the imagination1 no idle dream1 no vain fancy4 ,the life of the ,church is the highest life4 ,its office is to pray4 ,its prayer life is the highest life1 the most odorous1 the most conspicuous4 ,the ,book of ,revelation says nothing about prayer as a great duty1 a hallowed service1 but much about prayer in its aggregated force and energies4 ,it is the prayer force ever living and ever praying2 it is all saints' prayers going out as a mighty1 living energy while the lips that uttered the words are stilled and sealed in death1 while the living church has an energy of faith to inherit the forces of all the past praying and make it deathless4 ,the statement by the ,baptist philosopher1 ,john ,foster1 contains the purest philosophy and the simple truth of ,god1 for ,god has no force and demands no conditions but prayer4 8,more and better praying will bring the surest and readiest triumph to ,god's cause2 feeble1 formal1 listless praying brings decay and death4 ,the ,church has its sheet-anchor in the closet2 its magazine stores are there40 8,i am convinced10 ,foster continues1 8that every man who amidst his serious projects is apprized of his dependence upon ,god as completely as that dependence is a fact1 will be impelled to pray and anxious to induce his serious friends to pray almost every hour4 ,he will not without it promise himself any noble success any more than a mariner would expect to reach a distant coast by having his sails spread in a stagnation of air4 8,i have intimated my fear that it is visionary to expect an unusual success in the human administration of religion unless there are unusual omens3 now a most emphatical spirit of prayer would be such an omen2 and the individual who should determine to try its last possible efficacy might probably find himself becoming a much more prevailing agent in his little sphere4 ,and if the whole1 or the greater number of the disciples of ,christianity were with an earnest and unalterable resolution of each to combine that heaven should not withhold one single influence which the very utmost effort of conspiring and persevering supplication would obtain1 it would be a sign that a revolution of the world was at hand40 ,edward ,payson1 one of ,god's own1 says of this statement of ,foster1 8,very few missionaries since the apostles1 probably have tried the experiment4 ,he who shall make the first trial will1 ,i believe1 effect wonders4 ,nothing that ,i could write1 nothing that an angel could write1 would be necessary to him who should make this trial4 8,one of the principal results of the little experience which ,i have had as a ,christian minister is a conviction that religion consists very much in giving ,god that place in our views and feelings which ,he actually fills in the universe4 ,we know that in the universe ,he is all in all4 ,so far as ,he is constantly all in all to us1 so far as we comply with the ,psalmist's charge to his soul1 #8,my soul1 wait thou only upon ,god2' so far1 ,i apprehend1 have we advanced towards perfection4 ,it is comparatively easy to wait upon ,god2 but to wait upon ,him only--to feel1 so far as our strength1 happiness1 and usefulness are concerned1 as if all creatures and second causes were annihilated1 and we were alone in the universe with ,god1 is1 ,i suspect1 a difficult and rare attainment4 ,at least1 ,i am sure it is one which ,i am very far from having made4 ,in proportion as we make this attainment we shall find everything easy2 for we shall become1 emphatically1 men of prayer2 and we may say of prayer as ,solomon says of money1 that it answereth all things40 ,this same ,john ,foster said1 when approaching death3 8,i never prayed more earnestly nor probably with such faithful frequency4 #8,pray without ceasing' has been the sentence repeating itself in the silent thought1 and ,i am sure it must be my practice till the last conscious hour of life4 ,oh1 why not throughout that long1 indolent1 inanimate half-century past80 ,and yet this is the way in which we all act about prayer4 ,conscious as we are of its importance1 of its vital importance1 we yet let the hours pass away as a blank and can only lament in death the irremediable loss4 ,when we calmly reflect upon the fact that the progress of our ,lord's ,kingdom is dependent upon prayer1 it is sad to think that we give so little time to the holy exercise4 ,everything depends upon prayer1 and yet we neglect it not only to our own spiritual hurt but also to the delay and injury of our ,lord's cause upon earth4 ,the forces of good and evil are contending for the world4 ,if we would1 we could add to the conquering power of the army of righteousness1 and yet our lips are sealed1 our hands hang listlessly by our side1 and we jeopardise the very cause in which we profess to be deeply interested by holding back from the prayer chamber4 ,prayer is the one prime1 eternal condition by which the ,father is pledged to put the ,son in possession of the world4 ,christ prays through ,his people4 ,had there been importunate1 universal and continuous prayer by ,god's people1 long ere this the earth had been possessed for ,christ4 ,the delay is not to be accounted for by the inveterate obstacles1 but by the lack of the right asking4 ,we do more of everything else than of praying4 ,as poor as our giving is1 our contributions of money exceed our offerings of prayer4 ,perhaps in the average congregation fifty aid in paying1 where one saintly1 ardent soul shuts itself up with ,god and wrestles for the deliverance of the heathen world4 ,official praying on set or state occasions counts for nothing in this estimate4 ,we emphasise other things more than we do the necessity of prayer4 ,we are saying prayers after an orderly way1 but we have not the world in the grasp of our faith4 ,we are not praying after the order that moves ,god and brings all ,divine influences to help us4 ,the world needs more true praying to save it from the reign and ruin of ,satan4 ,we do not pray as ,elijah prayed4 ,john ,foster puts the whole matter to a practical point4 8,when the ,church of ,god10 he says1 8is aroused to its obligation and duties and right faith to claim what ,christ has promised--#8all things whatsoever'--a revolution will take place40 ,but not all praying is praying4 ,the driving power1 the conquering force in ,god's cause is ,god ,himself4 8,call upon ,me and ,i will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not10 is ,god's challenge to prayer4 ,prayer puts ,god in full force into ,god's work4 8,ask of ,me things to come1 concerning ,my sons1 and concerning the work of ,my hands command ye ,me0--,god's carte blanche to prayer4 ,faith is only omnipotent when on its knees1 and its outstretched hands take hold of ,god1 then it draws to the utmost of ,god's capacity2 for only a praying faith can get ,god's 8all things whatsoever40 ,wonderful lessons are the ,syrophenician woman1 the importunate widow1 and the friend at midnight1 of what dauntless prayer can do in mastering or defying conditions1 in changing defeat into victory and triumphing in the regions of despair4 ,oneness with ,christ1 the acme of spiritual attainment1 is glorious in all things2 most glorious in that we can then 8ask what we will and it shall be done unto us40 ,prayer in ,jesus' name puts the crowning crown on ,god1 because it glorifies ,him through the ,son and pledges the ,son to give to men 8whatsoever and anything0 they shall ask4 ,in the ,new ,testament the marvellous prayer of the ,old ,testament is put to the front that it may provoke and stimulate our praying1 and it is preceded with a declaration1 the dynamic energy of which we can scarcely translate4 8,the supplication of a righteous man availeth much4 ,elijah was a man of like passions with us1 and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain1 and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months4 ,and he prayed again1 and the heaven gave rain1 and the earth brought forth her fruit40 ,our paucity in results1 the cause of all leanness1 is solved by the ,apostle ,james--8,ye have not1 because ye ask not4 ,ye ask and receive not1 because ye ask amiss1 that ye may spend it on your pleasures40 ,that is the whole truth in a nutshell4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,the potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire2 it had bridled the rage of lions1 hushed anarchy to rest1 extinguished wars1 appeased the elements1 expelled demons1 burst the chains of death1 expanded the gates of heaven1 assuaged diseases1 repelled frauds1 rescued cities from destruction1 stayed the sun in its course1 and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt4 ,prayer is an all-efficient panoply1 a treasure undiminished1 a mine which is never exhausted1 a sky unobscured by clouds1 a heaven unruffled by the storm4 ,it is the root1 the fountain1 the mother of a thousand blessings4 --,,chrysostom4 ,the prayers of holy men appease ,god's wrath1 drive away temptations1 resist and overcome the devil1 procure the ministry and service of angels1 rescind the decrees of ,god4 ,prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon2 it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon2 it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the storehouses of rain1 it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire2 it stops the mouths of lions and reconciles our suffering and weak faculties with the violence of torment and violence of persecution2 it pleases ,god and supplies all our need4 --,,jeremy ,,taylor4 ,more things are wrought by prayer ,than this world dreams of4 ,wherefore1 let thy voice ,rise like a fountain for me night and day4 ,for what are men better than sheep or goats1 ,that nourish a blind life within the brain1 ,if1 knowing ,god1 they lift not hands of prayer ,both for themselves and those who call them friend8 ,for so the whole round earth is every way ,bound by gold chains about the feet of ,god4 --,,tennyson4 ,perfect prayer is only another name for love4 --,f,,nelon4 ,,iv ,it was said of the late ,c4 ,h4 ,spurgeon1 that he glided from laughter to prayer with the naturalness of one who lived in both elements4 ,with him the habit of prayer was free and unfettered4 ,his life was not divided into compartments1 the one shut off from the other with a rigid exclusiveness that barred all intercommunication4 ,he lived in constant fellowship with his ,father in ,heaven4 ,he was ever in touch with ,god1 and thus it was as natural for him to pray as it was for him to breathe4 8,what a fine time we have had2 let us thank ,god for it10 he said to a friend on one occasion1 when1 out under the blue sky and wrapped in glorious sunshine1 they had enjoyed a holiday with the unfettered enthusiasm of schoolboys4 ,prayer sprang as spontaneously to his lips as did ordinary speech1 and never was there the slightest incongruity in his approach to the ,divine throne straight from any scene in which he might be taking part4 ,that is the attitude with regard to prayer that ought to mark every child of ,god4 ,there are1 and there ought to be1 stated seasons of communion with ,god when1 everything else shut out1 we come into ,his presence to talk to ,him and to let ,him speak to us2 and out of such seasons springs that beautiful habit of prayer that weaves a golden bond between earth and heaven4 ,without such stated seasons the habit of prayer can never be formed2 without them there is no nourishment for the spiritual life4 ,by means of them the soul is lifted into a new atmosphere--the atmosphere of the heavenly city1 in which it is easy to open the heart to ,god and to speak with ,him as friend speaks with friend4 ,thus1 in every circumstance of life1 prayer is the most natural out-pouring of the soul1 the unhindered turning to ,god for communion and direction4 ,whether in sorrow or in joy1 in defeat or in victory1 in health or in weakness1 in calamity or in success1 the heart leaps to meet with ,god just as a child runs to his mother's arms1 ever sure that with her is the sympathy that meets every need4 ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke1 in his autobiography1 records that when ,mr4 ,wesley was returning to ,england by ship1 considerable delay was caused by contrary winds4 ,wesley was reading1 when he became aware of some confusion on board1 and asking what was the matter1 he was informed that the wind was contrary4 8,then10 was his reply1 8let us go to prayer40 ,after ,dr4 ,clarke had prayed1 ,wesley broke out into fervent supplication which seemed to be more the offering of faith than of mere desire4 8,almighty and everlasting ,god10 he prayed1 8,thou hast sway everywhere1 and all things serve the purpose of ,thy will1 ,thou holdest the winds in ,thy fists and sittest upon the water floods1 and reignest a ,king for ever4 ,command these winds and these waves that they obey ,thee1 and take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go40 ,the power of this petition was felt by all4 ,wesley rose from his knees1 made no remark1 but took up his book and continued reading4 ,dr4 ,clarke went on deck1 and to his surprise found the vessel under sail1 standing on her right course4 ,nor did she change till she was safely at anchor4 ,on the sudden and favourable change of wind1 ,wesley made no remark2 so fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted that he was heard4 ,that was prayer with a purpose--the definite and direct utterance of one who knew that he had the ear of ,god1 and that ,god had the willingness as well as the power to grant the petition which he asked of ,him4 ,major ,d4 ,w4 ,whittle1 in an introduction to the wonders of prayer1 says of ,george ,mller1 of ,bristol3 8,i met ,mr4 ,mller in the express1 the morning of our sailing from ,quebec to ,liverpool4 ,about half-an-hour before the tender was to take the passengers to the ship1 he asked of the agent if a deck chair had arrived for him from ,new ,york4 ,he was answered1 #8,no1' and told that it could not possibly come in time for the steamer4 ,i had with me a chair ,i had just purchased1 and told ,mr4 ,mller of the place near by1 and suggested1 as but a few moments remained1 that he had better buy one at once4 ,his reply was1 #8,no1 my brother4 ,our ,heavenly ,father will send the chair from ,new ,york4 ,it is one used by ,mrs4 ,mller4 ,i wrote ten days ago to a brother1 who promised to see it forwarded here last week4 ,he has not been prompt1 as ,i would have desired1 but ,i am sure our ,heavenly ,father will send the chair4 ,mrs4 ,mller is very sick on the sea1 and has particularly desired to have this same chair1 and not finding it here yesterday1 we have made special prayer that our ,heavenly ,father would be pleased to provide it for us1 and we will trust ,him to do so4' ,as this dear man of ,god went peacefully on board1 running the risk of ,mrs4 ,mller making the trip without a chair1 when1 for a couple of dollars1 she could have been provided for1 ,i confess ,i feared ,mr4 ,mller was carrying his faith principles too far and not acting wisely4 ,i was kept at the express office ten minutes after ,mr4 ,mller left4 ,just as ,i started to hurry to the wharf1 a team drove up the street1 and on top of a load just arrived from ,new ,york was ,mr4 ,mller's chair4 ,it was sent at once to the tender and placed in my hands to take to ,mr4 ,mller1 just as the boat was leaving the dock 7the ,lord having a lesson for me74 ,mr4 ,mller took it with the happy1 pleased expression of a child who has just received a kindness deeply appreciated1 and reverently removing his hat and folding his hands over it1 he thanked the ,heavenly ,father for sending the chair40 ,one of ,melancthon's correspondents writes of ,luther's praying3 8,i cannot enough admire the extraordinary1 cheerfulness1 constancy1 faith and hope of the man in these trying and vexatious times4 ,he constantly feeds these gracious affections by a very diligent study of the ,word of ,god4 ,then not a day passes in which he does not employ in prayer at least three of his very best hours4 ,once ,i happened to hear him at prayer4 ,gracious ,god6 ,what spirit and what faith is there in his expressions6 ,he petitions ,god with as much reverence as if he was in the divine presence1 and yet with as firm a hope and confidence as he would address a father or a friend4 #8,i know1' said he1 #8,thou art our ,father and our ,god2 and therefore ,i am sure ,thou wilt bring to naught the persecutors of ,thy children4 ,for shouldest ,thou fail to do this ,thine own cause1 being connected with ours1 would be endangered4 ,it is entirely thine own concern4 ,we1 by ,thy providence1 have been compelled to take a part4 ,thou therefore wilt be our defence4' ,whilst ,i was listening to ,luther praying in this manner1 at a distance1 my soul seemed on fire within me1 to hear the man address ,god so like a friend1 yet with so much gravity and reverence2 and also to hear him1 in the course of his prayer1 insisting on the promises contained in the ,psalms1 as if he were sure his petitions would be granted40 ,of ,william ,bramwell1 a noted ,methodist preacher in ,england1 wonderful for his zeal and prayer1 the following is related by a sergeant major3 8,in ,july1 #ahaa1 our regiment was ordered for ,spain1 then the seat of a protracted and sanguinary war4 ,my mind was painfully exercised with the thoughts of leaving my dear wife and four helpless children in a strange country1 unprotected and unprovided for4 ,mr4 ,bramwell felt a lively interest in our situation1 and his sympathising spirit seemed to drink in all the agonised feelings of my tender wife4 ,he supplicated the throne of grace day and night in our behalf4 ,my wife and ,i spent the evening previous to our march at a friend's house1 in company with ,mr4 ,bramwell1 who sat in a very pensive mood1 and appeared to be in a spiritual struggle all the time4 ,after supper1 he suddenly pulled his hand out of his bosom1 laid it on my knee1 and said3 #8,brother ,riley1 mark what ,i am about to say6 ,you are not to go to ,spain4 ,remember ,i tell you1 you are not2 for ,i have been wrestling with ,god on your behalf1 and when my ,heavenly ,father condescends in mercy to bless me with power to lay hold on ,himself1 ,i do not easily let ,him go2 no1 not until ,i am favoured with an answer4 ,therefore you may depend upon it that the next time ,i hear from you1 you will be settled in quarters4' ,this came to pass exactly as he said4 ,the next day the order for going to ,spain was countermanded40 ,these men prayed with a purpose4 ,to them ,god was not far away1 in some inaccessible region1 but near at hand1 ever ready to listen to the call of ,his children4 ,there was no barrier between4 ,they were on terms of perfect intimacy1 if one may use such a phrase in relation to man and his ,maker4 ,no cloud obscured the face of the ,father from ,his trusting child1 who could look up into the ,divine countenance and pour out the longings of his heart4 ,and that is the type of prayer which ,god never fails to hear4 ,he knows that it comes from a heart at one with ,his own2 from one who is entirely yielded to the heavenly plan1 and so ,he bends ,his ear and gives to the pleading child the assurance that his petition has been heard and answered4 ,have we not all had some such experience when with set and undeviating purpose we have approached the face of our ,father8 ,in an agony of soul we have sought refuge from the oppression of the world in the anteroom of heaven2 the waves of despair seemed to threaten destruction1 and as no way of escape was visible anywhere1 we fell back1 like the disciples of old1 upon the power of our ,lord1 crying to ,him to save us lest we perish4 ,and then1 in the twinkling of an eye1 the thing was done4 ,the billows sank into a calm2 the howling wind died down at the ,divine command2 the agony of the soul passed into a restful peace as over the whole being there crept the consciousness of the ,divine presence1 bringing with it the assurance of answered prayer and sweet deliverance4 8,i tell the ,lord my troubles and difficulties1 and wait for ,him to give me the answers to them10 says one man of ,god4 8,and it is wonderful how a matter that looked very dark will in prayer become clear as crystal by the help of ,god's ,spirit4 ,i think ,christians fail so often to get answers to their prayers because they do not wait long enough on ,god4 ,they just drop down and say a few words1 and then jump up and forget it and expect ,god to answer them4 ,such praying always reminds me of the small boy ringing his neighbour's door-bell1 and then running away as fast as he can go40 ,when we acquire the habit of prayer we enter into a new atmosphere4 8,do you expect to go to heaven80 asked some one of a devout ,scotsman4 8,why1 man1 ,i live there10 was the quaint and unexpected reply4 ,it was a pithy statement of a great truth1 for all the way to heaven is heaven begun to the ,christian who walks near enough to ,god to hear the secrets ,he has to impart4 ,this attitude is beautifully illustrated in a story of ,horace ,bushnell1 told by ,dr4 ,parkes ,cadman4 ,bushnell was found to be suffering from an incurable disease4 ,one evening the ,rev4 ,joseph ,twichell visited him1 and1 as they sat together under the starry sky1 ,bushnell said3 8,one of us ought to pray40 ,twichell asked ,bushnell to do so1 and ,bushnell began his prayer2 burying his face in the earth1 he poured out his heart until1 said ,twichell1 in recalling the incident1 8,i was afraid to stretch out my hand in the darkness lest ,i should touch ,god40 ,to have ,god thus near is to enter the holy of holies--to breathe the fragrance of the heavenly air1 to walk in ,eden's delightful gardens4 ,nothing but prayer can bring ,god and man into this happy communion4 ,that was the experience of ,samuel ,rutherford1 just as it is the experience of every one who passes through the same gateway4 ,when this saint of ,god was confined in jail at one time for conscience sake1 he enjoyed in a rare degree the ,divine companionship1 recording in his diary that ,jesus entered his cell1 and that at ,his coming 8every stone flashed like a ruby40 ,many others have borne witness to the same sweet fellowship1 when prayer had become the one habit of life that meant more than anything else to them4 ,david ,livingstone lived in the realm of prayer and knew its gracious influence4 ,it was his habit every birthday to write a prayer1 and on the next to the last birthday of all1 this was his prayer3 8,o ,divine one1 ,i have not loved ,thee earnestly1 deeply1 sincerely enough4 ,grant1 ,i pray ,thee1 that before this year is ended ,i may have finished my task40 ,it was just on the threshold of the year that followed that his faithful men1 as they looked into the hut of ,ilala1 while the rain dripped from the eaves1 saw their master on his knees beside his bed in an attitude of prayer4 ,he had died on his knees in prayer4 ,stonewall ,jackson was a man of prayer4 ,said he3 8,i have so fixed the habit in my mind that ,i never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking ,god's blessing1 never seal a letter without putting a word of prayer under the seal1 never take a letter from the post without a brief sending of my thoughts heavenward1 never change my classes in the lecture-room without a minute's petition for the cadets who go out and for those who come in40 ,james ,gilmour1 the pioneer missionary to ,mongolia1 was a man of prayer4 ,he had a habit in his writing of never using a blotter4 ,he made a rule when he got to the bottom of any page to wait until the ink dried and spend the time in prayer4 ,in this way their whole being was saturated with the ,divine1 and they became the reflectors of the heavenly fragrance and glory4 ,walking with ,god down the avenues of prayer we acquire something of ,his likeness1 and unconsciously we become witnesses to others of ,his beauty and ,his grace4 ,professor ,james1 in his famous work1 8,varieties of ,religious ,experience10 tells of a man of forty-nine who said3 8,god is more real to me than any thought or thing or person4 ,i feel ,his presence positively1 and the more as ,i live in closer harmony with ,his laws as written in my body and mind4 ,i feel ,him in the sunshine or rain2 and all mingled with a delicious restfulness most nearly describes my feelings4 ,i talk to ,him as to a companion in prayer and praise1 and our communion is delightful4 ,he answers me again and again1 often in words so clearly spoken that it seems my outer ear must have carried the tone1 but generally in strong mental impressions4 ,usually a text of ,scripture1 unfolding some new view of ,him and ,his love for me1 and care for my safety4444 ,that ,he is mine and ,i am ,his never leaves me2 it is an abiding joy4 ,without it life would be a blank1 a desert1 a shoreless1 trackless waste40 ,equally notable is the testimony of ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 the beloved physician who lived at ,norwich in #afje1 and was the author of a very remarkable book of wide circulation1 8,religio ,medici40 ,in spite of the fact that ,england was passing through a period of national convulsion and political excitement1 he found comfort and strength in prayer4 8,i have resolved10 he wrote in a journal found among his private papers after his death1 8to pray more and pray always1 to pray in all places where quietness inviteth1 in the house1 on the highway and on the street2 and to know no street or passage in this city that may not witness that ,i have not forgotten ,god40 ,and he adds3 8,i purpose to take occasion of praying upon the sight of any church which ,i may pass1 that ,god may be worshipped there in spirit1 and that souls may be saved there2 to pray daily for my sick patients and for the patients of other physicians2 at my entrance into any home to say1 #8,may the peace of ,god abide here'2 after hearing a sermon1 to pray for a blessing on ,god's truth1 and upon the messenger2 upon the sight of a beautiful person to bless ,god for ,his creatures1 to pray for the beauty of such an one's soul1 that ,god may enrich her with inward graces1 and that the outward and inward may correspond2 upon the sight of a deformed person1 to pray ,god to give them wholeness of soul1 and by and by to give them the beauty of the resurrection40 ,what an illustration of the praying spirit6 ,such an attitude represents prayer without ceasing1 reveals the habit of prayer in its unceasing supplication1 in its uninterrupted communion1 in its constant intercession4 ,what an illustration1 too1 of purpose in prayer6 ,of how many of us can it be said that as we pass people in the street we pray for them1 or that as we enter a home or a church we remember the inmates or the congregation in prayer to ,god8 ,the explanation of our thoughtlessness or forgetfulness lies in the fact that prayer with so many of us is simply a form of selfishness2 it means asking for something for ourselves--that and nothing more4 ,and from such an attitude we need to pray to be delivered4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,the prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the great ,jehovah yields4 ,prayer is the sovereign remedy4 --,,robert ,,hall4 ,the ,church1 intent on the acquisition of temporal power1 had well nigh abandoned its spiritual duties1 and its empire1 which rested on spiritual foundations1 was crumbling with their decay1 and threatened to pass away like an unsubstantial vision4 --,,lea',s ,,inquisition4 ,v ,,are we praying as ,christ did8 ,do we abide in ,him8 ,are our pleas and spirit the overflow of ,his spirit and pleas8 ,does love rule the spirit--perfect love8 ,these questions must be considered as proper and apposite at a time like the present4 ,we do fear that we are doing more of other things than prayer4 ,this is not a praying age2 it is an age of great activity1 of great movements1 but one in which the tendency is very strong to stress the seen and the material and to neglect and discount the unseen and the spiritual4 ,prayer is the greatest of all forces1 because it honours ,god and brings ,him into active aid4 ,there can be no substitute1 no rival for prayer2 it stands alone as the great spiritual force1 and this force must be imminent and acting4 ,it cannot be dispensed with during one generation1 nor held in abeyance for the advance of any great movement--it must be continuous and particular1 always1 everywhere1 and in everything4 ,we cannot run our spiritual operations on the prayers of the past generation4 ,many persons believe in the efficacy of prayer1 but not many pray4 ,prayer is the easiest and hardest of all things2 the simplest and the sublimest2 the weakest and the most powerful2 its results lie outside the range of human possibilities--they are limited only by the omnipotence of ,god4 ,few ,christians have anything but a vague idea of the power of prayer2 fewer still have any experience of that power4 ,the ,church seems almost wholly unaware of the power ,god puts into her hand2 this spiritual carte blanche on the infinite resources of ,god's wisdom and power is rarely1 if ever1 used--never used to the full measure of honouring ,god4 ,it is astounding how poor the use1 how little the benefits4 ,prayer is our most formidable weapon1 but the one in which we are the least skilled1 the most averse to its use4 ,we do everything else for the heathen save the thing ,god wants us to do2 the only thing which does any good--makes all else we do efficient4 ,to graduate in the school of prayer is to master the whole course of a religious life4 ,the first and last stages of holy living are crowned with praying4 ,it is a life trade4 ,the hindrances of prayer are the hindrances in a holy life4 ,the conditions of praying are the conditions of righteousness1 holiness and salvation4 ,a cobbler in the trade of praying is a bungler in the trade of salvation4 ,prayer is a trade to be learned4 ,we must be apprentices and serve our time at it4 ,painstaking care1 much thought1 practice and labour are required to be a skilful tradesman in praying4 ,practice in this1 as well as in all other trades1 makes perfect4 ,toiling hands and hearts only make proficients in this heavenly trade4 ,in spite of the benefits and blessings which flow from communion with ,god1 the sad confession must be made that we are not praying much4 ,a very small number comparatively lead in prayer at the meetings4 ,fewer still pray in their families4 ,fewer still are in the habit of praying regularly in their closets4 ,meetings specially for prayer are as rare as frost in ,june4 ,in many churches there is neither the name nor the semblance of a prayer meeting4 ,in the town and city churches the prayer meeting in name is not a prayer meeting in fact4 ,a sermon or a lecture is the main feature4 ,prayer is the nominal attachment4 ,our people are not essentially a praying people4 ,that is evident by their lives4 ,prayer and a holy life are one4 ,they mutually act and react4 ,neither can survive alone4 ,the absence of the one is the absence of the other4 ,the monk depraved prayer1 substituted superstition for praying1 mummeries and routine for a holy life4 ,we are in danger of substituting churchly work and a ceaseless round of showy activities for prayer and holy living4 ,a holy life does not live in the closet1 but it cannot live without the closet4 ,if1 by any chance1 a prayer chamber should be established without a holy life1 it would be a chamber without the presence of ,god in it4 ,put the saints everywhere to praying1 is the burden of the apostolic effort and the key note of apostolic success4 ,jesus ,christ had striven to do this in the days of ,his personal ministry4 ,he was moved by infinite compassion at the ripened fields of earth perishing for lack of labourers1 and pausing in ,his own praying1 ,he tries to awaken the sleeping sensibilities of ,his disciples to the duty of prayer1 as ,he charges them3 8,pray ye the ,lord of the harvest that ,he will send forth labourers into ,his harvest40 ,and ,he spake a parable to them to this end1 that men ought always to pray4 ,only glimpses of this great importance of prayer could the apostles get before ,pentecost4 ,but the ,spirit coming and filling on ,pentecost elevated prayer to its vital and all-commanding position in the ,gospel of ,christ4 ,the call now of prayer to every saint is the ,spirit's loudest and most exigent call4 ,sainthood's piety is made1 refined1 perfected1 by prayer4 ,the ,gospel moves with slow and timid pace when the saints are not at their prayers early and late and long4 ,where are the ,christlike leaders who can teach the modern saints how to pray and put them at it8 ,do our leaders know we are raising up a prayerless set of saints8 ,where are the apostolic leaders who can put ,god's people to praying8 ,let them come to the front and do the work1 and it will be the greatest work that can be done4 ,an increase of educational facilities and a great increase of money force will be the direst curse to religion if they are not sanctified by more and better praying than we are doing4 ,more praying will not come as a matter of course4 ,the campaign for the twentieth or thirtieth century will not help our praying1 but hinder if we are not careful4 ,nothing but a specific effort from a praying leadership will avail4 ,none but praying leaders can have praying followers4 ,praying apostles will beget praying saints4 ,a praying pulpit will beget praying pews4 ,we do greatly need somebody who can set the saints to this business of praying4 ,we are a generation of non-praying saints4 ,non-praying saints are a beggarly gang of saints1 who have neither the ardour nor the beauty1 nor the power of saints4 ,who will restore this branch8 ,the greatest will he be of reformers and apostles1 who can set the ,church to praying4 ,holy men have1 in the past1 changed the whole force of affairs1 revolutionised character and country by prayer4 ,and such achievements are still possible to us4 ,the power is only wanting to be used4 ,prayer is but the expression of faith4 ,time would fail to tell of the mighty things wrought by prayer1 for by it holy ones have 8subdued kingdoms1 wrought righteousness1 obtained promises1 stopped the mouths of lions1 quenched the violence of fire1 escaped the edge of the sword1 out of weakness were made strong1 waxed valiant in fight1 turned to flight the armies of the aliens1 women received their dead raised to life again40 ,prayer honours ,god2 it dishonours self4 ,it is man's plea of weakness1 ignorance1 want4 ,a plea which heaven cannot disregard4 ,god delights to have us pray4 ,prayer is not the foe to work1 it does not paralyse activity4 ,it works mightily2 prayer itself is the greatest work4 ,it springs activity1 stimulates desire and effort4 ,prayer is not an opiate but a tonic1 it does not lull to sleep but arouses anew for action4 ,the lazy man does not1 will not1 cannot pray1 for prayer demands energy4 ,paul calls it a striving1 an agony4 ,with ,jacob it was a wrestling2 with the ,syrophenician woman it was a struggle which called into play all the higher qualities of the soul1 and which demanded great force to meet4 ,the closet is not an asylum for the indolent and worthless ,christian4 ,it is not a nursery where none but babes belong4 ,it is the battlefield of the ,church2 its citadel2 the scene of heroic and unearthly conflicts4 ,the closet is the base of supplies for the ,christian and the ,church4 ,cut off from it there is nothing left but retreat and disaster4 ,the energy for work1 the mastery over self1 the deliverance from fear1 all spiritual results and graces1 are much advanced by prayer4 ,the difference between the strength1 the experience1 the holiness of ,christians is found in the contrast in their praying4 ,few1 short1 feeble prayers1 always betoken a low1 spiritual condition4 ,men ought to pray much and apply themselves to it with energy and perseverance4 ,eminent ,christians have been eminent in prayer4 ,the deep things of ,god are learned nowhere else4 ,great things for ,god are done by great prayers4 ,he who prays much1 studies much1 loves much1 works much1 does much for ,god and humanity4 ,the execution of the ,gospel1 the vigour of faith1 the maturity and excellence of spiritual graces wait on prayer4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ 8,nothing is impossible to industry10 said one of the seven sages of ,greece4 ,let us change the word industry for persevering prayer1 and the motto will be more ,christian and more worthy of universal adoption4 ,i am persuaded that we are all more deficient in a spirit of prayer than in any other grace4 ,god loves importunate prayer so much that ,he will not give us much blessing without it4 ,and the reason that ,he loves such prayer is that ,he loves us and knows that it is a necessary preparation for our receiving the richest blessings which ,he is waiting and longing to bestow4 ,i never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came at some time--no matter at how distant a day1 somehow1 in some shape1 probably the last ,i would have devised1 it came4 --,,adoniram ,,judson4 ,it is good1 ,i find1 to persevere in attempts to pray4 ,if ,i cannot pray with perseverance or continue long in my addresses to the ,divine ,being1 ,i have found that the more ,i do in secret prayer the more ,i have delight to do1 and have enjoyed more of the spirit of prayer2 and frequently ,i have found the contrary1 when by journeying or otherwise1 ,i have been deprived of retirement4 --,,david ,,brainerd4 ,,vi ,,christ puts importunity as a distinguishing characteristic of true praying4 ,we must not only pray1 but we must pray with great urgency1 with intentness and with repetition4 ,we must not only pray1 but we must pray again and again4 ,we must not get tired of praying4 ,we must be thoroughly in earnest1 deeply concerned about the things for which we ask1 for ,jesus ,christ made it very plain that the secret of prayer and its success lie in its urgency4 ,we must press our prayers upon ,god4 ,in a parable of exquisite pathos and simplicity1 our ,lord taught not simply that men ought to pray1 but that men ought to pray with full heartiness1 and press the matter with vigorous energy and brave hearts4 8,and ,he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray1 and not to faint2 saying1 ,there was in a city1 a judge1 which feared not ,god1 and regarded not man3 and there was a widow in that city2 and she came oft unto him1 saying1 ,avenge me of mine adversary4 ,and he would not for a while3 but afterwards he said within himself1 ,though ,i fear not ,god1 nor regard man2 yet because this widow troubleth me1 ,i will avenge her1 lest she wear me out by her continual coming4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,hear what the unrighteous judge saith4 ,and shall not ,god avenge ,his elect1 which cry to ,him day and night1 and ,he is longsuffering over them8 ,i say unto you1 that ,he will avenge them speedily4 ,howbeit when the ,son of man cometh1 shall ,he find faith on the earth80 ,this poor woman's case was a most hopeless one1 but importunity brings hope from the realms of despair and creates success where neither success nor its conditions existed4 ,there could be no stronger case1 to show how unwearied and dauntless importunity gains its ends where everything else fails4 ,the preface to this parable says3 8,he spake a parable to this end1 that men ought always to pray and not to faint40 ,he knew that men would soon get faint-hearted in praying1 so to hearten us ,he gives this picture of the marvellous power of importunity4 ,the widow1 weak and helpless1 is helplessness personified2 bereft of every hope and influence which could move an unjust judge1 she yet wins her case solely by her tireless and offensive importunity4 ,could the necessity of importunity1 its power and tremendous importance in prayer1 be pictured in deeper or more impressive colouring8 ,it surmounts or removes all obstacles1 overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances4 ,we can do nothing without prayer4 ,all things can be done by importunate prayer4 ,that is the teaching of ,jesus ,christ4 ,another parable spoken by ,jesus enforces the same great truth4 ,a man at midnight goes to his friend for a loan of bread4 ,his pleas are strong1 based on friendship and the embarrassing and exacting demands of necessity1 but these all fail4 ,he gets no bread1 but he stays and presses1 and waits and gains4 ,sheer importunity succeeds where all other pleas and influences had failed4 ,the case of the ,syrophenician woman is a parable in action4 ,she is arrested in her approaches to ,christ by the information that ,he will not see any one4 ,she is denied ,his presence1 and then in ,his presence1 is treated with seeming indifference1 with the chill of silence and unconcern3 she presses and approaches1 the pressure and approach are repulsed by the stern and crushing statement that ,he is not sent to her kith or kind1 that she is reprobated from ,his mission and power4 ,she is humiliated by being called a dog4 ,yet she accepts all1 overcomes all1 wins all by her humble1 dauntless1 invincible importunity4 ,the ,son of ,god1 pleased1 surprised1 overpowered by her unconquerable importunity1 says to her3 8,o1 woman1 great is thy faith2 be it unto thee even as thou wilt40 ,jesus ,christ surrenders ,himself to the importunity of a great faith4 8,and shall not ,god avenge ,his own elect which cry day and night unto ,him1 though ,he bear long with them80 ,jesus ,christ puts ability to importune as one of the elements of prayer1 one of the main conditions of prayer4 ,the prayer of the ,syrophenician woman is an exhibition of the matchless power of importunity1 of a conflict more real and involving more of vital energy1 endurance1 and all the higher elements than was ever illustrated in the conflicts of ,isthmia or ,olympia4 ,the first lessons of importunity are taught in the ,sermon on the ,mount--8,ask1 and it shall be given2 seek1 and ye shall find2 knock1 and it shall be opened40 ,these are steps of advance--8,for every one that asketh1 receiveth2 and he that seeketh1 findeth2 and to him that knocketh1 it shall be opened40 ,without continuance the prayer may go unanswered4 ,importunity is made up of the ability to hold on1 to press on1 to wait with unrelaxed and unrelaxable grasp1 restless desire and restful patience4 ,importunate prayer is not an incident1 but the main thing1 not a performance but a passion1 not a need but a necessity4 ,prayer in its highest form and grandest success assumes the attitude of a wrestler with ,god4 ,it is the contest1 trial and victory of faith2 a victory not secured from an enemy1 but from ,him who tries our faith that ,he may enlarge it3 that tests our strength to make us stronger4 ,few things give such quickened and permanent vigour to the soul as a long exhaustive season of importunate prayer4 ,it makes an experience1 an epoch1 a new calendar for the spirit1 a new life to religion1 a soldierly training4 ,the ,bible never wearies in its pressure and illustration of the fact that the highest spiritual good is secured as the return of the outgoing of the highest form of spiritual effort4 ,there is neither encouragement nor room in ,bible religion for feeble desires1 listless efforts1 lazy attitudes2 all must be strenuous1 urgent1 ardent4 ,inflamed desires1 impassioned1 unwearied insistence delight heaven4 ,god would have ,his children incorrigibly in earnest and persistently bold in their efforts4 ,heaven is too busy to listen to half-hearted prayers or to respond to pop-calls4 ,our whole being must be in our praying2 like ,john ,knox1 we must say and feel1 8,give me ,scotland1 or ,i die40 ,our experience and revelations of ,god are born of our costly sacrifice1 our costly conflicts1 our costly praying4 ,the wrestling1 all night praying1 of ,jacob made an era never to be forgotten in ,jacob's life1 brought ,god to the rescue1 changed ,esau's attitude and conduct1 changed ,jacob's character1 saved and affected his life and entered into the habits of a nation4 ,our seasons of importunate prayer cut themselves1 like the print of a diamond1 into our hardest places1 and mark with ineffaceable traces our characters4 ,they are the salient periods of our lives6 the memorial stones which endure and to which we turn4 ,importunity1 it may be repeated1 is a condition of prayer4 ,we are to press the matter1 not with vain repetitions1 but with urgent repetitions4 ,we repeat1 not to count the times1 but to gain the prayer4 ,we cannot quit praying because heart and soul are in it4 ,we pray 8with all perseverance40 ,we hang to our prayers because by them we live4 ,we press our pleas because we must have them or die4 ,christ gives us two most expressive parables to emphasise the necessity of importunity in praying4 ,perhaps ,abraham lost ,sodom by failing to press to the utmost his privilege of praying4 ,joash1 we know1 lost because he stayed his smiting4 ,perseverance counts much with ,god as well as with man4 ,if ,elijah had ceased at his first petition the heavens would have scarcely yielded their rain to his feeble praying4 ,if ,jacob had quit praying at decent bedtime he would scarcely have survived the next day's meeting with ,esau4 ,if the ,syrophenician woman had allowed her faith to faint by silence1 humiliation1 repulse1 or stop mid-way its struggles1 her grief-stricken home would never have been brightened by the healing of her daughter4 ,pray and never faint1 is the motto ,christ gives us for praying4 ,it is the test of our faith1 and the severer the trial and the longer the waiting1 the more glorious the results4 ,the benefits and necessity of importunity are taught by ,old ,testament saints4 ,praying men must be strong in hope1 and faith1 and prayer4 ,they must know how to wait and to press1 to wait on ,god and be in earnest in our approaches to ,him4 ,abraham has left us an example of importunate intercession in his passionate pleading with ,god on behalf of ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 and if1 as already indicated1 he had not ceased in his asking1 perhaps ,god would not have ceased in ,his giving4 8,abraham left off asking before ,god left off granting40 ,moses taught the power of importunity when he interceded for ,israel forty days and forty nights1 by fasting and prayer4 ,and he succeeded in his importunity4 ,jesus1 in ,his teaching and example1 illustrated and perfected this principle of ,old ,testament pleading and waiting4 ,how strange that the only ,son of ,god1 who came on a mission direct from ,his ,father1 whose only heaven on earth1 whose only life and law were to do ,his ,father's will in that mission--what a mystery that ,he should be under the law of prayer1 that the blessings which came to ,him were impregnated and purchased by prayer2 stranger still that importunity in prayer was the process by which ,his wealthiest supplies from ,god were gained4 ,had ,he not prayed with importunity1 no transfiguration would have been in ,his history1 no mighty works had rendered ,divine ,his career4 ,his all-night praying was that which filled with compassion and power ,his all-day work4 ,the importunate praying of ,his life crowned ,his death with its triumph4 ,he learned the high lesson of submission to ,god's will in the struggles of importunate prayer before ,he illustrated that submission so sublimely on the cross4 8,whether we like it or not10 said ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 8asking is the rule of the kingdom4 #8,ask1 and ye shall receive4' ,it is a rule that never will be altered in anybody's case4 ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ is the elder brother of the family1 but ,god has not relaxed the rule for ,him4 ,remember this text3 ,jehovah says to ,his own ,son1 #8,ask of ,me1 and ,i will give ,thee the heathen for ,thine inheritance1 and the uttermost parts of the earth for ,thy possession4' ,if the ,royal and ,divine ,son of ,god cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that ,he may have1 you and ,i cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favour4 ,why should it be8 ,what reason can be pleaded why we should be exempted from prayer8 ,what argument can there be why we should be deprived of the privilege and delivered from the necessity of supplication8 ,i can see none3 can you8 ,god will bless ,elijah and send rain on ,israel1 but ,elijah must pray for it4 ,if the chosen nation is to prosper1 ,samuel must plead for it4 ,if the ,jews are to be delivered1 ,daniel must intercede4 ,god will bless ,paul1 and the nations shall be converted through him1 but ,paul must pray4 ,pray he did without ceasing2 his epistles show that he expected nothing except by asking for it4 ,if you may have everything by asking1 and nothing without asking1 ,i beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is1 and ,i beseech you to abound in it40 ,there is not the least doubt that much of our praying fails for lack of persistency4 ,it is without the fire and strength of perseverance4 ,persistence is of the essence of true praying4 ,it may not be always called into exercise1 but it must be there as the reserve force4 ,jesus taught that perseverance is the essential element of prayer4 ,men must be in earnest when they kneel at ,god's footstool4 ,too often we get faint-hearted and quit praying at the point where we ought to begin4 ,we let go at the very point where we should hold on strongest4 ,our prayers are weak because they are not impassioned by an unfailing and resistless will4 ,god loves the importunate pleader1 and sends him answers that would never have been granted but for the persistency that refuses to let go until the petition craved for is granted4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,i suspect ,i have been allotting habitually too little time to religious exercises as private devotion1 religious meditation1 ,scripture reading1 etc4 ,hence ,i am lean and cold and hard4 ,god would perhaps prosper me more in spiritual things if ,i were to be more diligent in using the means of grace4 ,i had better allot more time1 say two hours or an hour and a half1 to religious exercises daily1 and try whether by so doing ,i cannot preserve a frame of spirit more habitually devotional1 a more lively sense of unseen things1 a warmer love to ,god1 and a greater degree of hunger and thirst after righteousness1 a heart less prone to be soiled with worldly cares1 designs1 passions1 and apprehension and a real undissembled longing for heaven1 its pleasures and its purity4 --,,william ,,wilberforce4 ,,vii 8,,men ought always to pray1 and not to faint40 ,the words are the words of our ,lord1 who not only ever sought to impress upon ,his followers the urgency and the importance of prayer1 but set them an example which they alas6 have been far too slow to copy4 ,the always speaks for itself4 ,prayer is not a meaningless function or duty to be crowded into the busy or the weary ends of the day1 and we are not obeying our ,lord's command when we content ourselves with a few minutes upon our knees in the morning rush or late at night when the faculties1 tired with the tasks of the day1 call out for rest4 ,god is always within call1 it is true2 ,his ear is ever attentive to the cry of ,his child1 but we can never get to know ,him if we use the vehicle of prayer as we use the telephone--for a few words of hurried conversation4 ,intimacy requires development4 ,we can never know ,god as it is our privilege to know ,him1 by brief and fragmentary and unconsidered repetitions of intercessions that are requests for personal favours and nothing more4 ,that is not the way in which we can come into communication with heaven's ,king4 8,the goal of prayer is the ear of ,god10 a goal that can only be reached by patient and continued and continuous waiting upon ,him1 pouring out our heart to ,him and permitting ,him to speak to us4 ,only by so doing can we expect to know ,him1 and as we come to know ,him better we shall spend more time in ,his presence and find that presence a constant and ever-increasing delight4 ,always does not mean that we are to neglect the ordinary duties of life2 what it means is that the soul which has come into intimate contact with ,god in the silence of the prayer-chamber is never out of conscious touch with the ,father1 that the heart is always going out to ,him in loving communion1 and that the moment the mind is released from the task upon which it is engaged it returns as naturally to ,god as the bird does to its nest4 ,what a beautiful conception of prayer we get if we regard it in this light1 if we view it as a constant fellowship1 an unbroken audience with the ,king4 ,prayer then loses every vestige of dread which it may once have possessed2 we regard it no longer as a duty which must be performed1 but rather as a privilege which is to be enjoyed1 a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty4 ,thus1 when we open our eyes in the morning1 our thought instantly mounts heavenward4 ,to many ,christians the morning hours are the most precious portion of the day1 because they provide the opportunity for the hallowed fellowship that gives the keynote to the day's programme4 ,and what better introduction can there be to the never-ceasing glory and wonder of a new day than to spend it alone with ,god8 ,it is said that ,mr4 ,moody1 at a time when no other place was available1 kept his morning watch in the coal-shed1 pouring out his heart to ,god1 and finding in his precious ,bible a true 8feast of fat things40 ,george ,mller also combined ,bible study with prayer in the quiet morning hours4 ,at one time his practice was to give himself to prayer1 after having dressed1 in the morning4 ,then his plan underwent a change4 ,as he himself put it3 8,i saw the most important thing ,i had to do was to give myself to the reading of the ,word of ,god1 and to meditation on it1 that thus my heart might be comforted1 encouraged1 warned1 reproved1 instructed2 and that thus1 by means of the ,word of ,god1 whilst meditating on it1 my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the ,lord4 ,i began1 therefore1 to meditate on the ,new ,testament early in the morning4 ,the first thing ,i did1 after having asked in a few words for the ,lord's blessing upon his precious ,word1 was to begin to meditate on the ,word of ,god1 searching1 as it were1 into every verse to get blessing out of it2 not for the sake of the public ministry of the ,word1 not for the sake of preaching on what ,i had meditated on1 but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul4 ,the result ,i have found to be almost invariably thus1 that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession1 or to thanksgiving1 or to intercession1 or to supplication2 so that1 though ,i did not1 as it were1 give myself to prayer1 but to meditation1 yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer40 ,the study of the ,word and prayer go together1 and where we find the one truly practised1 the other is sure to be seen in close alliance4 ,but we do not pray always4 ,that is the trouble with so many of us4 ,we need to pray much more than we do and much longer than we do4 ,robert ,murray ,mc,cheyne1 gifted and saintly1 of whom it was said1 that 8,whether viewed as a son1 a brother1 a friend1 or a pastor1 he was the most faultless and attractive exhibition of the true ,christian they had ever seen embodied in a living form10 knew what it was to spend much time upon his knees1 and he never wearied in urging upon others the joy and the value of holy intercession4 8,god's children should pray10 he said4 8,they should cry day and night unto ,him1 ,god hears every one of your cries in the busy hour of the daytime and in the lonely watches of the night40 ,in every way1 by preaching1 by exhortation when present and by letters when absent1 ,mc,cheyne emphasised the vital duty of prayer1 importunate and unceasing prayer4 ,in his diary we find this3 8,in the morning was engaged in preparing the head1 then the heart4 ,this has been frequently my error1 and ,i have always felt the evil of it1 especially in prayer4 ,reform it then1 ,o ,lord40 ,while on his trip to the ,holy ,land he wrote3 8,for much of our safety ,i feel indebted to the prayers of my people4 ,if the veil of the world's machinery were lifted off how much we would find done in answer to the prayers of ,god's children40 ,in an ordination sermon he said to the preacher3 8,give yourself to prayers and the ministry of the ,word4 ,if you do not pray1 ,god will probably lay you aside from your ministry1 as ,he did me1 to teach you to pray4 ,remember ,luther's maxim1 #8,to have prayed well is to have studied well4' ,get your texts from ,god1 your thoughts1 your words4 ,carry the names of the little flock upon your breast like the ,high ,priest4 ,wrestle for the unconverted4 ,luther spent his last three hours in prayer2 ,john ,welch prayed seven or eight hours a day4 ,he used to keep a plaid on his bed that he might wrap himself in when he rose during the night4 ,sometimes his wife found him on the ground lying weeping4 ,when she complained1 he would say1 #8,o1 woman1 ,i have the souls of three thousand to answer for1 and ,i know not how it is with many of them4'0 ,the people he exhorted and charged3 8,pray for your pastor4 ,pray for his body1 that he may be kept strong and spared many years4 ,pray for his soul1 that he may be kept humble and holy1 a burning and shining light4 ,pray for his ministry1 that it may be abundantly blessed1 that he may be anointed to preach good tidings4 ,let there be no secret prayer without naming him before your ,god1 no family prayer without carrying your pastor in your hearts to ,god40 8,two things10 says his biographer1 8he seems never to have ceased from--the cultivation of personal holiness and the most anxious efforts to win souls40 ,the two are the inseparable attendants on the ministry of prayer4 ,prayer fails when the desire and effort for personal holiness fail4 ,no person is a soul-winner who is not an adept in the ministry of prayer4 8,it is the duty of ministers10 says this holy man1 8to begin the reformation of religion and manner with themselves1 families1 etc41 with confession of past sin1 earnest prayer for direction1 grace and full purpose of heart40 ,he begins with himself under the head of 8,reformation in ,secret ,prayer10 and he resolves3 8,i ought not to omit any of the parts of prayer--confession1 adoration1 thanksgiving1 petition and intercession4 ,there is a fearful tendency to omit confession proceeding from low views of ,god and ,his law1 slight views of my heart1 and the sin of my past life4 ,this must be resisted4 ,there is a constant tendency to omit adoration when ,i forget to ,whom ,i am speaking1 when ,i rush heedlessly into the presence of ,jehovah without thought of ,his awful name and character4 ,when ,i have little eyesight for his glory1 and little admiration of ,his wonders1 ,i have the native tendency of the heart to omit giving thanks1 and yet it is specially commanded4 ,often when the heart is dead to the salvation of others ,i omit intercession1 and yet it especially is the spirit of the great ,advocate ,who has the name of ,israel on ,his heart4 ,i ought to pray before seeing anyone4 ,often when ,i sleep long1 or meet with others early1 and then have family prayer and breakfast and forenoon callers1 it is eleven or twelve o'clock before ,i begin secret prayer4 ,this is a wretched system2 it is unscriptural4 ,christ rose before day and went into a solitary place4 ,david says1 #8,early will ,i seek ,thee2 ,thou shalt early hear my voice4' ,mary ,magdalene came to the sepulchre while it was yet dark4 ,family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness2 and ,i can do no good to those who come to seek from me4 ,the conscience feels guilty1 the soul unfed1 the lamp not trimmed4 ,i feel it is far better to begin with ,god1 to see ,his face first1 to get my soul near ,him before it is near another4 #8,when ,i awake ,i am still with ,thee4' ,if ,i have slept too long1 or ,i am going an early journey1 or my time is in any way shortened1 it is best to dress hurriedly and have a few minutes alone with ,god than to give up all for lost4 ,but in general it is best to have at least one hour alone with ,god before engaging in anything else4 ,i ought to spend the best hours of the day in communion with ,god4 ,when ,i awake in the night1 ,i ought to rise and pray as ,david and ,john ,welch40 ,mc,cheyne believed in being always in prayer1 and his fruitful life1 short though that life was1 affords an illustration of the power that comes from long and frequent visits to the secret place where we keep tryst with our ,lord4 ,men of ,mc,cheyne's stamp are needed to-day--praying men1 who know how to give themselves to the greatest task demanding their time and their attention2 men who can give their whole heart to the holy task of intercession1 men who can pray through4 ,god's cause is committed to men2 ,god commits ,himself to men4 ,praying men are the vicegerents of ,god2 they do ,his work and carry out ,his plans4 ,we are obliged to pray if we be citizens of ,god's ,kingdom4 ,prayerlessness is expatriation1 or worse1 from ,god's ,kingdom4 ,it is outlawry1 a high crime1 a constitutional breach4 ,the ,christian who relegates prayer to a subordinate place in his life soon loses whatever spiritual zeal he may have once possessed1 and the ,church that makes little of prayer cannot maintain vital piety1 and is powerless to advance the ,gospel4 ,the ,gospel cannot live1 fight1 conquer without prayer--prayer unceasing1 instant and ardent4 ,little prayer is the characteristic of a backslidden age and of a backslidden ,church4 ,whenever there is little praying in the pulpit or in the pew1 spiritual bankruptcy is imminent and inevitable4 ,the cause of ,god has no commercial age1 no cultured age1 no age of education1 no age of money4 ,but it has one golden age1 and that is the age of prayer4 ,when its leaders are men of prayer1 when prayer is the prevailing element of worship1 like the incense giving continual fragrance to its service1 then the cause of ,god will be triumphant4 ,better praying and more of it1 that is what we need4 ,we need holier men1 and more of them1 holier women1 and more of them to pray--women like ,hannah1 who1 out of their greatest griefs and temptations brewed their greatest prayers4 ,through prayer ,hannah found her relief4 ,everywhere the ,church was backslidden and apostate1 her foes were victorious4 ,hannah gave herself to prayer1 and in sorrow she multiplied her praying4 ,she saw a great revival born of her praying4 ,when the whole nation was oppressed1 prophet and priest1 ,samuel was born to establish a new line of priesthood1 and her praying warmed into life a new life for ,god4 ,everywhere religion revived and flourished4 ,god1 true to ,his promise1 8,ask of ,me10 though the praying came from a woman's broken heart1 heard and answered1 sending a new day of holy gladness to revive ,his people4 ,so once more1 let us apply the emphasis and repeat that the great need of the ,church in this and all ages is men of such commanding faith1 of such unsullied holiness1 of such marked spiritual vigour and consuming zeal1 that they will work spiritual revolutions through their mighty praying4 8,natural ability and educational advantages do not figure as factors in this matter2 but a capacity for faith1 the ability to pray1 the power of a thorough consecration1 the ability of self-littleness1 an absolute losing of one's self in ,god's glory and an ever present and insatiable yearning and seeking after all the fulness of ,god4 ,men who can set the ,church ablaze for ,god1 not in a noisy1 showy way1 but with an intense and quiet heat that melts and moves every thing for ,god40 ,and1 to return to the vital point1 secret praying is the test1 the gauge1 the conserver of man's relation to ,god4 ,the prayer-chamber1 while it is the test of the sincerity of our devotion to ,god1 becomes also the measure of the devotion4 ,the self-denial1 the sacrifices which we make for our prayer-chambers1 the frequency of our visits to that hallowed place of meeting with the ,lord1 the lingering to stay1 the loathness to leave1 are values which we put on communion alone with ,god1 the price we pay for the ,spirit's trysting hours of heavenly love4 ,the prayer-chamber conserves our relation to ,god4 ,it hems every raw edge2 it tucks up every flowing and entangling garment2 girds up every fainting loin4 ,the sheet-anchor holds not the ship more surely and safely than the prayer-chamber holds to ,god4 ,satan has to break our hold on1 and close up our way to the prayer-chambers1 ere he can break our hold on ,god or close up our way to heaven4 8,be not afraid to pray2 to pray is right2 ,pray if thou canst with hope1 but ever pray1 ,though hope be weak or sick with long delay2 ,pray in the darkness if there be no light2 ,and if for any wish thou dare not pray ,then pray to ,god to cast that wish away40 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,in ,god's name ,i beseech you let prayer nourish your soul as your meals nourish your body4 ,let your fixed seasons of prayer keep you in ,god's presence through the day1 and ,his presence frequently remembered through it be an ever-fresh spring of prayer4 ,such a brief1 loving recollection of ,god renews a man's whole being1 quiets his passions1 supplies light and counsel in difficulty1 gradually subdues the temper1 and causes him to possess his soul in patience1 or rather gives it up to the possession of ,god4 --,f,,nelon4 ,devoted too much time and attention to outward and public duties of the ministry4 ,but this has a mistaken conduct1 for ,i have learned that neglect of much and fervent communion with ,god in meditation and prayer is not the way to redeem the time nor to fit me for public ministrations4 ,i rightly attribute my present deadness to want of sufficient time and tranquillity for private devotion4 ,want of more reading1 retirement and private devotion1 ,i have little mastery over my own tempers4 ,an unhappy day to me for want of more solitude and prayer4 ,if there be anything ,i do1 if there be anything ,i leave undone1 let me be perfect in prayer4 ,after all1 whatever ,god may appoint1 prayer is the great thing4 ,oh that ,i may be a man of prayer6 --,,henry ,,martyn4 ,,viii ,,that the men had quit praying in ,paul's time we cannot certainly affirm4 ,they have1 in the main1 quit praying now4 ,they are too busy to pray4 ,time and strength and every faculty are laid under tribute to money1 to business1 to the affairs of the world4 ,few men lay themselves out in great praying4 ,the great business of praying is a hurried1 petty1 starved1 beggarly business with most men4 ,st4 ,paul calls a halt1 and lays a levy on men for prayer4 ,put the men to praying is ,paul's unfailing remedy for great evils in ,church1 in ,state1 in politics1 in business1 in home4 ,put the men to praying1 then politics will be cleansed1 business will be thriftier1 the ,church will be holier1 the home will be sweeter4 8,i exhort1 therefore1 first of all1 that supplications1 prayers1 intercessions1 thanksgivings1 be made for all men2 for kings and all that are in high place2 that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity4 ,this is good and acceptable in the sight of ,god our ,saviour4444 ,i desire1 therefore1 that the men pray in every place1 lifting up holy hands1 without wrath and disputing0 7#a ,timothy ii4 #a-c1 #h74 ,praying women and children are invaluable to ,god1 but if their praying is not supplemented by praying men1 there will be a great loss in the power of prayer--a great breach and depreciation in the value of prayer1 great paralysis in the energy of the ,gospel4 ,jesus ,christ spake a parable unto the people1 telling them that men ought always to pray and not faint4 ,men who are strong in everything else ought to be strong in prayer1 and never yield to discouragement1 weakness or depression4 ,men who are brave1 persistent1 redoubtable in other pursuits ought to be full of courage1 unfainting1 strong-hearted in prayer4 ,men are to pray2 all men are to pray4 ,men1 as distinguished from women1 men in their strength in their wisdom4 ,there is an absolute1 specific command that the men pray2 there is an absolute imperative necessity that men pray4 ,the first of beings1 man1 should also be first in prayer4 ,the men are to pray for men4 ,the direction is specific and classified4 ,just underneath we have a specific direction with regard to women4 ,about prayer1 its importance1 wideness and practice the ,bible here deals with the men in contrast to1 and distinct from1 the women4 ,the men are definitely commanded1 seriously charged1 and warmly exhorted to pray4 ,perhaps it was that men were averse to prayer1 or indifferent to it2 it may be that they deemed it a small thing1 and gave to it neither time nor value nor significance4 ,but ,god would have all men pray1 and so the great ,apostle lifts the subject into prominence and emphasises its importance4 ,for prayer is of transcendent importance4 ,prayer is the mightiest agent to advance ,god's work4 ,praying hearts and hands only can do ,god's work4 ,prayer succeeds when all else fails4 ,prayer has won great victories1 and rescued1 with notable triumph1 ,god's saints when every other hope was gone4 ,men who know how to pray are the greatest boon ,god can give to earth--they are the richest gift earth can offer heaven4 ,men who know how to use this weapon of prayer are ,god's best soldiers1 ,his mightiest leaders4 ,praying men are ,god's chosen leaders4 ,the distinction between the leaders that ,god brings to the front to lead and bless ,his people1 and those leaders who owe their position of leadership to a worldly1 selfish1 unsanctified selection1 is this1 ,god's leaders are pre-eminently men of prayer4 ,this distinguishes them as the simple1 ,divine attestation of their call1 the seal of their separation by ,god4 ,whatever of other graces or gifts they may have1 the gift and grace of prayer towers above them all4 ,in whatever else they may share or differ1 in the gift of prayer they are one4 ,what would ,god's leaders be without prayer8 ,strip ,moses of his power in prayer1 a gift that made him eminent in pagan estimate1 and the crown is taken from his head1 the food and fire of his faith are gone4 ,elijah1 without his praying1 would have neither record nor place in the ,divine legation1 his life insipid1 cowardly1 its energy1 defiance and fire gone4 ,without ,elijah's praying the ,jordan would never have yielded to the stroke of his mantle1 nor would the stern angel of death have honoured him with the chariot and horses of fire4 ,the argument that ,god used to quiet the fears and convince ,ananias of ,paul's condition and sincerity is the epitome of his history1 the solution of his life and work--8,behold he prayeth40 ,paul1 ,luther1 ,wesley--what would these chosen ones of ,god be without the distinguishing and controlling element of prayer8 ,they were leaders for ,god because mighty in prayer4 ,they were not leaders because of brilliancy in thought1 because exhaustless in resources1 because of their magnificent culture or native endowment1 but leaders because by the power of prayer they could command the power of ,god4 ,praying men means much more than men who say prayers2 much more than men who pray by habit4 ,it means men with whom prayer is a mighty force1 an energy that moves heaven and pours untold treasures of good on earth4 ,praying men are the safety of the ,church from the materialism that is affecting all its plans and polity1 and which is hardening its life-blood4 ,the insinuation circulates as a secret1 deadly poison that the ,church is not so dependent on purely spiritual forces as it used to be--that changed times and changed conditions have brought it out of its spiritual straits and dependencies and put it where other forces can bear it to its climax4 ,a fatal snare of this kind has allured the ,church into worldly embraces1 dazzled her leaders1 weakened her foundations1 and shorn her of much of her beauty and strength4 ,praying men are the saviours of the ,church from this material tendency4 ,they pour into it the original spiritual forces1 lift it off the sand-bars of materialism1 and press it out into the ocean depths of spiritual power4 ,praying men keep ,god in the ,church in full force2 keep ,his hand on the helm1 and train the ,church in its lessons of strength and trust4 ,the number and efficiency of the labourers in ,god's vineyard in all lands is dependent on the men of prayer4 ,the mightiness of these men of prayer increases1 by the divinely arranged process1 the number and success of the consecrated labours4 ,prayer opens wide their doors of access1 gives holy aptness to enter1 and holy boldness1 firmness1 and fruitage4 ,praying men are needed in all fields of spiritual labour4 ,there is no position in the ,church of ,god1 high or low1 which can be well filled without instant prayer4 ,no position where ,christians are found that does not demand the full play of a faith that always prays and never faints4 ,praying men are needed in the house of business1 as well as in the house of ,god1 that they may order and direct trade1 not according to the maxims of this world1 but according to ,bible precepts and the maxims of the heavenly life4 ,men of prayer are needed especially in the positions of ,church influence1 honour1 and power4 ,these leaders of ,church thought1 of ,church work1 and of ,church life should be men of signal power in prayer4 ,it is the praying heart that sanctifies the toil and skill of the hands1 and the toil and wisdom of the head4 ,prayer keeps work in the line of ,god's will1 and keeps thought in the line of ,god's ,word4 ,the solemn responsibilities of leadership1 in a large or limited sphere1 in ,god's ,church should be so hedged about with prayer that between it and the world there should be an impassable gulf1 so elevated and purified by prayer that neither cloud nor night should stain the radiance nor dim the sight of a constant meridian view of ,god4 ,many ,church leaders seem to think if they can be prominent as men of business1 of money1 influence1 of thought1 of plans1 of scholarly attainments1 of eloquent gifts1 of taking1 conspicuous activities1 that these are enough1 and will atone for the absence of the higher spiritual power which much praying only can give4 ,but how vain and paltry are these in the serious work of bringing glory to ,god1 controlling the ,church for ,him1 and bringing it into full accord with its ,divine mission4 ,praying men are the men that have done so much for ,god in the past4 ,they are the ones who have won the victories for ,god1 and spoiled ,his foes4 ,they are the ones who have set up ,his ,kingdom in the very camps of ,his enemies4 ,there are no other conditions of success in this day4 ,the twentieth century has no relief statute to suspend the necessity or force of prayer--no substitute by which its gracious ends can be secured4 ,we are shut up to this1 praying hands only can build for ,god4 ,they are ,god's mighty ones on earth1 ,his master-builders4 ,they may be destitute of all else1 but with the wrestlings and prevailings of a simple-hearted faith they are mighty1 the mightiest for ,god4 ,church leaders may be gifted in all else1 but without this greatest of gifts they are as ,samson shorn of his locks1 or as the ,temple without the ,divine presence or the ,divine glory1 and on whose altars the heavenly flame has died4 ,the only protection and rescue from worldliness lie in our intense and radical spirituality2 and our only hope for the existence and maintenance of this high1 saving spirituality1 under ,god1 is in the purest and most aggressive leadership--a leadership that knows the secret power of prayer1 the sign by which the ,church has conquered1 and that has conscience1 conviction1 and courage to hold her true to her symbols1 true to her traditions1 and true to the hidings of her power4 ,we need this prayerful leadership2 we must have it1 that by the perfection and beauty of its holiness1 by the strength and elevation of its faith1 by the potency and pressure of its prayers1 by the authority and spotlessness of its example1 by the fire and contagion of its zeal1 by the singularity1 sublimity1 and unworldliness of its piety1 it may influence ,god1 and hold and mould the ,church to its heavenly pattern4 ,such leaders1 how mightily they are felt4 ,how their flame arouses the ,church6 ,how they stir it by the force of their ,pentecostal presence6 ,how they embattle and give victory by the conflicts and triumphs of their own faith6 ,how they fashion it by the impress and importunity of their prayers6 ,how they inoculate it by the contagion and fire of their holiness6 ,how they lead the march in great spiritual revolutions6 ,how the ,church is raised from the dead by the resurrection call of their sermons6 ,holiness springs up in their wake as flowers at the voice of spring1 and where they tread the desert blooms as the garden of the ,lord4 ,god's cause demands such leaders along the whole line of official position from subaltern to superior4 ,how feeble1 aimless1 or worldly are our efforts1 how demoralised and vain for ,god's work without them6 ,the gift of these leaders is not in the range of ecclesiastical power4 ,they are ,god's gifts4 ,their being1 their presence1 their number1 and their ability are the tokens of ,his favour2 their lack the sure sign of ,his disfavour1 the presage of ,his withdrawal4 ,let the ,church of ,god be on her knees before the ,lord of hosts1 that ,he may more mightily endow the leaders we already have1 and put others in rank1 and lead all along the line of our embattled front4 ,the world is coming into the ,church at many points and in many ways4 ,it oozes in2 it pours in2 it comes in with brazen front or soft1 insinuating disguise2 it comes in at the top and comes in at the bottom2 and percolates through many a hidden way4 ,for praying men and holy men we are looking--men whose presence in the ,church will make it like a censer of holiest incense flaming up to ,god4 ,with ,god the man counts for everything4 ,rites1 forms1 organisations are of small moment2 unless they are backed by the holiness of the man they are offensive in ,his sight4 8,incense is an abomination unto ,me2 the new moons and sabbaths1 the calling of assemblies ,i cannot away with2 it is iniquity1 even the solemn meeting40 ,why does ,god speak so strongly against ,his own ordinances8 ,personal purity had failed4 ,the impure man tainted all the sacred institutions of ,god and defiled them4 ,god regards the man in so important a way as to put a kind of discount on all else4 ,men have built ,him glorious temples and have striven and exhausted themselves to please ,god by all manner of gifts2 but in lofty strains ,he has rebuked these proud worshippers and rejected their princely gifts4 8,heaven is ,my throne and the earth is ,my footstool3 where is the house that ye build unto ,me8 and where is the place of ,my rest8 ,for all those things hath ,mine hand made1 and all those things hath been1 saith the ,lord4 ,he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man2 he that sacrificeth a lamb1 as if he cut off a dog's neck2 he that offereth an oblation1 as if he offered swine's blood2 he that burneth incense1 as if he blessed an idol40 ,turning away in disgust from these costly and profane offerings1 ,he declares3 8,but to this man will ,i look1 even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit1 and trembleth at ,my word40 ,this truth that ,god regards the personal purity of the man is fundamental4 ,this truth suffers when ordinances are made much of and forms of worship multiply4 ,the man and his spiritual character depreciate as ,church ceremonials increase4 ,the simplicity of worship is lost in religious sthetics1 or in the gaudiness of religious forms4 ,this truth that the personal purity of the individual is the only thing ,god cares for is lost sight of when the ,church begins to estimate men for what they have4 ,when the ,church eyes a man's money1 social standing1 his belongings in any way1 then spiritual values are at a fearful discount1 and the tear of penitence1 the heaviness of guilt are never seen at her portals4 ,worldly bribes have opened and stained its pearly gates by the entrance of the impure4 ,this truth that ,god is looking after personal purity is swallowed up when the ,church has a greed for numbers4 8,not numbers1 but personal purity is our aim10 said the fathers of ,methodism4 ,the parading of ,church statistics is mightily against the grain of spiritual religion4 ,eyeing numbers greatly hinders the looking after personal purity4 ,the increase of quantity is generally at a loss of quality4 ,bulk abates preciousness4 ,the age of ,church organisation and ,church machinery is not an age noted for elevated and strong personal piety4 ,machinery looks for engineers and organisations for generals1 and not for saints1 to run them4 ,the simplest organisation may aid purity as well as strength2 but beyond that narrow limit organisation swallows up the individual1 and is careless of personal purity2 push1 activity1 enthusiasm1 zeal for an organisation1 come in as the vicious substitutes for spiritual character4 ,holiness and all the spiritual graces of hardy culture and slow growth are discarded as too slow and too costly for the progress and rush of the age4 ,by dint of machinery1 new organisations1 and spiritual weakness1 results are vainly expected to be secured which can only be secured by faith1 prayer1 and waiting on ,god4 ,the man and his spiritual character is what ,god is looking after4 ,if men1 holy men1 can be turned out by the easy processes of ,church machinery readier and better than by the old-time processes1 we would gladly invest in every new and improved patent2 but we do not believe it4 ,we adhere to the old way--the way the holy prophets went1 the king's highway of holiness4 ,an example of this is afforded by the case of ,william ,wilberforce4 ,high in social position1 a member of ,parliament1 the friend of ,pitt the famous statesman1 he was not called of ,god to forsake his high social position nor to quit ,parliament1 but he was called to order his life according to the pattern set by ,jesus ,christ and to give himself to prayer4 ,to read the story of his life is to be impressed with its holiness and its devotion to the claims of the quiet hours alone with ,god4 ,his conversion was announced to his friends--to ,pitt and others--by letter4 ,in the beginning of his religious career he records3 8,my chief reasons for a day of secret prayer are1 7#a7 ,that the state of public affairs is very critical and calls for earnest deprecation of the ,divine displeasure4 7#b7 ,my station in life is a very difficult one1 wherein ,i am at a loss to know how to act4 ,direction1 therefore1 should be specially sought from time to time4 7#c7 ,i have been graciously supported in difficult situations of a public nature4 ,i have gone out and returned home in safety1 and found a kind reception has attended me4 ,i would humbly hope1 too1 that what ,i am now doing is a proof that ,god has not withdrawn ,his ,holy ,spirit from me4 ,i am covered with mercies40 ,the recurrence of his birthday led him again to review his situation and employment4 8,i find10 he wrote1 8that books alienate my heart from ,god as much as anything4 ,i have been framing a plan of study for myself1 but let me remember but one thing is needful1 that if my heart cannot be kept in a spiritual state without so much prayer1 meditation1 ,scripture reading1 etc41 as are incompatible with study1 ,i must seek first the righteousness of ,god40 ,all were to be surrendered for spiritual advance4 8,i fear10 we find him saying1 8that ,i have not studied the ,scriptures enough4 ,surely in the summer recess ,i ought to read the ,scriptures an hour or two every day1 besides prayer1 devotional reading and meditation4 ,god will prosper me better if ,i wait on ,him4 ,the experience of all good men shows that without constant prayer and watchfulness the life of ,god in the soul stagnates4 ,doddridge's morning and evening devotions were serious matters4 ,colonel ,gardiner always spent hours in prayer in the morning before he went forth4 ,bonnell practised private devotions largely morning and evening1 and repeated ,psalms dressing and undressing to raise his mind to heavenly things4 ,i would look up to ,god to make the means effectual4 ,i fear that my devotions are too much hurried1 that ,i do not read ,scripture enough4 ,i must grow in grace2 ,i must love ,god more2 ,i must feel the power of ,divine things more4 ,whether ,i am more or less learned signifies not4 ,whether even ,i execute the work which ,i deem useful is comparatively unimportant4 ,but beware my soul of luke-warmness40 ,the ,new ,year began with the ,holy ,communion and new vows4 8,i will press forward10 he wrote1 8and labour to know ,god better and love ,him more4 ,assuredly ,i may1 because ,god will give ,his ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him1 and the ,holy ,spirit will shed abroad the love of ,god in the heart4 ,o1 then1 pray1 pray2 be earnest1 press forward and follow on to know the ,lord4 ,without watchfulness1 humiliation and prayer1 the sense of ,divine things must languish40 ,to prepare for the future he said he found nothing more effectual than private prayer and the serious perusal of the ,new ,testament4 ,and again3 8,i must put down that ,i have lately too little time for private devotions4 ,i can sadly confirm ,doddridge's remark that when we go on ill in the closet we commonly do so everywhere else4 ,i must mend here4 ,i am afraid of getting into what ,owen calls the trade of sinning and repenting 444 ,lord help me1 the shortening of private devotions starves the soul2 it grows lean and faint4 ,this must not be4 ,i must redeem more time4 ,i see how lean in spirit ,i become without full allowance of time for private devotions2 ,i must be careful to be watching unto prayer40 ,at another time he puts on record3 8,i must try what ,i long ago heard was the rule of ,e---- the great upholsterer1 who1 when he came from ,bond ,street to his little villa1 always first retired to his closet4 ,i have been keeping too late hours1 and hence have had but a hurried half hour to myself4 ,surely the experience of all good men confirms the proposition1 that without due measure of private devotions1 the soul will grow lean40 ,to his son he wrote3 8,let me conjure you not to be seduced into neglecting1 curtailing or hurrying over your morning prayers4 ,of all things1 guard against neglecting ,god in the closet4 ,there is nothing more fatal to the life and power of religion4 ,more solitude and earlier hours--prayer three times a day at least4 ,how much better might ,i serve if ,i cultivated a closer communion with ,god40 ,wilberforce knew the secret of a holy life4 ,is that not where most of us fail8 ,we are so busy with other things1 so immersed even in doing good and in carrying on the ,lord's work1 that we neglect the quiet seasons of prayer with ,god1 and before we are aware of it our soul is lean and impoverished4 8,one night alone in prayer10 says ,spurgeon1 8might make us new men1 changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth1 from trembling to triumphing4 ,we have an example of it in the life of ,jacob4 ,aforetime the crafty shuffler1 always bargaining and calculating1 unlovely in almost every respect1 yet one night in prayer turned the supplanter into a prevailing prince1 and robed him with celestial grandeur4 ,from that night he lives on the sacred page as one of the nobility of heaven4 ,could not we1 at least now and then1 in these weary earthbound years1 hedge about a single night for such enriching traffic with the skies8 ,what1 have we no sacred ambition8 ,are we deaf to the yearnings of ,divine love8 ,yet1 my brethren1 for wealth and for science men will cheerfully quit their warm couches1 and cannot we do it now and again for the love of ,god and the good of souls8 ,where is our zeal1 our gratitude1 our sincerity8 ,i am ashamed while ,i thus upbraid both myself and you4 ,may we often tarry at ,jabbok1 and cry with ,jacob1 as he grasped the angel-- #8,with thee all night ,i mean to stay1 ,and wrestle till the break of day4' ,surely1 brethren1 if we have given whole days to folly1 we can afford a space for heavenly wisdom4 ,time was when we gave whole nights to chambering and wantonness1 to dancing and the world's revelry2 we did not tire then2 we were chiding the sun that he rose so soon1 and wishing the hours would lag awhile that we might delight in wilder merriment and perhaps deeper sin4 ,oh1 wherefore1 should we weary in heavenly employments8 ,why grow we weary when asked to watch with our ,lord8 ,up1 sluggish heart1 ,jesus calls thee6 ,rise and go forth to meet the ,heavenly ,friend in the place where ,he manifests ,himself40 ,we can never expect to grow in the likeness of our ,lord unless we follow ,his example and give more time to communion with the ,father4 ,a revival of real praying would produce a spiritual revolution4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,bear up the hands that hang down1 by faith and prayer2 support the tottering knees4 ,have you any days of fasting and prayer8 ,storm the throne of grace and persevere therein1 and mercy will come down4 --,,john ,,wesley4 ,we must remember that the goal of prayer is the ear of ,god4 ,unless that is gained the prayer has utterly failed4 ,the uttering of it may have kindled devotional feeling in our minds1 the hearing of it may have comforted and strengthened the hearts of those with whom we have prayed1 but if the prayer has not gained the heart of ,god1 it has failed in its essential purpose4 ,a mere formalist can always pray so as to please himself4 ,what has he to do but to open his book and read the prescribed words1 or bow his knee and repeat such phrases as suggest themselves to his memory or his fancy8 ,like the ,tartarian ,praying ,machine1 give but the wind and the wheel1 and the business is fully arranged4 ,so much knee-bending and talking1 and the prayer is done4 ,the formalist's prayers are always good1 or1 rather1 always bad1 alike4 ,but the living child of ,god never offers a prayer which pleases himself2 his standard is above his attainments2 he wonders that ,god listens to him1 and though he knows he will be heard for ,christ's sake1 yet he accounts it a wonderful instance of condescending mercy that such poor prayers as his should ever reach the ears of the ,lord ,god of ,sabaoth4 --,c4 ,h4 ,,spurgeon4 ,,ix ,,it may be said with emphasis that no lazy saint prays4 ,can there be a lazy saint8 ,can there be a prayerless saint8 ,does not slack praying cut short sainthood's crown and kingdom8 ,can there be a cowardly soldier8 ,can there be a saintly hypocrite8 ,can there be virtuous vice8 ,it is only when these impossibilities are brought into being that we then can find a prayerless saint4 ,to go through the motion of praying is a dull business1 though not a hard one4 ,to say prayers in a decent1 delicate way is not heavy work4 ,but to pray really1 to pray till hell feels the ponderous stroke1 to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened1 till the mountains of obstacles are removed1 till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted1 and the sunshine of a cloudless day brightens--this is hard work1 but it is ,god's work and man's best labour4 ,never was the toil of hand1 head and heart less spent in vain than when praying4 ,it is hard to wait and press and pray1 and hear no voice1 but stay till ,god answers4 ,the joy of answered prayer is the joy of a travailing mother when a man child is born into the world1 the joy of a slave whose chains have been burst asunder and to whom new life and liberty have just come4 ,a bird's-eye view of what has been accomplished by prayer shows what we lost when the dispensation of real prayer was substituted by ,pharisaical pretence and sham2 it shows1 too1 how imperative is the need for holy men and women who will give themselves to earnest1 ,christlike praying4 ,it is not an easy thing to pray4 ,back of the praying there must lie all the conditions of prayer4 ,these conditions are possible1 but they are not to be seized on in a moment by the prayerless4 ,present they always may be to the faithful and holy1 but cannot exist in nor be met by a frivolous1 negligent1 laggard spirit4 ,prayer does not stand alone4 ,it is not an isolated performance4 ,prayer stands in closest connection with all the duties of an ardent piety4 ,it is the issuance of a character which is made up of the elements of a vigorous and commanding faith4 ,prayer honours ,god1 acknowledges ,his being1 exalts ,his power1 adores ,his providence1 secures ,his aid4 ,a sneering half-rationalism cries out against devotion1 that it does nothing but pray4 ,but to pray well is to do all things well4 ,if it be true that devotion does nothing but pray1 then it does nothing at all4 ,to do nothing but pray fails to do the praying1 for the antecedent1 coincident1 and subsequent conditions of prayer are but the sum of all the energised forces of a practical1 working piety4 ,the possibilities of prayer run parallel with the promises of ,god4 ,prayer opens an outlet for the promises1 removes the hindrances in the way of their execution1 puts them into working order1 and secures their gracious ends4 ,more than this1 prayer like faith1 obtains promises1 enlarges their operation1 and adds to the measure of their results4 ,god's promises were to ,abraham and to his seed1 but many a barren womb1 and many a minor obstacle stood in the way of the fulfilment of these promises2 but prayer removed them all1 made a highway for the promises1 added to the facility and speediness of their realisation1 and by prayer the promise shone bright and perfect in its execution4 ,the possibilities of prayer are found in its allying itself with the purposes of ,god1 for ,god's purposes and man's praying are the combination of all potent and omnipotent forces4 ,more than this1 the possibilities of prayer are seen in the fact that it changes the purposes of ,god4 ,it is in the very nature of prayer to plead and give directions4 ,prayer is not a negation4 ,it is a positive force4 ,it never rebels against the will of ,god1 never comes into conflict with that will1 but that it does seek to change ,god's purpose is evident4 ,christ said1 8,the cup which ,my ,father hath given ,me shall ,i not drink it80 and yet ,he had prayed that very night1 8,if it be possible let this cup pass from ,me40 ,paul sought to change the purposes of ,god about the thorn in his flesh4 ,god's purposes were fixed to destroy ,israel1 and the prayer of ,moses changed the purposes of ,god and saved ,israel4 ,in the time of the ,judges ,israel were apostate and greatly oppressed4 ,they repented and cried unto ,god and ,he said3 8,ye have forsaken ,me and served other gods1 wherefore ,i will deliver you no more30 but they humbled themselves1 put away their strange gods1 and ,god's 8soul was grieved for the misery of ,israel10 and he sent them deliverance by ,jephthah4 ,god sent ,isaiah to say to ,hezekiah1 8,set thine house in order3 for thou shalt die1 and not live20 and ,hezekiah prayed1 and ,god sent ,isaiah back to say1 8,i have heard thy prayer1 ,i have seen thy tears2 behold ,i will add unto thy days fifteen years40 8,yet forty days and ,nineveh shall be overthrown10 was ,god's message by ,jonah4 ,but ,nineveh cried mightily to ,god1 and 8,god repented of the evil that ,he had said ,he would do unto them2 and ,he did it not40 ,the possibilities of prayer are seen from the divers conditions it reaches and the diverse ends it secures4 ,elijah prayed over a dead child1 and it came to life2 ,elisha did the same thing2 ,christ prayed at ,lazarus's grave1 and ,lazarus came forth4 ,peter kneeled down and prayed beside dead ,dorcas1 and she opened her eyes and sat up1 and ,peter presented her alive to the distressed company4 ,paul prayed for ,publius1 and healed him4 ,jacob's praying changed ,esau's murderous hate into the kisses of the tenderest brotherly embrace4 ,god gave to ,rebecca ,jacob and ,esau because ,isaac prayed for her4 ,joseph was the child of ,rachel's prayers4 ,hannah's praying gave ,samuel to ,israel4 ,john the ,baptist was given to ,elizabeth1 barren and past age as she was1 in answer to the prayer of ,zacharias4 ,elisha's praying brought famine or harvest to ,israel2 as he prayed so it was4 ,ezra's praying carried the ,spirit of ,god in heart-breaking conviction to the entire city of ,jerusalem1 and brought them in tears of repentance back to ,god4 ,isaiah's praying carried the shadow of the sun back ten degrees on the dial of ,ahaz4 ,in answer to ,hezekiah's praying an angel slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand of ,sennacherib's army in one night4 ,daniel's praying opened to him the vision of prophecy1 helped him to administer the affairs of a mighty kingdom1 and sent an angel to shut the lions' mouths4 ,the angel was sent to ,cornelius1 and the ,gospel opened through him to the ,gentile world1 because his 8prayers and alms had come up as a memorial before ,god40 8,and what shall ,i more say8 for the time would fail me to tell of ,gideon1 and of ,barak1 and of ,samson1 and of ,jephthah2 of ,david also1 and ,samuel1 and of the prophets20 of ,paul and ,peter1 and ,john and the ,apostles1 and the holy company of saints1 reformers1 and martyrs1 who1 through praying1 8subdued kingdoms1 wrought righteousness1 obtained promises1 stopped the mouths of lions1 quenched the violence of fire1 escaped the edge of the sword1 out of weakness were made strong1 waxed valiant in fight1 turned to flight the armies of the aliens40 ,prayer puts ,god in the matter with commanding force3 8,ask of ,me things to come concerning ,my sons10 says ,god1 8and concerning the work of ,my hands command ye ,me40 ,we are charged in ,god's ,word 8always to pray10 8in everything by prayer10 8continuing instant in prayer10 to 8pray everywhere10 8praying always40 ,the promise is as illimitable as the command is comprehensive4 8,all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer1 believing1 ye shall receive10 8whatever ye shall ask10 8if ye shall ask anything40 8,ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you40 8,whatsoever ye ask the ,father ,he will give it to you40 ,if there is anything not involved in 8,all things whatsoever10 or not found in the phrase 8,ask anything10 then these things may be left out of prayer4 ,language could not cover a wider range1 nor involve more fully all minutia4 ,these statements are but samples of the all-comprehending possibilities of prayer under the promises of ,god to those who meet the conditions of right praying4 ,these passages1 though1 give but a general outline of the immense regions over which prayer extends its sway4 ,beyond these the effects of prayer reaches and secures good from regions which cannot be traversed by language or thought4 ,paul exhausted language and thought in praying1 but conscious of necessities not covered and realms of good not reached he covers these impenetrable and undiscovered regions by this general plea1 8unto ,him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think1 according to the power that worketh in us40 ,the promise is1 8,call upon ,me1 and ,i will answer thee1 and show thee great and mighty things1 which thou knowest not40 ,james declares that 8the effectual1 fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much40 ,how much he could not tell1 but illustrates it by the power of ,old ,testament praying to stir up ,new ,testament saints to imitate by the fervour and influence of their praying the holy men of old1 and duplicate and surpass the power of their praying4 ,elijah1 he says1 was a man subject to like passions as we are1 and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain3 and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months4 ,and he prayed again1 and the heaven gave rain1 and the earth brought forth her fruit4 ,in the ,revelation of ,john the whole lower order of ,god's creation and ,his providential government1 the ,church and the angelic world1 are in the attitude of waiting on the efficiency of the prayers of the saintly ones on earth to carry on the various interests of earth and heaven4 ,the angel takes the fire kindled by prayer and casts it earthward1 8and there were voices1 and thunderings1 and lightnings1 and an earthquake40 ,prayer is the force which creates all these alarms1 stirs1 and throes4 8,ask of ,me10 says ,god to ,his ,son1 and to the ,church of ,his ,son1 8and ,i shall give thee the heathen for ,thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for ,thy possessions40 ,the men who have done mighty things for ,god have always been mighty in prayer1 have well understood the possibilities of prayer1 and made most of these possibilities4 ,the ,son of ,god1 the first of all and the mightiest of all1 has shown us the all-potent and far-reaching possibilities of prayer4 ,paul was mighty for ,god because he knew how to use1 and how to get others to use1 the mighty spiritual forces of prayer4 ,the seraphim1 burning1 sleepless1 adoring1 is the figure of prayer4 ,it is resistless in its ardour1 devoted and tireless4 ,there are hindrances to prayer that nothing but pure1 intense flame can surmount4 ,there are toils and outlays and endurance which nothing but the strongest1 most ardent flame can abide4 ,prayer may be low-tongued1 but it cannot be cold-tongued4 ,its words may be few1 but they must be on fire4 ,its feelings may not be impetuous1 but they must be white with heat4 ,it is the effectual1 fervent prayer that influences ,god4 ,god's house is the house of prayer2 ,god's work is the work of prayer4 ,it is the zeal for ,god's house and the zeal for ,god's work that makes ,god's house glorious and ,his work abide4 ,when the prayer-chambers of saints are closed or are entered casually or coldly1 then ,church rulers are secular1 fleshly1 materialised2 spiritual character sinks to a low level1 and the ministry becomes restrained and enfeebled4 ,when prayer fails1 the world prevails4 ,when prayer fails the ,church loses its ,divine characteristics1 its ,divine power2 the ,church is swallowed up by a proud ecclesiasticism1 and the world scoffs at its obvious impotence4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,i look upon all the four ,gospels as thoroughly genuine1 for there is in them the reflection of a greatness which emanated from the person of ,jesus and which was of as ,divine a kind as ever was seen on earth4 --,,goethe4 ,there are no possibilities1 no necessity for prayerless praying1 a heartless performance1 a senseless routine1 a dead habit1 a hasty1 careless performance--it justifies nothing4 ,prayerless praying has no life1 gives no life1 is dead1 breathes out death4 ,not a battle-axe but a child's toy1 for play not for service4 ,prayerless praying does not come up to the importance and aims of a recreation4 ,prayerless praying is only a weight1 an impediment in the hour of struggle1 of intense conflict1 a call to retreat in the moment of battle and victory4 ,x ,,why do we not pray8 ,what are the hindrances to prayer8 ,this is not a curious nor trivial question4 ,it goes not only to the whole matter of our praying1 but to the whole matter of our religion4 ,religion is bound to decline when praying is hindered4 ,that which hinders praying1 hinders religion4 ,he who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life4 ,other duties become pressing and absorbing and crowd out prayer4 ,choked to death1 would be the coroner's verdict in many cases of dead praying1 if an inquest could be secured on this dire1 spiritual calamity4 ,this way of hindering prayer becomes so natural1 so easy1 so innocent that it comes on us all unawares4 ,if we will allow our praying to be crowded out1 it will always be done4 ,satan had rather we let the grass grow on the path to our prayer-chamber than anything else4 ,a closed chamber of prayer means gone out of business religiously1 or what is worse1 made an assignment and carrying on our religion in some other name than ,god's and to somebody else's glory4 ,god's glory is only secured in the business of religion by carrying that religion on with a large capital of prayer4 ,the apostles understood this when they declared that their time must not be employed in even the sacred duties of alms-giving2 they must give themselves1 they said1 8continually to prayer and to the ministry of the ,word10 prayer being put first with them and the ministry of the ,word having its efficiency and life from prayer4 ,the process of hindering prayer by crowding out is simple and goes by advancing stages4 ,first1 prayer is hurried through4 ,unrest and agitation1 fatal to all devout exercises1 come in4 ,then the time is shortened1 relish for the exercise palls4 ,then it is crowded into a corner and depends on the fragments of time for its exercise4 ,its value depreciates4 ,the duty has lost its importance4 ,it no longer commands respect nor brings benefit4 ,it has fallen out of estimate1 out of the heart1 out of the habits1 out of the life4 ,we cease to pray and cease to live spiritually4 ,there is no stay to the desolating floods of worldliness and business and cares1 but prayer4 ,christ meant this when ,he charged us to watch and pray4 ,there is no pioneering corps for the ,gospel but prayer4 ,paul knew that when he declared that 8night and day he prayed exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith40 ,there is no arriving at a high state of grace without much praying and no staying in those high altitudes without great praying4 ,epaphras knew this when he 8laboured fervently in prayers0 for the ,colossian ,church1 8that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of ,god40 ,the only way to preserve our praying from being hindered is to estimate prayer at its true and great value4 ,estimate it as ,daniel did1 who1 when he 8knew that the writing was signed he went into his house1 and his windows being opened to ,jerusalem1 he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his ,god as he did aforetime40 ,put praying into the high values as ,daniel did1 above place1 honour1 ease1 wealth1 life4 ,put praying into the habits as ,daniel did4 8,as he did aforetime0 has much in it to give firmness and fidelity in the hour of trial2 much in it to remove hindrances and master opposing circumstances4 ,one of ,satan's wiliest tricks is to destroy the best by the good4 ,business and other duties are good1 but we are so filled with these that they crowd out and destroy the best4 ,prayer holds the citadel for ,god1 and if ,satan can by any means weaken prayer he is a gainer so far1 and when prayer is dead the citadel is taken4 ,we must keep prayer as the faithful sentinel keeps guard1 with sleepless vigilance4 ,we must not keep it half-starved and feeble as a baby1 but we must keep it in giant strength4 ,our prayer-chamber should have our freshest strength1 our calmest time1 its hours unfettered1 without obtrusion1 without haste4 ,private place and plenty of time are the life of prayer4 8,to kneel upon our knees three times a day and pray and give thanks before ,god as we did aforetime10 is the very heart and soul of religion1 and makes men1 like ,daniel1 of 8an excellent spirit10 8greatly beloved in heaven40 ,the greatness of prayer1 involving as it does the whole man1 in the intensest form1 is not realised without spiritual discipline4 ,this makes it hard work1 and before this exacting and consuming effort our spiritual sloth or feebleness stands abashed4 ,the simplicity of prayer1 its child-like elements form a great obstacle to true praying4 ,intellect gets in the way of the heart4 ,the child spirit only is the spirit of prayer4 ,it is no holiday occupation to make the man a child again4 ,in song1 in poetry1 in memory he may wish himself a child again1 but in prayer he must be a child again in reality4 ,at his mother's knee1 artless1 sweet1 intense1 direct1 trustful4 ,with no shade of doubt1 no temper to be denied4 ,a desire which burns and consumes which can only be voiced by a cry4 ,it is no easy work to have this child-like spirit of prayer4 ,if praying were but an hour in the closet1 difficulties would face and hinder even that hour1 but praying is the whole life preparing for the closet4 ,how difficult it is to cover home and business1 all the sweets and all the bitters of life1 with the holy atmosphere of the closet6 ,a holy life is the only preparation for prayer4 ,it is just as difficult to pray1 as it is to live a holy life4 ,in this we find a wall of exclusion built around our closets2 men do not love holy praying1 because they do not love and will not do holy living4 ,montgomery sets forth the difficulties of true praying when he declares the sublimity and simplicity of prayer4 ,prayer is the simplest form of speech ,that infant lips can try4 ,prayer is the sublimest strains that reach ,the ,majesty on high4 ,this is not only good poetry1 but a profound truth as to the loftiness and simplicity of prayer4 ,there are great difficulties in reaching the exalted1 angelic strains of prayer4 ,the difficulty of coming down to the simplicity of infant lips is not much less4 ,prayer in the ,old ,testament is called wrestling4 ,conflict and skill1 strenuous1 exhaustive effort are involved4 ,in the ,new ,testament we have the terms striving1 labouring fervently1 fervent1 effectual1 agony1 all indicating intense effort put forth1 difficulties overcome4 ,we1 in our praises sing out-- 8,what various hindrances we meet ,in coming to a mercy seat40 ,we also have learned that the gracious results secured by prayer are generally proportioned to the outlay in removing the hindrances which obstruct our soul's high communion with ,god4 ,christ spake a parable to this end1 that men ought always to pray and not to faint4 ,the parable of the importunate widow teaches the difficulties in praying1 how they are to be surmounted1 and the happy results which follow from valorous praying4 ,difficulties will always obstruct the way to the closet as long as it remains true1 8,that ,satan trembles when he sees ,the weakest saint upon his knees40 ,courageous faith is made stronger and purer by mastering difficulties4 ,these difficulties but couch the eye of faith to the glorious prize which is to be won by the successful wrestler in prayer4 ,men must not faint in the contest of prayer1 but to this high and holy work they must give themselves1 defying the difficulties in the way1 and experience more than an angel's happiness in the results4 ,luther said3 8,to have prayed well is to have studied well40 ,more than that1 to have prayed well is to have fought well4 ,to have prayed well is to have lived well4 ,to pray well is to die well4 ,prayer is a rare gift1 not a popular1 ready gift4 ,prayer is not the fruit of natural talents2 it is the product of faith1 of holiness1 of deeply spiritual character4 ,men learn to pray as they learn to love4 ,perfection in simplicity1 in humility in faith--these form its chief ingredients4 ,novices in these graces are not adepts in prayer4 ,it cannot be seized upon by untrained hands2 graduates in heaven's highest school of art can alone touch its finest keys1 raise its sweetest1 highest notes4 ,fine material1 fine finish are requisite4 ,master workmen are required1 for mere journeymen cannot execute the work of prayer4 ,the spirit of prayer should rule our spirits and our conduct4 ,the spirit of the prayer-chamber must control our lives or the closest hour will be dull and sapless4 ,always praying in spirit2 always acting in the spirit of praying2 these make our praying strong4 ,the spirit of every moment is that which imparts strength to the closet communion4 ,it is what we are out of the closet which gives victory or brings defeat to the closet4 ,if the spirit of the world prevails in our non-closet hours1 the spirit of the world will prevail in our closet hours1 and that will be a vain and idle farce4 ,we must live for ,god out of the closet if we would meet ,god in the closet4 ,we must bless ,god by praying lives if we would have ,god's blessing in the closet4 ,we must do ,god's will in our lives if we would have ,god's ear in the closet4 ,we must listen to ,god's voice in public if we would have ,god listen to our voice in private4 ,god must have our hearts out of the closet1 if we would have ,god's presence in the closet4 ,if we would have ,god in the closet1 ,god must have us out of the closet4 ,there is no way of praying to ,god1 but by living to ,god4 ,the closet is not a confessional1 simply1 but the hour of holy communion and high and sweet intercourse and of intense intercession4 ,men would pray better if they lived better4 ,they would get more from ,god if they lived more obedient and well pleasing to ,god4 ,we would have more strength and time for the ,divine work of intercession if we did not have to expend so much strength and time settling up old scores and paying our delinquent taxes4 ,our spiritual liabilities are so greatly in excess of our spiritual assets that our closet time is spent in taking out a decree of bankruptcy instead of being the time of great spiritual wealth for us and for others4 ,our closets are too much like the sign1 8,closed for ,repairs40 ,john said of primitive ,christian praying1 8,whatsoever we ask we receive of ,him1 because we keep ,his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in ,his sight40 ,we should note what illimitable grounds were covered1 what illimitable gifts were received by their strong praying3 8,whatsoever0--how comprehensive the range and reception of mighty praying2 how suggestive the reasons for the ability to pray and to have prayers answered4 ,obedience1 but more than mere obedience1 doing the things which please ,god well4 ,they went to their closets made strong by their strict obedience and loving fidelity to ,god in their conduct4 ,their lives were not only true and obedient1 but they were thinking about things above obedience1 searching for and doing things to make ,god glad4 ,these can come with eager step and radiant countenance to meet their ,father in the closet1 not simply to be forgiven1 but to be approved and to receive4 ,it makes much difference whether we come to ,god as a criminal or a child2 to be pardoned or to be approved2 to settle scores or to be embraced2 for punishment or for favour4 ,our praying to be strong must be buttressed by holy living4 ,the name of ,christ must be honoured by our lives before it will honour our intercessions4 ,the life of faith perfects the prayer of faith4 ,our lives not only give colour to our praying1 but they give body to it as well4 ,bad living makes bad praying4 ,we pray feebly because we live feebly4 ,the stream of praying cannot rise higher than the fountain of living4 ,the closet force is made up of the energy which flows from the confluent streams of living4 ,the feebleness of living throws its faintness into closet homes4 ,we cannot talk to ,god strongly when we have not lived for ,god strongly4 ,the closet cannot be made holy to ,god when the life has not been holy to ,god4 ,the ,word of ,god emphasises our conduct as giving value to our praying4 8,then shalt thou call and the ,lord shalt answer1 ,thou shalt cry and ,he shall say1 ,here ,i am4 ,if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke1 the putting forth the finger1 and speaking vanity40 ,men are to pray 8lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting40 ,we are to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear if we would call on the ,father4 ,we cannot divorce praying from conduct4 8,whatsoever we ask we receive of ,him because we keep ,his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in ,his sight40 8,ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts40 ,the injunction of ,christ1 8,watch and pray10 is to cover and guard conduct that we may come to our closets with all the force secured by a vigilant guard over our lives4 ,our religion breaks down oftenest and most sadly in our conduct4 ,beautiful theories are marred by ugly lives4 ,the most difficult as well as the most impressive point in piety is to live it4 ,our praying suffers as much as our religion from bad living4 ,preachers were charged in primitive times to preach by their lives or preach not at all4 ,so ,christians everywhere ought to be charged to pray by their lives or pray not at all4 ,of course1 the prayer of repentance is acceptable4 ,but repentance means to quit doing wrong and learn to do well4 ,a repentance which does not produce a change in conduct is a sham4 ,praying which does not result in pure conduct is a delusion4 ,we have missed the whole office and virtue of praying if it does not rectify conduct4 ,it is in the very nature of things that we must quit praying or quit bad conduct4 ,cold1 dead praying may exist with bad conduct1 but cold1 dead praying is no praying in ,god's esteem4 ,our praying advances in power as it rectifies the life4 ,a life growing in its purity and devotion will be a more prayerful life4 ,the pity is that so much of our praying is without object or aim4 ,it is without purpose4 ,how much praying there is by men and women who never abide in ,christ--hasty praying1 sweet praying full of sentiment1 pleasing praying1 but not backed by a life wedded to ,christ4 ,popular praying6 ,how much of this praying is from unsanctified hearts and unhallowed lips6 ,prayers spring into life under the influence of some great excitement1 by some pressing emergency1 through some popular clamour1 some great peril4 ,but the conditions of prayer are not there4 ,we rush into ,god's presence and try to link ,him to our cause1 inflame ,him with our passions1 move ,him by our peril4 ,all things are to be prayed for--but with clean hands1 with absolute deference to ,god's will and abiding in ,christ4 ,prayerless praying by lips and hearts untrained to prayer1 by lives out of harmony with ,jesus ,christ2 prayerless praying1 which has the form and motion of prayer but is without the true heart of prayer1 never moves ,god to an answer4 ,it is of such praying that ,james says3 8,ye have not because ye ask not2 ye ask and receive not1 because ye ask amiss40 ,the two great evils--not asking1 and asking in a wrong way4 ,perhaps the greater evil is wrong asking1 for it has in it the show of duty done1 of praying when there has been no praying--a deceit1 a fraud1 a sham4 ,the times of the most praying are not really the times of the best praying4 ,the ,pharisees prayed much1 but they were actuated by vanity2 their praying was the symbol of their hypocrisy by which they made ,god's house of prayer a den of robbers4 ,theirs was praying on state occasions--mechanical1 perfunctory1 professional1 beautiful in words1 fragrant in sentiment1 well ordered1 well received by the ears that heard1 but utterly devoid of every element of real prayer4 ,the conditions of prayer are well ordered and clear--abiding in ,christ2 in ,his name4 ,one of the first necessities1 if we are to grasp the infinite possibilities of prayer1 is to get rid of prayerless praying4 ,it is often beautiful in words and in execution2 it has the drapery of prayer in rich and costly form1 but it lacks the soul of praying4 ,we fall so easily into the habit of prayerless service1 of merely filling a programme4 ,if men only prayed on all occasions and in every place where they go through the motion6 ,if there were only holy inflamed hearts back of all these beautiful words and gracious forms6 ,if there were always uplifted hearts in these erect men who are uttering flawless but vain words before ,god6 ,if there were always reverent bended hearts when bended knees are uttering words before ,god to please men's ears6 ,there is nothing that will preserve the life of prayer2 its vigour1 sweetness1 obligations1 seriousness and value1 so much as a deep conviction that prayer is an approach to ,god1 a pleading with ,god1 an asking of ,god4 ,reality will then be in it2 reverence will then be in the attitude1 in the place1 and in the air4 ,faith will draw1 kindle and open4 ,formality and deadness cannot live in this high and all-serious home of the soul4 ,prayerless praying lacks the essential element of true praying2 it is not based on desire1 and is devoid of earnestness and faith4 ,desire burdens the chariot of prayer1 and faith drives its wheels4 ,prayerless praying has no burden1 because no sense of need2 no ardency1 because none of the vision1 strength1 or glow of faith4 ,no mighty pressure to prayer1 no holding on to ,god with the deathless1 despairing grasp1 8,i will not let ,thee go except ,thou bless me40 ,no utter self-abandon1 lost in the throes of a desperate1 pertinacious1 and consuming plea3 8,yet now if ,thou wilt forgive their sin--if not1 blot me1 ,i pray thee1 out of ,thy book20 or1 8,give me ,scotland1 or ,i die40 ,prayerless praying stakes nothing on the issue1 for it has nothing to stake4 ,it comes with empty hands1 indeed1 but they are listless hands as well as empty4 ,they have never learned the lesson of empty hands clinging to the cross2 this lesson to them has no form nor comeliness4 ,prayerless praying has no heart in its praying4 ,the lack of heart deprives praying of its reality1 and makes it an empty and unfit vessel4 ,heart1 soul1 life must be in our praying2 the heavens must feel the force of our crying1 and must be brought into oppressed sympathy for our bitter and needy state4 ,a need that oppresses us1 and has no relief but in our crying to ,god1 must voice our praying4 ,prayerless praying is insincere4 ,it has no honesty at heart4 ,we name in words what we do not want in heart4 ,our prayers give formal utterance to the things for which our hearts are not only not hungry1 but for which they really have no taste4 ,we once heard an eminent and saintly preacher1 now in heaven1 come abruptly and sharply on a congregation that had just risen from prayer1 with the question and statement1 8,what did you pray for8 ,if ,god should take hold of you and shake you1 and demand what you prayed for1 you could not tell ,him to save your life what the prayer was that has just died from your lips40 ,so it always is1 prayerless praying has neither memory nor heart4 ,a mere form1 a heterogeneous mass1 an insipid compound1 a mixture thrown together for sound and to fill up1 but with neither heart nor aim1 is prayerless praying4 ,a dry routine1 a dreary drudge1 a dull and heavy task is this prayerless praying4 ,but prayerless praying is much worse than either task or drudge1 it divorces praying from living2 it utters its words against the world1 but with heart and life runs into the world2 it prays for humility1 but nurtures pride2 prays for self-denial1 while indulging the flesh4 ,nothing exceeds in gracious results true praying1 but better not to pray at all than to pray prayerless prayers1 for they are but sinning1 and the worst of sinning is to sin on our knees4 ,the prayer habit is a good habit1 but praying by dint of habit only is a very bad habit4 ,this kind of praying is not conditioned after ,god's order1 nor generated by ,god's power4 ,it is not only a waste1 a perversion1 and a delusion1 but it is a prolific source of unbelief4 ,prayerless praying gets no results4 ,god is not reached1 self is not helped4 ,it is better not to pray at all than to secure no results from praying4 ,better for the one who prays1 better for others4 ,men hear of the prodigious results which are to be secured by prayer3 the matchless good promised in ,god's ,word to prayer4 ,these keen-eyed worldlings or timid little faith ones mark the great discrepancy between the results promised and results realised1 and are led necessarily to doubt the truth and worth of that which is so big in promise and so beggarly in results4 ,religion and ,god are dishonoured1 doubt and unbelief are strengthened by much asking and no getting4 ,in contrast with this1 what a mighty force prayerful praying is4 ,real prayer helps ,god and man4 ,god's ,kingdom is advanced by it4 ,the greatest good comes to man by it4 ,prayer can do anything that ,god can do4 ,the pity is that we do not believe this as we ought1 and we do not put it to the test4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,the deepest need of the ,church to-day is not for any material or external thing1 but the deepest need is spiritual4 ,prayerless work will never bring in the kingdom4 ,we neglect to pray in the prescribed way4 ,we seldom enter the closet and shut the door for a season of prayer4 ,kingdom interests are pressing on us thick and fast and we must pray4 ,prayerless giving will never evangelise the world4 --,,dr4 ,a4 ,j4 ,,gordon4 ,the great subject of prayer1 that comprehensive need of the ,christian's life1 is intimately bound up in the personal fulness of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it is 8by the ,one ,spirit we have access unto the ,father0 7,eph4 ii4 #ah71 and by the same ,spirit1 having entered the audience chamber through the 8new and living way10 we are enabled to pray in the will of ,god 7,rom4 viii4 #ae1 #bf-bg2 ,gal4 iv4 #f2 ,eph4 vi4 #ah2 ,jude #bj-ba74 ,here is the secret of prevailing prayer1 to pray under a direct inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit1 whose petitions for us and through us are always according to the ,divine purpose1 and hence certain of answer4 8,praying in the ,holy ,ghost0 is but co-operating with the will of ,god1 and such prayer is always victorious4 ,how many ,christians there are who cannot pray1 and who seek by effort1 resolve1 joining prayer circles1 etc41 to cultivate in themselves the 8holy art of intercession10 and all to no purpose4 ,here for them and for all is the only secret of a real prayer life--8,be filled with the ,spirit10 who is 8the ,spirit of grace and supplication40 --,,rev4 ,j4 ,,stuart ,,holden1 ,m4,a4 ,,xi ,,the preceding chapter closed with the statement that prayer can do anything that ,god can do4 ,it is a tremendous statement to make1 but it is a statement borne out by history and experience4 ,if we are abiding in ,christ--and if we abide in ,him we are living in obedience to ,his holy will--and approach ,god in ,his name1 then there lie open before us the infinite resources of the ,divine treasure-house4 ,the man who truly prays gets from ,god many things denied to the prayerless man4 ,the aim of all real praying is to get the thing prayed for1 as the child's cry for bread has for its end the getting of bread4 ,this view removes prayer clean out of the sphere of religious performances4 ,prayer is not acting a part or going through religious motions4 ,prayer is neither official nor formal nor ceremonial1 but direct1 hearty1 intense4 ,prayer is not religious work which must be gone through1 and avails because well done4 ,prayer is the helpless and needy child crying to the compassion of the ,father's heart and the bounty and power of a ,father's hand4 ,the answer is as sure to come as the ,father's heart can be touched and the ,father's hand moved4 ,the object of asking is to receive4 ,the aim of seeking is to find4 ,the purpose of knocking is to arouse attention and get in1 and this is ,christ's iterated and re-iterated asseveration that the prayer without doubt will be answered1 its end without doubt secured4 ,not by some round-about way1 but by getting the very thing asked for4 ,the value of prayer does not lie in the number of prayers1 or the length of prayers1 but its value is found in the great truth that we are privileged by our relations to ,god to unburden our desires and make our requests known to ,god1 and ,he will relieve by granting our petitions4 ,the child asks because the parent is in the habit of granting the child's requests4 ,as the children of ,god we need something and we need it badly1 and we go to ,god for it4 ,neither the ,bible nor the child of ,god knows anything of that half-infidel declaration1 that we are to answer our own prayers4 ,god answers prayer4 ,the true ,christian does not pray to stir himself up1 but his prayer is the stirring up of himself to take hold of ,god4 ,the heart of faith knows nothing of that specious scepticism which stays the steps of prayer and chills its ardour by whispering that prayer does not affect ,god4 ,d4 ,l4 ,moody used to tell a story of a little child whose father and mother had died1 and who was taken into another family4 ,the first night she asked whether she could pray as she used to do4 ,they said3 8,oh1 yes60 ,so she knelt down and prayed as her mother had taught her2 and when that was ended1 she added a little prayer of her own3 8,o ,god1 make these people as kind to me as father and mother were40 ,then she paused and looked up1 as if expecting the answer1 and then added3 8,of course you will40 ,how sweetly simple was that little one's faith6 ,she expected ,god to answer and 8do10 and 8of course0 she got her request1 and that is the spirit in which ,god invites us to approach ,him4 ,in contrast to that incident is the story told of the quaint ,yorkshire class leader1 ,daniel ,quorm1 who was visiting a friend4 ,one forenoon he came to the friend and said1 8,i am sorry you have met with such a great disappointment40 8,why1 no10 said the man1 8,i have not met with any disappointment40 8,yes10 said ,daniel1 8you were expecting something remarkable to-day40 8,what do you mean80 said the friend4 8,why you prayed that you might be kept sweet and gentle all day long4 ,and1 by the way things have been going1 ,i see you have been greatly disappointed40 8,oh10 said the man1 8,i thought you meant something particular40 ,prayer is mighty in its operations1 and ,god never disappoints those who put their trust and confidence in ,him4 ,they may have to wait long for the answer1 and they may not live to see it1 but the prayer of faith never misses its object4 8,a friend of mine in ,cincinnati had preached his sermon and sank back in his chair1 when he felt impelled to make another appeal10 says ,dr4 ,j4 ,wilbur ,chapman4 8,a boy at the back of the church lifted his hand4 ,my friend left the pulpit and went down to him1 and said1 #8,tell me about yourself4' ,the boy said1 #8,i live in ,new ,york4 ,i am a prodigal4 ,i have disgraced my father's name and broken my mother's heart4 ,i ran away and told them ,i would never come back until ,i became a ,christian or they brought me home dead4' ,that night there went from ,cincinnati a letter telling his father and mother that their boy had turned to ,god4 8,seven days later1 in a black-bordered envelope1 a reply came which read3 #8,my dear boy1 when ,i got the news that you had received ,jesus ,christ the sky was overcast2 your father was dead4' ,then the letter went on to tell how the father had prayed for his prodigal boy with his last breath1 and concluded1 #8,you are a ,christian to-night because your old father would not let you go4'0 ,a fourteen-year-old boy was given a task by his father4 ,it so happened that a group of boys came along just then and wiled the boy away with them1 and so the work went undone4 ,but the father came home that evening and said1 8,frank1 did you do the work that ,i gave you80 8,yes1 sir10 said ,frank4 ,he told an untruth1 and his father knew it1 but said nothing4 ,it troubled the boy1 but he went to bed as usual4 ,next morning his mother said to him1 8,your father did not sleep all last night40 8,why didn't he sleep80 asked ,frank4 ,his mother said1 8,he spent the whole night praying for you40 ,this sent the arrow into his heart4 ,he was deeply convicted of his sin1 and knew no rest until he had got right with ,god4 ,long afterward1 when the boy became ,bishop ,warne1 he said that his decision for ,christ came from his father's prayer that night4 ,he saw his father keeping his lonely and sorrowful vigil praying for his boy1 and it broke his heart4 ,said he1 8,i can never be sufficiently grateful to him for that prayer40 ,an evangelist1 much used of ,god1 has put on record that he commenced a series of meetings in a little church of about twenty members who were very cold and dead1 and much divided4 ,a little prayer-meeting was kept up by two or three women4 8,i preached1 and closed at eight o'clock10 he says4 8,there was no one to speak or pray4 ,the next evening one man spoke4 8,the next morning ,i rode six miles to a minister's study1 and kneeled in prayer4 ,i went back1 and said to the little church3 8#8,if you can make out enough to board me1 ,i will stay until ,god opens the windows of heaven4 ,god has promised to bless these means1 and ,i believe ,he will4' 8,within ten days there were so many anxious souls that ,i met one hundred and fifty of them at a time in an inquiry meeting1 while ,christians were praying in another house of worship4 ,several hundred1 ,i think1 were converted4 ,it is safe to believe ,god40 ,a mother asked the late ,john ,b4 ,gough to visit her son to win him to ,christ4 ,gough found the young man's mind full of sceptical notions1 and impervious to argument4 ,finally1 the young man was asked to pray1 just once1 for light4 ,he replied3 8,i do not know anything perfect to whom or to which ,i could pray40 8,how about your mother's love80 said the orator4 8,isn't that perfect8 ,hasn't she always stood by you1 and been ready to take you in1 and care for you1 when even your father had really kicked you out80 ,the young man chocked with emotion1 and said1 8,y-e-s1 sir2 that is so40 8,then pray to ,love--it will help you4 ,will you promise80 ,he promised4 ,that night the young man prayed in the privacy of his room4 ,he kneeled down1 closed his eyes1 and struggling a moment uttered the words3 8,o ,love40 ,instantly as by a flash of lightning1 the old ,bible text came to him3 8,god is love10 and he said1 brokenly1 8,o ,god60 ,then another flash of ,divine truth1 and a voice said1 8,god so loved the world1 that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son10--and there1 instantly1 he exclaimed1 8,o ,christ1 ,thou incarnation of ,divinest love1 show me light and truth40 ,it was all over4 ,he was in the light of the most perfect peace4 ,he ran downstairs1 adds the narrator of this incident1 and told his mother that he was saved4 ,that young man is to-day an eloquent minister of ,jesus ,christ4 ,a water famine was threatened in ,hakodate1 ,japan4 ,miss ,dickerson1 of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,girls' ,school1 saw the water supply growing less daily1 and in one of the fall months appealed to the ,board in ,new ,york for help4 ,there was no money on hand1 and nothing was done4 ,miss ,dickerson inquired the cost of putting down an artesian well1 but found the expense too great to be undertaken4 ,on the evening of ,december #cast1 when the water was almost exhausted1 the teachers and the older pupils met to pray for water1 though they had no idea how their prayer was to be answered4 ,a couple of days later a letter was received in the ,new ,york office which ran something like this3 8,philadelphia1 ,january #ast4 ,it is six o'clock in the morning of ,new ,year's ,day4 ,all the other members of the family are asleep1 but ,i was awakened with a strange impression that some one1 somewhere1 is in need of money which the ,lord wants me to supply40 ,enclosed was a cheque for an amount which just covered the cost of the artesian well and the piping of the water into the school buildings4 8,i have seen ,god's hand stretched out to heal among the heathen in as mighty wonder-working power as in apostolic times10 once said a well-known minister to the writer4 8,i was preaching to two thousand famine orphan girls1 at ,kedgaum1 ,india1 at ,ramabai's ,mukti 7salvation7 ,mission4 ,a swarm of serpents as venomous and deadly as the reptile that smote ,paul1 suddenly raided the walled grounds1 #8sent of ,satan1' ,ramabai said1 and several of her most beautiful and faithful ,christian girls were smitten by them1 two of them bitten twice4 ,i saw four of the very flower of her flock in convulsions at once1 unconscious and apparently in the agonies of death4 8,ramabai believes the ,bible with an implicit and obedient faith4 ,there were three of us missionaries there4 ,she said3 #8,we will do just what the ,bible says1 ,i want you to minister for their healing according to ,james v4 #ad-ah4' ,she led the way into the dormitory where her girls were lying in spasms1 and we laid our hands upon their heads and prayed1 and anointed them with oil in the name of the ,lord4 ,each of them was healed as soon as anointed and sat up and sang with faces shining4 ,that miracle and marvel among the heathen mightily confirmed the word of the ,lord1 and was a profound and overpowering proclamation of ,god40 ,some years ago1 the record of a wonderful work of grace in connection with one of the stations of the ,china ,inland ,mission attracted a good deal of attention4 ,both the number and spiritual character of the converts had been far greater than at other stations where the consecration of the missionaries had been just as great as at the more fruitful place4 ,this rich harvest of souls remained a mystery until ,hudson ,taylor on a visit to ,england discovered the secret4 ,at the close of one of his addresses a gentleman came forward to make his acquaintance4 ,in the conversation which followed1 ,mr4 ,taylor was surprised at the accurate knowledge the man possessed concerning this inland ,china station4 8,but how is it10 ,mr4 ,taylor asked1 8that you are so conversant with the conditions of that work80 8,oh60 he replied1 8the missionary there and ,i are old college-mates2 for years we have regularly corresponded2 he has sent me names of enquirers and converts1 and these ,i have daily taken to ,god in prayer40 ,at last the secret was found6 ,a praying man at home1 praying definitely1 praying daily1 for specific cases among the heathen4 ,that is the real intercessory missionary4 ,hudson ,taylor himself1 as all the world knows1 was a man who knew how to pray and whose praying was blessed with fruitful answers4 ,in the story of his life1 told by ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,howard ,taylor1 we find page after page aglow with answered prayer4 ,on his way out to ,china for the first time1 in #ahec1 when he was only twenty-one years of age1 he had a definite answer to prayer that was a great encouragement to his faith4 8,they had just come through the ,dampier ,strait1 but were not yet out of sight of the islands4 ,usually a breeze would spring up after sunset and last until about dawn4 ,the utmost use was made of it1 but during the day they lay still with flapping sails1 often drifting back and losing a good deal of the advantage gained at night40 ,the story continues in ,hudson ,taylor's own words3 8,this happened notably on one occasion when we were in dangerous proximity to the north of ,new ,guinea4 ,saturday night had brought us to a point some thirty miles off the land1 and during the ,sunday morning service1 which was held on deck1 ,i could not fail to see that the ,captain looked troubled and frequently went over to the side of the ship4 ,when the service was ended ,i learnt from him the cause4 ,a four-knot current was carrying us toward some sunken reefs1 and we were already so near that it seemed improbable that we should get through the afternoon in safety4 ,after dinner1 the long boat was put out and all hands endeavoured1 without success1 to turn the ship's head from the shore4 8,after standing together on the deck for some time in silence1 the ,captain said to me3 8#8,well1 we have done everything that can be done4 ,we can only await the result4' 8,a thought occurred to me1 and ,i replied3 #8,no1 there is one thing we have not done yet4' 8#8,what is that8' he queried4 8#8,four of us on board are ,christians4 ,let us each retire to his own cabin1 and in agreed prayer ask the ,lord to give us immediately a breeze4 ,he can as easily send it now as at sunset4' 8,the ,captain complied with this proposal4 ,i went and spoke to the other two men1 and after prayer with the carpenter1 we all four retired to wait upon ,god4 ,i had a good but very brief season in prayer1 and then felt so satisfied that our request was granted that ,i could not continue asking1 and very soon went up again on deck4 ,the first officer1 a godless man1 was in charge4 ,i went over and asked him to let down the clews or corners of the mainsail1 which had been drawn up in order to lessen the useless flapping of the sail against the rigging4 8#8,what would be the good of that8' he answered roughly4 8,i told him we had been asking a wind from ,god2 that it was coming immediately2 and we were so near the reef by this time that there was not a minute to lose4 8,with an oath and a look of contempt1 he said he would rather see a wind than hear of it4 8,but while he was speaking ,i watched his eye1 following it up to the royal1 and there1 sure enough1 the corner of the topmost sail was beginning to tremble in the breeze4 8#8,don't you see the wind is coming8 ,look at the royal6' ,i exclaimed4 8#8,no1 it is only a cat's paw1' he rejoined 7a mere puff of wind74 8#8,cat's paw or not1' ,i cried1 #8pray let down the mainsail and give us the benefit4' 8,this he was not slow to do4 ,in another minute the heavy tread of the men on deck brought up the ,captain from his cabin to see what was the matter4 ,the breeze had indeed come6 ,in a few minutes we were ploughing our way at six or seven knots an hour through the water 444 and though the wind was sometimes unsteady1 we did not altogether lose it until after passing the ,pelew ,islands4 8,thus ,god encouraged me10 adds this praying saint1 8ere landing on ,china's shores to bring every variety of need to ,him in prayer1 and to expect that ,he would honour the name of the ,lord ,jesus and give the help each emergency required40 ,in an address at ,cambridge some time ago 7reported in 8,the ,life of ,faith10 ,april #crd1 #aiab71 ,mr4 ,s4 ,d4 ,gordon told in his own inimitable way the story of a man in his own country1 to illustrate from real life the fact of the reality of prayer1 and that it is not mere talking4 8,this man10 said ,mr4 ,gordon1 8came of an old ,new ,england family1 a bit farther back an ,english family4 ,he was a giant in size1 and a keen man mentally1 and a university-trained man4 ,he had gone out ,west to live1 and represented a prominent district in our ,house of ,congress1 answering to your ,house of ,commons4 ,he was a prominent leader there4 ,he was reared in a ,christian family1 but he was a sceptic1 and used to lecture against ,christianity4 ,he told me he was fond1 in his lectures1 of proving1 as he thought1 conclusively1 that there was no ,god4 ,that was the type of his infidelity4 8,one day he told me he was sitting in the ,lower ,house of ,congress4 ,it was at the time of a ,presidential ,election1 and when party feeling ran high4 ,one would have thought that was the last place where a man would be likely to think about spiritual things4 ,he said3 #8,i was sitting in my seat in that crowded ,house and that heated atmosphere1 when a feeling came to me that the ,god1 whose existence ,i thought ,i could successfully disprove1 was just there above me1 looking down on me1 and that ,he was displeased with me1 and with the way ,i was doing4 ,i said to myself1 #8,this is ridiculous1 ,i guess ,i've been working too hard4 ,i'll go and get a good meal and take a long walk and shake myself1 and see if that will take this feeling away4' ,he got his extra meal1 took a walk1 and came back to his seat1 but the impression would not be shaken off that ,god was there and was displeased with him4 ,he went for a walk1 day after day1 but could never shake the feeling off4 ,then he went back to his constituency in his ,state1 he said1 to arrange matters there4 ,he had the ambition to be the ,governor of his ,state1 and his party was the dominant party in the ,state1 and1 as far as such things could be judged1 he was in the line to become ,governor there1 in one of the most dominant ,states of our ,central ,west4 ,he said3 #8,i went home to fix that thing up as far as ,i could1 and to get ready for it4 ,but ,i had hardly reached home and exchanged greetings1 when my wife1 who was an earnest ,christian woman1 said to me that a few of them had made a little covenant of prayer that ,i might become a ,christian4' ,he did not want her to know the experience that he had just been going through1 and so he said as carelessly as he could1 #8,when did this thing begin1 this praying of yours8' ,she named the date4 ,then he did some very quick thinking1 and he knew1 as he thought back1 that it was the day on the calendar when that strange impression came to him for the first time4 8,he said to me3 #8,i was tremendously shaken4 ,i wanted to be honest4 ,i was perfectly honest in not believing in ,god1 and ,i thought ,i was right4 ,but if what she said was true1 then merely as a lawyer sifting his evidence in a case1 it would be good evidence that there was really something in their prayer4 ,i was terrifically shaken1 and wanted to be honest1 and did not know what to do4 ,that same night ,i went to a little ,methodist chapel1 and if somebody had known how to talk with me1 ,i think ,i should have accepted ,christ that night4' ,then he said that the next night he went back again to that chapel1 where meetings were being held each night1 and there he kneeled at the altar1 and yielded his great strong will to the will of ,god4 ,then he said1 #8,i knew ,i was to preach1' and he is preaching still in a ,western ,state4 ,that is half of the story4 ,i also talked with his wife--,i wanted to put the two halves together1 so as to get the bit of teaching in it all--and she told me this4 ,she had been a ,christian--what you call a nominal ,christian--a strange confusion of terms4 ,then there came a time when she was led into a full surrender of her life to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,then she said1 #8,at once there came a great intensifying of desire that my husband might be a ,christian1 and we made that little compact to pray for him each day until he became a ,christian4 ,that night ,i was kneeling at my bedside before going to rest1 praying for my husband1 praying very earnestly and then a voice said to me1 #8,are you willing for the results that will come if your husband is converted8' ,the little message was so very distinct that she said she was frightened2 she had never had such an experience4 ,but she went on praying still more earnestly1 and again there came the quiet voice1 #8,are you willing for the consequences8' ,and again there was a sense of being startled1 frightened4 ,but she still went on praying1 and wondering what this meant1 and a third time the quiet voice came more quietly than ever as she described it1 #8,are you willing for the consequences8' 8,then she told me she said with great earnestness1 #8,o ,god1 ,i am willing for anything ,thou dost think good1 if only my husband may know ,thee1 and become a true ,christian man4' ,she said that instantly1 when that prayer came from her lips1 there came into her heart a wonderful sense of peace1 a great peace that she could not explain1 a #8peace that passeth understanding1' and from that moment--it was the very night of the covenant1 the night when her husband had that first strange experience--the assurance never left her that he would accept ,christ4 ,but all those weeks she prayed with the firm assurance that the result was coming4 ,what were the consequences8 ,they were of a kind that ,i think no one would think small4 ,she was the wife of a man in a very prominent political position2 she was the wife of a man who was in the line of becoming the first official of his ,state1 and she officially the first lady socially of that ,state1 with all the honour that that social standing would imply4 ,now she is the wife of a ,methodist preacher1 with her home changed every two or three years1 she going from this place to that1 a very different social position1 and having a very different income than she would otherwise have had4 ,yet ,i never met a woman who had more of the wonderful peace of ,god in her heart1 and of the light of ,god in her face1 than that woman40 ,and ,mr4 ,gordon's comment on that incident is this3 8,now1 you can see at once that there was no change in the purpose of ,god through that prayer4 ,the prayer worked out ,his purpose2 it did not change it4 ,but the woman's surrender gave the opportunity of working out the will that ,god wanted to work out4 ,if we might give ourselves to ,him and learn ,his will1 and use all our strength in learning ,his will and bending to ,his will1 then we would begin to pray1 and there is simply nothing that could resist the tremendous power of the prayer4 ,oh for more men who will be simple enough to get in touch with ,god1 and give ,him the mastery of the whole life1 and learn ,his will1 and then give themselves1 as ,jesus gave ,himself1 to the sacred service of intercession60 ,to the man or woman who is acquainted with ,god and who knows how to pray1 there is nothing remarkable in the answers that come4 ,they are sure of being heard1 since they ask in accordance with what they know to be the mind and the will of ,god4 ,dr4 ,william ,burt1 ,bishop of ,europe in the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 tells that a few years ago1 when he visited their ,boys' ,school in ,vienna1 he found that although the year was not up1 all available funds had been spent4 ,he hesitated to make a special appeal to his friends in ,america4 ,he counselled with the teachers4 ,they took the matter to ,god in earnest and continued prayer1 believing that ,he would grant their request4 ,ten days later ,bishop ,burt was in ,rome1 and there came to him a letter from a friend in ,new ,york1 which read substantially thus3 8,as ,i went to my office on ,broadway one morning and the date was the very one on which the teachers were praying1 a voice seemed to tell me that you were in need of funds for the ,boys' ,school in ,vienna4 ,i very gladly enclose a cheque for the work40 ,the cheque was for the amount needed4 ,there had been no human communication between ,vienna and ,new ,york4 ,but while they were yet speaking ,god answered them4 ,some time ago there appeared in an ,english religious weekly the report of an incident narrated by a well-known preacher in the course of an address to children4 ,for the truth of the story he was able to vouch4 ,a child lay sick in a country cottage1 and her younger sister heard the doctor say1 as he left the house1 8,nothing but a miracle can save her40 ,the little girl went to her money-box1 took out the few coins it contained1 and in perfect simplicity of heart went to shop after shop in the village street1 asking1 8,please1 ,i want to buy a miracle40 ,from each she came away disappointed4 ,even the local chemist had to say1 8,my dear1 we don't sell miracles here40 ,but outside his door two men were talking1 and had overheard the child's request4 ,one was a great doctor from a ,london hospital1 and he asked her to explain what she wanted4 ,when he understood the need1 he hurried with her to the cottage1 examined the sick girl1 and said to the mother3 8,it is true--only a miracle can save her1 and it must be performed at once40 ,he got his instruments1 performed the operation1 and the patient's life was saved4 ,d4 ,l4 ,moody gives this illustration of the power of prayer3 8,while in ,edinburgh1 a man was pointed out to me by a friend1 who said3 #8,that man is chairman of the ,edinburgh ,infidel ,club4' ,i went and sat beside him and said1 #8,my friend1 ,i am glad to see you in our meeting4 ,are you concerned about your welfare8' 8#8,i do not believe in any hereafter4' 8#8,well1 just get down on your knees and let me pray for you4' 8#8,no1 ,i do not believe in prayer4' 8,i knelt beside him as he sat1 and prayed4 ,he made a great deal of sport of it4 ,a year after ,i met him again4 ,i took him by the hand and said3 #8,hasn't ,god answered my prayer yet8' 8#8,there is no ,god4 ,if you believe in one who answers prayer1 try your hand on me4' 8#8,well1 a great many are now praying for you1 and ,god's time will come1 and ,i believe you will be saved yet4' 8,some time afterwards ,i got a letter from a leading barrister in ,edinburgh telling me that my infidel friend had come to ,christ1 and that seventeen of his club men had followed his example4 8,i did not know how ,god would answer prayer1 but ,i knew ,he would answer4 ,let us come boldly to ,god40 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson tells a vivid story of a storm at sea4 ,the passengers below were greatly alarmed1 as the waves dashed over the vessel4 ,at last one of them1 against orders1 crept to the deck1 and came to the pilot1 who was lashed to the wheel which he was turning without flinching4 ,the pilot caught sight of the terror-stricken man1 and gave him a reassuring smile4 ,below went the passenger1 and comforted the others by saying1 8,i have seen the face of the pilot1 and he smiled4 ,all is well40 ,that is how we feel when through the gateway of prayer we find our way into the ,father's presence4 ,we see ,his face1 and we know that all is well1 since ,his hand is on the helm of events1 and 8even the winds and the waves obey ,him40 ,when we live in fellowship with ,him1 we come with confidence into ,his presence1 asking in the full confidence of receiving and meeting with the justification of our faith4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,let your hearts be much set on revivals of religion4 ,never forget that the churches have hitherto existed and prospered by revivals2 and that if they are to exist and prosper in time to come1 it must be by the same cause which has from the first been their glory and defence4 --,,joel ,,hawes4 ,if any minister can be satisfied without conversions1 he shall have no conversions4 --,c4 ,h4 ,,spurgeon4 ,i do not believe that my desires for a revival were ever half so strong as they ought to be2 nor do ,i see how a minister can help being in a 8constant fever0 when his ,master is dishonoured and souls are destroyed in so many ways4 --,,edward ,,payson4 ,an aged saint once came to the pastor at night and said3 8,we are about to have a revival40 ,he was asked why he knew so4 ,his answer was1 8,i went into the stable to take care of my cattle two hours ago1 and there the ,lord has kept me in prayer until just now4 ,and ,i feel that we are going to be revived40 ,it was the commencement of a revival4 --,h4 ,c4 ,,fish4 ,,xii ,,it has been said that the history of revivals is the history of religion1 and no one can study their history without being impressed with their mighty influence upon the destiny of the race4 ,to look back over the progress of the ,divine ,kingdom upon earth is to review revival periods which have come like refreshing showers upon dry and thirsty ground1 making the desert to blossom as the rose1 and bringing new eras of spiritual life and activity just when the ,church had fallen under the influence of the apathy of the times1 and needed to be aroused to a new sense of her duty and responsibility4 8,from one point of view1 and that not the least important10 writes ,principal ,lindsay1 in 8,the ,church and the ,ministry in the ,early ,centuries10 8the history of the ,church flows on from one time of revival to another1 and whether we take the awakenings in the old ,catholic1 the medival1 or the modern ,church1 these have always been the work of men specially gifted with the power of seeing and declaring the secrets of the deepest ,christian life1 and the effect of their work has always been proportionate to the spiritual receptivity of the generation they have spoken to40 ,as ,god1 from the beginning1 has wrought prominently through revivals1 there can be no denial of the fact that revivals are a part of the ,divine plan4 ,the ,kingdom of our ,lord has been advanced in large measure by special seasons of gracious and rapid accomplishment of the work of conversion1 and it may be inferred1 therefore1 that the means through which ,god has worked in other times will be employed in our time to produce similar results4 8,the quiet conversion of one sinner after another1 under the ordinary ministry of the ,gospel10 says one writer on the subject1 8must always be regarded with feelings of satisfaction and gratitude by the ministers and disciples of ,christ2 but a periodical manifestation of the simultaneous conversion of thousands is also to be desired1 because of its adaptation to afford a visible and impressive demonstration that ,god has made that same ,jesus1 ,who was rejected and crucified1 both ,lord and ,christ2 and that1 in virtue of ,his ,divine ,mediatorship1 ,he has assumed the royal sceptre of universal supremacy1 and #8must reign till all ,his enemies be made ,his footstool4' ,it is1 therefore1 reasonable to expect that1 from time to time1 ,he will repeat that which on the day of ,pentecost formed the conclusive and crowning evidence of ,his ,messiahship and ,sovereignty2 and1 by so doing1 startle the slumbering souls of careless worldlings1 gain the attentive ear of the unconverted1 and1 in a remarkable way1 break in upon those brilliant dreams of earthly glory1 grandeur1 wealth1 power and happiness1 which the rebellious and ,god-forgetting multitude so fondly cherish4 ,such an outpouring of the ,holy ,spirit forms at once a demonstrative proof of the completeness and acceptance of ,his once offering of ,himself as a sacrifice for sin1 and a prophetic #8earnest' of the certainty that ,he #8shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation1' to judge the world in righteousness40 ,and that revivals are to be expected1 proceeding1 as they do1 from the right use of the appropriate means1 is a fact which needs not a little emphasis in these days1 when the material is exalted at the expense of the spiritual1 and when ethical standards are supposed to be supreme4 ,that a revival is not a miracle was powerfully taught by ,charles ,g4 ,finney4 ,there might1 he said1 be a miracle among its antecedent causes1 or there might not4 ,the ,apostles employed miracles simply as a means by which they arrested attention to their message1 and established its ,divine authority4 8,but the miracle was not the revival4 ,the miracle was one thing2 the revival that followed it was quite another thing4 ,the revivals in the ,apostles' days were connected with miracles1 but they were not miracles40 ,all revivals are dependent upon ,god1 but in revivals1 as in other things1 ,he invites and requires the assistance of man1 and the full result is obtained when there is co-operation between the ,divine and the human4 ,in other words1 to employ a familiar phrase1 ,god alone can save the world1 but ,god cannot save the world alone4 ,god and man unite for the task1 the response of the ,divine being invariably in proportion to the desire and the effort of the human4 ,this co-operation1 then1 being necessary1 what is the duty which we1 as co-workers with ,god1 require to undertake8 ,first of all1 and most important of all--the point which we desire particularly to emphasise--we must give ourselves to prayer4 8,revivals10 as ,dr4 ,j4 ,wilbur ,chapman reminds us1 8are born in prayer4 ,when ,wesley prayed ,england was revived2 when ,knox prayed1 ,scotland was refreshed2 when the ,sunday ,school teachers of ,tannybrook prayed1 #aa1jjj young people were added to the ,church in a year4 ,whole nights of prayer have always been succeeded by whole days of soul-winning40 ,when ,d4 ,l4 ,moody's ,church in ,chicago lay in ashes1 he went over to ,england1 in #ahgb1 not to preach1 but to listen to others preach while his new church was being built4 ,one ,sunday morning he was prevailed upon to preach in a ,london pulpit4 ,but somehow the spiritual atmosphere was lacking4 ,he confessed afterwards that he never had such a hard time preaching in his life4 ,everything was perfectly dead1 and1 as he vainly tried to preach1 he said to himself1 8,what a fool ,i was to consent to preach6 ,i came here to listen1 and here ,i am preaching40 ,then the awful thought came to him that he had to preach again at night1 and only the fact that he had given the promise to do so kept him faithful to the engagement4 ,but when ,mr4 ,moody entered the pulpit at night1 and faced the crowded congregation1 he was conscious of a new atmosphere4 8,the powers of an unseen world seemed to have fallen upon the audience40 ,as he drew towards the close of his sermon he became emboldened to give out an invitation1 and as he concluded he said1 8,if there is a man or woman here who will to-night accept ,jesus ,christ1 please stand up40 ,at once about #ejj people rose to their feet4 ,thinking that there must be some mistake1 he asked the people to be seated1 and then1 in order that there might be no possible misunderstanding1 he repeated the invitation1 couching it in even more definite and difficult terms4 ,again the same number rose4 ,still thinking that something must be wrong1 ,mr4 ,moody1 for the second time1 asked the standing men and women to be seated1 and then he invited all who really meant to accept ,christ to pass into the vestry4 ,fully #ejj people did as requested1 and that was the beginning of a revival in that church and neighbourhood1 which brought ,mr4 ,moody back from ,dublin1 a few days later1 that he might assist the wonderful work of ,god4 ,the sequel1 however1 must be given1 or our purpose in relating the incident will be defeated4 ,when ,mr4 ,moody preached at the morning service there was a woman in the congregation who had an invalid sister4 ,on her return home she told the invalid that the preacher had been a ,mr4 ,moody from ,chicago1 and on hearing this she turned pale4 8,what10 she said1 8,mr4 ,moody from ,chicago6 ,i read about him some time ago in an ,american paper1 and ,i have been praying ,god to send him to ,london1 and to our church4 ,if ,i had known he was going to preach this morning ,i would have eaten no breakfast4 ,i would have spent the whole time in prayer4 ,now1 sister1 go out of the room1 lock the door1 send me no dinner2 no matter who comes1 don't let them see me4 ,i am going to spend the whole afternoon and evening in prayer40 ,and so while ,mr4 ,moody stood in the pulpit that had been like an ice-chamber in the morning1 the bed-ridden saint was holding him up before ,god1 and ,god1 who ever delights to answer prayer1 poured out ,his ,spirit in mighty power4 ,the ,god of revivals who answered the prayer of ,his child for ,mr4 ,moody1 is willing to hear and to answer the faithful1 believing prayers of ,his people to-day4 ,wherever ,god's conditions are met there the revival is sure to fall4 ,professor ,thos4 ,nicholson1 of ,cornell ,college1 ,u4,s4,a41 relates an experience on his first circuit that impresses anew the old lesson of the place of prayer in the work of ,god4 ,there had not been a revival on that circuit in years1 and things were not spiritually hopeful4 ,during more than four weeks the pastor had preached faithfully1 visited from house to house1 in stores1 shops1 and out-of-the-way places1 and had done everything he could4 ,the fifth ,monday night saw many of the official members at lodges1 but only a corporal's guard at the church4 ,from that meeting the pastor went home1 cast down1 but not in despair4 ,he resolved to spend that night in prayer4 8,locking the door1 he took ,bible and hymn book and began to inquire more diligently of the ,lord1 though the meetings had been the subject of hours of earnest prayer4 ,only ,god knows the anxiety and the faithful1 prayerful study of that night4 ,near the dawn a great peace and a full assurance came that ,god would surely bless the plan which had been decided upon1 and a text was chosen which he felt sure was of the ,lord4 ,dropping upon the bed1 the pastor slept about two hours1 then rose1 hastily breakfasted1 and went nine miles to the far side of the circuit to visit some sick people4 ,all day the assurance increased4 8,toward night a pouring rain set in1 the roads were heavy and we reached home1 wet1 supperless1 and a little late1 only to find no fire in the church1 the lights unlit1 and no signs of service4 ,the janitor had concluded that the rain would prevent the service4 ,we changed the order1 rang the bell1 and prepared for war4 ,three young men formed the congregation1 but in that #8full assurance' the pastor delivered the message which had been prayed out on the preceding night1 as earnestly and as fully as if the house had been crowded1 then made a personal appeal to each young man in turn4 ,two yielded1 and testified before the meeting closed4 8,the tired pastor went to a sweet rest1 and next morning1 rising a little later than usual1 learned that one of the young men was going from store to store throughout the town telling of his wonderful deliverance1 and exhorting the people to salvation4 ,night after night conversions occurred1 until in two weeks we heard #add people testify in forty-five minutes4 ,all three points of that circuit saw a blaze of revival that winter1 and family after family came into the church1 until the membership was more than trebled4 8,out of that meeting one convert is a successful pastor in the ,michigan ,conference1 another is the wife of one of the choicest of our pastors1 and a third was in the ministry for a number of years1 and then went to another denomination1 where he is faithful unto this day4 ,probably none of the members ever knew of the pastor's night of prayer1 but he verily believes that ,god somehow does for the man who thus prays1 what ,he does not do for the man who does not pray1 and he is certain that #8more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of4'0 ,all the true revivals have been born in prayer4 ,when ,god's people become so concerned about the state of religion that they lie on their faces day and night in earnest supplication1 the blessing will be sure to fall4 ,it is the same all down the ages4 ,every revival of which we have any record has been bathed in prayer4 ,take1 for example1 the wonderful revival in ,shotts 7,scotland7 in #afcj4 ,the fact that several of the then persecuted ministers would take a part in solemn convocation having become generally known1 a vast concourse of godly persons assembled on this occasion from all quarters of the country1 and several days were spent in social prayer1 preparatory to the service4 ,in the evening1 instead of retiring to rest1 the multitude divided themselves into little bands1 and spent the whole night in supplication and praise4 ,the ,monday was consecrated to thanksgiving1 a practice not then common1 and proved the great days of the feast4 ,after much entreaty1 ,john ,livingston1 chaplain to the ,countess of ,wigtown1 a young man and not ordained1 agreed to preach4 ,he had spent the night in prayer and conference--but as the hour of assembling approached his heart quailed at the thought of addressing so many aged and experienced saints1 and he actually fled from the duty he had undertaken4 ,but just as the kirk of ,shotts was vanishing from his view1 those words1 8,was ,i ever a barren wilderness or a land of darkness80 were borne in upon his mind with such force as compelled him to return to the work4 ,he took for his text ,ezekiel xxxvi4 #be1 #bf1 and discoursed with great power for about two hours4 ,five hundred conversions were believed to have occurred under that one sermon1 thus prefaced by prayer4 8,it was the sowing of a seed through ,clydesdale1 so that many of the most eminent ,christians of that country could date their conversion1 or some remarkable confirmation of their case1 from that day40 ,of ,richard ,baxter it has been said that 8he stained his study walls with praying breath2 and after becoming thus anointed with the unction of the ,holy ,ghost he sent a river of living water over ,kidderminster40 ,whitfield once thus prayed1 8,o ,lord1 give me souls or take my soul40 ,after much closet pleading1 8he once went to the ,devil's fair and took more than a thousand souls out of the paw of the lion in a single day40 ,mr4 ,finney says3 8,i once knew a minister who had a revival fourteen winters in succession4 ,i did not know how to account for it till ,i saw one of his members get up in a prayer meeting and make a confession4 #8,brethren1' he said1 #8,i have been long in the habit of praying every ,saturday night till after midnight for the descent of the ,holy ,ghost among us4 ,and now1 brethren 7and he began to weep71 ,i confess that ,i have neglected it for two or three weeks4' ,the secret was out4 ,that minister had a praying church40 ,and so we might go on multiplying illustration upon illustration to show the place of prayer in revival and to demonstrate that every mighty movement of the ,spirit of ,god has had its source in the prayer-chamber4 ,the lesson of it all is this1 that as workers together with ,god we must regard ourselves as in not a little measure responsible for the conditions which prevail around us to-day4 ,are we concerned about the coldness of the ,church8 ,do we grieve over the lack of conversions8 ,does our soul go out to ,god in midnight cries for the outpouring of ,his ,spirit8 ,if not1 part of the blame lies at our door4 ,if we do our part1 ,god will do ,his4 ,around us is a world lost in sin1 above us is a ,god willing and able to save2 it is ours to build the bridge that links heaven and earth1 and prayer is the mighty instrument that does the work4 ,and so the old cry comes to us with insistent voice1 8,pray1 brethren1 pray40 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ ,lord ,jesus1 cause me to know in my daily experience the glory and sweetness of ,thy name1 and then teach me how to use it in my prayer1 so that ,i may be even like ,israel1 a prince prevailing with ,god4 ,thy name is my passport1 and secures me access2 ,thy name is my plea1 and secures me answer2 ,thy name is my honour and secures me glory4 ,blessed ,name1 ,thou art honey in my mouth1 music in my ear1 heaven in my heart1 and all in all to all my being6 --,c4 ,h4 ,,spurgeon4 ,i do not mean that every prayer we offer is answered exactly as we desire it to be4 ,were this the case1 it would mean that we would be dictating to ,god1 and prayer would degenerate into a mere system of begging4 ,just as an earthly father knows what is best for his children's welfare1 so does ,god take into consideration the particular needs of ,his human family1 and meets them out of ,his wonderful storehouse4 ,if our petitions are in accordance with ,his will1 and if we seek ,his glory in the asking1 the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving4 ,god is a rich and bountiful ,father1 and ,he does not forget ,his children1 nor withhold from them anything which it would be to their advantage to receive4 --,j4 ,,kennedy ,,maclean4 ,,xiii ,,the example of our ,lord in the matter of prayer is one which ,his followers might well copy4 ,christ prayed much and ,he taught much about prayer4 ,his life and ,his works1 as well as ,his teaching1 are illustrations of the nature and necessity of prayer4 ,he lived and laboured to answer prayer4 ,but the necessity of importunity in prayer was the emphasised point in ,his teaching about prayer4 ,he taught not only that men must pray1 but that they must persevere in prayer4 ,he taught in command and precept the idea of energy and earnestness in praying4 ,he gives to our efforts gradation and climax4 ,we are to ask1 but to the asking we must add seeking1 and seeking must pass into the full force of effort in knocking4 ,the pleading soul must be aroused to effort by ,god's silence4 ,denial1 instead of abating or abashing1 must arouse its latent energies and kindle anew its highest ardour4 ,in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 in which ,he lays down the cardinal duties of ,his religion1 ,he not only gives prominence to prayer in general and secret prayer in particular1 but ,he sets apart a distinct and different section to give weight to importunate prayer4 ,to prevent any discouragement in praying ,he lays as a basic principle the fact of ,god's great fatherly willingness--that ,god's willingness to answer our prayers exceeds our willingness to give good and necessary things to our children1 just as far as ,god's ability1 goodness and perfection exceed our infirmities and evil4 ,as a further assurance and stimulant to prayer ,christ gives the most positive and iterated assurance of answer to prayers4 ,he declares3 8,ask and it shall be given you2 seek and ye shall find2 knock and it shall be opened unto you40 ,and to make assurance doubly sure1 ,he adds3 8,for every one that asketh1 receiveth2 and he that seeketh1 findeth2 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened40 ,why does ,he unfold to us the ,father's loving readiness to answer the prayer of ,his children8 ,why does ,he asseverate so strongly that prayer will be answered8 ,why does ,he repeat that positive asseveration six times8 ,why does ,christ on two distinct occasions go over the same strong promises1 iterations1 and reiterations in regard to the certainty of prayer being answered8 ,because ,he knew that there would be delay in many an answer which would call for importunate pressing1 and that if our faith did not have the strongest assurance of ,god's willingness to answer1 delay would break it down4 ,and that our spiritual sloth would come in1 under the guise of submission1 and say it is not ,god's will to give what we ask1 and so cease praying and lose our case4 ,after ,christ had put ,god's willingness to answer prayer in a very clear and strong light1 ,he then urges to importunity1 and that every unanswered prayer1 instead of abating our pressure should only increase intensity and energy4 ,if asking does not get1 let asking pass into the settled attitude and spirit of seeking4 ,if seeking does not secure the answer1 let seeking pass on to the more energetic and clamorous plea of knocking4 ,we must persevere till we get it4 ,no failure here if our faith does not break down4 ,as our great example in prayer1 our ,lord puts love as a primary condition--a love that has purified the heart from all the elements of hate1 revenge1 and ill will4 ,love is the supreme condition of prayer1 a life inspired by love4 ,the #acth chapter of #ast ,corinthians is the law of prayer as well as the law of love4 ,the law of love is the law of prayer1 and to master this chapter from the epistle of ,st4 ,paul is to learn the first and fullest condition of prayer4 ,christ taught us also to approach the ,father in ,his name4 ,that is our passport4 ,it is in ,his name that we are to make our petitions known4 8,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,he that believeth on ,me1 the works that ,i do shall he do also2 and greater works than these shall he do2 because ,i go unto the ,father4 ,and whatsoever ye shall ask in ,my name1 that will ,i do1 that the ,father may be glorified in the ,son4 ,if ye shall ask ,me anything in ,my name1 that will ,i do40 ,how wide and comprehensive is that 8whatsoever40 ,there is no limit to the power of that name4 8,whatsoever ye shall ask40 ,that is the ,divine declaration1 and it opens up to every praying child a vista of infinite resource and possibility4 ,and that is our heritage4 ,all that ,christ has may become ours if we obey the conditions4 ,the one secret is prayer4 ,the place of revealing and of equipment1 of grace and of power1 is the prayer-chamber1 and as we meet there with ,god we shall not only win our triumphs but we shall also grow in the likeness of our ,lord and become ,his living witnesses to men4 ,without prayer the ,christian life1 robbed of its sweetness and its beauty1 becomes cold and formal and dead2 but rooted in the secret place where ,god meets and walks and talks with ,his own1 it grows into such a testimony of ,divine power that all men will feel its influence and be touched by the warmth of its love4 ,thus1 resembling our ,lord and ,master1 we shall be used for the glory of ,god and the salvation of our fellow men4 ,and that1 surely1 is the purpose of all real prayer and the end of all true service4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 ,added original cover and spine images for free and unlimited use with this e,book4 ,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4 ,corrected these typos3 ,,errata ,,line ,printed ,text ,correction #ehj success in the human adminisstration administration #ajjb ,such an attiude attitude #aicb exhausted themslves themselves #bcif floods of wordliness worldliness #bhgf six miles to a minster's minister's #cbbj ,let us come boldy boldly