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Title: Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?

Author: Dwight Lyman Moody

Release Date: April 21, 2020 [EBook #61883]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

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  PREVAILING PRAYER:

  _WHAT HINDERS IT_?


  BY

  D. L. MOODY.


  CHICAGO:
  F. H. REVELL, 148 AND 150 MADISON STREET.
  _Publisher of Evangelical Literature._




  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by
  FLEMING H. REVELL,
  In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


  _ALL RIGHTS RESERVED._


  Printed and bound by J. L. REGAN & CO., Chicago.




PREFATORY NOTE.


The two first and essential means of grace are the Word of God and
Prayer. By these comes conversion; for we are born again by the Word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever; and whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.

By these also we grow; for we are exhorted to desire the sincere milk
of the Word that we may grow thereby, and we cannot grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ except we also speak to Him
in Prayer.

It is by the Word that the Father sanctifies us; but we are also bidden
to watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation.

These two means of grace must be used in their right proportion. If we
read the Word and do not pray, we may become puffed up with knowledge,
without the love that buildeth up. If we pray without reading the Word,
we shall be ignorant of the mind and will of God, and become mystical
and fanatical, and liable to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.

The following chapters relate especially to Prayer; but in order that
our prayers may be for such things as are according to the will of
God, they must be based upon the revelation of His own will to us; for
of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; and it is only by
hearing His Word, in which we learn His purposes toward us and towards
the world, that we can pray acceptably, praying in the Holy Ghost,
asking those things which are pleasing in His sight.

These Addresses are not to be regarded as exhaustive, but suggestive.
This great subject has been the theme of Prophets and Apostles, and of
all good men in all ages of the world; and my desire in sending forth
this little volume is to encourage God’s children to seek by prayer “to
move the Arm that moves the world.”

                                  [Illustration: D. L. Moody. signature]




CONTENTS.


                               PAGE

  CHAPTER I.
  THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE        7

  CHAPTER II.
  ADORATION                      19

  CHAPTER III.
  CONFESSION                     25

  CHAPTER IV.
  RESTITUTION                    41

  CHAPTER V.
  THANKSGIVING                   51

  CHAPTER VI.
  FORGIVENESS                    59

  CHAPTER VII.
  UNITY                          71

  CHAPTER VIII.
  FAITH                          79

  CHAPTER IX.
  PETITION                       90

  CHAPTER X.
  SUBMISSION                    102

  CHAPTER XI.
  ANSWERED PRAYERS              111




Prayer.


  Prayer was appointed to convey
    The blessings God designs to give;
  Long as they live should Christians pray,
    For only while they pray they live.

  And shall we in dead silence lie,
    When Christ stands waiting for our prayer?
  My soul, thou hast a Friend on high;
    Arise and try thy interest there.

  If pain afflict, or wrongs oppress;
    If cares distract, or fears dismay;
  If guilt deject, if sin distress;
    The remedy’s before thee--Pray!

  Depend on Christ, thou canst not fail;
    Make all thy wants and wishes known.
  Fear not; His merits must prevail;
    Ask what thou wilt; it shall be done!

                               --_Joseph Hart._




PREVAILING PRAYER.




CHAPTER I.

THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE.


Those who have left the deepest impression on this sin-cursed earth
have been men and women of prayer. You will find that PRAYER has been
the mighty power that has moved not only God, but man. Abraham was a
man of prayer, and angels came down from heaven to converse with him.
Jacob’s prayer was answered in the wonderful interview at Peniel, that
resulted in his having such a mighty blessing, and in softening the
heart of his brother Esau; the child Samuel was given in answer to
Hannah’s prayer; Elijah’s prayer closed up the heavens for three years
and six months, and he prayed again and the heavens gave rain.

The Apostle James tells us that the prophet Elijah was a man “subject
to like passions as we are.” I am thankful that those men and women who
were so mighty in prayer were just like ourselves. We are apt to think
that those prophets and mighty men and women of old time were different
from what we are. To be sure they lived in a much darker age, but they
were of like passions with ourselves.

We read that on another occasion Elijah brought down fire on Mount
Carmel. The prophets of Baal cried long and loud, but no answer came.
The God of Elijah heard and answered his prayer. Let us remember that
the God of Elijah still lives. The prophet was translated and went up
to heaven, but his God still lives, and we have the same access to Him
that Elijah had. We have the same warrant to go to God and ask the fire
from heaven to come down and consume our lusts and passions--to burn up
our dross, and let Christ shine through us.

Elisha prayed, and life came back to a dead child. Many of our children
are dead in trespasses and sins. Let us do as Elisha did; let us
entreat God to raise them up in answer to our prayers.

Manasseh, the king, was a wicked man, and had done everything he could
against the God of his father; yet in Babylon, when he cried to God,
his cry was heard, and he was taken out of prison and put on the throne
at Jerusalem. Surely if God gave heed to the prayer of wicked Manasseh,
He will hear ours in the time of our distress. Is not this a time of
distress with a great number of our fellow-men? Are there not many
among us whose hearts are burdened? As we go to the throne of grace,
let us remember that GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.

Look, again, at Samson. He prayed; and his strength came back,
so that he slew more at his death than during his life. He was a
restored backslider, and he had power with God. If those who have been
backsliders will but return to God, they will see how quickly God will
answer prayer.

Job prayed, and his captivity was turned. Light came in the place
of darkness, and God lifted him up above the height of his former
prosperity--in answer to prayer.

Daniel prayed to God, and Gabriel came to tell him that he was a man
greatly beloved of God. Three times that message came to him from
heaven in answer to prayer. The secrets of heaven were imparted to him,
and he was told that God’s Son was going to be cut off for the sins of
His people. We find also that Cornelius prayed; and Peter was sent to
tell him words whereby he and his should be saved. In answer to prayer
this great blessing came upon him and his household. Peter had gone up
to the house-top to pray in the afternoon, when he had that wonderful
vision of the sheet let down from heaven. It was when prayer was made
without ceasing unto God for Peter, that the angel was sent to deliver
him.

So all through the Scriptures you will find that when believing
prayer went up to God, the answer came down. I think it would be a
very interesting study to go right through the Bible and see what has
happened while God’s people have been on their knees calling upon him.
Certainly the study would greatly strengthen our faith--showing, as it
would, how wonderfully God has heard and delivered, when the cry has
gone up to Him for help.

Look at Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi. As they prayed and
sang praises, the place was shaken, and the jailer was converted.
Probably that one conversion has done more than any other recorded
in the Bible to bring people into the Kingdom of God. How many have
been blessed in seeking to answer the question--“What must I do to
be saved?” It was the prayer of those two godly men that brought the
jailer to his knees, and that brought blessing to him and his family.

You remember how Stephen, as he prayed and looked up, saw the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man at the right hand of God; the light of
heaven fell on his face so that it shone. Remember, too, how the face
of Moses shone as he came down from the Mount; he had been in communion
with God. So when we get really into communion with God, He lifts up
His countenance upon us; and instead of our having gloomy looks, our
faces will shine, because God has heard and answered our prayers.

I want to call special attention to Christ as an example for us in all
things; in nothing more than in prayer. We read that Christ prayed
to His Father for everything. Every great crisis in His life was
preceded by prayer. Let me quote a few passages. I never noticed till
a few years ago that Christ was praying at His baptism. As He prayed,
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended on Him. Another
great event in His life was His Transfiguration. “As He prayed, the
fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and
glistering.”

We read again: “It came to pass in those days that He went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” This is
the only place where it is recorded that the Savior spent a whole night
in prayer. What was about to take place? When He came down from the
mountain He gathered His disciples around Him, and preached that great
discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount--the most wonderful sermon
that has ever been preached to mortal men. Probably no sermon has done
so much good, and it was preceded by a night of prayer. If our sermons
are going to reach the hearts and consciences of the people, we must be
much in prayer to God, that there may be power with the word.

In the Gospel of John we read that Jesus at the grave of Lazarus lifted
up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast
heard Me; and I know that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the
people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast
sent Me.” Notice, that before He spoke the dead to life He spoke to
His Father. If our spiritually dead ones are to be raised, we must
first get power with God. The reason we so often fail in moving our
fellow-men is that we try to win them without first getting power with
God. Jesus was in communion with His Father, and so He could be assured
that His prayers were heard.

We read again, in the twelfth of John, that He prayed to the Father. I
think this is one of the saddest chapters in the whole Bible. He was
about to leave the Jewish nation and to make atonement for the sin of
the world. Hear what He says: “Now is My soul troubled, and what shall
I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto
this hour.” He was almost under the shadow of the Cross; the iniquities
of mankind were about to be laid upon Him; one of His twelve disciples
was going to deny Him and swear he never knew Him; another was to sell
Him for thirty pieces of silver; all were to forsake Him and flee. His
soul was exceeding sorrowful, and He prays; when His soul was troubled,
God spake to Him. Then in the Garden of Gethsemane, while He prayed,
an angel appeared to strengthen him. In answer to His cry, “Father,
glorify Thy Name,” He hears a voice coming down from the glory--“I have
both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Another memorable prayer of our Lord was in the Garden of Gethsemane:
“He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down and
prayed.” I would draw your attention to the recorded fact that four
times the answer came right down from heaven while the Savior prayed to
God. The first time was at His baptism, when the heavens were opened,
and the Spirit descended upon Him in answer to His prayer. Again, on
the Mount of Transfiguration, God appeared and spoke to Him. Then
when the Greeks came desiring to see Him, the voice of God was heard
responding to His call; and again, when He cried to the Father in the
midst of His agony, a direct response was given. These things are
recorded, I doubt not, that we may be encouraged to pray.

We read that His disciples came to Him, and said, “Lord, teach us to
pray.” It is not recorded that He taught them how to preach. I have
often said that I would rather know how to pray like Daniel than to
preach like Gabriel. If you get love into your soul, so that the
grace of God may come down in answer to prayer, there will be no
trouble about reaching the people. It is not by eloquent sermons that
perishing souls are going to be reached; we need the power of God in
order that the blessing may come down.

The prayer our Lord taught his disciples is commonly called the Lord’s
Prayer. I think that the Lord’s prayer, more properly, is that in the
seventeenth of John. That is the longest prayer on record that Jesus
made. You can read it slowly and carefully in about four or five
minutes. I think we may learn a lesson here. Our Master’s prayers were
short when offered in public; when He was alone with God that was a
different thing, and He could spend the whole night in communion with
His Father. My experience is that those who pray most in their closets
generally make short prayers in public. Long prayers are too often not
prayers at all, and they weary the people. How short the publican’s
prayer was: “God be merciful to me a sinner!” The Syrophenician woman’s
was shorter still: “Lord help me!” She went right to the mark, and she
got what she wanted. The prayer of the thief on the cross was a short
one: “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!” Peter’s
prayer was, “Lord, save me, or I perish!” So, if you go through the
Scriptures, you will find that the prayers that brought immediate
answers were generally brief. Let our prayers be to the point, just
telling God what we want.

In the prayer of our Lord, in John xvii, we find that He made seven
requests--one for Himself, four for His disciples around Him, and two
for the disciples of succeeding ages. Six times in that one prayer
He repeats that God had sent Him. The world looked upon Him as an
imposter; and He wanted them to know that He was heaven-sent. He speaks
of the world nine times, and makes mention of His disciples and those
who believe on Him fifty times.

Christ’s last prayer on the Cross was a short one: “Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do.” I believe that prayer was
answered. We find that right there in front of the Cross, a Roman
centurion was converted. It was probably in answer to the Savior’s
prayer. The conversion of the thief, I believe, was in answer to that
prayer of our blessed Lord. Saul of Tarsus may have heard it, and the
words may have followed him as he traveled to Damascus; so that when
the Lord spoke to him on the way, he may have recognized the voice.
One thing we do know; that on the day of Pentecost some of the enemies
of the Lord were converted. Surely that was in answer to the prayer,
“Father, forgive them!”

Hence we see that prayer holds a high place among the exercises of a
spiritual life. All God’s people have been praying people. Look, for
instance, at Baxter! He stained his study walls with praying breath;
and after he was anointed with the unction of the Holy Ghost, sent
a river of living water over Kidderminster, and converted hundreds.
Luther and his companions were men of such mighty pleading with God,
that they broke the spell of ages, and laid nations subdued at the
foot of the Cross. John Knox grasped all Scotland in his strong arms
of faith; his prayers terrified tyrants. Whitefield, after much holy,
faithful closet-pleading, went to the Devil’s fair, and took more
than a thousand souls out of the paw of the lion in one day. See a
praying Wesley turn more than ten thousand souls to the Lord! Look at
the praying Finney, whose prayers, faith, sermons and writings, have
shaken this whole country, and sent a wave of blessing through the
churches on both sides of the sea.

Dr. Guthrie thus speaks of prayer and its necessity: “The first true
sign of spiritual life, prayer, is also the means of maintaining it.
Man can as well live physically without breathing, as spiritually
without praying. There is a class of animals--the cetaceous, neither
fish nor sea-fowl--that inhabit the deep. It is their home, they never
leave it for the shore; yet, though swimming beneath its waves, and
sounding its darkest depths, they have ever and anon to rise to the
surface that they may breathe the air. Without that, these monarchs of
the deep could not exist in the dense element in which they live, and
move, and have their being. And something like what is imposed on them
by a physical necessity, the Christian has to do by a spiritual one. It
is by ever and anon ascending up to God, by rising through prayer into
a loftier, purer region for supplies of Divine grace, that he maintains
his spiritual life. Prevent these animals from rising to the surface,
and they die for want of breath; prevent the Christian from rising to
God, and he dies for want of prayer. ‘Give me children,’ cried Rachel,
‘or else I die.’ ‘Let me breathe,’ says a man gasping, ‘or else I die.’
‘Let me pray,’ says the Christian, ‘or else I die.’”

“Since I began,” said Dr. Payson when a student, “to beg God’s blessing
on my studies, I have done more in one week than in the whole year
before.” Luther, when most pressed with work, said, “I have so much
to do that I cannot get on without three hours a day praying.” And
not only do theologians think and speak highly of prayer; men of all
ranks and positions in life have felt the same. General Havelock rose
at four o’clock, if the hour for marching was six, rather than lose
the precious privilege of communion with God before setting out. Sir
Matthew Hale says: “If I omit praying and reading God’s Word in the
morning, nothing goes well all day.”

“A great part of my time,” said McCheyne, “is spent in getting my heart
in tune for prayer. It is the link that connects earth with heaven.”

A comprehensive view of the subject will show that there are nine
elements which are essential to true prayer. The first is Adoration;
we cannot meet God on a level at the start. We must approach Him as
One far beyond our reach or sight. The next is Confession; sin must be
put out of the way. We cannot have any communion with God while there
is any transgression between us. If there stands some wrong you have
done a man, you cannot expect that man’s favor until you go to him and
confess the fault. Restitution is another; we have to make good the
wrong, wherever possible. Thanksgiving is the next; we must be thankful
for what God has done for us already. Then comes Forgiveness, and then
Unity; and then for prayer, such as these things produce, there must
be Faith. Thus influenced, we shall be ready to offer direct Petition.
We hear a good deal of praying that is just exhorting, and if you did
not see the man’s eyes closed, you would suppose he was preaching.
Then, much that is called prayer is simply finding fault. There needs
to be more _petition_ in our prayers. After all these, there must come
Submission. While praying, we must be ready to accept the will of God.
We shall consider these nine elements in detail, closing our inquiries
by giving incidents illustrative of the certainty of our receiving,
under such conditions, Answers to Prayer.




The Hour of Prayer.


  “Lord, what a change within us one short hour
      Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make!
      What heavy burdens from our bosoms take;
  What parched grounds refresh as with a shower.

  “We kneel--and all around us seems to lower;
      We rise--and all, the distant and the near,
      Stands forth in sunny outline brave and clear;
  We kneel: how weak!--we rise: how full of power!

  “Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong,
  Or others--that we are not always strong?
  That we are ever overborne with care;
      That we should ever weak or heartless be,
  Anxious or troubled, while with us is prayer,
      And joy, and strength, and courage, are with Thee?”

                                                  _Trench._




CHAPTER II.

ADORATION.


This has been defined as the act of rendering Divine honor, including
in it reverence, esteem and love. It literally signifies to apply the
hand to the mouth, “to kiss the hand;” in Eastern countries this is one
of the great marks of respect and submission. The importance of coming
before God in this spirit is great, therefore it is so often impressed
upon us in the Word of God.

The Rev. Newman Hall, in his work on the Lord’s Prayer, says: “Man’s
worship, apart from revelation, has been uniformly characterized by
selfishness. We come to God either to thank Him for benefits already
received, or to implore still further benefits: food, raiment, health,
safety, comfort. Like Jacob at Bethel, we are disposed to make the
worship we render to God cor-relative with ‘food to eat, and raiment to
put on.’ This style of petition, in which self generally precedes and
predominates, if it does not altogether absorb, our supplications, is
not only seen in the votaries of false systems, but in the majority of
the prayers of professed Christians. Our prayers are like the Parthian
horsemen, who ride one way while they look another; we seem to go
toward God, but, indeed, reflect upon ourselves. And this may be the
reason why many times our prayers are sent forth, like the raven out
of Noah’s ark, and never return. But when we make the glory of God the
chief end of our devotion, they go forth like the dove, and return to
us again with an olive branch.”

Let me refer you to a passage in the prophecies of Daniel. He was one
of the men who knew how to pray; his prayer brought the blessing of
heaven upon himself and upon his people. He says: “I set my face unto
the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and
sackcloth, and ashes; and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my
confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the
covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His
commandments!”

The thought I want to call special attention to is conveyed in the
words, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God!” Daniel took his right
place before God--in the dust; he put God in His right place. It was
when Abraham was on his face, prostrate before God, that God spoke to
him, Holiness belongs to God; sinfulness belongs to us.

Brooks, that grand old Puritan writer, says: “A person of real
holiness is much affected and taken up in the admiration of the
holiness of God. Unholy persons may be somewhat affected and taken with
the other excellences of God; it is only holy souls that are taken and
affected with His holiness. The more holy any are, the more deeply are
they affected by this. To the holy angels, the holiness of God is the
sparkling diamond in the ring of glory. But unholy persons are affected
and taken with anything rather than with this. Nothing strikes the
sinner into such a damp as a discourse on the holiness of God; it is
as the handwriting on the wall; nothing makes the head and heart of
a sinner to ache like a sermon upon the Holy One; nothing galls and
gripes, nothing stings and terrifies unsanctified ones, like a lively
setting forth of the holiness of God. But to holy souls there are no
discourses that do more suit and satisfy them, that do more delight and
content them, that do more please and profit them, than those that do
most fully and powerfully discover God to be glorious in holiness.” So,
in coming before God, we must adore and reverence His name.

The same thing is brought out in Isaiah:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it
stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his
face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of
hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”

When we see the holiness of God, we shall adore and magnify Him. Moses
had to learn the same lesson. God told him to take his shoes from off
his feet, for the place whereon he stood was holy ground. When we hear
men trying to make out that they are holy, and speaking about their
holiness, they make light of the holiness of God. It is His holiness
that we need to think and speak about; when we do that, we shall be
prostrate in the dust. You remember, also, how it was with Peter. When
Christ made Himself known to him, he said, “Depart from me, for I am
a sinful man, O Lord!” A sight of God is enough to show us how holy He
is, and how unholy we are.

We find that Job too, had to be taught the same lesson. “Then Job
answered the Lord, and said: Behold I am vile; what shall I answer
Thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.”

As you hear Job discussing with his friends you would think he was
one of the holiest men who ever lived. He was eyes to the blind, and
feet to the lame; he fed the hungry, and clothed the naked. What a
wonderfully good man he was! It was all I, I, I. At last God said to
him, “Gird up your loins like a man, and I will put a few questions to
you.” The moment that God revealed Himself, Job changed his language.
He saw his own vileness, and God’s purity. He said, “I have heard of
Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore
I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

The same thing is seen in the cases of those who came to our Lord in
the days of His flesh; those who came aright, seeking and obtaining
the blessing, manifested a lively sense of His infinite superiority to
themselves. The centurion, of whom we read in the eighth of Matthew,
said: “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;”
Jairus “worshiped Him,” as he presented his request; the leper, in
the Gospel of Mark, came “kneeling down to Him;” the Syrophenician
woman “came and fell at His feet;” the man full of leprosy “seeing
Jesus, fell on his face.” So, too the beloved disciple, speaking
of the feeling they had concerning Him when they were abiding with
Him as their Lord, said: “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” However intimate
their companionship, and tender their love, they reverenced as much as
they communed, and adored as much as they loved.

We may say of every act of prayer as George Herbert says of public
worship:

  “When once thy foot enters the church, be bare;
  God is more than thou; for thou art there
  Only by His permission. Then beware,
  And make thyself all reverence and fear.
  Kneeling ne’er spoiled silk stocking; quit thy state.
  All equal are within the church’s gate.”

The wise man says: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,
and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they
consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in
heaven, and thou upon earth--therefore let thy words be few.”

If we are struggling to live a higher life, and to know something of
God’s holiness and purity, what we need is to be brought into contact
with Him, that He may reveal Himself. Then we shall take our place
before Him as those men of old were constrained to do. We shall hallow
His Name--as the Master taught His disciples, when He said, “Hallowed
be Thy Name.” When I think of the irreverence of the present time, it
seems to me that we have fallen on evil days.

Let us, as Christians, when we draw near to God in prayer, give Him His
right place. “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably,
with reverence and Godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.”




The Trinity.


  “Thou dear and great mysterious Three,
      For ever be adored,
  For all the endless grace we see
      In our Redeemer stored.

  “The Father’s ancient grace we sing,
      That chose us in our Head;
  Ordaining Christ, our God and King,
      To suffer in our stead.

  “The sacred Son, in equal strains,
      With reverence we address,
  For all His grace, and dying pains,
      And splendid righteousness.

  “With tuneful tongue the Holy Ghost
      For His great work we praise,
  Whose power inspires the blood-bought host
      Their grateful voice to raise.

  “Thus the Eternal Three in One
      We join to praise, for grace
  And endless glory through the Son,
      As shining from His face.”




CHAPTER III.

CONFESSION.


Another element in true prayer is Confession. I do not want Christian
friends to think that I am talking to the unsaved. I think we, as
Christians, have a good many sins to confess.

If you go back to the Scripture records, you will find that the men
who lived nearest to God, and had most power with Him, were those who
confessed their sins and failures. Daniel, as we have seen, confessed
his sins and those of his people. Yet there is nothing recorded against
Daniel. He was one of the best men then on the face of the earth, yet
was his confession of sin one of the deepest and most humble on record.
Brooks, referring to Daniel’s confession, says: “In these words you
have seven circumstances that Daniel useth in confessing of his and
the people’s sins; and all to heighten and aggravate them. First, ‘We
have sinned;’ secondly, ‘We have committed iniquity;’ thirdly, ‘We have
done wickedly;’ fourthly, ‘We have rebelled against thee;’ fifthly,
‘We have departed from Thy precepts;’ sixthly, ‘We have not hearkened
unto Thy servants;’ seventhly, ‘Nor our princes, nor all the people
of the land.’ These seven aggravations which Daniel reckons up in his
confession are worthy our most serious consideration.”

Job was no doubt a holy man, a mighty prince, yet he had to fall in
the dust and confess his sins. So you will find it all through the
Scriptures. When Isaiah saw the purity and holiness of God, he beheld
himself in his true light, and he exclaimed, “Woe is me, for I am
undone, because I am a man of unclean lips!”

I firmly believe that the Church of God will have to confess her own
sins, before there can be any great work of grace. There must be a
deeper work among God’s believing people. I sometimes think it is about
time to give up preaching to the ungodly, and preach to those who
profess to be Christians. If we had a higher standard of life in the
Church of God, there would be thousands more flocking into the Kingdom.
So it was in the past; when God’s believing children turned away from
their sins and their idols, the fear of God fell upon the people round
about. Take up the history of Israel, and you will find that when they
put away their strange gods, God visited the nation, and there came a
mighty work of grace.

What we want in these days is a true and deep revival in the Church of
God. I have little sympathy with the idea that God is going to reach
the masses by a cold and formal church. The judgment of God must begin
with us. You notice that when Daniel got that wonderful answer to
prayer recorded in the ninth chapter, he was confessing his sin. That
is one of the best chapters on prayer in the whole Bible.

We read: “While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin,
and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before
the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was
speaking in my prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the
vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about
the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with
me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and
understanding.”

So also when Job was confessing his sin, God turned his captivity and
heard his prayer. God will hear our prayer and turn our captivity
when we take our true place before Him, and confess and forsake our
transgressions. It was when Isaiah cried out before the Lord, “I am
undone,” that the blessing came; the live coal was taken from the
altar and put upon his lips; and he went out to write one of the most
wonderful books the world has ever seen. What a blessing it has been to
the church!

It was when David said, “I have sinned!” that God dealt in mercy
with him. “I acknowledge my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I
not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and
Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” Notice how David made a very
similar confession to that of the prodigal in the fifteenth of Luke: “I
acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against
Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight!” There
is no difference between the king and the beggar when the Spirit of God
comes into the heart and convicts of sin.

Richard Sibbes quaintly says of confession: “This is the way to give
glory to God: when we have laid open our souls to God, and laid as much
against ourselves as the devil could do that way, for let us think
what the devil would lay to our charge at the hour of death and the
day of judgment. He would lay hard to our charge this and that--let
us accuse ourselves as he would, and as he will ere long. The more
we accuse and judge ourselves, and set up a tribunal in our hearts,
certainly there will follow an incredible ease. Jonah was cast into
the sea, and there was an ease in the ship; Achan was stoned, and the
plague was stayed. Out with Jonah, out with Achan; and there will
follow ease and quiet in the soul presently. Conscience will receive
wonderful ease.

“It must needs be so; for when God is honored, conscience is purified.
God is honored by confession of sin every way. It honors His
omniscience, that He is all-seeing; that He sees our sins and searches
our hearts--our secrets are not hid from Him. It honours His power.
What makes us confess our sins, but that we are afraid of His power,
lest He should execute it? And what makes us confess our sins, but that
we know there is mercy with Him that He may be feared, and that there
is pardon for sin? We would not confess our sins else. With men it is,
Confess, and have execution; but with God, Confess, and have mercy.
It is His own protestation. We should never lay open our sins but for
mercy. So it honors God; and when He is honored, He honors the soul
with inward peace and tranquillity.”

Old Thomas Fuller says: “Man’s owning his weakness is the only stock
for God thereon to graft the grace of His assistance.”

Confession implies humility, and this, in God’s sight, is of great
price.

A farmer went with his son into a wheat field, to see if it was ready
for the harvest. “See, father,” exclaimed the boy, “how straight these
stems hold up their heads! They must be the best ones. Those that
hang their heads down, I am sure cannot be good for much.” The farmer
plucked a stalk of each kind and said: “See here, foolish child! This
stalk that stood so straight is light-headed, and almost good for
nothing; while this that hung its head so modestly is full of the most
beautiful grain.”

Outspokenness is needful and powerful, both with God and man. We need
to be honest and frank with ourselves. A soldier said in a revival
meeting: “My fellow-soldiers, I am not excited; I am _convinced_--that
is all. I feel that I ought to be a Christian; that I ought to say
so, to tell you so, and to ask you to come with me; and now if there
is a call for sinners seeking Christ to come forward, I for one shall
go--not to make a show, for I have nothing but sin to show. I do not
go because I want to--I would rather keep my seat; but going will be
telling the truth. I ought to be a Christian, I want to be a Christian;
and going forward for prayers is just telling the truth about it.” More
than a score went with him.

Speaking of Pharaoh’s words, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away
the frogs from me,” Mr. Spurgeon says: “A fatal flaw is manifest
in that prayer. _It contains no confession of sin._ He says not, ‘I
have rebelled against the Lord; entreat that I may find forgiveness!’
Nothing of the kind; he loves sin as much as ever. A prayer without
penitence is a prayer without acceptance. If no tear has fallen upon
it, it is withered. Thou must come to God as a sinner through a Savior,
but by no other way. He who comes to God like the Pharisee, with,
‘God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are,’ never draws near
to God at all; but he who cries, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner,’ has
come to God by the way which God has Himself appointed. There must be
confession of sin before God, or our prayer is faulty.”

If this confession of sin is deep among believers, it will be so among
the ungodly also. I never knew it to fail. I am now anxious that God
should revive His work in the hearts of His children, so that we may
see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. There are a great many fathers and
mothers who are anxious for the conversion of their children. I have
had as many as fifty messages from parents come to me within a single
week, wondering why their children are not saved, and asking prayer for
them. I venture to say that, as a rule, the fault lies at our own door.
There may be something in our life that stands in the way. It may be
there is some secret sin that keeps back the blessing. David lived in
the awful sin into which he fell for many months before Nathan made his
appearance. Let us pray God to come into our hearts, and make His power
felt. If it is a right eye, let us pluck it out; if it is a right hand,
let us cut it off; that we may have power with God and with man.

Why is it that so many of our children are wandering off into the
drinking saloons, and drifting away into infidelity--going down
to a dishonored grave? There seems to be very little power in the
Christianity of the present time. Many Godly parents find that their
children are going astray. Does it arise from some secret sin clinging
around the heart? There is a passage of God’s Word that is often
quoted, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred those who quote it
stop at the wrong place. In the fifty-ninth of Isaiah we read: “Behold,
the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither His ear
heavy, that it cannot hear.” There they stop. Of course God’s hand is
not shortened, and His ear is not heavy; but we ought to read the next
verse: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and
your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your
hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips
have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.” As Mathew
Henry says, “It was owing to themselves--they stood in their own light,
they shut their own door. God was coming toward them in the way of
mercy, and they hindered Him. ‘_Your iniquities have kept good things
from you._’”

Bear in mind that if we are regarding iniquity in our hearts, or living
on a mere empty profession, we have no claim to expect that our prayers
will be answered. There is not one solitary promise for us. I sometimes
tremble when I hear people quote promises, and say that God is bound to
fulfil those promises to them, when all the time there is something in
their own lives which they are not willing to give up. It is well for
us to search our hearts, and find out why it is that our prayers are
not answered.

That is a very solemn passage in Isaiah:

“Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the
law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am full of the
burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not
in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come
to speak before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My
courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto
Me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot
away with--it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.”

“Even the solemn meeting!”--think of that. If God does not get our
heart-services, He will have none of it; it is an abomination to Him.

“Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a
trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your
hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers,
I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you
clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease
to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool.”

Again we read in Proverbs: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing
the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Think of that! It may
shock some of us to think that our prayers are an abomination to God,
yet if any are living in known sin, this is what God’s Word says about
them. If we are not willing to turn from sin and obey God’s law, we
have no right to expect that He will answer our prayers. Unconfessed
sin is unforgiven sin, and unforgiven sin is the darkest, foulest thing
on this sin-cursed earth. You cannot find a case in the Bible where a
man has been honest in dealing with sin, but God has been honest with
him and blessed him. The prayer of the humble and the contrite heart is
a delight to God. There is no sound that goes up from this sin-cursed
earth so sweet to His ear as the prayer of the man who is walking
uprightly.

Let me call attention to that prayer of David, in which he says:
“Search me, O, God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting!” I wish all my readers would commit these verses to
memory. If we should all honestly make this prayer once every day there
would be a good deal of change in our lives. “_Search_ ME”--not my
neighbor. It is so easy to pray for other people, but so hard to get
home to ourselves. I am afraid that we who are busy in the Lord’s work,
are very often in danger of neglecting our vineyard. In this Psalm,
David got home to himself. There is a difference between God searching
me and my searching myself. I may search my heart, and pronounce it all
right, but when God searches me as with a lighted candle, a good many
things will come to light that perhaps I knew nothing about.

“_Try me._” David was tried when he fell by taking his eye off from
the God of his father Abraham. “_Know my thoughts._” God looks at the
thoughts. Are our thoughts pure? Have we in our hearts thoughts against
God or against His people--against any one in the world? If we have,
we are not right in the sight of God. Oh, may God search us, every one!
I do not know any better prayer that we can make than this prayer of
David. One of the most solemn things in the Scripture history is that
when holy men--better men than we are--were tested and tried, they were
found to be as weak as water away from God.

Let us be sure that we are right. Isaac Ambrose, in his work on “Self
Trial,” has the following pithy words: “Now and then propose we to our
hearts these two questions: 1. ‘Heart, how dost thou?’--a few words,
but a very serious question. You know this is the first question and
the first salute that we use to one another--How do you do? I would to
God we sometimes thus spoke to our hearts: ‘Heart, how dost thou? How
is it with thee, for thy spiritual state?’ 2. ‘Heart, what wilt thou
do?’ or, ‘Heart, what dost thou think will become of thee and me?’--as
that dying Roman once said: ‘Poor, wretched, miserable soul, whither
art thou and I going--and what will become of thee, when thou and I
shall part?’

“This very thing does Moses propose to Israel, though in other terms,
‘Oh that they would consider their latter end!’--and oh that we would
put this question constantly to our hearts, to consider and debate
upon! ‘Commune with your own hearts,’ said David; that is, debate
the matter betwixt you and your hearts to the very utmost. Let your
hearts be so put to it in communing with them, as that they may speak
their very bottom. Commune--or hold a serious communication and clear
intelligence and acquaintance--with your own hearts.”

It was the confession of a divine, sensible of his neglect, and
especially of the difficulty of this duty: “I have lived,” said he,
“forty years and somewhat more, and carried my heart in my bosom all
this while, and yet my heart and I are as great strangers, and as
utterly unacquainted, as if we had never come near one another. Nay, I
know not my heart; I have forgotten my heart. Alas! alas! that I could
be grieved at the very heart, that my poor heart and I have been so
unacquainted! We are fallen into an Athenian age, spending our time
in nothing more than in telling or hearing news. How go things here?
How there? How in one place? How in another? But who is there that
is inquisitive? How are things with my poor heart? Weigh but in the
balance of a serious consideration, what time we have spent in this
duty, and what time otherwise; and for many scores and hundreds of
hours or days that we owe to our hearts in this duty, can we write
fifty? Or where there should have been fifty vessels full of this duty,
can we find twenty, or ten? Oh, the days, months, years, we bestow upon
sin, vanity, the affairs of this world, while we afford not a minute in
converse with our own hearts concerning their case!”

If there is anything in our lives that is wrong, let us ask God to show
it to us. Have we been selfish? Have we been more jealous of our own
reputation than of the honor of God? Elijah thought he was very jealous
for the honor of God; but it turned out that it was his own honor after
all--self was really at the bottom of it. One of the saddest things,
I think, that Christ had to meet with in His disciples was this very
thing; there was a constant struggle between them as to who should be
the greatest, instead of each one taking the humblest place and being
least in his own estimation.

We are told in proof of this, that “He came to Capernaum; and being in
the house He asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves
by the way? But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed
among themselves, who should be the greatest. And He sat down, and
called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first,
the same shall be the last of all, and servant of all. And He took a
child, and set him in the midst of them; and when He had taken him
in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such
children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me,
receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me.”

Soon after “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto Him,
saying, Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we
shall desire. And He said unto them, What would ye that I should do
for you? They said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy
right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory. But Jesus
said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask; can ye drink of the cup that
I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
And they said unto Him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall
indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I
am baptized withal shall ye be baptized; but to sit on My right hand
and on My left hand is not Mine to give; but it shall be given to them
for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be
much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Him, and
saith unto them: Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the
Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise
authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you; but whosoever
will be great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever of you
will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a
ransom for many.”

The latter words were spoken in the third year of His ministry. Three
years the disciples had been with Him; they had listened to the words
that fell from His lips; yet they had failed to learn this lesson of
humility. The most humiliating thing that happened among the chosen
twelve occurred on the night of our Lord’s betrayal, when Judas sold
Him, and Peter denied Him. If there was any place where there should
have been an absence of these thoughts, it was at the Supper-table.
Yet we find that when Christ instituted that blessed memorial there
was a debate going on among His disciples who should be the greatest.
Think of that!--right under the Cross, when the Master was “exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death;” was already tasting the bitterness of
Calvary, and the horrors of that dark hour were gathering upon His soul.

I think if God searches us, we will find a good many things in our
lives for us to confess. If we are tried and tested by God’s law, there
will be many, many things that will have to be changed. I ask again:
Are we selfish or jealous? Are we willing to hear of others being used
of God more than we are? Are our Methodist friends willing to hear of a
great revival of God’s work among the Baptists? Would it rejoice their
souls to hear of such efforts being blessed? Are Baptists willing to
hear of a reviving of God’s work in the Methodist, Congregational, or
other churches? If we are full of narrow, party and sectarian feelings,
there will be many things to be laid aside. Let us pray to God to
search us, and try us, and see if there be any evil way in us. If these
holy and good men felt that they were faulty, should we not tremble,
and endeavor to find out if there is anything in our lives that God
would have us get rid of?

Once again, let me call your attention to the prayer of David contained
in the fifty-first Psalm. A friend of mine told me some years ago
that he repeated this prayer as his own every week. I think it would
be a good thing if we offered up these petitions frequently; let them
go right up from our hearts. If we have been proud, or irritable, or
lacking in patience, shall we not at once confess it? Is it not time
that we began at home, and got our lives straightened out? See how
quickly the ungodly will then begin to inquire the way of life! Let
those of us who are parents set our own houses in order, and be filled
with Christ’s Spirit; then it will not be long before our children will
be inquiring what they must do to get the same Spirit. I believe that
to-day, by its lukewarmness and formality, the Christian Church is
making more infidels than all the books that infidels ever wrote. I do
not fear infidel lectures half so much as the cold and dead formalism
in the professing church at the present time. One prayer-meeting like
that the disciples had on the day of Pentecost, would shake the whole
infidel fraternity.

What we want is to get hold of God in prayer. You are not going to
reach the masses by great sermons. We want to “move the Arm that moves
the world.” To do that, we must be clear and right before God. “For if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence
toward God; and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep
His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”




Confession.


  “No, not despairingly
    Come I to Thee;
  No, not distrustingly
    Bend I the knee;
  Sin hath gone over me,
  Yet is this still my plea,
    Jesus hath died.

  “Ah, mine iniquity
    Crimson has been;
  Infinite, infinite,
    Sin upon sin;
  Sin of not loving Thee,
  Sin of not trusting Thee.
    Infinite sin.

  “Lord, I confess to Thee
    Sadly my sin;
  All I am, tell I Thee,
    All I have been.
  Purge Thou my sin away,
  Wash Thou my soul this day;
    Lord, make me clean!”

                    --_Dr. H. Bonar._




CHAPTER IV.

RESTITUTION.


A third element of successful prayer is RESTITUTION. If I have at
any time taken what does not belong to me, and am not willing to
make restitution, my prayers will not go very far toward heaven. It
is a singular thing, but I have never touched on this subject in my
addresses, without hearing of immediate results. A man once told me
that I would not need to dwell on this point at a meeting I was about
to address, as probably there would be no one present that would need
to make restitution. But I think if the Spirit of God searches our
hearts, we shall most of us find a good many things have to be done
that we never thought of before.

After Zaccheus met with Christ, things looked altogether different.
I venture to say that the idea of making restitution never entered
into his mind before. He thought, probably, that morning that he was a
perfectly honest man. But when the Lord came and spoke to him, he saw
himself in an altogether different light. Notice how short his speech
was. The only thing put on record that he said was this: “Behold, Lord,
the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” A short
speech; but how the words have come ringing down through the ages!

By making that remark he confessed his sin--that he had been dishonest.
Besides that, he showed that he knew the requirements of the law of
Moses. If a man had taken what did not belong to him, he was not only
to return it, but to multiply it by four. I think that men in this
dispensation ought to be fully as honest as men under the Law. I am
getting so tired and sick of your mere sentimentalism, that does not
straighten out a man’s life. We may sing our hymns and psalms, and
offer prayers, but they will be an abomination to God, unless we are
willing to be thoroughly straightforward in our daily life. Nothing
will give Christianity such a hold upon the world as to have God’s
believing people begin to act in this way. Zaccheus had probably more
influence in Jericho after he made restitution than any other man in it.

Finney, in his lectures to professing Christians, says: “One reason
for the requirement, ‘Be not conformed to this world,’ is the immense,
salutary, and instantaneous influence it would have, if everybody would
do business on the principles of the Gospel. Turn the tables over, and
let Christians do business one year on Gospel principles. It would
shake the world! It would ring louder than thunder. Let the ungodly
see professing Christians in every bargain consulting the good of the
person they are trading with--seeking not their own wealth, but every
man another’s wealth--living above the world--setting no value on the
world any further than it would be the means of glorifying God; what do
you think would be the effect? It would cover the world with confusion
of face, and overwhelm them with conviction of sin.”

Finney makes one grand mark of genuine repentance to be restitution.
“The thief has not repented who keeps the money he stole. He may have
conviction, but no repentance. If he had repentance, he would go and
give back the money. If you have cheated any one, and do not restore
what you have taken unjustly; or if you have injured any one, and do
not set about to undo the wrong you have done, as far as in you lies,
you have not truly repented.”

In Exodus we read--“If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it,
or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep
for a sheep.” And again: “If a man shall cause a field or vineyard
to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another
man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own
vineyard shall he make restitution. If fire break out, and catch in
thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field,
be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make
restitution.”

Or turn to Leviticus, where the law of the trespass-offering is laid
down--the same point is there insisted on with equal clearness and
force.

“If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto
his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship,
or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor; or
have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth
falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein; then
it shall be, because he hath sinned and is guilty, that he shall
restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he
hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or
the lost thing which he found, or all that about which he hath sworn
falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the
fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth,
in the day of his trespass offering.”

The same thing is repeated in Numbers, where we read--“And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, When a
man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass
against the Lord, and that person be guilty; then they shall confess
their sin which they have done; and he shall recompense his trespass
with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof,
and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. But if the man
have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be
recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest, beside the ram of the
atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made of him.”

These were the laws that God laid down for His people, and I believe
their principle is as binding to-day as it was then. If we have taken
anything from any man, if we have in any way defrauded a man, let us
not only confess it, but do all we can to make restitution. If we have
misrepresented any one--if we have started some slander, or some false
report about him--let us do all in our power to undo the wrong.

It is in reference to a practical righteousness such as this that God
says in Isaiah--“Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite
with the fist of wickedness; ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to
make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have
chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his
head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt
thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this
the fast that I have chosen--to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo
the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break
every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou
bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the
naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine
own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine
health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go
before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou
call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here
I am.”

Trapp in his comment on Zaccheus, says: “Sultan Selymus could tell his
councillor Pyrrhus, who persuaded him to bestow the great wealth he had
taken from the Persian merchants upon some notable hospital for relief
of the poor, that God hates robbery for burnt-offering. The dying Turk
commanded it rather to be restored to the right owners, which was done
accordingly, to the great shame of many Christians, who mind nothing
less than restitution. When Henry III of England had sent the Friar
Minors a load of frieze to clothe them, they returned the same with
this message, ‘that he ought not to give alms of what he had rent from
the poor; neither would they accept of that abominable gift.’ Master
Latimer saith, ‘If ye make no restitution of goods detained, ye shall
cough in hell, and the devils shall laugh at you.’ Henry VII, in his
last will and testament, after the disposition of his soul and body,
devised and willed restitution should be made of all such moneys as had
unjustly been levied by his officers. Queen Mary restored again all
ecclesiastical livings assumed to the crown, saying that she set more
by the salvation of her own soul, than she did by ten kingdoms. A bull
came also from the Pope, at the same time, that others should do the
like, but none did. Latimer tells us that the first day he preached
about restitution, one came and gave him £20 to restore; the next day
another brought him £30; another time another gave him £200.

“Mr. Bradford, hearing Latimer on that subject, was struck in the heart
for one dash of the pen which he had made without the knowledge of his
master, and could never be quiet till, by the advice of Mr. Latimer,
restitution was made, for which he did willingly forego all the private
and certain patrimony which he had on earth. ‘I, myself,’ saith Mr.
Barroughs, ‘knew one man who had wronged another but of five shillings,
and fifty years after could not be quiet till he had restored it.’”

If there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. If we have done
wrong to some one, we should never ask God to forgive us until we are
willing to make restitution. If I have done any man a great injustice
and can make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am
willing to do so. Suppose I have taken something that does not belong
to me. I cannot expect forgiveness until I make restitution. I remember
preaching in an Eastern city, and a fine-looking man came up to me at
the close. He was in great distress of mind. “The fact is,” he said,
“I am a defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers.
How can I become a Christian without restoring it?” “Have you got the
money?” He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about 1,500
dollars, and he still had about 900. He said, “Could I not take that
money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?” I told
him that was a delusion of Satan, that he could not expect to prosper
on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his
employers to have mercy upon him, and forgive him. “But they will put
me in prison,” he said. “Can you not give me any help?” “No; you must
restore the money before you can expect to get any help from God.”
“It is pretty hard,” he said. “Yes, it is hard; but the great mistake
was in doing the wrong at first.” His burden became so heavy that it
was, in fact, unbearable. He handed me the money--950 dollars and some
cents--and asked me to take it back to his employers. I told them the
story, and said that he wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears
trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, “Forgive him!
Yes, we will be glad to forgive him.” I went down stairs and brought
him up. After he had confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all fell
down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. God met us and
blessed us there.

There was another friend of mine who had come to Christ and was trying
to consecrate himself and his wealth to God. He had formerly had
transactions with the Government, and had taken advantage of them.
This thing came to memory, and his conscience troubled him. He had a
terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him. At
last he drew a check for 1500 dollars, and sent it to the Treasury of
the Government. He told me he received such a blessing after he had
done it. That is bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. I believe a
great many men are crying to God for light; and they are not getting it
because they are not honest.

A man came to one of our meetings, when this subject was touched upon.
The memory of a dishonest transaction flashed into his mind. He saw at
once how it was that his prayers were not answered, but “returned into
his own bosom,” as the Scripture phrase puts it. He left the meeting,
took the train, and went to a distant city, where he had defrauded his
employer years before. He went straight to this man, confessed the
wrong, and offered to make restitution. Then he remembered another
transaction, in which he had failed to meet the just demands upon him;
he at once made arrangements to have a large amount repaid. He came
back to the place where we were holding the meetings, and God blessed
him wonderfully in his own soul. I have not met a man for a long time
who seemed to have received such a blessing.

Some years ago, in the north of England, a woman came to one of the
meetings, and appeared to be very anxious about her soul. For some
time she did not seem to be able to get peace. The truth was, she was
covering up one thing that she was not willing to confess. At last, the
burden was too great; and she said to a worker: “I never go down on
my knees to pray, but a few bottles of wine keep coming up before my
mind.” It appeared that years before, when she was housekeeper, she had
taken some bottles of wine belonging to her employer. The worker said:
“Why do you not make restitution?” The woman replied that the man was
dead; and besides, she did not know how much it was worth. “Are there
any heirs living to whom you can make restitution?” She said there
was a son living at some distance; but she thought it would be a very
humiliating thing, so she kept back for some time. At last she felt as
if she must have a clear conscience at any cost, so she took the train,
and went to the place where the son of her employer resided. She took
five pounds with her, she did not exactly know what the wine was worth,
but that would cover it at any rate. The man said he did not want the
money, but she replied, “I do not want it; it has burnt my pocket long
enough.” So he agreed to take the half of it, and give it to some
charitable object. Then she came back; and I think she was one of the
happiest mortals I have ever met with. She said she could not tell
whether she was in the body or out of it--such a blessing had come to
her soul.

It may be that there is something in our lives that needs straightening
out; something that happened perhaps twenty years ago, and that has
been forgotten till the Spirit of God brought it to our remembrance. If
we are not willing to make restitution, we cannot expect God to give us
great blessing. Perhaps that is the reason so many of our prayers are
not answered.




Perfect Cleansing.


  “Who would be cleansed from every sin,
  Must to God’s holy altar bring
      The whole of life--its joys, its tears,
      Its hopes, its loves, its powers, its years,
  The will, and every cherished thing!

  “Must make this sweeping sacrifice--
      Choose God, and dare reproach and shame,
      And boldly stand in storm or flame
  For Him who paid redemption’s price;
  Then trust (not struggle to believe),
    And trusting wait, nor doubt, but pray
      That in His own good time He’ll say,
  ‘Thy faith hath saved thee; now receive.’

  “His time is when the soul brings all,
      Is all upon His altar lain;
      When pride and self-conceit are slain,
  And crucified with Christ, we fall
  Helpless upon His word, and lie;
      When, faithful to His word, we feel
      The cleansing touch, the Spirit’s seal,
  And know that He does sanctify.”

                                    _A. T. Allis._




CHAPTER V.

THANKSGIVING.


The next thing I would mention as an element of prayer is THANKSGIVING.
We ought to be more thankful for what we get from God. Perhaps
some of you mothers have a child in your family who is constantly
complaining--never thankful. You know that there is not much pleasure
in doing anything for a child like that. If you meet with a beggar who
is always grumbling, and never seems to be thankful for what you give,
you very soon shut the door in his face altogether. Ingratitude is
about the hardest thing we have to meet with. The great English poet
says:

  “Blow, blow, thou winter wind--
  Thou art not so unkind
    As man’s ingratitude;
  Thy tooth is not so keen,
  Because thou art not seen,
    Although thy breath be rude.”

We cannot speak too plainly of this evil, which so demeans those who
are guilty of it. Even in Christians there is but too much of it to be
seen. Here we are, getting blessings from God day after day; yet how
little praise and thanksgiving there is in the Church of God!

Gurnall, in his _Christian Armor_, referring to the words, “In
everything give thanks,” says: “‘Praise is comely for the upright.’
‘An unthankful saint’ carries a contradiction with it. Evil and
Unthankful are twins that live and die together; as any one ceaseth
to be evil, he begins to be thankful. It is that which God expects at
your hands; He made you for this end. When the vote passed in heaven
for your being--yea, happy being in Christ!--it was upon this account,
that you should be a name and a praise to Him on earth in time, and
in heaven to eternity. Should God miss this, He would fail of one
main part of His design. What prompts Him to bestow every mercy, but
to afford you matter to compose a song for His praise? ‘They are My
people, children that will not lie; so He was their Savior.’

“He looks for fair dealing at your hands. Whom may a father trust with
his reputation, if not his child? Where can a prince expect honor, if
not among his favorites? Your state is such that the least mercy you
have is more than all the world besides. Thou, Christian, and thy few
brethren, divide heaven and earth among you! What hath God that He
withholds from you? Sun, moon and stars are set up to give you light;
sea and land have their treasures for your use; others are encroachers
upon them; you are the rightful heirs to them; they groan that any
others should be served by them. The angels, bad and good, minister
unto you; the evil, against their will, are forced like scullions when
they tempt you, to scour and brighten your graces, and make way for
your greater comforts; the good angels are servants to your heavenly
Father, and disdain not to carry you in their arms. Your God withholds
not Himself from you; He is your portion--Father, Husband, Friend. God
is His own happiness, and admits you to enjoy Him. Oh, what honor is
this, for the subject to drink in his prince’s cup! ‘Thou shalt make
them drink of the river of Thy pleasures.’ And all this is not the
purchase of your sweat and blood; the feast is paid for by Another,
only He expects your thanks to the Founder. No sin-offering is imposed
under the Gospel; thank-offerings are all He looks for.”

Charnock, in discoursing on Spiritual Worship, says: “The praise of
God is the choicest sacrifice and worship, under a dispensation of
redeeming grace. This is the prime and eternal part of worship under
the Gospel. The Psalmist, speaking of the Gospel times, spurs on to
this kind of worship: ‘Sing unto the Lord a new song; let the children
of Zion be joyful in their King; let the saints be joyful in glory;
let them sing aloud upon their beds; let the high praises of God be in
their mouth.’ He begins and ends both Psalms with _Praise ye the Lord!_
That cannot be a spiritual and evangelical worship that hath nothing
of the praise of God in the heart. The consideration of God’s adorable
perfections discovered in the Gospel will make us come to Him with more
seriousness, beg blessings of Him with more confidence, fly to Him
with a winged faith and love, and more spiritually glorify Him in our
attendances upon Him.”

There is a great deal more said in the Bible about praise than prayer;
yet how few praise-meetings there are! David, in his Psalms, always
mixes praise with prayer. Solomon prevailed much with God in prayer at
the dedication of the temple; but it was the voice of _praise_ which
brought down the glory that filled the house; for we read: “And it
came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place (for
all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then
wait by course; also the Levites, which were the singers, all of them
of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren,
being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals, and psalteries, and
harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and
twenty priests, sounding with trumpets); it came even to pass, as the
trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in
praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice
with the trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised
the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever;’
that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the
Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the
cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.”

We read, too, of Jehoshaphat, that he gained the victory over the
hosts of Ammon and Moab through praise, which was excited by faith and
thankfulness to God.

“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness
of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Hear me,
O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God,
so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper;’
and when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto
the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went
out before the army, and to say, ‘Praise the Lord; for His mercy
endureth for ever,’ And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord
set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir,
which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.”

It is said that in a time of great despondency among the first settlers
in New England, it was proposed in one of their public assemblies to
proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose; spoke of their provoking heaven
with their complaints, reviewed their measures, showed that they had
much to be thankful for, and moved that instead of appointing a day of
fasting, they should appoint a day of thanksgiving. This was done; and
the custom has been continued ever since.

However great our difficulties, or deep even our sorrows, there is room
for thankfulness. Thomas Adams has said: “Lay up in the ark of thy
memory not only the pot of manna, the bread of life; but even Aaron’s
rod, the very scourge of correction, wherewith thou hast been bettered.
Blessed be the Lord, not only giving, but taking away, saith Job. God
who sees there is no walking upon roses to heaven, puts His children
into the way of discipline; and by the fire of correction eats out the
rust of corruption. God sends trouble, then bids us call upon Him;
promiseth our deliverance; and lastly, the all He requires of us is to
glorify Him. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee,
and thou shalt glorify Me.” Like the nightingale, we can sing in the
night, and say with John Newton--

  “Since all that I meet shall work for my good,
  The bitter is sweet, the medicine food;
  Though painful at present, ’twill cease before long,
  And then--oh, how pleasant!--the conqueror’s song.”

Among all the apostles none suffered so much as Paul; but none of
them do we find so often giving thanks as he. Take his letter to the
Philippians. Remember what he suffered at Philippi; how they laid
many stripes upon him, and cast him into prison. Yet every chapter
in that Epistle speaks of rejoicing and giving thanks. There is that
well-known passage: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known unto God.” As some one has said, there are here three precious
ideas: “Careful for nothing; prayerful for everything; and thankful
for anything.” We always get more by being thankful for what God has
done for us. Paul says again: “We give thanks to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” So he was constantly giving
thanks. Take up any one of his Epistles, and you will find them full of
praise to God.

Even if nothing else called for thankfulness, it would always be an
ample cause for it that Jesus Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us.
A farmer was once found kneeling at a soldier’s grave near Nashville.
Some one came to him and said: “Why do you pay so much attention to
this grave? Was your son buried here?” “No,” he said. “During the war
my family were all sick, I knew not how to leave them. I was drafted.
One of my neighbors came over and said: ‘I will go for you; I have no
family.’ He went off. He was wounded at Chickamauga. He was carried to
the hospital, and there died. And, sir, I have come a great many miles,
that I might write over his grave these words, ‘_He died for me._’”

This the believer can always say of his blessed Savior, and in the fact
may well rejoice. “By Him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of
praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
His name.”




The Praise of God.


  “Speak, lips of mine!
      And tell abroad
      The praises of my God.
  Speak, stammering tongue!
      In gladdest tone,
      Make His high praises known.

  “Speak, sea and earth!
      Heaven’s utmost star,
      Speak from your realms afar!
  Take up the note,
      And send it round
      Creation’s farthest bound.

  “Speak, heaven of heavens!
      Wherein our God
      Has made His bright abode.
  Speak, angels, speak!
      In songs proclaim
      His everlasting name.

  “Speak, son of dust!
      Thy flesh He took
      And heaven for thee forsook.
  Speak, child of death!
      Thy death He died,
      Bless thou the Crucified.”

                           --_Dr. Bonar._




CHAPTER VI.

FORGIVENESS.


The next thing is perhaps the most difficult of all to deal
with--FORGIVENESS. I believe this is keeping more people from having
power with God than any other thing--they are not willing to cultivate
the spirit of forgiveness. If we allow the root of bitterness to spring
up in our hearts against some one, our prayer will not be answered. It
may not be an easy thing to live in sweet fellowship with all those
with whom we come in contact; but that is what the grace of God is
given to us for.

The disciples’ prayer is a test of sonship; if we can pray it all from
the heart we have good reason to think that we have been born of God.
No man can call God Father but by the Spirit. Though this prayer has
been such a blessing to the world, I believe it has been a great snare;
many stumble over it into perdition. They do not weigh its meaning,
nor take its facts right into their hearts. I have no sympathy with
the idea of universal sonship--that all men are the sons of God. The
Bible teaches very plainly that we are adopted into the family of God.
If all were sons God would not need to adopt any. We are all God’s by
creation; but when people teach that any man can say, “Our Father which
art in heaven,” whether he is born of God or not, I think that is
contrary to Scripture. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God.” Sonship in the family is the privilege of the
believer. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil,” says the Apostle. If we are doing the will of God, that
is a very good sign that we are born of God. If we have no desire to do
that will, how can we call God “Our Father?”

Another thing. We cannot really pray for God’s kingdom to come until
we are in it. If we should pray for the coming of God’s kingdom
while we are rebelling against Him, we are only seeking for our own
condemnation. No unrenewed man really wants God’s will to be done on
the earth. You might write over the door of every unsaved man’s house,
and over his place of business, “God’s will is not done here.”

If the nations were really to put up this prayer, all their armies
could be discharged. They tell us there are some twelve millions of men
in the standing armies of Europe alone. But men do not want God’s will
done on earth as it is in heaven; that is the trouble.

Now let us come to the part I want to dwell upon: “Forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.” This is the
only part of the prayer that Christ explained.

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Notice that when you go into the door of God’s kingdom, you go in
through the door of forgiveness. I never knew of a man getting a
blessing in his own soul, if he was not willing to forgive others.
If we are unwilling to forgive others, God cannot forgive us. I do
not know how language could be more plain than it is in these words
of our Lord. I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered
because we are not willing to forgive some one. Let your mind go back
over the past, and through the circle of your acquaintance; are there
any against whom you are cherishing hard feelings? Is there any root
of bitterness springing up against some one who has perhaps injured
you? It may be that for months or years you have been nursing this
unforgiving spirit; how can _you_ ask God to forgive you? If I am not
willing to forgive those who may have committed some single offence
against me, what a mean, contemptible thing it would be for me to ask
God to forgive the ten thousand sins of which I have been guilty!

But Christ goes still further. He says: “If thou bring thy gift to
the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” It may be
that you are saying: “I do not know that I have anything against any
one.” Has any one anything against you? Is there some one who thinks
you have done them wrong? Perhaps you have not; but it may be they
think you have. I will tell you what I would do before I go to sleep
to-night; I would go and see them, and have the question settled. You
will find that you will be greatly blessed in the very act.

Supposing you are in the right and they are in the wrong; you may
win your brother or sister. May God root out of all our hearts this
unforgiving spirit.

A gentleman came to me some time ago, and wanted me to talk to his
wife about her soul. That woman seemed as anxious as any person I
ever met, and I thought it would not take long to lead her into the
light; but it seemed that the longer I talked with her, the more her
darkness increased. I went to see her again the next day, and found her
in still greater darkness of soul. I thought there must be something
in the way that I had not discovered, and I asked her to repeat with
me this disciples’ prayer. I thought if she could say this prayer
from the heart, the Lord would meet her in peace. I began to repeat
it sentence after sentence, and she repeated it after me until I came
to this petition: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that
trespass against us.” There she stopped. I repeated it the second time,
and waited for her to say it after me; she said she could not do it.
“What is the trouble?” She replied, “There is one woman I never will
forgive.” “Oh,” I said, “I have got at your difficulty; it is no use my
going on to pray, for your prayers will not go higher than my head. God
says He will not forgive you unless you forgive others. If you do not
forgive this woman, God will never forgive you. That is the decree of
heaven.” She said, “Do you mean to say that I cannot be forgiven until
I have forgiven her?” “No, I do not say it; the Lord says it, and that
is far better authority.” Said she, “Then I will never be forgiven.” I
left the house without having made any impression on her. A few years
after, I heard that this woman was in an asylum for the insane. I
believe this spirit of unforgiveness drove her mad.

If there is some one who has aught against you, go at once, and be
reconciled. If you have aught against any one, write to them a letter,
telling them that you forgive them, and so have this thing off your
conscience. I remember being in the inquiry-room some years ago; I was
in one corner of the room, talking to a young lady. There seemed to be
something in the way, but I could not find out what it was. At last
I said, “Is there not some one you do not forgive?” She looked up at
me, and said, “What made you ask that? Has anyone told you about me?”
“No,” I said; “but I thought perhaps that might be the case, as you
have not received forgiveness yourself.” “Well,” she said, pointing
to another corner of the room, where there was a young lady sitting,
“I have had trouble with that young lady; we have not spoken to each
other for a long time.” “Oh,” I said, “it is all plain to me now; you
cannot be forgiven until you are willing to forgive her.” It was a
great struggle. But then you know, the greater the cross the greater
the blessing. It is human to err, but it is Christ-like to forgive and
be forgiven. At last this young lady said: “I will go and forgive her.”
Strange to say, the same conflict was going on in the mind of the lady
in the other part of the room. They both came to their right mind about
the same time. They met each other in the middle of the floor. The one
tried to say that she forgave the other, but they could not finish;
so they rushed into each other’s arms. Then the four of us--the two
seekers and the two workers--got down on our knees together, and we
had a grand meeting. These two went away rejoicing.

Dear friend, is this the reason why your prayers are not answered? Is
there some friend, some member of your family, some one in the church,
you have not forgiven? We sometimes hear of members of the same church
who have not spoken to each other for years. How can we expect God to
forgive when this is the case?

I remember one town that Mr. Sankey and myself visited. For a week
it seemed as if we were beating the air; there was no power in the
meetings. At last I said one day that perhaps there was some one
cultivating this unforgiving spirit. The Chairman of our committee, who
was sitting next to me, got up and left the meeting right in view of
the audience. The arrow had hit the mark, and gone home to the heart
of the Chairman of the committee. He had had trouble with some one
for about six months. He at once hunted up this man and asked him to
forgive him. He came to me with tears in his eyes, and said: “I thank
God you ever came here.” That night the inquiry-room was thronged. The
Chairman became one of the best workers I have ever known, and he has
been active in Christian service ever since.

Several years ago the Church of England sent a devoted missionary to
New Zealand. After a few years of toil and success, he was one Sabbath
holding a communion service in a district where the converts had not
long since been savages. As the missionary was conducting the service,
he observed one of the men, just as he was about to kneel at the rail,
suddenly start to his feet and hastily go the opposite end of the
church. By and by he returned, and calmly took his place. After service
the clergyman took him on one side, and asked the reason for his
strange behavior. He replied: “As I was about to kneel I recognized in
the man next to me the chief of a neighboring tribe, who had murdered
my father, and drunk his blood; and I had sworn by all the gods that
I would slay that man at the first opportunity. The impulse to have
my revenge, at the first almost overpowered me, and I rushed away, as
you saw me, to escape the power of it. As I stood at the other end of
the room and considered the object of our meeting, I thought of Him
who prayed for His own murderers: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.’ And I felt that I could forgive the murderer of my
father, and came and knelt down at his side.”

As one has said: “There is an ugly kind of forgiveness in the world--a
kind of hedgehog forgiveness, shot out like quills. Men take one
who has offended, and set him down before the blow-pipe of their
indignation, and scorch him, and burn his fault into him; and when they
have kneaded him sufficiently with their fists, then they forgive him.”

The father of Frederick the Great, on his death-bed, was warned by
M. Roloff, his spiritual adviser, that he was bound to forgive his
enemies. He was quite troubled, and after a moment’s pause said to the
Queen: “You, Feekin, may write to your brother (the King of England)
_after I am dead_, and tell him that I forgave him, and died at peace
with him.” “It would be better,” M. Roloff mildly suggested, “that
your majesty should write at once.” “No,” was the stern reply. “Write
after I am dead. That will be safer.”

Another story tells of a man who, supposing he was about to die,
expressed his forgiveness to one who had injured him, but added: “Now
you mind, if I get well, the old grudge holds good.”

My friends, that is not forgiveness at all. I believe true forgiveness
includes forgetting the offence--putting it entirely away out of our
hearts and memories.

As Matthew Henry says: “We do not forgive our offending brother aright
nor acceptably, if we do not forgive him from the heart, for it is that
God looks at. No malice must be harbored there, nor ill-will to any; no
projects of revenge must be hatched there, nor desires of it, as there
are in many who outwardly appear peaceful and reconciled. We must from
the heart desire and seek the welfare of those who have offended us.”

If God’s forgiveness were like that often shown by us, it would not be
worth much. Supposing God said: “I will forgive you, but I will never
forget it; all through eternity I will keep reminding you of it;” we
should not feel that to be forgiveness at all. Notice what God says: “I
will remember their sin no more.” In a passage in Ezekiel it is said
that not one of our sins shall be mentioned; is not that like God? I do
like to preach this forgiveness--the sweet truth that sin is blotted
out for time and eternity, and shall never once be mentioned against
us. In another Scripture we read: “Their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more.” Then when you turn to the eleventh chapter of the
Hebrews, and read God’s roll of honor, you find that not one of the
sins of any of those men of faith is mentioned. Abraham is spoken of
as the man of faith; but it is not told how he denied his wife down in
Egypt; all that had been forgiven. Moses was kept out of the Promised
Land because he lost patience; but this is not mentioned in the New
Testament, though his name appears in the Apostle’s roll of honor.
Samson, too, is named, but his sins are not brought up again. Why, we
even read of “righteous Lot;” he did not look much like a righteous
man in the Old Testament story, but he has been forgiven, and God has
made him “righteous.” If we are once forgiven by God, our sins will be
remembered against us no more. This is God’s eternal decree.

Brooks says of God’s pardon granted to His people: “When God pardons
sin, He takes it sheer away; that if it should be sought for, yet it
could not be found; as the prophet Jeremiah speaks: ‘In those days, and
in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought
for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not
be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve.’ As David, when he saw
in Mephibosheth the features of his friend Jonathan, took no notice of
his lameness, or any other defect or deformity; so God, beholding in
His people the glorious image of His Son, winks at all their faults and
deformities, which made Luther say, ‘Do with me what thou wilt, since
Thou hast pardoned my sin.’ And what is it to pardon sin, but not to
mention sin?”

We read in the Gospel of Matthew: “Moreover, if thy brother shall
trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him
alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” Then a
little further on we read that Peter comes to Christ and says: “How
oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven
times?” Jesus replied, “I say not unto thee, until seven times; but
until seventy times seven.” Peter did not seem to think that _he_ was
in danger of falling into sin; his question was, How often should I
forgive my brother? But very soon we hear that Peter has fallen. I can
imagine that when he did fall, the sweet thought came to him of what
the Master had said about forgiving until seventy times seven. The
voice of sin may be loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder.

Let us enter into David’s experience, when he said: “Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there
is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring
all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my
moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin
unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my
sin.”

David could look below, above, behind and before; to the past, present,
and future; and know that all was well. Let us make up our mind, that
we will not rest until this question of sin is for ever settled, so
that we can look up and claim God as our forgiving Father. Let us be
willing to forgive others, that we may be able to claim forgiveness
from God, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said: “If ye
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.”




Pardon.


  “Now, oh joy! my sins are pardoned!
    Now I can and do believe!
  All I have, and am, and shall be,
    To my precious Lord I give;
  He roused my deathly slumbers,
    He dispersed my soul’s dark night;
  Whispered peace, and drew me to Him
    Made Himself my chief delight.

  “Let the babe forget its mother,
    Let the bridegroom slight his bride;
  True to him, I’ll love none other,
    Cleaving closely to His side.
  Jesus, hear my soul’s confession;
    Weak am I, but strength is Thine;
  On Thine arms for strength and succor,
    Calmly may my soul recline!”

                            _Albert Midlane._




CHAPTER VII.

UNITY.


The next thing we need to have, if we would get our prayers answered,
is--UNITY. If we do not love one another we certainly shall not have
much power with God in Prayer. One of the saddest things in the present
day is the division in God’s Church. You notice that when the power
of God came upon the early church, it was when they were all of one
accord. I believe the blessing of Pentecost never would have been given
but for that spirit of unity. If they had been divided and quarreling
among themselves, do you think the Holy Ghost would have come, and
those thousands been converted? I have noticed in our work, that if we
have gone to a town where three churches were united in it, we have had
greater blessing than if only one church was in sympathy. And if there
have been twelve churches united, the blessing has multiplied fourfold;
it has always been in proportion to the spirit of unity that has been
manifested. Where there are bickerings and divisions, and where the
spirit of unity is absent, there is very little blessing and praise.

Dr. Guthrie thus illustrates this fact; he says: “Separate the atoms
which make the hammer, and each would fall on the stone as a snowflake;
but welded into one, and wielded by the firm arm of the quarry man,
it will break the massive rocks asunder. Divide the waters of Niagara
into distinct and individual drops, and they would be no more than the
falling rain, but in their united body they would quench the fires of
Vesuvius, and have some to spare for the volcanoes of other mountains.”

History tells us that it was agreed upon by both armies of the Romans
and the Albans to put the trial of all to the issue of a battle betwixt
six brethren--three on the one side, the sons of Curatius, and three
on the other, the sons of Horatius. While the Curatii were united,
though all three sorely wounded, they killed two of the Heratii. The
third began to take to his heels, though not hurt at all; and when he
saw them follow slowly, one after another, because of wounds and heavy
armor, he fell upon them singly, and slew all three. It is the cunning
sleight of the devil to divide us that he may destroy us.

We ought to endure much and sacrifice much, rather than permit discord
and division to prevail in our hearts. Martin Luther says: “When two
goats meet upon a narrow bridge over deep water, how do they behave?
Neither of them can turn back again, neither can pass the other,
because the bridge is too narrow; if they should thrust one another
they might both fall into the water and be drowned. Nature, then, has
taught them that if the one lays himself down and permits the other to
go over him, both remain unhurt. Even so people should rather endure to
be trod upon than to fall into debate and discord one with another.”

Cawdray says: “As in music, if the harmony of tones be not complete
they are offensive to the cultivated ear; so if Christians disagree
among themselves they are unacceptable to God.”

There are diversities of gifts--that is clearly taught--but there is
one Spirit. If we have all been redeemed with the same blood, we ought
to see eye to eye in spiritual things. Paul writes: “Now there are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord.”

Where there is union I do not believe any power, earthly or infernal,
can stand before the work. When the church, the pulpit, and the pew,
get united, and God’s people are all of one mind, Christianity is like
a red-hot ball rolling over the earth, and all the hosts of death and
hell cannot stand before it. I believe that men will then come flocking
into the Kingdom by hundreds and thousands. “By this,” says Christ,
“shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” If only we love one another, and pray for one another, there
will be success. God will not disappoint us.

There can be no real separation or division in the true Church of
Christ; they are redeemed by one price, and indwelt by one Spirit. If
I belong to the family of God, I have been bought with the same blood,
though I may not belong to the same sect or party as another. What
we want to do is to get these miserable sectarian walls taken away.
Our weakness has been in our division; and what we need is that there
should be no schism or division among those who love the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians we read of the first
symptoms of sectarianism coming into the early church--

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and
in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my
brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are
contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith,
I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the
name of Paul?”

Notice how one said, “I am of Paul;” and another, “I am of Apollos;”
and another, “I am of Cephas.” Apollos was a young orator, and the
people had been carried away by his eloquence. Some said Cephas, or
Peter, was of the regular Apostolic line, because he had been with
the Lord, and Paul had not. So they were divided, and Paul wrote this
letter in order to settle the question.

Jenkyn, in his commentary on the Epistle of Jude, says: “The partakers
of a ‘common salvation,’ who here agree in one way to heaven, and who
expect to be hereafter in one heaven, should be of one heart. It is the
Apostle’s inference in Ephesians. What an amazing misery is it, that
they who agree in common faith should disagree like common foes! That
Christians should live as if faith had banished love! This common faith
should allay and temper our spirits in all our differences. This should
moderate our minds, though there is inequality in earthly relations.
What a powerful motive was that of Joseph’s brethren to him to forgive
their sin, they being both his brethren, and the servants of the God
of his fathers! Though our own breath cannot blow out the taper of
contention, oh, yet let the blood of Christ extinguish it!”

What a strange state of things Paul, Cephas, and Apollos would find if
they would come to the world to-day! The little tree that sprang up at
Corinth has grown up into a tree like Nebuchadnezzar’s, with many of
the fowls of heaven gathered into it. Suppose Paul and Cephas were to
come down to us now, they would hear at once about our Churchmen and
Dissenters. “A Dissenter!” says Paul, “what is that?” “We have a Church
of England, and there are those who dissent from the Church.” “Oh,
indeed! Are there two classes of Christians here, then?” “I am sorry to
say there are a good many more divisions. The Dissenters themselves are
split up. There are Wesleyans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Independents,
and so on; even these are all divided up.” “Is it possible,” says Paul,
“that there are so many divisions?” “Yes; the Church of England is
pretty well divided itself. There is the Broad Church, the High Church,
the Low Church, and the High-Lows. Then there is the Lutheran Church;
and away in Russia they have the Greek Church, and so on.” I declare
I do not know what Paul and Cephas would think if they came back to
the world; they would find a strange state of things. It is one of the
most humiliating things in the present day to see how God’s family is
divided up. If we love the Lord Jesus Christ the burden of our hearts
will be that God may bring us closer together, so that we may love one
another and rise above all party feeling.

In repairing a church in one of the Boston wards, the inscription upon
the wall behind the pulpit was covered up. Upon the first Sabbath after
repairs, “little five-year-old” whispered to her mother: “I know why
God told the paint men to cover that pretty verse up. It was because
the people did not love one another.” The inscription was; “A new
commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.”

A Boston minister says he once preached on “The Recognition of Friends
in the Future,” and was told after service by a hearer, that it would
be more to the point to preach about the recognition of friends here,
as he had been in the church twenty years, and did not know any of its
members.

I was in a little town some time ago, when one night as I came out of
the meeting, I saw another building where the people were coming out. I
said to a friend, “Have you got two churches here?” “Oh yes.” “How do
you get on?” “Oh, we get on very well.” “I am glad to hear that. Was
your brother minister at the meeting?” “Oh no, we don’t have anything
to do with each other. We find that is the best way.” And they called
that “getting on very well.” Oh, may God make us of one heart and of
one mind! Let our hearts be like drops of water flowing together. Unity
among the people of God is a sort of foretaste of heaven. There we
shall not find any Baptists, or Methodists, or Congregationalists, or
Episcopalians; we shall all be one in Christ. We leave all our party
names behind us when we leave this earth. Oh that the Spirit of God
may speedily sweep away all these miserable walls that we have been
building up!

Did you ever notice that the last prayer Jesus Christ made on earth,
before they led Him away to Calvary, was that His disciples might all
be one? He could look down the stream of time, and see that divisions
would come--how Satan would try to divide the flock of God. Nothing
will silence infidels so quickly as Christians everywhere being united.
Then our testimony will have weight with the ungodly and the careless.
But when they see how Christians are divided, they will not believe
their testimony. The Holy Spirit is grieved; and there is little power
where there is no unity.

If I thought I had one drop of sectarian blood in my veins, I would let
it out before I went to bed; if I had one sectarian hair in my head, I
would pull it out. Let us get right to the heart of Jesus Christ; then
our prayers will be acceptable to God, and showers of blessings will
descend.




Union.


  “Let party names no more be known
    Among the ransomed throng;
  For Jesus claims them for His own;
    To Him they all belong.

  “One in their covenant Head and King,
    They should be one in heart;
  Of one salvation all should sing,
    Each claiming his own part.

  “One bread, one family, one rock,
    One building, formed by love,
  One fold, one Shepherd, yea, one flock,
    They shall be one above.”

                              _Joseph Irons._




CHAPTER VIII.

FAITH.


Another element is FAITH. It is as important for us to know how to
pray as it is to know how to work. We are not told that Jesus ever
taught His disciples how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He
wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power
with man. In James we read: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God ... and it shall be given him; but let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering.” So faith is the golden key that unlocks the treasures of
heaven. It was the shield that David took when he met Goliath on
the field; he believed that God was going to deliver the Philistine
into his hands. Some one has said that faith could lead Christ about
anywhere; wherever He found it He honored it. Unbelief sees something
in God’s hand, and says, “I cannot get it.” Faith sees it, and says, “I
will have it.”

The new life begins with faith; then we have only to go on building on
that foundation. “I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” But bear
in mind, we must be in earnest when we go to God.

I do not know of a more vivid illustration of the cry of distress for
help going up to God, in all the earnestness of deeply realized need,
than the following story supplies:

Carl Steinman, who visited Mount Hecla, Iceland, just before the great
eruption, in 1845, after a repose of eighty years, narrowly escaped
death by venturing into the smoking crater against the earnest entreaty
of his guide. On the brink of the yawning gulf he was prostrated by a
convulsion of the summit, and held there by blocks of lava upon his
feet. He graphically writes:

“Oh, the horrors of that awful realization! There, over the mouth of a
black and heated abyss, I was held suspended, a helpless and conscious
prisoner, to be hurled downward by the next great throe of trembling
Nature!

“‘Help! help! help!--for the love of God, help!’ I shrieked, in the
very agony of my despair.

“I had nothing to rely upon but the mercy of heaven; and I prayed to
God as I had never prayed before, for the forgiveness of my sins, that
they might not follow me to judgment.

“All at once I heard a shout, and, looking around, I beheld, with
feelings that cannot be described, my faithful guide hastening down the
sides of the crater to my relief.

“‘I warned you!’ said he.

“‘You did!’ cried I, ‘but forgive me, and save me, for I am perishing!’

“‘I will save you, or perish with you!’

“The earth trembled, and the rocks parted--one of them rolling down the
chasm with a dull, booming sound. I sprang forward; I seized a hand
of the guide, and the next moment we had both fallen, locked in each
other’s arms, upon the solid earth above. I was free, but still upon
the verge of the pit.”

Bishop Hall, in a well-known extract, thus puts the point of
earnestness in its relation to the prayer of faith.

“An arrow, if it be drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but, if it
be pulled up to the head, flies swiftly and pierces deep. Thus prayer,
if it be only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet.
It is the strength of ejaculation and strong desire which sends it to
heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of
our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how
eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be;
nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the logic
of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our
prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the divinity of our prayers,
how good the doctrine may be;--which God cares for. He looks not for
the horny knees which James is said to have had through the assiduity
of prayer. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a
hundred prayers for the morning, and as many for the evening, and all
might be of no avail. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.”

Archbishop Leighton says: “It is not the gilded paper and good
writing of a petition that prevails with a king, but the moving sense
of it. And to that King who discerns the heart, heart-sense is the
sense of all, and that which He only regards. He listens to hear what
that speaks, and takes all as nothing where that is silent. All other
excellence in prayer is but the outside and fashion of it. This is the
life of it.”

Brooks says: “As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a
cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead
man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no
devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as
swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut
not, they fly not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before
they get to heaven. Oh that Christians would chide themselves out of
their cold prayers, and chide themselves into a better and warmer frame
of spirit, when they make their supplications to the Lord!”

Take the case of the Syrophenician woman. When she called to the
Master, it seemed for a time as if He were deaf to her request. The
disciples wanted her to be sent away. Although they were with Christ
for three years, and sat at His feet, yet they did not know how full of
grace His heart was. Think of Christ sending away a poor sinner who had
come to Him for mercy! Can you conceive such a thing? Never once did it
occur. This poor woman put herself in the place of her child. “Lord,
help me!” she said. I think when we get so far as that in the earnest
desire to have our friends blessed--when we put ourselves in their
place--God will soon hear our prayer.

I remember, a number of years ago at a meeting, I asked all those who
wished to be prayed for to come forward and kneel or take seats in
front. Among those who came was a woman. I thought by her looks that
she must be a Christian, but she knelt down with the others. I said:
“You are a Christian, are you not?” She said she had been one for so
many years. “Did you understand the invitation? I asked those only who
wanted to become Christians.” I shall never forget the look on her face
as she replied, “I have a son who has gone far away; I thought I would
take his place to-day, and see if God would not bless him.” Thank God
for such a mother as that!

The Syrophenician woman did the same thing--“Lord help _me_!” It was
a short prayer, but it went right to the heart of the Son of God.
He tried her faith, however. He said: “It is not meet to take the
children’s bread and cast it to dogs.” She replied: “Truth, Lord; yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” “O
woman, great is thy faith!” What a eulogy He paid to her! Her story
will never be forgotten as long as the church is on the earth. He
honored her faith, and gave her all she asked for. Every one can say,
“Lord, help me!” We all need help. As Christians, we need more grace,
more love, more purity of life, more righteousness? Then let us make
this prayer to-day. I want God to help me to preach better and to live
better, to be more like the Son of God. The golden chains of faith link
us right to the throne of God, and the grace of heaven flows down into
our souls.

I do not know but that woman was a great sinner; still, the Lord heard
her cry. It may be that up to this hour you have been living in sin;
but if you will cry, “Lord help me!” He will answer your prayer, if
it is an honest one. Very often when we cry to God we do not really
mean anything. You mothers understand that. Your children have two
voices. When they ask you for anything, you can soon tell if the cry
is a make-believe one or not. If it is, you do not give any heed to
it; but if it is a real cry for help, how quickly you respond! The cry
of distress always brings relief. Your child is playing around, and
it says, “Mamma, I want some bread;” but it goes on playing. You know
that it is not very hungry; so you let it alone. But, by and by, the
child drops the toys, and comes tugging at your dress. “Mamma, I am so
hungry!” Then you know that the cry is a real one; you soon go to the
pantry, and get some bread. When we are in earnest for the bread of
heaven, we will get it. This woman was terribly in earnest; therefore
her petition was answered.

I remember hearing of a boy brought up in an English almshouse. He had
never learned to read or write, except that he could read the letters
of the alphabet. One day a man of God came there, and told the children
that if they prayed to God in their trouble, He would send them help.
After a time, this boy was apprenticed to a farmer. One day he was sent
out into the fields to look after some sheep. He was having rather a
hard time; so he remembered what the preacher had said, and he thought
he would pray to God about it. Some one going by the field heard a
voice behind the hedge. They looked to see whose it was, and saw the
little fellow on his knees, saying, “A, B, C, D,” and so on. The man
said, “My boy, what are you doing?” He looked up, and said he was
praying. “Why, that is not praying; it is only saying the alphabet.”
He said he did not know just how to pray, but a man once came to the
poor-house, who told them that if they called upon God, He would help
them. So he thought that if he named over the letters of the alphabet,
God would take them and put together into a prayer, and give him what
he wanted. The little fellow was really praying. Sometimes, when your
child talks, your friends cannot understand what he says; but the
mother understands very well. So if our prayer comes right from the
heart, God understands our language. It is a delusion of the devil to
think we cannot pray; we can, if we really want anything. It is not
the most beautiful or the most eloquent language that brings down the
answer; it is the cry that goes up from a burdened heart. When this
poor Gentile woman cried out, “Lord, help me!” the cry flashed over the
divine wires and the blessing came. So you can pray if you will; it is
the desire, the wish of the heart, that God delights to hear and to
answer.

Then we must _expect_ to receive a blessing. When the centurion wanted
Christ to heal his servant, he thought he was not worthy to go and ask
the Lord himself, so he sent his friends to make the petition. He sent
out messengers to meet the Master, and say, “Do not trouble yourself
to come; all you have to do is to speak the word, and the disease will
go.” Jesus said to the Jews, “I have not found so great faith, no, not
in Israel.” He marvelled at the faith of this centurion; it pleased
Him, so that he healed the servant then and there. Faith brought the
answer.

In John we read of a nobleman whose child was sick. The father fell
on his knees before the Master, and said, “Come down, ere my child
die.” Here you have both earnestness and faith; and the Lord answered
the prayer at once. The nobleman’s son began to amend that very hour.
Christ honored the man’s faith.

In his case there was nothing to rest upon but the bare word of Christ,
but this was enough. It is well to bear always in mind, that the object
of faith is not the creature, but the Creator; not the instrument, but
the Hand that wields it.

Richard Sibbes puts it for us thus: “The object in believing is God,
and Christ as Mediator. We must have both to found our faith upon. We
cannot believe in God, except we believe in Christ. For God must be
satisfied by God; and by Him that is God must that satisfaction be
applied--the Spirit of God--by working faith in the heart, and for
raising it up when it is dejected. All is supernatural in faith. The
things we believe are above nature; the promises are above nature; the
worker of it, the Holy Ghost, is above nature; and everything in faith
is above nature. There must be a God in whom we believe, and a God
through whom we may know that Christ is God--not only by that which
Christ hath done, the miracles, which none could do but God, but also
by what is done to Him. And two things are done to Him, which show that
He is God--that is, faith and prayer. We must believe only in God,
and pray only to God; but Christ is the object of both these. Here He
is set forth as the object of faith, and of prayer in that of Saint
Stephen, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And, therefore, He is God;
for that is done unto Him which is proper and peculiar only to God.
Oh, what a strong foundation, what bottom and basis our faith hath!
There is God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and Christ the Mediator.
That our faith may be supported, we have Him to believe on who supports
heaven and earth.

“There is nothing that can lie in the way of the accomplishment of any
of God’s promises, but it is conquerable by faith.”

As Samuel Rutherford says, commenting on the case of the Syrophenician
woman: “See the sweet use of faith under a sad temptation; faith
trafficketh with Christ and heaven in the dark, upon plain trust and
credit, without seeing any surety of dawn: Blessed are they that have
not seen, and yet have believed. And the reason is because faith is
sinewed and boned with spiritual courage; so as to keep a barred city
against hell, yea, and to stand under impossibilities; and here is a
weak woman, though not as a woman, yet as a believer, standing out
against Him who is ‘the Mighty God, the Father of Ages, the Prince of
Peace.’ Faith only standeth out, and overcometh the sword, the world,
and all afflictions. This is our victory, whereby one man overcometh
the great and vast world.”

Bishop Ryle has said of Christ’s intercession as the ground and
sureness of our faith: “The bank-note without a signature at the
bottom is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. The stroke of a pen
confers on it all its value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is
a feeble thing in itself, but once indorsed by the hand of the Lord
Jesus, it availeth much. There was an officer in the city of Rome who
was appointed to have his doors always open, in order to receive any
Roman citizen who applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord
Jesus is ever open to the cry of all who want mercy and grace. It is
His office to help them. Their prayer is His delight.” Reader, think of
this. Is not this encouragement?

Let us close this chapter by referring to some of our Lord’s own words
concerning faith in its relation to prayer:

“And when He saw a fig-tree in the way, He came to it, and found
nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it: Let no fruit grow
on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig-tree withered
away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon
is the fig-tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not
only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,
it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive.”

So again our Lord says: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And
whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will
do it.” And further: “If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name,
He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; ask,
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”




“Have Faith in God.”


  “Have faith in God, for He who reigns on high
  Hath borne thy grief, and hears the suppliant’s sigh;
  Still to His arms, thine only refuge, fly,
                            Have faith in God!

  “Fear not to call on Him, O soul distressed!
  Thy sorrow’s whisper woos thee to His breast;
  He who is oftenest there is oftenest blest.
                            Have faith in God!

  “Lean not on Egypt’s reeds; slake not thy thirst
  At earthly cisterns. Seek the Kingdom first.
  Though man and Satan fright thee with their worst,
                            Have faith in God!

  “Go, tell Him all! The sigh thy bosom heaves
  Is heard in heaven. Strength and peace He gives,
  Who gave Himself for thee. Our Jesus lives;
                            Have faith in God!”

                                       _Anna Shipton._




CHAPTER IX.

PETITION.


The next element in prayer that I notice is PETITION. How often we go
to prayer-meetings without really asking for anything! Our prayers go
all round the world, without anything definite being asked for. We do
not expect anything. Many people would be greatly surprised if God did
answer their prayers. I remember hearing of a very eloquent man who was
leading a meeting in prayer. There was not a single definite petition
in the whole. A poor, earnest woman shouted out: “Ask Him summat, man.”
How often you hear what is called prayer without any asking! “Ask, and
ye shall receive.”

I believe if we put all the stumbling-blocks out of the way, God will
answer our petitions. If we put away sin and come into His presence
with pure hands, as He has commanded us to come, our prayers will have
power with Him. In Luke’s Gospel we have as a grand supplement to the
“Disciples’ Prayer,” “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Some people think God
does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The
only way to trouble God is not to come at all. He encourages us to come
to Him repeatedly, and press our claims.

I believe you will find three kinds of Christians in the church to-day.
The first are those who _ask_; the second those who _seek_; and the
third those who _knock_.

“Teacher,” said a bright, earnest-faced boy, “why is it that so many
prayers are unanswered? I do not understand. The Bible says, ‘Ask,
and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you;’ but it seems to me a great many knock and are not
admitted.”

“Did you never sit by your cheerful parlor fire,” said the teacher,
“on some dark evening, and hear a loud knocking at the door? Going
to answer the summons, have you not sometimes looked out into the
darkness, seeing nothing, but hearing the pattering feet of some
mischievous boy, who knocked but did not wish to enter, and therefore
ran away? Thus is it often with us. We ask for blessings, but do not
really expect them; we knock, but do not mean to enter; we fear that
Jesus will not hear us, will not fulfil His promises, will not admit
us; and so we go away.”

“Ah, I see,” said the earnest-faced boy, his eyes shining with the new
light dawning in his soul: “Jesus cannot be expected answer _runaway_
knocks. He has never promised it. I mean to keep knocking, knocking,
until He _cannot help opening the door_.”

Too often we knock at mercy’s door, and then run away, instead of
waiting for an entrance and an answer. Thus we act as if we were afraid
of having our prayers answered.

A great many people pray in that way; they do not wait for the answer.
Our Lord teaches us here that we are not only to ask, but we are to
wait for the answer; if it does not come, we must seek to find out the
reason. I believe that we get a good many blessings just by asking;
others we do not get, because there may be something in our life that
needs to be brought to light. When Daniel began to pray in Babylon for
the deliverance of his people, he sought to find out what the trouble
was, and why God had turned away His face from them. So there may be
something in our life that is keeping back the blessing; if there is,
we want to find it out. Some one, speaking on this subject, has said:
“We are to ask with a beggar’s humility, to seek with a servant’s
carefulness, and to knock with the confidence of a friend.”

How often people become discouraged, and say they do not know whether
or not God does answer prayer! In the parable of the importunate widow,
Christ teaches us how we are not only to pray and seek, but to find. If
the unjust judge heard the petition of the poor woman who pushed her
claims, how much more will our Heavenly Father hear our cry! A good
many years ago an Irishman in the State of New Jersey was condemned to
be hung. Every possible influence was brought to bear upon the Governor
to have the man reprieved; but he stood firm, and refused to alter
the sentence. One morning the wife of the condemned man, with her ten
children, went to see the Governor. When he came to his office, they
all fell on their faces before him, and besought him to have mercy on
the husband--the father. The Governor’s heart was moved; and he at once
wrote out a reprieve. The importunity of the wife and children saved
the life of the man, just as the woman in the parable, who, pressing
her claims, induced the unjust judge to grant her request.

It was this that brought the answer to the prayer of blind Bartimeus.
The people, and even the disciples, tried to hush him into silence; but
he only cried out the louder, “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Prayer is hardly ever mentioned in the Bible alone; it is prayer and
earnestness; prayer and watchfulness; prayer and thanksgiving. It is an
instructive fact that throughout Scripture prayer is always linked with
something else. Bartimeus was in earnest, and the Lord heard his cry.

Then the highest type of Christian is the one who has got clear beyond
asking and seeking, and keeps knocking till the answer comes. If we
knock, God has promised to open the door and grant our request. It may
be years before the answer comes; He may keep us knocking; but He has
promised that the answer will come.

I will tell you what I think it means to knock. A number of years ago,
when we were having meetings in a certain city, it came to a point
where there seemed to be very little power. We called together all the
mothers, and asked them to meet and pray for their children. About
fifteen hundred mothers came together, and poured out their hearts
to God in prayer. One mother said: “I wish you would pray for my two
boys. They have gone off on a drunken spree; and it seems as if my
heart would break.” She was a widowed mother. A few mothers gathered
together, and said: “Let us have a prayer-meeting for these boys.”
They cried to God for these two wandering boys; and now see how God
answered their prayer.

That day these two brothers had planned to meet at the corner of the
street where our meetings were being held. They were going to spend the
night in debauchery and sin. About seven o’clock the first one came to
the appointed place; he saw the people going into the meeting. As it
was a stormy night, he thought he would go in for a little while. The
word of God reached him, and he went into the inquiry-room, where he
gave his heart to the Savior.

The other brother waited at the corner until the meeting broke up,
expecting his brother to come; he did not know that he had been in the
meeting. There was a young men’s meeting in the church near by, and
this brother thought he would like to see what was going on; so he
followed the crowd into the meeting. He also was impressed with what
he heard, and was the first one to go into the inquiry-room, where he
found peace. While this was happening, the first one had gone home to
cheer his mother’s heart with the good news. He found her on her knees.
She had been knocking at the mercy-seat. While she was doing so, her
boy came in and told her that her prayers had been answered; his soul
was saved. It was not long before the other brother came in and told
his story--how he, too, had been blessed.

On the following Monday night, the first to get up at the young
converts’ meeting was one of these brothers, who told the story of
their conversion. No sooner had he taken his seat, than the other
jumped up and said: “All that my brother has told you is true, for I
am his brother. The Lord has indeed met us and blessed us.”

I heard of a wife in England who had an unconverted husband. She
resolved that she would pray every day for twelve months for his
conversion. Every day at twelve o’clock she went to her room alone and
cried to God. Her husband would not allow her to speak to him on the
subject; but she could speak to God on his behalf. It may be that you
have a friend who does not wish to be spoken with about his salvation;
you can do as this woman did--go and pray to God about it. The twelve
months passed away, and there was no sign of his yielding. She resolved
to pray for six months longer; so every day she went alone and prayed
for the conversion of her husband. The six months passed, and still
there was no sign, no answer. The question arose in her mind, could
she give him up? “No,” she said; “I will pray for him as long as God
gives me breath.” That very day, when he came home to dinner, instead
of going into the dining-room he went upstairs. She waited, and waited,
and waited; but he did not come down to dinner. Finally she went to
his room, and found him on his knees crying to God to have mercy upon
him. God convicted him of sin; he not only became a Christian, but the
Word of God had free course, and was glorified in him. God used him
mightily. That was God answering the prayers of this Christian wife;
she knocked, and knocked, till the answer came.

I heard something the other day that cheered me greatly. Prayer had
been made for a man for about forty years, but there was no sign of any
answer. It seemed as though he was going down to his grave one of the
most self-righteous men on the face of the earth. Conviction came in
one night. In the morning he sent for the members of his family, and
said to his daughter: “I want you to pray for me. Pray that God would
forgive my sins; my whole life has been nothing but sin--sin.” And all
this conviction came in one night. What we want is to press our case
right up to the throne of God. I have often known cases of men who came
to our meetings, and although they could not hear a word that was said,
it seemed as though some unseen power laid hold of them, so that they
were convicted and converted then and there.

I remember at one place where we were holding meetings, a wife came to
the first meeting and asked me to talk with her husband. “He is not
interested,” she said, “but I am in hopes he will become so.” I talked
with him, and I think I hardly ever spoke to a man who seemed to be so
self-righteous. It looked as though I might as well have talked to an
iron post, he seemed to be so encased in self-righteousness. I said to
his wife that he was not at all interested. She said, “I told you that,
but I am interested for him.” All the thirty days we were there that
wife never gave him up. I must confess she had ten times more faith for
him than I had. I had spoken to him several times, but I could see no
ray of hope. The last night but two the man came to me and said: “Would
you see me in another room?” I went, aside with him, and asked him
what was the trouble. He said, “I am the greatest sinner in the State
of Vermont.” “How is that?” I said, “Is there any particular sin you
have been guilty of?” I must confess I thought he had committed some
awful crime, which he was covering up, and that he now wanted to make
confession. “My whole life,” he said, “has been nothing but sin. God
has shown it to me to-day.” He asked the Lord to have mercy on him,
and he went home rejoicing in the assurance of sins forgiven. There
was a man convicted and converted in answer to prayer. So if you are
anxious about the conversion of some relative, or some friend, make up
your mind that you will give God no rest, day or night, till He grants
your petition. He can reach them, wherever they are--at their places of
business, in their homes, or anywhere--and bring them to His feet.

Dr. Austin Phelps, in his “Still Hour,” says: “The prospect of gaining
an object will always affect thus the expression of intense desire.
The feeling which will become spontaneous with a Christian under the
influence of such a trust is this: ‘I come to my devotions this morning
on an errand of real life. This is no romance, and no farce. I do not
come here to go through a form of words; I have no hopeless desires to
express. I have an object to gain; I have an end to accomplish. This is
a business in which I am about to engage. An astronomer does not turn
his telescope to the skies with a more reasonable hope of penetrating
those distant heavens, than I have of reaching the mind of God by
lifting up my heart at the throne of grace. This is the privilege of my
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Even my faltering voice is now to be
heard in heaven; and it is to put forth a new power there, the results
of which only God can know, and only eternity can develop. Therefore,
O Lord, Thy servant findeth it in his heart to pray this prayer unto
Thee!’”

Jeremy Taylor says: “Easiness of desire is a great enemy to the success
of a good man’s prayer. It must be an intent, zealous, busy, operative
prayer; for consider what a huge indecency it is that a man should
speak to God for a thing that he values not! Our prayers upbraid our
spirits when we beg tamely for those things for which we ought to die,
which are more precious than imperial sceptres, richer than the spoils
of the sea, or the treasures of Indian hills.”

Dr. Patton, in his work on “Remarkable Answers to Prayer,” says:
“Jesus bids us seek. Imagine a mother seeking a lost child. She looks
through the house, and along the streets, then searches the fields
and woods, and examines the river-banks. A wise neighbor meets her
and says: ‘Seek on, look everywhere; search every accessible place.
You will not find, indeed; but then seeking is a good thing. It puts
the mind on the stretch; it fixes the attention; it aids observation;
it makes the idea of the child very real. And then, after a while,
you will cease to want your child.’ The words of Christ are, ‘Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you.’ Imagine a man knocking at the door
of a house, long and loud. After he has done this for an hour, a
window opens, and the occupant of the house puts out his head and
says: ‘That is right, my friend; I shall not open the door, but keep
on knocking--it is excellent exercise, and you will be the healthier
for it. Knock away till sundown; and then come again, and knock all
to-morrow. After some days thus spent you will attain to a state of
mind in which you will no longer care to come in.’ Is this what Jesus
intended us to understand, when He said--‘Ask, and ye shall receive;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you?’ No
doubt one would thus soon cease to ask, to seek, and to knock; but
would it not be from disgust?”

Nothing is more pleasing to our Father in heaven than direct,
importunate, and persevering prayer. Two Christian ladies, whose
husbands were unconverted, feeling their great danger, agreed to spend
one hour each day in united prayer for their salvation. This was
continued for seven years, when they debated whether they should pray
longer, so useless did their prayers appear. They decided to persevere
till death, and, if their husbands went to destruction, it should
be laden with prayers. In renewed strength, they prayed three years
longer, when one of them was awakened in the night by her husband, who
was in great distress for sin. As soon as the day dawned, she hastened,
with joy, to tell her praying companion that God was about to answer
their prayers. What was her surprise to meet her friend coming to her
on the same errand! Thus ten years of united and persevering prayer was
crowned with the conversion of both husbands on the same day.

We cannot be too frequent in our requests; God will not weary of
His children’s prayers. Sir Walter Raleigh asked a favor of Queen
Elizabeth, to which she replied, “Raleigh, when will you leave off
begging?” “When your Majesty leaves off giving,” he replied. So long
must we continue praying.

Mr. George Muller, in a recent address given by him in Calcutta, said
that in 1844 five individuals were laid on his heart, and he began
to pray for them. Eighteen months passed away before one of them was
converted. He prayed on for five years more, and another was converted.
At the end of twelve years and a half, a third was converted. And
now for forty years he had been praying for the other two, without
missing one single day on any account whatever; but they were not yet
converted. He felt encouraged, however, to continue in prayer; and he
was sure of receiving an answer in relation to the two who were still
resisting the Spirit.




“To See His Face.”


  “Sweet is the precious gift of prayer,
    To bow before a throne of grace;
  To leave our every burden there,
    And gain new strength to run our race;
  To gird our heavenly armor on,
  Depending on the Lord alone.

  “And sweet the whisper of His love,
    When conscience sinks beneath its load,
  That bids our guilty fears remove,
    And points to Christ’s atoning blood;
  Oh, then ’tis sweet indeed to know
  God can be just and gracious too.

  “But oh, to see our Savior’s face!
    From sin and sorrow to be freed!
  To dwell in His divine embrace--
    This will be sweeter far indeed!
  The fairest form of earthly bliss
  Is less than nought, compared with this.”




CHAPTER X.

SUBMISSION.


Another essential element in prayer is SUBMISSION. All true prayer must
be offered in full submission to God. After we have made our requests
known to Him, our language should be, “Thy will be done.” I would a
thousand times rather that God’s will should be done than my own. I
cannot see into the future as God can; therefore, it is a good deal
better to let Him choose for me than to choose for myself. I know His
mind about spiritual things. His will is that I should be sanctified;
so I can with confidence pray to God for that, and expect an answer to
my prayers. But when it comes to temporal matters, it is different;
what I ask for may not be God’s purpose concerning me.

As one has well put it: “Depend upon it, prayer does not mean that
I am to bring God down to my thoughts and my purposes, and bend His
government according to my foolish, silly, and sometimes sinful
notions. Prayer means that I am to be raised up into feeling, into
union and design with Him; that I am to enter into His counsel, and
carry out His purpose fully. I am afraid sometimes we think of prayer
as altogether of an opposite character, as if thereby we persuaded
or influenced our Father in heaven to do whatever comes into our
own minds, and whatever would accomplish our foolish, weak-sighted
purposes. I am quite convinced of this, that God knows better what is
best for me and for the world than I can possibly know; and even though
it were in my power to say, ‘_My_ will be done,’ I would rather say to
Him, ‘_Thy_ will be done.’”

It is reported of a woman, who, being sick, was asked whether she was
willing to live or die, that she answered, “Which God pleases.” “But,”
said one, “if God should refer it to you, which would you choose?”
“Truly,” replied she, “I would refer it to Him again.” Thus that man
obtains his will of God, whose will is subjected to God.

Mr. Spurgeon remarks on this subject, “The believing man resorts to God
at all times, that he may keep up his fellowship with the Divine mind.
Prayer is not a soliloquy, but a dialogue; not an introspection, but
a looking toward the hills, whence cometh our help. There is a relief
in unburdening the mind to a sympathetic friend, and faith feels this
abundantly; but there is more than this in prayer. When an obedient
activity has gone to the full length of its line, and yet the needful
thing is not reached, then the hand of God is trusted in to go beyond
us, just as before it was relied upon to go with us. Faith has no
desire to have its own will, when that will is not in accordance with
the mind of God; for such a desire would at bottom be the impulse of
an unbelief which did not rely upon God’s judgment as our best guide.
Faith knows that God’s will is the highest good, and that anything
which is beneficial to us will be granted to our petitions.”

History informs us that the Tusculani, a people of Italy, having
offended the Romans, whose power was infinitely superior to theirs,
Camillus, at the head of a considerable army, was on his march to
subdue them. Conscious of their inability to cope with such an enemy,
they took the following method to appease him: They declined all
thoughts of resistance, set open their gates, and every man applied
himself to his proper business, resolving to submit where they knew
it was in vain to contend. Camillus, entering their city, was struck
with the wisdom and candor of their conduct, and addressed himself to
them in these words: “You only, of all people, have found out the true
method of abating the Roman fury; and your submission has proved your
best defense. Upon these terms, we can no more find in our heart to
injure you than upon other terms you could have found power to oppose
us.” The chief magistrate replied: “We have so sincerely repented of
our former folly, that in confidence of that satisfaction to a generous
enemy, we are not afraid to acknowledge our fault.”

In view of the difficulty of bringing our hearts to this complete
submission to the Divine will, we may well adopt Fenelon’s prayer: “O
God, take my heart, for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, keep
it; for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself.”

Some of the best men the world has ever seen have made great mistakes
on this point. Moses could pray for Israel, and could prevail with
God; but God did not answer his petition for himself. He asked that
God would take him over Jordan, that he might see Lebanon; and after
the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, he desired to go into
the Promised Land; but the Lord did not grant his desire. Was that
a sign that God did not love him? By no means. He was a man greatly
beloved of God, like Daniel; and yet God did not answer this prayer of
his. Your child says, “I want this or that,” but you do not grant the
request, because you know that it will be the ruin of the child to give
him everything he wants. Moses wished to enter the Promised Land; but
the Lord had something else in store for him. As some one has said,
God kissed away his soul, and took him home to Himself. “God buried
him”--the greatest honor ever paid to mortal man.

Fifteen hundred years afterward God answered the prayer of Moses; He
allowed him to go into the Promised Land, and to get a glimpse of the
coming glory. On the Mount of Transfiguration, with Elijah, the great
prophet, and with Peter, James, and John, he heard the voice come from
the throne of God, “This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him.” That was
better than to have gone over Jordan, as Joshua did, and to sojourn for
thirty years in the land of Canaan. So when our prayers for earthly
things are not answered, let us submit to the will of God, and know
that it is all right.

When one inquired of a deaf and dumb boy why he thought he was born
deaf and dumb, taking the chalk he wrote upon the board, “Even so,
Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight.”

John Brown, of Haddington, once said. “No doubt I have met with trials
like others; but yet so kind has God been to me, that I think if He
were to give me as many years as I have lived in the world, I would not
desire one single circumstance in my lot changed, except that I wish
there had been less sin. It might be written on my coffin, ‘Here lies
one of the cares of Providence, who early lost both father and mother,
and yet never wanted for the care of either.’”

Elijah was mighty in prayer; he brought fire down from heaven on his
sacrifice, and his petitions brought rain on the thirsty land. He stood
fearlessly before King Ahab in the power of prayer. Yet we find him
sitting under a juniper-tree like a coward, asking God that He would
let him die. The Lord loved him too well for that; He was going to take
him up to heaven in a chariot of fire. So we must not allow the devil
to take advantage of us, and make us believe that God does not love
us because He does not grant all our petitions in the time and way we
would have Him do.

As Moses takes up more room in the Old Testament than any other
character, so it is with Paul in the New Testament, except, perhaps,
the Lord Himself. Yet Paul did not know how to pray for himself. He
besought the Lord to take away “the thorn in the flesh.” His request
was not granted; but the Lord bestowed upon him a greater blessing.
He gave him more grace. It may be we have some trial--some thorn in
the flesh. If it is not God’s will to take it away, let us ask Him to
give us more grace, in order to bear it. We find that Paul gloried in
his reverses and his infirmities, because all the more the power of
God rested upon him. It may be there are some of us who feel as if
everything is against us. May God give us grace to take Paul’s platform
and say: “All things work together for good to them that love God.” So
when we pray to God we must be submissive, and say, “Thy will be done.”

In the Gospel of John we read: “If ye” (that “if” is a mountain to
begin with), “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” The latter part is
often quoted, but not the first. Why, there is very little abiding in
Christ now-a-days! You go and visit Him once in a while; but that is
all. If Christ is in my heart, of course I will not ask anything that
is against His will. And how many of us have God’s Word abiding in us?
We must have a warrant for our prayers. If we have some great desire,
we must search the Scriptures to find if it be right to ask it. There
are many things we want that are not good for us; and many other things
we desire to avoid are really our best blessings. A friend of mine was
shaving one morning, and his little boy, not four years old, asked him
for his razor, and said he wanted to whittle with it. When he found he
could not get it, he began to cry as if his heart would break. I am
afraid that there are a great many of us who are praying for razors.
John Bunyan blessed God for that Bedford jail more than for anything
else that happened to him in this life. We never pray for affliction;
and yet it is often the best thing we could ask.

Dyer says: “Afflictions are blessings to us when we can bless God for
afflictions. Suffering has kept many from sinning. God had one Son
without sin; but He never had any without sorrow. Fiery trials make
golden Christians; sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.”

Rutherford beautifully writes, in reference to the value of sanctified
trial, and the wisdom of submitting in it to God’s will: “Oh, what
owe I to the file, to the hammer, to the furnace of my Lord Jesus, who
hath now let me see how good the wheat of Christ is that goeth through
His mill and His oven, to be made bread for His own table! Grace tried
is better than grace; and it is more than grace; it is glory in its
infancy. I now see that Godliness is more than the outside, and this
world’s passments and their bushings. Who knoweth the truth of grace
without a trial? Oh, how little getteth Christ of us, but that which
He winneth (to speak so) with much toil and pains! And how soon would
faith freeze without a cross! How many dumb crosses have been laid upon
my back, that had never a tongue to speak the sweetness of Christ, as
this hath! When Christ blesseth His own crosses with a tongue, they
breathe out Christ’s love, wisdom, kindness, and care for us. Why
should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows on
my soul? I know that He is no idle husbandman; He purposeth a crop. Oh
that this white, withered lea-ground were made fertile to bear a crop
for Him, by whom it is so painfully drest, and that this fallow ground
were broken up! Why was I (a fool!) grieved that He put His garland and
His rose upon my head--the glory and honor of His faithful witnesses?
I desire now to make no more pleas with Christ. Verily He hath not put
me to a loss by what I suffer; He oweth me nothing; for in my bonds how
sweet and comfortable have the thoughts of Him been to me, wherein I
find a sufficient recompense of reward! How blind are my adversaries
who sent me to a banqueting house, to a house of wine, to the lovely
feasts of my lovely Lord Jesus, and not to a prison, or place of exile!”

We may close our remarks on this subject by a reference to the words
of the Prophet Jeremiah, in Lamentations, where he says: “The Lord is
good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is
good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of
the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He
sitteth alone and keepeth silence; because he hath borne it upon him.
He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth
his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever; but though He cause grief, yet
will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For
He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.... Who
is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it
not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let
us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.”




Submission.


  “Hear me, my God, and if my lip hath dared
    To murmur ’neath Thy Hand, oh, teach me now
  To feel each inmost thought before Thee bared,
    And this rebellious will in faith to bow.
  Though I wept wildly o’er the ruined shrine,
    Where earthly idols held Thy place alone,
  Now purify and make this temple Thine,
    And teach me, Lord, to say, ‘Thy will be done!’

  “What can I bring to offer that is mine?
    A youth of sorrow, and a life of sin.
  What can I lay upon Thy hallowed shrine,
    One hope of pardon for the past to win?
  While thus a suppliant at Thy feet I bow,
    Still dare I lift to Thee my tearful eyes,
  I plead the promise of Thy word, that Thou
    A broken, contrite heart will not despise.

  “What shall I bring? A bruised spirit, Lord,
    Worn with the contest, pining now for rest,
  And yearning for Thy peace, as some poor bird,
    ’Mid the wild tempest, seeks its mother’s breast,
  My sacrifice, the Lamb who died for me;
    I plead the merits of Thy sinless Son;
  I bring Thy promises; I trust in Thee;
    In love Thou smitest; Lord, ‘Thy will be done!’”




CHAPTER XI.

ANSWERED PRAYERS.


In the fifteenth chapter of John and the seventh verse, we find who
have their prayers answered--“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Now in
the fourth chapter of James, in the third verse, we find some spoken of
whose prayers were not answered: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye
ask amiss.” There are a great many prayers not answered because there
is not the right motive; we have not complied with the Word of God; we
ask amiss. It is a good thing that our prayers are not answered when we
ask amiss.

If our prayers are not answered, it may be that we have prayed
without the right motive; or that we have not prayed according to the
Scriptures. So let us not be discouraged, or give up praying, although
our prayers are not answered in the way we want them.

A man once went to George Muller and said he wanted him to pray for
a certain thing. The man stated that he had asked God a great many
times to grant him his request, but He had not seen fit to do it. Mr.
Muller took out his note-book, and showed the man the name of a person
for whom, he said, he had prayed for twenty-four years. The prayer,
Mr. Muller added, was not answered yet; but the Lord had given him
assurance that that person was going to be converted, and his faith
rested there.

We sometimes find that our prayers are answered right away while we
are praying; at other times the answer is delayed. But especially
when men pray for mercy, how quickly the answer comes! Look at Paul,
when he cried, “O Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The answer
came at once. Then the publican who went up to the temple to pray--he
got an immediate answer. The thief on the cross prayed, “Lord,
remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!” and the answer came
immediately--then and there. There are many cases of a similar kind in
the Bible, but there are also others who prayed long and often. The
Lord delights in hearing His children make their requests known unto
Him--telling their troubles all out to Him; and then we should wait for
His time. We do not know when that is.

There was a mother in Connecticut who had a son in the army, and it
almost broke her heart when he left, because he was not a Christian.
Day after day she lifted up her voice in prayer for her boy. She
afterward learned that he had been taken to the hospital, and there
died, but she could not find out anything about how he had died. Years
passed, and one day a friend came to see some member of the family on
business. There was a picture of the soldier boy upon the wall. He
looked at it, and said, “Did you know that young man?” The mother said,
“That young man was my son. He died in the late war.” The man replied,
“I knew him very well; he was in my company.” The mother then asked,
“Do you know anything about his end?” The man said, “I was in the
hospital, and he died a most peaceful death, triumphant in the faith.”
The mother had given up hope of ever hearing of her boy; but before she
went hence she had the satisfaction of knowing that her prayers had
prevailed with God.

I think we shall find a great many of our prayers that we thought
unanswered answered when we get to heaven. If it is the true prayer
of faith, God will not disappoint us. Let us not doubt God. On
one occasion, at a meeting I attended, a gentleman pointed out an
individual and said, “Do you see that man over there? That is one
of the leaders of an infidel club.” I sat down beside him, when the
infidel said, “I am not a Christian. You have been humbugging these
people long enough, and making some of these old women believe that you
get answers to prayer. Try it on me.” I prayed, and when I got up, the
infidel said with a good deal of sarcasm, “I am not converted; God has
not answered your prayer!” I said, “But you may be converted yet.” Some
time afterwards I received a letter from a friend, stating that he had
been converted and was at work in the meetings.

Jeremiah prayed, and said: “Ah, Lord God! Behold Thou hast made the
heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched-out Arm, and
there is nothing too hard for Thee.” Nothing is too hard for God;
that is a good thing to take for a motto. I believe this is a time of
great blessing in the world, and we may expect great things. While the
blessing is falling all around, let us arise and share in it. God has
said, “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and
mighty things which thou knowest not.” Now let us call on the Lord; and
let us pray that it may be done for Christ’s sake--not our own.

At a Christian convention a number of years ago, a leading man got up
and spoke--his subject being “For Christ’s Sake”--and he threw new
light upon that passage. I had never seen it in that way before. When
the war broke out the gentleman’s only son had enlisted, and he never
saw a company of soldiers but his heart went right out after them.
They started a Soldiers’ Home in the city where that gentleman lived,
and he gladly went on the committee, and acted as President. Some time
afterward he said to his wife, “I have given so much time to these
soldiers that I have neglected my business,” and he went down to his
office with the fixed determination that he would not be disturbed by
any soldiers that day. The door opened soon after, and he saw a soldier
entering. He never minded him, but kept on writing; and the poor fellow
stood for some time. At last the soldier put down an old soiled piece
of paper on which there was writing. The gentleman observed that it
was the handwriting of his son, and he seized the letter at once and
read it. It was something to this effect: “Dear father, this young
man belongs to my company. He has lost his health in defense of his
country, and he is on his way home to his mother to die. Treat him
kindly for Charlie’s sake.” The gentleman at once dropped his work and
took the soldier to his house, where he was kindly cared for until
he was able to be sent home to his mother; then he took him to the
station, and sent him home with a “God bless you, for Charlie’s sake!”

Let our prayers, then, be for Christ’s sake. If we want our sons and
daughters converted, let us pray that it be done for Christ’s sake.
If that is the motive, our prayers will be answered. If God gave up
Christ for the world, what will He not give us? If He gave Christ to
the murderers and blasphemers, and the rebels of a world lying in
wickedness and sin, what would He not give to those who go to Him for
Christ’s sake? Let our prayer be that God may advance His work, not for
our glory--not for our sake--but for the sake of His beloved Son whom
He hath sent.

So let us remember that when we pray we ought to expect an answer.
Let us be looking for it. I remember at the close of a meeting in one
of our Southern cities near the close of the war, a man came up to
me weeping and trembling. I thought something I had said had aroused
him, and I began to question him as to what it was. I found, however,
that he could not tell a word of what I had said. “My friend,” said I,
“what is the trouble?” He put his hand into his pocket, and brought out
a letter, all soiled, as if his tears had fallen on it. “I got that
letter,” he said, “from my sister last night. She tells me that every
night she goes on her knees and prays to God for me. I think I am the
worst man in all the Army of the Cumberland. I have been perfectly
wretched to-day.” That sister was six hundred miles away, but she had
brought her brother to his knees in answer to her earnest, believing
prayer. It was a hard case, but God heard and answered the prayer of
this Godly sister, so that the man was as clay in the hands of the
potter. He was soon brought into the Kingdom of God--all through his
sister’s prayers.

I went off some thirty miles to another place, where I told this story.
A young man, a lieutenant in the army, sprang to his feet and said,
“That reminds me of the last letter I got from my mother. She told me
that every night as the sun went down she prayed for me. She begged
of me, when I got her letter, to go away alone, and yield myself to
God. I put the letter in my pocket, thinking there would be plenty of
time.” He went on to say that the next news that came from home was
that that mother was gone. He went out into the woods alone, and cried
to his mother’s God to have mercy upon him. As he stood in the meeting
with his face shining, that lieutenant said: “My mother’s prayers are
answered; and my only regret is that she did not live to know it; but I
will meet her by-and-by.” So, though we may not live to see the answer
to our prayers, if we cry mightily to God, the answer will come.

In Scotland, a good many years ago, there lived a man with his wife and
three children--two girls and a boy. He was in the habit of getting
drunk, and thus losing his situation. At last, he said he would take
Johnnie, and go off to America, where he would be away from his old
associates, and where he could commence life over again. He took the
little fellow, seven years old, and went away. Soon after he arrived
in America, he went into a saloon and got drunk. He got separated from
his boy in the streets, and he has never been seen by his friends
since. The little fellow was placed in an institution, and afterward
apprenticed in Massachusetts. After he had been there some time, he
became discontented, and went off to sea; finally, he came to Chicago
to work on the lakes. He had been a roving spirit, had gone over sea
and land, and now he was in Chicago. When the vessel came into port,
one time, he was invited to a Gospel meeting. The joyful sound of the
Gospel reached him, and he became a Christian.

After he had been a Christian a little while, he became very anxious to
find his mother. He wrote to different places in Scotland, but could
not find out where she was. One day he read in the Psalms--“No good
thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” He closed his
Bible, got down on his knees, and said: “O God, I have been trying to
walk uprightly for months past; help me to find my mother.” It came
into his mind to write back to the place in Massachusetts from which he
had run away years before. It turned out that a letter from Scotland
had been waiting for him there for seven years. He wrote at once to
the place in Scotland, and found that his mother was still living; the
answer came back immediately. I would like you to have seen him when he
got that letter. He brought it to me; and the tears flowed so that he
could scarcely read it. His sister had written on behalf of the mother;
she had been so overcome by the tidings of her long-lost boy that she
could not write.

The sister said that all the nineteen years he had been away, his
mother had prayed to God day and night that he might be saved, and that
she might live to know what had become of him, and see him once more.
Now, said the sister, she was so overjoyed, not only that he was alive,
but that he had become a Christian. It was not long before the mother
and sisters came out to Chicago to meet him.

I mention this incident to show how God answers prayer. This mother
cried to God for nineteen long years. It must have seemed to her
sometimes as though God did not mean to give her the desire of her
heart; but she kept praying, and at last the answer came.

The following personal testimony was publicly given at one of our
meetings lately held in London, and may serve to help and encourage
readers of these pages.


A PRAYER-MEETING TESTIMONY.

“I want you to understand, my friends, that what I state is not what I
did, but what God did. _God only could have done it!_ I had given it
up as a bad job, long before. But it is of God’s great mercy that I am
standing here to-night, to tell you that Christ is able to save _to the
uttermost_ all that come to God through Him.

“The reading of those ‘requests’ [for the salvation of inebriates]
touched me very deeply indeed. They seemed to be an echo of many a
request for prayer which has been made for me. And, from my knowledge
of society generally, and of human nature, I know that in a very great
number of families there is need of some such request.

“Therefore if what I may tell you will cheer any Christian heart,
encourage any Godly father and mother to go on praying for their sons,
or assist any man or woman who has felt himself or herself beyond the
reach of hope, I shall thank God for it.

“I had very good opportunities. My parents loved the Lord Jesus, and
did their best to train me up in the right path; and for some time
I thought myself that I should be a Christian. But I got away from
Christ, and turned further and further away from God and all good
influences.

“It was at a public school where I first learned to drink. Many a time
at seventeen I drank to excess, but I had an amount of self-respect
that kept me from going thoroughly to the bad till I was about
twenty-three; but from then till I was twenty-six, I went steadily down
hill. At Cambridge I went on further and further in drinking, until I
lost all self-respect, and voluntarily chose the worst of companions.

“I strayed further and further from God, until my friends, those who
were Christians and those who were not, considered, and told me that
there was very little hope for me. I had been pleaded with by all sorts
of people, but I ‘hated reproof.’ I hated everything that savored of
religion, and I sneered at every bit of good advice, or any kind word
offered me in that way.

“My father and mother both died without seeing me brought to the Lord.
They prayed for me all the time they lived, and at the very last my
mother asked me if I would not follow her to be with her in heaven.
To quiet and soothe her, I said I would. But I did not mean it; and I
thought, when she had passed away, that she knew now my real feelings.
After her death I went from bad to worse, and plunged deeper and deeper
into vice. Drink got a stronger hold of me, and I went lower and lower
down. I was never ‘in the gutter,’ in the acceptation in which that
term is generally understood; but I was as low in my soul as any man
who lives in one of the common lodging-houses.

“I went from Cambridge first to a town in the north, where I was
articled to a solicitor; and then to London. While I was in the north,
Messrs. Moody and Sankey came to the town I lived in; and an aunt of
mine, who was still praying for me after my mother’s death, came and
said to me, ‘I have a favor to ask of you.’ She had been very kind to
me, and I knew what she wanted. She said, ‘It is to go and hear Messrs.
Moody and Sankey.’ ‘Very good,’ I said; ‘it is a bargain. I will go
and hear the men; but you are never to ask me again. You will promise
that?’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I do.’ I went, and kept, as I thought, most
religiously my share of the bargain.

“I waited until the sermon was over, and I saw Mr. Moody coming down
from the pulpit. Earnest prayer had been offered for me, and there
had been an understanding between my aunt and him that the sermon
should apply to me, and that he would come and speak to me immediately
afterward. We met Mr. Moody in the aisle, and I thought that I had done
a very clever thing when I walked round my aunt, before Mr. Moody could
address me, and out of the building.

“I wandered further from God after that; and I do not think that I
bent my knees in prayer for between two and three years. I went to
London, and things grew worse and worse. At times I tried to pull up.
I made any number of resolutions. I promised myself and my friends not
to touch the drink. I kept my resolutions for some days, and, on one
occasion, for six months; but the temptation came with stronger force
than ever, and swept me further and further from the pathway of virtue.
When in London I neglected my business and everything I ought to have
done, and sank deeper into sin.

“One of my boon companions said to me, ‘If you don’t pull up, you will
kill yourself.’ ‘How is that?’ I asked. ‘You are killing yourself, for
you can’t drink so much as you used to.’ ‘Well,’ I replied, ‘I can’t
help it, then.’ I got to such a state that I did not think there was
any possible help for me.

“The recital of these things pains me; and as I relate them, God forbid
that I should feel anything but shame. I am telling you these things
because we have a Savior; and if the Lord Jesus Christ saved even me,
He is able also to save you.

“Affairs went on in this manner until, at last, I lost all control over
myself.

“I had been drinking and playing billiards one day, and in the evening
I returned to my lodgings. I thought that I would sit there awhile,
and then go out again, as usual. Before going out, I began to think,
and the thought struck me, ‘How will all this end?’ ‘Oh,’ I thought to
myself, ‘what is the use of that? I know how it will end--in my eternal
destruction, body and soul!’ I felt I was killing myself--my body;
and I knew too well what would be the result to my soul. I thought
it impossible for me to be saved. But the thought came to me very
strongly, ‘Is there any way of escape?’ ‘No,’ I said; ‘I have made any
number of resolutions. I have done all I could to keep clear of drink,
but I can’t. It is impossible.’

“Just at that moment the words came into my mind, from God’s own
Word--words that I had not remembered since I was a boy: ‘With men
this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ And then I
saw, in a flash, that what I had just admitted, as I had done hundreds
of times before, to be an impossibility, was the one thing that God
had pledged Himself to do, if I would go to Him. All the difficulties
came up in my way--my companions, my surroundings of all sorts, and my
temptations; but I just looked up and thought, ‘It is possible with
God.’

“I went down on my knees there and then, in my room, and began to
ask God to do the impossible. As soon as I prayed to Him, with very
stammering utterance--I had not prayed for nearly three years--I
thought, ‘Now, then, God will help me.’ I took hold of His truth, I
don’t know how. It was nine days before I knew how, and before I had
any assurance, or peace and rest, to my soul. I got up, there and then,
with the hope that God would save me. I took it to be the truth, and I
ultimately proved it; for which I praise God.

“I thought the best thing I could do would be to go and get somebody
to talk to me about my soul, and tell me how to be saved; for I was a
perfect heathen, though I had been brought up so well. I went out and
hunted about London; and it shows how little I knew of religious people
and places of worship, that I could not find a Wesleyan chapel. My
mother and father were Wesleyans, and I thought I would find a place
belonging to their denomination; but I could not. I searched an hour
and a half; and that night I was in the most utter, abject misery of
body and soul any man can think of or conceive.

“I came home to my lodgings and went upstairs, and thought to myself,
‘I will not go to bed till I am saved.’ But I was so ill from
drinking--I had not had my usual amount of food in the evening; and the
reaction was so tremendous, that I felt I must go to bed (although I
dared not), or I should be in a very serious condition in the morning.

“I knew how I should be in the morning, thinking, ‘what a fool I was
last night!’ when I would wake up moderately fresh, and go off to
drink again, as I had often done. But again I thought, ‘God can do the
impossible. He will do that which I cannot do myself.’ And I prayed to
the Lord to let me wake up in much the same condition as that in which
I went to bed, feeling the weight of my sins and my misery. Then I
went to sleep. The first thing in the morning, as soon as I remembered
where I was, I thought, ‘Has the conviction left me?’ No; I was more
miserable than before, and--it seemed strange, though it was natural--I
got up, and thanked the Lord because He had kept me anxious about my
soul.

“Have you ever felt like that? Perhaps after some meeting or
conversation with some Christian, or reading the Word of God, you have
gone to your room miserable and ‘almost persuaded.’

“I went on for eight or nine days seeking the Lord. On the Saturday
morning I had to go and tell the clerks. That was hard. I did it with
the tears running down my cheeks. A man does not like to cry before
other men. Anyway, I told them I wanted to become, and meant to
become, a Christian. The Lord helped me with that promise, ‘With God
all things are possible.’

“A sceptic dropped his head, and said nothing. Another fellow, with
whom I played billiards, said, ‘I wish I had the pluck to say so
myself!’ My words were received in a different way from what I thought
they would be. But the very man who had told me that I was killing
myself with drink, spent an hour and a half trying to get me to drink,
saying, that I ‘had the blues, and was out of sorts; and that a glass
of brandy or whisky would do me good.’ He tried to get me to drink; and
I turned upon him at last, and said, ‘You remember what you said to me;
I am trying to get away from drink, and not to touch it again.’ When I
think of that I am reminded of the words of God Himself: ‘The tender
mercies of the wicked are cruel.’

“And now the Lord drew me on until the little thread became a cable,
by which my soul could swing. He drew me nearer; until I found that He
was my Savior. Truly He is ‘able to save to the uttermost all that come
unto God by Him.’

“I must not forget to tell you that I went down before God in my
misery, my helplessness, and my sin, and owned to Him that it was
impossible that I should be saved; that it was impossible for me to
keep clear of drink; but from that night to this moment, I have never
had the slightest desire for drink.

“It was a hard struggle indeed to give up smoking. But God in His
great wisdom, knew that I must have come to grief if I had to fight
single-handed against the overwhelming desire I had for drink; and He
took that desire, too, clean away. From that day to this the Lord has
kept me away from drink, and made me hate it most bitterly. I simply
said that I had not any strength; nor have I now; but it is the Lord
Jesus who ‘is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him.’

“If there is any one hearing me who has given up all hope, come to the
Savior! That is His name, for ‘He shall save His people from their
sins.’ Wherever I have gone, since then, I have found Him to be my
Savior. God forbid that I should glory! It would be glorying in my
shame. It is to my shame that I speak thus of myself; but oh, the
Savior is able to save, and He will save!

“Christian friends, continue to pray. You may go to heaven before your
sons are brought home. My parents did; and my sisters prayed for me for
years and years. But now I can help others on their way to Zion. Praise
the Lord for all His mercy to me!

“Remember, ‘with God all things are possible.’ And then you may say
like St. Paul, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.’”




“Look Up.”


  “O soul most desolate, look up! For thee
    One faithful voice doth promise sure relief.
    Whate’er thy sin, whate’er thy sorrow be,
    Tell all to Jesus. He looketh where
    The weary-hearted weep, and draweth near
    To listen fondly to the half-formed prayer,
    Or read the silent pleading of a tear.
    Lose not thy privilege, O silent soul;
    Pour out thy sorrow at thy Savior’s feet.
    What outcast spurns the hand that gives the dole?
    Oh, let Him hear thy voice; to Him thy voice is sweet.”

                                                       _A. S._

  =NOTICE.=--All former books (before this series), issued in
  Mr. Moody’s name, have been mere compilations
  from newspaper reports of his sermons,
  issued without his consent and
  notwithstanding his protest.




  WORKS BY

  MR. D. L. MOODY,

  PUBLISHED BY

  F. H. REVELL, 148 & 150 MADISON ST.,
  CHICAGO.

_The following Books sent postpaid on receipt of
price._


Over 350,000 copies of these works have already been sold, the greater
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 =To the Work! To the Work!= By D. L. MOODY. Exhortations to Christians.

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 Carefully revised by Mr. Moody, they present a volume of choice and
 striking addresses, sure to command a large sale.

 With the effect of these addresses when _spoken_, the whole land is
 acquainted, and now that they are _written_, they will tend to keep in
 force the impressions they have already made.--_Methodist._

 Mr. Moody’s happy style, abounding in striking anecdote and
 illustration, make it a most readable and convincing volume.--_The
 Watchman._

 Full of earnest enthusiasm which characterizes everything Mr. Moody
 does, and will be read with interest.--_Detroit Free Press._

 There are few who heard any one of these sermons who will fail to be
 delighted with this opportunity of making a calm acquaintance with it
 again.--_Daily Review._

 This book is one of pre-eminent interest, as containing an authorized
 record of the teaching under which, along with other means, such great
 and extensive religious impressions have been recently produced in
 this country.--_The Messenger._

 Will be read by thousands with memorable interest.--_Record._


 =The Way to God, and How to Find it.= Fifty-fifth Thousand.

 It consists of nine chapters of the kind only D. L. Moody can
 write. The little volume contains the most convincing argument ever
 framed for the use of common people. It is a good book to drop into
 the sachel of your boy or girl; good to send to some friend at a
 distance in whom you have an interest, and good upon your own study
 table.--_Inter Ocean._

 “The Way to God” is a theme upon which the Evangelist has been wont
 to dwell. Here in nine chapters he grasps together words of advice
 regarding that path which it is the happy privilege of the minister to
 continually make plain.--_Chicago Standard._

 They are characterized by his usual simplicity, directness, fervor and
 exceptional power of vivid illustration.--_Christian Herald._

 They are sharply to the point, plainly practical, and orthodox in a
 good, simple and true sense.--_Christian Advocate._

 It will lead sinners to trust in God, and fire the hearts of layman
 and minister to noble works for the Master.--_Baptist Reflector._

 It puts the way so plain that he who runs may read.--_Religious
 Telescope._

 It is an excellent manual for the soul winners, and for the awakened
 seeker, and we trust will be the means of leading thousands to
 Christian hope and heaven.--_Zion’s Herald._

 Very earnest and powerful, abounding in apt illustrations, striking
 thoughts, and helpful, encouraging words. This book is written in the
 same plain, simple and pointed style that lends such force to his
 spoken words. The volume should find many readers. Those that buy it
 will not be disappointed.--_National Baptist._


 =Daniel, the Prophet.= An Amplification and Extension of Mr. Moody’s
 various Lectures on the Life of Daniel.

 Tinted covers, 20c.; cloth, 40c.

 A small book; but big as regards the truth it contains. Every worker
 in the Lord’s vineyard would be helped by reading it.--_Railway
 Signal._


 =The Way and The Word.= By D. L. MOODY. Forty-fifth Thousand.

 Paper, 15c.; cloth, 25c.

 This little work contains a very clear statement on the important
 subject, _Regeneration_, to which is added Mr. Moody’s valuable hints
 on Bible Reading.

 Mr. Moody has used this book by the thousand, placing them in the
 hands of young converts at the close of his meetings.


 =The Second Coming of Christ.= By D. L. MOODY. Fortieth Thousand.
 Tinted covers, 10c.

 “The moment a man takes hold of the truth that Jesus is coming back
 again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its
 hold upon him. Gas stocks and water stocks, and stocks in banks and
 railroads, are of very much less consequence to him then. His heart is
 free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of the Lord, who at His
 coming, will take him into His blessed Kingdom.”--_Extract._


 =How to Conduct Inquiry Meetings.= By D. L. MOODY, and =The Use of the
 Bible in Inquiry Meetings=. By D. W. WHITTLE.

 40 pages and cover. Price 15c.




A SELECTION FROM THE CATALOGUE

OF

FLEMING H. REVELL,

_Publisher of Evangelical Literature_

148 & 150 MADISON STREET, CHICAGO.

_The Following Books sent Post-paid on Receipt of Price._


HELPS IN BIBLE STUDY.


 =Notes and Suggestions for Bible Readings.= _Seventeenth thousand._
 Compiled by S. R. BRIGGS and J. H. ELLIOTT. Acknowledged to be the
 very best help for Bible readings in print. Containing, in addition to
 twelve introductory chapters on plans and methods of Bible study and
 Bible readings, over six hundred outlines of Bible readings by many of
 the most eminent Bible students of the day.

 Large 12mo, 262 pages, with complete index, cloth, fine library style,
 $1.00; Flexible cloth, travelers’ edition, 75c; Cheap edition, paper
 covers, 50c.

 This is a book which every Bible student should possess. Those who
 conduct Bible readings will find it most suggestive.--_Christian
 Progress._


 =Symbols and Systems in Bible Readings.= By Rev. W. F. CRAFTS.

 Giving a plan of Bible reading, with fifty verses definitely assigned
 for each day, the Bible being arranged with much labor in the order of
 its events. The entire symbolism of the Bible also explained concisely
 and clearly. 100 hints upon Bible markings and Bible readings are
 added.

 A year of work upon such a system would yield rich harvests of Bible
 knowledge and spiritual experience.--_S. S. World._


 =The True Tabernacle.= A series of lectures on the Jewish Tabernacle
 and its typical signification. By GEORGE C. NEEDHAM. Illustrated,
 cloth, neat, 75c.


 =“C. H. M.’s” Notes.= By C. H. MCINTOSH. Genesis, 75c; Exodus, 75c;
 Leviticus, 75c; Numbers, 75c; Deuteronomy, 2 vols., each, 75c.

 The notes breathe a very sweet and reverential spirit, and the author
 shows wonderful insight into the heart of truths.--_Evangelist._

 Mr. D. L. Moody says of these books: “They have been to me a very key
 to the Scriptures.”

 Major D. W. Whittle says: “Under God they have blessed me more than
 any books, outside of the Bible itself, that I have ever read, and
 have led me to a love of the Bible that is proving an unfailing source
 of profit.”


 =Life and Times of David, King of Israel=; or, The Life of Faith
 Exemplified. By “C. H. M.” Third edition, revised. 12mo, 200 pp.
 Cloth, 60c.


 =The Gospel According to Moses=, as seen in the Tabernacle and its
 Various Services. By GEORGE ROGERS. New edition, enlarged 16mo, 124
 pp. Paper, 50c; Cloth, 75c.

 No preacher or teacher should be ignorant of the truth which this
 small volume very simply but forcibly enunciates.--_The Record._


 =Outline of the Books of the Bible.= By Rev. J. H. BROOKES, D. D.
 Invaluable to the young student of the Bible as a “First Lessons” in
 the study of the Bible. 180 pp., cloth, 50c; Paper covers, 25c.


 =Ruth, the Moabitess=; or, Gleanings in the Book of Ruth. By HENRY
 MOOREHOUSE. A characteristic series of Bible readings, full of
 suggestions and instruction.

 Neat 16mo, paper covers, 20c; cloth, gilt stamped, 40c.

 Contains many fresh and original remarks, all tending to
 practical usefulness; a capital bit of commenting on a favorite
 book.--_Spurgeon’s Sword and Trowel._


 =Bible Readings.= By HENRY MOOREHOUSE. A series of eleven sermons of
 comment and exposition, by one pre-eminently the man of one book--an
 incessant, intense, prayerful student of the Bible.

 Neat, 16mo, paper covers, 30c; cloth, gilt stamped, 60c.


 =Current Discussions in Theology.= By the Professors of Chicago
 Theological Seminary. Vol. I, cloth, 12mo, 248 pp., $1.00; paper
 covers, 50c. Vol. II, 328 pp., cloth, $1.50.

 There is nothing in our language of this kind. The American student
 has had to choose between the exhaustive and unremitting labors which
 are the price of first-hand knowledge, and reviews which rarely fail
 of being colored with partiality or prejudice. The volume before us is
 a helpful, fair and trustworthy statement of the present position and
 recent movements of theology.--_The Independent._

 It may be safely said that from no one book in the English language
 can ministers gather so much recent information concerning the topics
 treated.--_Presbyterian Witness._


 =The Date of Our Gospels.= A critical argument and examination of
 evidences, particularly regarding their authenticity and authorship.
 By SAMUEL IVES CURTISS, D. D., Union Park Theological Seminary,
 Chicago.

 Sq. 16mo, neat, flexible cloth, 50c; paper edition, 25c.

 The argument is winnowed of superfluous words, and presents a luminous
 and brief case.--_New York Independent._


 =A New Catechism.= By Rev. J. T HYDE. A manual of instruction for
 students and other thoughtful inquirers.

 Cloth, 12mo, $1.00.


AIDS IN CHRISTIAN WORK.


 =Children’s Meetings and How to Conduct Them.= By LUCY J. RIDER and
 NELLIE M. CARMAN. Introduction by Rev. J. H. VINCENT, D. D. Contains
 contributions from over forty well-known workers among children, and
 gives the cream of their experience. The outline lessons (over sixty
 in number), diagrams, and music will especially commend it to the
 thoughtful teacher. Pp. 208, cloth, net $1.00.

 It is a good book, that suggests something in addition to that which
 it conveys.--_Journal and Messenger._

 The volume will be heartily welcomed by many having this most
 important part of the religious instruction of the young in
 hand.--_Zion’s Herald._


 =Secret Power=; or, the Secret of Success in Christian Life and
 Christian Work. By D. L. MOODY. _Fifty-fifth thousand._ 12mo volume,
 116 pp., rich gilt and black stamp, cloth, 60c; cheap edition, paper
 cover, 30c.

 Every page is full of stimulating thought for Christian
 workers.--_Christian Commonwealth._


 =The Work of Preaching Christ.= By Bishop CHARLES PETTITT MCILVAINE. A
 revised edition of an important little work. Paper covers, 15c.


 =The Prayer Meeting and Its Improvement.= By Rev. LEWIS O. THOMPSON,
 with introduction by Rev. A. E. KITTREDGE, D. D. Sixth edition.
 Revised. An attractive volume. 12mo, pp. 256, $1.25.

 A valuable, because a very suggestive book.--_S. S. Times._

 * * * “This is so good a book that we wish we could afford to give a
 copy of it to every young minister. Revive your prayer meetings and
 the churches will be revived. Mr. Thompson says some capital things in
 a telling manner, and, as his pages are full of fire and gunpowder,
 we hope certain old, worn-out things among us will be exploded, and
 good things set on fire. A brother who has this book handy will be
 helped to lead lively meetings, conducting them in varied ways, and
 expatiating on different topics, so as to keep up freshness, and avoid
 monotony and dullness.”--_C. H. Spurgeon._


 =Revivals=; Their Place and Power. By Rev. HERRICK JOHNSON, D. D.
 Cloth, flexible, 25c.

 An admirable discussion of the subject.--_Interior._

 We know of no publication that covers the ground so briefly and
 satisfactorily.--_Baltimore Presbyterian._

 Dr. Johnson’s experience has qualified him to speak upon this
 subject.--_Independent._


 =To the Work! To the Work!= By D. L. MOODY. Exhortations to
 Christians. Paper covers, 30c; Cloth boards, gilt dies, 60c. Just
 published.

 This new work by Mr. Moody, is in the line of his most successful
 efforts, that of stirring Christians to active, personal, aggressive
 work for the Master. Mr. Moody has frequently been heard to say that
 it was much better to set 100 men to work than to do the work of 100
 men. This little volume will, we confidently believe, be a means of
 inspiring not hundreds but _thousands_ to more efficient effort in
 Christian life.


PRE-MILLENNIAL LITERATURE.


 =Pre-Millennial Essays.= A series of papers on prophetical subjects by
 eminent writers. Edited by NATHANIEL WEST, D. D. Issued in one large
 12mo volume of 500 pages, $1.50.

 Those who desire to have, within the compass of a single volume, all
 that is necessary to an intelligent consideration of the subject, will
 find it here in a very readable form. It is certainly the ablest work
 that has appeared on the pre-millennial side.--_Canada Presbyterian._

 The best treatment of this subject from the pre-millennial side that
 has ever been published.--_The Standard._

 It is pious, elaborate and fraternal. We are pleased with the
 forcible, yet candid style of argumentation.--_Zion’s Herald._


 =Maranatha=; or, the Lord Cometh. By Rev. J. H. BROOKES, D. D. Pp.
 445, cloth, $1.25; paper, 50c.


 =Present Truth=; being the Testimony of the Holy Ghost on the Second
 Coming of the Lord, the Divinity of Christ, and the Personality of the
 Holy Ghost. By Rev. J. H. BROOKES, D. D. 250 pp., fine cloth, 75c.
 Cheap edition, paper cover, 25c.


 =Second Coming of Christ.= By Rev. J. H. BROOKES, D. D. Price, 15c.


 =The Blessed Hope=; or, The Glorious Coming of the Lord. By WILLIS
 LORD, D. D. New and cheaper edition. A practical treatise; a volume
 well adapted to lead to a more joyous Christian life. 250 pp., cloth,
 $1.00. Cheap edition, for circulation, paper covers only, 25c.


 =Second Coming of Christ.= By GEORGE MULLER, of Bristol, Eng. A neat
 little tract of 32 pages, suitable for circulation. Per dozen, 40c;
 100 copies, $2.50.


 =Jesus Is Coming.= By W. E. B. A most popular hand book. _Sixteenth
 thousand._ Giving seven arguments in favor of the pre-millennial
 coming--stating the distinction between the Rapture and the
 Revelation, and between the Church and the Kingdom--and containing a
 diagram, with explanations. New, enlarged edition, 160 pp., cloth,
 50c; paper covers, 15c.


 =Twenty Reasons for Believing= that the Second Coming of the Lord is
 Near. 34 pages and cover, neat, 15c. Per dozen, $1.00.


 =Epiphainia.= A study in Prophecy. By E. J. EDGREN, Professor of
 Biblical Interpretation in the Morgan Park Theological Seminary. 16mo,
 112 pp., cloth, neat, 75c.

 Dr. Edgren writes as one who both loves and reveres the Sacred Word.
 He has altogether made a book creditable in a literary not less than
 in an evangelical point of view.--_Chicago Standard._


 =Waiting for the Morning=, and Other Poems. By the author of “Twenty
 Reasons for Believing the Coming of the Lord is Near.” Sq. 16mo, pp.
 54, red line, cloth, elegant, 50c. Cheap edition, paper covers, neat,
 25c.


 =The Second Coming of Christ.= By D. L. MOODY. Revised. _Forty-second
 thousand._ 32 pp. and cover, 10c. Per dozen, $1.00.


HELPS FOR INQUIRERS.


 =Grace and Truth= Under Twelve Different Aspects. By W. P. MACKAY, M.
 A. _Forty-eighth thousand_ of American edition. The English edition
 has reached a sale of over two hundred thousand, besides being
 translated into German, Spanish, Swedish, Arabic, Italian, Dutch,
 Gaelic and Welsh. 12mo, pp. 282, paper, 35c; cloth, fine, 75c.

 Mr. Moody says of this work: “I know of no book in print better
 adapted to aid in the work of him who would be a winner of souls, or
 to place in the hands of the unconverted.”


 =My Inquiry Meeting=; or Plain Truths for Anxious Souls. By ROBERT
 BOYD, D. D. Being the experience of a pastor during many years of
 personal dealing with anxious and careless souls. Pp. 64, 15c.

 For simplicity, clearness, and force of statement we have met with
 nothing that equals this little volume. We can think of no better
 service a pastor could render to Sunday-school teachers, and other
 guides of souls, than to secure their reading of these pages. Nor
 could inquirers have any better help in their search for truth.--_The
 Interior._


 =Glad Tidings.= By ROBERT BOYD, D. D. A book for inquirers. 12mo, pp.
 100, cloth, neat, 50c. Cheap edition, for circulation, 25c.

 This book has been used largely in connection with the great revival
 meetings both in Great Britain and this land.


 =The Soul and Its Difficulties.= By H. W. SOLTAU. Paper, pp. 108, 8c.


 =How to Be Saved=; or, the Sinner Directed to the Saviour. By J. H.
 BROOKES, D. D. Pp. 120, paper cover, 25c; cloth, 50c.


 =The Way to God and How to Find It.= By D. L. MOODY. _Fifty-fifth
 thousand._ A book for the inquirer and Christian worker. Cloth, rich
 black and gold stamp, 60c; paper, tinted covers, 30c.

 The way of salvation is made as clear as simple language and forcible,
 pertinent illustration can make it. In two features it is equal to
 anything that Mr. Moody has produced--in close adherence to the Word
 of God, and in profound earnestness--while in simplicity, directness
 of appeal and originality it is superior. It is a great matter to
 send such a work, so full of Christ, all over the churches, where
 it may, by the work of the Spirit, arrest the careless and move the
 ungodly.--_Lutheran Observer._


 =God’s Way of Salvation.= By ALEXANDER MARSHALL. A brief statement of
 the Way of Life, with answers to popular objections. Each brief page
 complete in itself, and containing a sermon in a nutshell. 48 pages
 and covers, 5c. Per hundred. $2.50.


 =Doubts Removed.= By CÆSAR MALAN, D. D. Paper covers, 5c; per dozen,
 50c.

 “It contains the clearest statements and illustrations on the subject
 treated we have ever read.”


 =Welcome to Jesus.= By Rev. C. H. SPURGEON. A series of 4 page
 tracts, with first page in attractive, illuminated designs, etc. Four
 different series, each containing 32 assortments. Price, per package,
 25c.


POPULAR DEVOTIONAL BOOKS.


 =Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?= By D. L. MOODY. Cloth, uniform
 with To the Work! Heaven, etc., 60c; paper covers, 30c.

 An earnest and solemn work, full of helpful hints on the aids and
 hindrances to prevailing prayer.

 “This great subject has been the theme of apostles and prophets, and
 of all good men in all ages of the world; and my desire in sending
 forth this little volume is to encourage God’s children to seek
 by prayer ‘to move the arm that moves the world.’”--_Extract from
 Preface._


 =The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.= By HANNAH WHITALL SMITH;
 author of “A Happy Life.” Revised edition, from entirely new plates.
 12mo, 240 pp., cloth, black and gold stamp, $1.00; paper cover, 50c.

 A book we unhesitatingly recommend. We have not for years read a book
 with more delight and profit.--_Southwestern Christian Advocate._

 We are delighted with the book. It reaches the very core of Christian
 experience.--_Baptist Weekly._

 Worthy of universal circulation.--_Christian Union._


 =Life Warfare and Victory.= By Maj. D. W. WHITTLE. Cloth, neat, 124
 pp., 60c; paper, 30c.

 This book has been prepared in the midst of evangelistic work, to
 meet the wish often expressed to the writer--that instruction given
 in Bible readings to young converts might be made available for their
 more careful study and permanent use.--_Extract from Preface._


 =Christ and the Scriptures.= By Rev. ADOLPH SAPHIR. Cloth, 16mo, neat,
 75c.

 To all disciples of Jesus this work commends itself at once by its
 grasp of truth, its insight, the life in it, and its spiritual
 force.--_Christian Work._

 “In these days of doubt and hypercriticism such a volume, breathing a
 spirit of earnest devotion, lifting the mind to a better conception of
 the immeasureable worth of the Person and the Word, and written, too,
 by a son of Israel, cannot but be welcome and helpful.”


 =The Holy Life.= A book for Christians seeking the “Rest of Faith.”
 By Rev. EVAN H. HOPKINS. _Fifth thousand_, 18mo, 115 pages, cloth,
 beveled edge, 60c.


 =Walking Worthy of God.= A reprint from the works of Rev. JOHN
 FLAVELL, with an introduction by (and published at the request of)
 Maj. D. W. Whittle. A valuable book for circulation--an incentive to
 Christian living.

 Sq. 16mo, pp. 43, 15c.


 =Gems from Northfield.= A Record of the Best Thoughts exchanged at the
 Conference for Bible Study, convened at Northfield, by D. L. MOODY.

 12mo, pp. 116. Price $1.00.

 The thoughts and expositions of Scripture which are presented in this
 volume are of rare practical value.--_Herald and Presbyter._


 =My Morning Word.= A book of texts for every day in the year.

 Cloth, plain, 75c; Cloth, gilt edges, $1.00; Calf, flexible, gilt,
 $1.75.

 The several texts for every day each contain the “Morning Word,” this
 single word being the key-word by means of which the texts are called
 to mind.


 =Birth-Day Memorial Text-Book.=

 A handsome little volume with a short text for every day in the year,
 with blank space opposite for autographs. Especially attractive for
 children.

 32mo, cloth, black and gold stamp, 25c; per dozen, $2.50.


 =The Practice of the Presence of God.= By “Brother LAWRENCE.”

 Being a small collection of remarkable letters and “conversations” of
 a monk.

 Pp. 64, 24mo, paper cover, 10c; per dozen, 75c.


 =Grace Sufficient.= By Rev. HENRY ROISSY. An extremely helpful work
 for the closet, with counsel and comfort for the Way of Life. Pp. 265,
 cloth, $1.25.


 =Clifton Springs Bible Readings.= Containing the Bible Readings and
 Addresses given at the Conference of Believers at Clifton Springs,
 N. Y., by Messrs. Brookes, Erdman, Whittle, Needham, Parsons, Clark,
 Marvin and others.

 Sq. 16mo, 144 pp., cloth, fine, 50c; paper covers, 25c.


 =The Scarlet Line.= A most suggestive tract upon Joshua II and VI,
 showing the close connection between the type of the Old Testament and
 the Antitype of the New.

 36 pages and cover, 5c; per hundred, $3.00.


 =Envelope Series of Tracts.= By H. W. S., from “The Christian’s Secret
 of a Happy Life,” comprising the following:

  How to Enter into the Life.
  Difficulties Concerning Consecration.
  Difficulties Concerning Guidance.
  Difficulties Concerning Faith.
  Faith: What it is.
  Is God in Everything?
  The Joy of Obedience.
  Practical Results.

 Sold only in packets of one dozen copies. May be had either assorted
 or all of the same kind. Price, per packet, 20c.

 “They will form an excellent collection of tracts for distribution
 by those who wish their friends to share the ‘Life that is hid with
 Christ.’”


 =Words of Worth=, from the Chicago Christian Convention. A verbatim
 report of the addresses before the Convention of October, 1882.

 12mo, pp. 134, paper, 25c.

 The addresses by such men as Rev. Marcus Rainsford, Rev. Chas.
 Spurgeon, Dr. W. P. Mackay, Rev. A. T. Pierson, D. D., and others,
 will be welcomed by many.

  _CHICAGO: F. H. REVELL, 148 & 150 MADISON ST._




TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:


  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

  Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=.

  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.





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