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diff --git a/old/36891.txt b/old/36891.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cf800e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/36891.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1532 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Health, Healing, and Faith, by Russell H. Conwell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Health, Healing, and Faith + +Author: Russell H. Conwell + +Release Date: July 29, 2011 [EBook #36891] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEALTH, HEALING, AND FAITH *** + + + + +Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Juliet Sutherland and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + Health, + Healing, _and_ Faith + + + Effect of Environment + How a Church Was Built by Prayer + Healing the Sick + Prayer for the Home + Prayer and the Bible + + + _By_ + RUSSELL H. CONWELL + + + VOLUME 8 + + NATIONAL + EXTENSION UNIVERSITY + + 597 Fifth Avenue, New York + + + + + EFFECTIVE PRAYER + ---- + Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers + Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + + +That prayers are answered nearly all the human race believe. But the +subject has been beclouded and often made ridiculous by inconsistent +superstitions. + +This book is a modest attempt to clear up some of the errors. Its record +is as accurate as impartial observation can make it. God is not bribed. +Laziness cannot bargain with him. But the prayers of the righteous and +of repentant sinners availeth much. + +Desired ends are gained by prayer which cannot be gained by any other +method. The daily experiences of devout persons establish that fact +conclusively. The reasons and the methods which produce the results seem +hidden, and they often bewilder the investigator. God's thoughts are far +above our thoughts. But we can trust our daily experience far enough to +retain our confidence in the potency of prayer. It is, therefore, a +profitable and comforting study. + + RUSSELL H. CONWELL. + + + + +EFFECTIVE PRAYER + +Chapter I + +Effect of Environment + + +The fascinating history of events connected with the Baptist Temple, +Philadelphia, through thirty-nine years must be recorded carefully to +obtain the credence of those readers who live out of the locality. It +may or may not be that the unusual demonstrations of power, seemingly +divine, were not incited or influenced by the special environment. Yet +the critical reader may reasonably inquire where these things occurred +in order to determine the power of association on the form and effect of +prayer. + +The Baptist Temple is a somewhat imposing building on the corner of +North Broad and Berks streets in Philadelphia. It is located almost at +the geographical center of Philadelphia, and eighteen squares north of +the City Hall. The Temple is architecturally very plain, and the +beautiful stained-glass windows are about the only ornaments in the +great hall save, of course, the pipes of the great organ. The church is +one hundred and seven feet front, and is one hundred and fifty feet in +length. There is a deep gallery occupying three sides, with a chorus +gallery, back of the pulpit, seating one hundred and fifty singers. +There are three thousand and thirty-four opera chairs arranged in a +semicircle, and every person in the congregation can see clearly the +platform and chorus, and each normal worshiper can be heard from the +pulpit. + +The building itself is a testimonial to the effectiveness of sincere +prayer. The Temple and the halls in the lower story, as it now stands, +are far beyond the dreams of that little company of earnest worshipers +who, in 1880, hesitatingly and embarrassed, began to build the small +church at the corner of Berks and Mervine streets. They had no wealthy +or influential friends. They had but little money or property; they +could pray, and that they did do unceasingly. Any man who tries to +describe or explain fully how it came about that the Temple was built +becomes bewildered in the complications, unless he covers the whole +question by saying, "The Lord did it." In six years after the small +church was completed the Temple was begun on Broad Street. + +For seven or eight years after its construction the Temple was a +Christian Mecca to which pilgrims seemed to come from all parts of the +earth to kneel there in prayer. One Good Friday night, which was +observed quite generally as a season of fasting and prayer, the writer +entered by the side door the Temple at two o'clock in the morning, and +in the dim light of two small gas jets, always left burning, he saw +scores of people scattered through the church. Why that church had such +a fascination for or preference with earnest seekers for the +prayer-answering God none may explain. All were kneeling separately in +silent prayer. As they passed in and out there were in the line, going +and coming, Chinamen, Europeans, Orientals, and Americans from distant +states. Different denominations, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, colored and +white, were often represented among the individual worshipers. They also +came any night in the week at any hour and prayed silently for a while +and then went silently out. The church was not locked, night or day, for +fifteen years. People sought the place when they sought to find a +locality which was especially near to the Lord. It may be that any place +is as near to God as any other; and many think it only a sentiment, +superstitious and foolish, to esteem one place above another in matters +of effective prayer. But there does stand out the fact that, for some +good reason, our Saviour did choose to pray in special localities, and +his devout followers do now feel more deeply the soul's communion with +God in certain favorable places. Why the Baptist Temple had such +worship as a sentimental matter brings forward the facts that the graves +of the loved, the home of childhood, the trysting places, the old +fireplace, or the churches where sainted parents worshiped are +influential because of the suggestions which come with sacred memories. +That fact is a strong agency in the awakening of tender and sacred +emotions. But the Baptist Temple was new and could lay claim to none of +those associations. Men and women with no religious habits, and some +seemingly without devout inclinations, testified decidedly that whenever +they visited the building they felt that they had entered into an +atmosphere of special spiritual and sacred power. One soldier of the +English army wrote an interesting letter in 1897, saying: "I do not +recall any such impression before. I went into the church alone out of +curiosity to look at its architectural design. But the moment I entered +the side aisle I felt an indescribable pressure which made me desire to +pray. I hurried out to the street to escape the solemn impression. But +twice since then I have been in the auditorium and each time some power +seemed pressing me down to my knees." Whether that influence was the act +of the Holy Ghost or not cannot be proven by any known formula of human +reasoning, and hence it remains, as most of such questions do, a matter +of faith. Some believe it was a divine presence which made itself felt +there, and other good men do not believe the conditions were in any way +unusual or unnatural. So many persons with uncontrolled imaginations, +and others with their mental faculties weakened or distorted, often +reported the most improbable visions and absurd revelations. Such +characters, half insane or wholly deranged, testified in favor of Jesus +to his face, and such have ever been present since in every genuinely +spiritual movement. They would do less harm, of course, if they should +declaim against him. So it was, and is, at the Baptist Temple. Those +inconsistent, deranged advocates of religion did often drive away +permanently into the ranks of unbelievers the most sincere +investigators. But a calm review of the testimonies concerning the +occurrences which followed so clearly the petitions they offered in the +Temple seems overwhelmingly to establish the claim, now held by so many +thousand people, that the results of the prayers were but a cause and +natural effect, as the prayers and results were infallibly related. + +It is not claimed here, however, that the place had more influence with +man or Christ than other places have had, or that any church or +cathedral may be as sacred as Gethsemane or as the Mount of +Transfiguration. The plain facts are recorded here with great caution +and with a determination to keep conservatively within the truth and +draw no unreasonable conclusions. It is a true statement, known to all +the community, that many thousands of people have sought to pray in the +Temple, believing that the boon their hearts desired would be more sure +to be sent if they asked for it within the Temple walls. Many persons +have attended the church services on the Sabbath who have been so deep +in prayer that they were unconscious of the music or the preaching. We +must reassert that this fact is not recorded here to sustain any idea +that the Temple is a sacred place above many other churches, cathedrals, +and holy places, but to sustain the opinion that there are places more +sacred than others to certain people, and that burdened hearts and minds +would act wisely if they sought some such place when the answer to their +prayer seems especially vital. + + + + +Chapter II + +How a Church Was Built by Prayer + + +In 1886 the small church at Mervine and Berks streets in the northern +section of Philadelphia was crowded at every service. Children were +turned away from every session of the Bible school, and tickets were +issued a week in advance for the preaching services. The idea of moving +to some larger place was discussed, as it was impossible to enlarge the +building where it stood, because of the streets on three sides. Under +those circumstances the people began to pray. A voluntary committee +canvassed the small band of church members, asking each to pray for an +opening to a larger work. It is often thought to be an easy thing to +promise to pray for a person or for a cause. The promise to pray is too +often made carelessly, and disinterested auditors often feel relieved of +all responsibility when, instead of a collection, they are let off with +a request to pray for the advocated cause. But a sincere promise to pray +for a cause carries with it the sincere purpose to work and to give +self-sacrificingly. To say, "We do not ask for your money, but only that +you pray for us," is a half-hypocritical request, because a real prayer +can ascend only from a soul intent on doing. To agree to pray is a +hearty promise also to do all in one's power to work with the Lord. Only +the hearty worker can really pray. "The people had a mind to work," said +Nehemiah, and God, seeing their zeal, responded to their appeal. The +Lord answered in a way absolutely unforeseen. The salvation of the world +cost a great sacrifice, and everywhere we see the results of a +mysterious law that some must die that others may live, and that real +happiness is ever gained at the cost of suffering. + +A little child in Philadelphia opened the gates of the Temple by going +down through death. She had been unable to get into the overcrowded +Bible school one Sunday, and she began to save her pennies to help +secure some larger place. Little Hattie May Wyatt, living in a home near +the church, was chosen of God to convey his answer to the pleadings of +that church. How little could the afflicted parents realize what a great +work their sweet, prattling Hattie was to do in her short life. When the +sweet, pale face lay in the coffin amid the flowers and tears, her +pocketbook, containing fifty-seven cents which she had saved, was handed +to the minister. She was the messenger of Christ on earth before she +became one in heaven! That fifty-seven cents was a sacred treasure, and +at the next church meeting prayers went up to God, asking direction how +to invest the first gift toward the larger accommodations. +Providentially, the subject of the Scripture text was the narrative of +the little child with his five barley loaves and two little fishes (John +vi). What can Christ do with the gift of a little child? What can the +spirit of God do with the seed of an oak? One patriarch led in prayer +and earnestly asked the Lord to "take these few pennies and build for +us a temple." There were some in the assembly who, like the disciples at +Galilee, said, "What can this little supply do among so many?" But the +most part seemed inspired by the Holy Spirit with a faith that was +immovable. The Lord then put a thought into the mind of Mr. John Baer, +who owned a lot of land on the corner of Broad and Berks streets, to +suggest to a member of the church that, as the people needed larger +quarters, they ought to buy his lot and erect there a larger church. Mr. +Baer did not know then that the church had only fifty-seven cents and +that the church building they then occupied was still heavily mortgaged. +Another church member heard of Mr. Baer's remark and, with the assurance +of a faith unshakable, told Mr. Baer that if he would take fifty-seven +cents as the first payment he felt sure the church would purchase it. +Mr. Baer (a devout man) said that he would cheerfully accept the terms +and that he would also not only give back the fifty-seven cents, but +would contribute one thousand dollars toward the first payment on the +lot. + +The church then purchased the lot and held another prayer meeting to +determine the second time what to do with the Wyatt fifty-seven cents. +It was unanimously decided to organize a "Wyatt Mite Society" to invest +the money. There were to be fifty-seven children in the society, and +each was to invest one of the pennies so as to secure the largest +possible amount for the new church. It seems almost miraculous that +wherever a child tried to sell the penny not one would buy it after +hearing the story, but nearly all did give a liberal donation. One lady +gave fifteen hundred dollars. Finally, the pennies all came back, were +put in a coin frame, and kept as a sacred souvenir. Then joyful +enthusiasm seized upon the people and hurried them along in many +different enterprises for raising money. One Sabbath the pastor was +overpersuaded to exchange with Doctor Pierce of Mount Holly, and the +joyful people presented the pastor, on his return, with a subscription +list of ten thousand dollars. But to that account the practical and +critical business man can answer that in any enterprise enthusiasm, hard +work, and economy secure success almost invariably. So that even the +matter of raising one hundred and nine thousand dollars by a people, all +poor, industrious persons, may not be absolutely convincing to the +skeptic who questions the personal interference of God in answer to the +call of his children. But there was another phase of the history of that +campaign which seems to be absolutely unaccountable on any other +hypothesis but the direct and special interference of superhuman +intelligence. + +The number seven! It is called "a sacred number"; but why it has been +credited with its peculiar significance is, perhaps, the effect of its +mention so often in the Bible. The various theories, reasonable and +fanciful, for the sacredness of the number seven need not be rehearsed +in a record of simple facts like these which this account preserves. But +the daily appearance of the number seven in the evangelistic history of +the Grace Church through the five years and two months before the large +Temple was completed has never been explained by any solution other than +by accrediting it to some power or law above the normal. The "five +years' meetings" were only the usual meetings of the small church and no +evangelistic or unusual endeavors were used, nor were any special +methods tried. Evangelists of noted power sometimes addressed the church +or gave sermons at the church in connection with some convention or +association, but none of those instrumentalities seemed to affect the +answers to the prayers of the people. The church sessions were simple, +practical, social, and fully democratic. But the prayers were full of +faith and feeling and were brief and direct. One evening, in a meeting +held in a small basement room, there were seven young people, strangers +to one another, who stood up at the invitation to confess Christ. Each +one stated that he had come under a strange and irresistible impulse +unaccountable to him. Each asked the people to pray for his soul. That +was the opening of the continuous stream of seven new converts each week +for five years. That repetition of the number seven was not especially +noticed until it had been repeated through several weeks. Then the +people began to expect it, and during the active enterprises connected +with the building of the new Temple it had a powerful effect on the +courage and faith of that small company. As the years came and went with +no change in that weekly number of fresh seekers after God, a feeling of +awe held the worshipers to such an extent that when the seventh man or +woman arose to come forward a deep sigh passed through the congregation. +Sometimes the leader of the meeting paused or asked for "the hesitating +one" if the full number did not at first appear. But there was no +prearrangement and no attempt or purpose to cease giving the invitation +to confess Christ after the number seven had been reached. The church +was too deeply impressed with the seeming miracle to undertake any +experiments with it. Continual prayer was all that was attempted. People +ceased to ask their acquaintances to come to the meetings, and the usual +revival methods were omitted. Real prayer, sincere singing, and a short +comment on some verse of Scripture made up the usual order of services, +aside from the regular preaching on Sunday. + +Various explanations of this mysterious and systematic manifestation of +some hidden spiritual force have been advanced by students of the +unusual occurrence. Some undevout friends have rested satisfied with the +belief that it was only a coincidence or an accidental repetition of a +natural phenomenon. The skeptic said that there was no mystery about it, +as it merely "happened so." Others, more devout, declared that the +people must have habitually "let go of their faith" when seven appeared, +and that according to their faith "was the limitation of the numbers." +Others believed that it must have been, consciously or unconsciously, +arranged by persons managing the meeting, and not a few outsiders +regarded the statement of the facts as a clear falsehood. They said it +could not have been possible, and that there was surely some deception +in the arrangements or reports. But the hundreds of intelligent and +conscientious people who were present week after week became fully +satisfied that it was the work of the Divine Spirit sent in answer to +their prayers. Some of the circumstances connected with that large +accession to the church will be of interest to the student. + +During the years when the building was being constructed many simple +schemes were devised by the people to raise money for the work. But +prayer was a part of every endeavor. Fairs, suppers, and concerts were +often used to raise funds, and, although a worldly spirit often creeps +into church entertainments, there came there a devotional spirit which +seemed to transfigure every work. The devotional meetings held in a side +hall when the church fairs were going on at the Academy of Music in +Philadelphia ever had the same startling result--the unchangeable +number, seven, came out for Christ. One evening a specially large number +of citizens were at a dinner given to arrange plans for securing the +money for the first payment to the contractor who was laying the +foundation for the Temple. A visitor, in his speech, said that he had +been more interested in the "steady revival," of which he had heard, +than in the feast, and that he was quite disappointed to learn that for +the first time in three years the church had omitted its weekly prayer +meeting to give place to a dinner. Thereupon, Deacon Stoddard, a devout +man and full of the Holy Ghost, arose and suggested that before the +guests left the table the presiding officer should give the usual +invitation for anyone to arise and declare his decision to follow +Christ. After several eloquent and entertaining speeches on general +topics the invitation was given for the religious confession, and, to +the amazement of many, just seven young men arose. A deep, spiritual +emotion filled the hearts of all present. In two or three instances the +number was less than seven who responded before the benediction was +pronounced, and some said, "The spell is broken." But in all cases +another seeker after God appeared before the people left the room. Men, +in those cases, rushed to the platform and called for the attention of +the company to say that they dared not go home without openly confessing +before the people their need of the Saviour. In several instances +persons were too much overcome or too timid to stand out before a public +meeting, and they persuaded some one sitting near them to get up and ask +prayers for them. But there was no prolongation of any service and no +outlay of money for exhorters or singers. Naturally that remarkable +condition attracted a throng of people, and before the Temple was opened +the church and Sunday-school rooms at Mervine and Berks streets were +crowded beyond endurance. + +At the first great prayer meeting held in the Temple when the call was +made for converts the number who came forward was seventy-seven. From +that time (1892) there has been no resumption of a regular number of +seekers. Often the number seven, seventy-seven, forty-nine, and seventy +appear in the number of those who arose for prayer or in the list of +those who were received at the same time into the church. At one Easter +service two hundred and seventy-seven were baptized. But those "five +years' revivals" stand out as five most beautiful years in the memory of +the thousands still living who recall them. All of that company of +believers prayed, and on those stormy days when the curious crowd were +kept away the people drew together in sincere devotion, and the most +dreary days without were the most happy within. God seemed more +reachable and the domestic sweetness of the church home was much more +fully appreciated when the snow shadowed the panes, when the wild storms +beat on the doors, and when only earnest worshipers ventured out to +church. For more than fifteen years three thousand tickets of admission +to the regular church services were taken up several days in advance, +and when a very stormy day kept many ticket holders away special and +repeated prayer was made especially for them. The effect of those stormy +days of special prayer was one of the most remarkable experiences of the +church life. Letters came in great numbers from different parts of the +world, saying that they missed the services, but felt decidedly +impressed to send for some needed information or for special religious +advice. + +Many cathedrals, churches, homes, and charity halls have been built on +prayer and faith, so that the construction of the Baptist Temple, on a +prominent corner of Philadelphia's widest street, in the heart of the +city, by a few poor people, may not seem strange. Yet the fact that God +has prospered other enterprises is only a confirmation of the theory +that God answered the prayers of Grace Church in giving providential +assistance in the construction of the Temple. When the church voted to +go on and pay for the lot and build a church to seat over three thousand +in the upper auditorium and two thousand in the lower hall, there was no +money in hand or pledged. Yet there was no recklessness, no tempting God +in their faith. When the contracts were entered into with the builder, +or the furniture manufacturer, provision was made carefully for any +contingency. If for any unforeseen reason the great building had been +unfinished at any stage of construction all bills would have been paid. +But each advance in the work was made after special prayer over each +division of the building enterprise. The foundation was constructed +after special prayer, then came the walls, the roof, the carpenter's +inside work, the painting, the furniture, and the organ--each being the +object of prayerful consideration. There were a few instances, however, +which are worthy of special mention. There was a point when the contract +for the stone for the walls was held up by the quarry proprietors, as +they feared to venture on so large a job with no guaranty but a +mechanic's right of lien. At that time a new savings bank was opened at +Columbia Avenue, two squares from the Temple, and President Cummings, +head of the bank, offered to assist the church in any safe way. How he +came to know of the proposed work, or what special reason he had for +helping a people with whom he was not personally acquainted, was never +explained. But he was a noble citizen. His influence was itself a +powerful aid in all the business of the church. One day a stranger +(General Wagner, president of the Third National Bank) was driving by +the half-constructed church when an "impulse" seized him to go into the +building under construction. He was a Presbyterian elder and a stranger +to all the members of Grace Church. He was a great man of business, a +person of unflinching integrity whose coolness in emergencies and whose +conservative management of financial institutions made him a trusted +authority for private, for city, or for national finances. In a few +words of conversation with the contractor in the building General Wagner +was told that the church was being built "by faith in prayer." He told +General Wagner that thus far "every payment had been made promptly, with +nothing left over." From that hour the general was a strong, unmovable +friend and backer of the Temple enterprise. The Tenth National Bank and +its offspring, the Columbia Trust Company, and the Third National Bank, +of which General Wagner was president, were ever safely used as a +reference, and often tens of thousands of dollars were loaned by them +to the church for short periods. The trustees and the deacons of the +church were prayerful men of stable common sense and successful in their +own labor or business. There was no foolish overpiousness, no loud +professions of religious fervor, but a determined trust in God's promise +to heed the call of those who loved him. + +Mr. John Little, a Quaker by inheritance and training, was a leading +mind in the affairs of the church and was for many years the treasurer +of the Temple University. He was a quiet, keenly modest man, but living +a transparent truthfulness and honesty which commanded the confidence of +all who knew him and secured for him a love that can never die. He said +that he had two special places for prayer, one being in the Temple and +the other on the street. Mr. Charles F. Stone (whose wife, Mrs. Maria L. +Stone, continued his work after he died) was the treasurer of the church +at the critical period and was a man endowed with excellent business +ability and a devout man full of good works. He, too, had a "good name" +which was rather to be chosen as a financial recommendation than great +riches. These men are not mentioned because of their special claim to +attention above the others associated with them, but simply as two +specimens of the prayer-making company who moved on unhesitatingly, yet +carefully, in doing the thing which many declared could not be done. The +weekly reports from the committees and individuals showing how God had +raised up, unexpectedly or strangely, friends of the undertaking, often +caused a deep feeling of awe and sent the people out with fresh +determination to work cheerfully on. + +A single instance of the many hundreds reported will probably answer the +inquiries of others now engaged in some like work. Looking back upon the +incident after thirty years the plan or the purpose of the divine +leadership, so hidden then, becomes reasonable and clear. Why the Lord +wished to use only three hundred men out of Gideon's great army was not +understood at the time, but all can see now that the purpose was to +bring the Lord's hand into vision and win for him the recognition which +would have gone to the human army. + +Only once did the people of the Temple falter and their prayers seem +ineffective. Only once did those Philadelphia worshipers limit their +faith. But that one period of doubt came when the question was suddenly +thrust before the church whether they would try to put in a suitable +church organ. Many claimed that they had reached the utmost limit of +sacrifice. Some said that the church ought to be fully satisfied if they +could buy seats for the first services. Others strongly declared that +after all the asking of God and man for aid to build the Temple they +could not expect either God or man to help them to buy an unnecessary +organ. Through thirty-eight years the church has never had any quarrel +to settle in all its history, and that division of opinion did not +assume an angry or excited phase. It was simply a feeling in some of the +people that the Lord had done wonders and that, now that the church was +out of the wilderness, it was full time to let the people and God's +providence rest. When the question arose whether the church should +venture to purchase a suitable church organ it was decided by a large +majority that it could not be undertaken. The small minority were +Gideon's three hundred. One member of that small body asked the church +for the privilege of putting in the organ, "if he could raise all of the +ten thousand dollars needed without asking a contribution from anyone +who had already given or subscribed toward the building." Even that +conservative offer was accepted by a reluctant and small majority. + +Then that member began a downright, heart-stretching wrestle with the +Angel of God. He spent two successive nights in the Temple in hard and +tearful prayer. He had nothing to give. He must secure the whole from +others. He pleaded with God to let him work with Him in awakening the +hearts of possible givers. But the Lord was not willing to give to man +the major part of the glory of success. The murmuring people must be +made ashamed of their lack of faith in the Lord who had safely led them +thus far. The contract for the organ was made with a company whose agent +said they usually sold their organs on faith, but that churches always +paid the cost and often paid in advance of the date when the notes +matured. The purchaser of the Temple organ did not feel authorized to +put in the organ with no money in hand, at least for the first +installment on the price to be paid. But all the men he approached +refused to give because it was "overdoing it," and was "too improbable" +for credence or assistance. But the purchaser did not waver. The time +set for the payment of the first fifteen hundred dollars came. The note +the purchaser gave was due on Monday. The debtor had asked the +Sunday-morning prayer meeting to remember him especially "on the +morrow." He had until three o'clock Monday to raise the money to save +his note from protest. He had written to a relative to ask for a loan of +fifteen hundred dollars, but the letter had not been sent to the mail +box. When he entered his room just before church services a working girl +who was a member of the church came quietly to his door and handed him a +letter in which, when he opened it, he found a check for fifteen hundred +dollars. The letter and check were signed by a laboring man in Massilon, +Ohio, who wrote that he had not been asked to give anything, but he had +heard that the church "hoped soon to get an organ." He felt impressed to +send this check and to ask the church to accept it on the condition +that, should he ever be reduced to actual need, the church should +endeavor to aid him in some way. The second payment due came as an +unexpected draft from Boston for five hundred dollars, which must be +honored or refused within three days. But in the same mail with the +notice of the draft came two money orders from the executor of an estate +in California, saying that the deceased testator had left the +distribution of certain sums to the discretion of the executor and he +had decided to send five hundred dollars toward "the music in the new +Temple." + +The third payment was met by funds raised by solicitation, about which +there seemed to be nothing remarkable. Other payments were made by gifts +clearly sent in connection with the appeal of the believer, but the last +payment was the most unaccountable of all. Three one-hundred-dollar +bills were pushed under the door of the church study by some one never +discovered, and a certificate of mining stock worth seven hundred +dollars was sent from Butte, Montana, without other signature except +that on the face of the certificate. The blank for the purchaser of the +stock was blank. Public efforts were made to find the givers, but +without success. Well might the people feel that the voice of the organ +was the voice of the Saviour. + +When the organ was dedicated and Dr. D. D. Wood led the devotion with +inspired fingers and sightless eyes the church's congregation was a +beautiful sight--like a sea sparkling with tears. When the great chorus +was singing the hymn, "God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to +perform," a large number of the singers were so choked with emotion that +they ceased to sing and Doctor Wood said the event was one of the most +thrilling in all his experiences with choirs. + +These are "the simple annals of the poor," but they illustrate and +inculcate great principles which are applicable to any work for the +Lord. + + + + +Chapter III + +Healing the Sick + + +The health and happiness of mankind depend in a great degree on faith. +Every emotion of the body and every action of the mind is an exhibition +of faith. Persons who believe they are well, even if they are ill, will +soon recover, and persons who believe that they will not be sick are +seldom ill. There is no department of human life so dependent on belief +as that connected with health. Millions would arise, take up their +couches and walk, if they could be made to believe that they could do +so. To believe a falsehood has cured many people, and consciences waver +between the duty to tell a patient the clear truth when he is very ill +and to make him believe a lie in order that he may get well. + +It must also be stated, in fidelity to the truth, that the subject of +healing by faith has called out a host of the half-insane classes who +proclaim with trumpet tones some cases of divine healing which are +unworthy of a moment's consideration. Hence, out of a collection of +possibly sincere letters, many have been rejected altogether as foolish +or misleading. Eleven hundred written testimonies to cases of healing in +direct answer to prayer at the Baptist Temple have been carefully +examined and the trustworthy testimonies tabulated. Those "years of +healing" to which reference is so often made were years of prayer and +years of faith. After deducting all the questionable cases, and after a +wide allowance for the naturally health-giving and health-preserving +power, the normal human belief is that there remains an overwhelmingly +convincing amount of evidence that healing is directly brought about by +sincere prayer. + +Through several years cases were reported to the church or pastors which +convinced all who knew the people and the circumstances that some +intelligent power, higher than human knowledge, had interfered to heal +the sick. But when the knowledge of those trustworthy cases came to be +known, and especially when they had awakened much excited comment, then +the "cranks" and monomaniacs crowded to the front and vociferously +proclaimed the most absurd miracles, to the disgust of reasonable men +and women and greatly to the damage of the beneficent work. + +Sometimes all references to healing were omitted in the pulpit and shut +out from the meetings for prayer until the wild advocates of divine +healing settled down and dispassionate views could be taken. Many +intelligent devout men repudiated the whole experiment, believing that +the excitement over it was doing much more harm than good. But the +larger part who saw the people who had been cured by the unexplainable +means were steadfast and went on sincerely thanking God for his +wonderful works among the children of men. + +A digest of the written testimonies showed that cataracts had unrolled +without the touch of a surgeon's knife, although the greatest number of +the restoration of sight to the blind were with the aid of apparent +means. The methods by which the Lord restored their sight did not make +their gratitude to him for restoration any the less commendable. +Mysterious and evidently dangerous internal tumors disappeared slowly or +suddenly in a manner unexplainable by the most learned physicians. + +By far the greatest number of the eleven hundred cases selected for +consideration out of the multitude of testimonies were cases in some way +directly connected with the nervous system. Patients long confined in an +insane asylum were brought home and cured of what had been considered +hopeless insanity. There were many cases of various forms of brain +diseases, while in all these cases a specially conservative examiner +could declare that they might have been cured by the special or wise +treatment. + +Yet, even if such were the case, the devout man who prayed may claim +that the treatment was only a part of God's healing plan. It was often +declared publicly and without any contradiction that for long seasons +there was not one person ill in bed in the more than one thousand homes +represented in the membership of the church worshiping in the Temple. +Usually health reigned in the entire church, and it was reasonably +claimed that in five years more than six hundred cases of lung and +throat trouble were permanently healed. Epidemics afflicted the city, +and, quoting Doctor Haehnlen, it was declared that "the Angel of Death +had passed over the congregation, taking none." Of course the people +believed that if they went to the Temple to pray for the recovery of +their friends they would surely be favorably answered. Many have, +however, written that if that condition of faith could be secured in the +doctor, nurse, and family, that spirit of hope would be naturally +aroused in the patient and aid greatly in the recovery. But the men who +pray can say with greater confidence that in every case it was, at +least, God working with man. At all events, the general health of the +congregation must be far better than would have been the case with the +same people if they had not gone to church and prayed. + +Hundreds of men and women live on in health and vigor who were in that +congregation at middle age thirty-five years ago. Their strength "is not +abated," although some of them were invalids thirty years ago. The +healing force of a cheerful faith is everywhere acknowledged to be a +health-preserving agency of vital importance in the establishment of +public health. It is a vital necessity in thousands of individual cases. +Such a condition is probably often a gift of God--through the influence +of his suggesting and soothing spirit. Jesus healed many without +resorting to miracles and seems to have resorted to the miraculous only +to convince his hearers of his authority in divine matters. In some +cases, as the woman who touched his garment, he claimed nothing for +himself, but told her that her own faith had served her. + +Even the most ultra-conservative critic at the Temple who tried hard to +see in these many cases of restoration only the "working out of some +natural law" confessed that if his child was sick he "would not dare to +omit praying" for its recovery. The conclusion of the whole matter is in +the settled conviction in the minds of nearly all the worshipers at the +Temple that God does answer prayer for the sick. + + + + +Chapter IV + +Prayer for the Home + + +One Sunday evening at the usual services the invitation was given, as is +customary, for such persons who especially desired to be mentioned in +the daily prayers of the people to rise for a moment before the singing +of the last hymn. The sermon had not mentioned the need of prayer and +contained no special evangelistic appeal. The invitation was the +customary proceeding throughout the year. The three thousand seats were +all filled. The audience was composed, as usual, largely of men, and +they were men of middle age. There were young people, representing both +sexes, scattered through the audience, and lines of them along the back +rows of seats in the distant gallery. No attempt was made to emphasize +the ordinary invitation in any special manner. But when the solemn +moment came for the prayer-seekers to rise the response was so general +that the preacher asked those who had risen to remain standing until the +pastors could see them and count them. There were over five hundred, and +for a few weeks that was about the usual number of those who arose. + +But the preacher was especially startled by the fact which he had not +especially noted on previous occasions, that the majority of those who +asked for prayer were young people. The scene, when those youthful faces +appeared on every side and in so large a congregation, filled the soul +of the beholder with almost painful awe. It led the preacher to meditate +a moment to ask Christ and himself why so many young people took such a +solemn, sincere interest in prayer at that time. The thought led him, +before the benediction, to request all who had stood forth for prayer to +write to him a personal and confidential letter explaining why they +desired to be mentioned in the prayers of the Christian people. The +letters came the next week by the hundred. It was an astonishing +revelation. The letters from unmarried people were culled out of the +collection and reread at leisure. Some of them were in need of higher +wages; some were seeking for a personal religious awakening; some asked +prayers for friends, for business, for safe journey, for health, or for +other protection and relief. But out of two hundred and eighty-seven +letters from those young people over two hundred mentioned, directly or +indirectly, their strong desire for a husband, a wife, or a home. The +details of lovers' quarrels were opened up, the anguish of broken +engagements expressed on tear-stained sheets of note paper, and many +doubtful lovers wished the Lord would reveal to them whether their +choice had been a wise one or whether their love was deep enough for +such an extremely important matter as marriage. The letters revealed +such a general longing for a home that one seldom realizes is really +existent. There were a few letters from young college women and +university men. But the greater portion were from working girls. They +were the most touchingly sacred records of the everyday thoughts of +young women, all sincerely and modestly expressed. When those young +women saw some handsomely gowned wife pass her desk, her counter, her +bench, or loom, leading a bright-faced little son, the working girl's +soul uttered an unvoiced shriek for a home, for a noble husband's +protection, and for children of her own. Women waiters who daily fed the +wives of wealthy merchants or of prosperous manufacturers wrote how +terrible was the thought that they were going to be homeless and +penniless in their old age--one great prayer going up to high heaven for +holy domestic love and a place they could call "home." + +After that evening's call upon the seekers after God to rise the request +for letters was repeated. The answers which came even into thousands +revealed the general request for the leadership of the Spirit of the +all-wise God in directing the all-important affairs of the heart. Some +letters detailed the horrors of broken hearts; some revealed dark sins; +and some told of betrayal or of base and traitorous ingratitude. But the +majority were letters from lonely but upright women of high ideals and +of noble, Christian life. Some of the communications were from +conscientious young men asking God's help in deciding their choice or +for the influence of God in their favor when their chosen one should +make up her hesitating mind. Some were calls for Christ's forgiveness +and for human advice in most complicated cases where the writer had been +misunderstood or where he had thoughtlessly made a promise he must +recall. All wanted a home. The honest souls standing out in the open +before God, where the restraints of human custom and the reluctance of a +pure modesty were, for the moment, overcome, wrote out the sincerest +prayer of all. Their soul's need was a home. + +Of all the holy ambitions of a normal man or woman the purpose to have a +home is the highest. A home on earth and a home in heaven constitute the +soul's chiefest need. Around that transfigured word gather all that is +highest and purest in human thinking and all that is most sacred and +heavenly in human feeling. In the beginning the Almighty created +man--"Male and female created he them." The first home was in Paradise. +The last home will be there. He who has an income to maintain a house, +who has an intelligent, unselfish wife, who can look about his table and +see children with clear intellects and loving hearts, is conspicuously +foolish if he does not see that he already has the best the world can +give. She who can cast off all anxiety for maintenance and can devote +herself to the care and training of her own little ones, and who can +respect and deeply love her chosen mate, has God's best gifts already in +her possession. Gratitude to the heavenly Father will lead such +recipients of his richest bounty to forget not to aid those who have +less. Nothing on earth of wealth, applause, or mundane wisdom can equal, +in the least measure, the temporal and eternal values of a real home. +Therefore it is wise and the mark of a godly character to pray heartily +for a husband, or for a wife, or for children. + +A reasonable valuation of such domestic treasures makes a hideous crime +of every violation of the laws and customs which make a loving home +possible. Profanity of speech, theft of money, or traitorous breaking of +any other contract is a light sin compared with the brutal sins of the +libertine or the unchastity of the woman who sells herself, or who, with +evil intent, entices a man to home-breaking crime. So important is this +matter that it is the fit subject for constant prayer for those who have +not chosen to be a martyr or decided to give up all on earth for a home +in heaven. And, even in the latter case, the call to take up any work +inconsistent with the maintenance of a home should be overwhelmingly +emphatic to command obedience. + +Hence, those appeals to Heaven for domestic rest of soul were all normal +and all of supreme importance. When that great collection of letters +were each answered the reply contained a counter-request for a report in +due season which should state when and how the prayer for a home had +been answered. Those reports have also been carefully tabulated. But +here again the critical adherent to the theory concerning the +unchangeable laws of nature tries to escape any committal to religious +dogmas by claiming that the mating instinct is an inborn sentiment +common to fishes, beasts, and birds, and that mankind mates by +accidental acquaintanceship or by the pressure of necessity or +ungoverned passion. Such arguments convince many people who deride the +claim that "marriages are made in heaven." But after every such theory +is suggested and analyzed, after every allowance for the outworking of +"natural selection," there is left an important place for the intrusion +or domination of a superhuman power. To that fact, the simple, +unvarnished tale of the experience of the years at the Temple bear +eloquent testimony. A book of this character requires that out of the +many reports only the most representative cases should be selected, and +that the mention should be as brief as is consistent with clearness. The +number of marriages which every church, small or great, brings about is +ever the astonishment of any preacher who goes back over the history of +forty years of church life. The church in any community is a center of +more or less of social life and furnishes an opportunity for the best +young people to meet on a plane of safe association. The married +Christian people, and especially the owners of homes, are the very best +people in any town or city. As a rule, all people possessed of Christian +character marry. The unmarried masses of the people, or those who are +most often unhappily mated, are often the unstable classes who are not +closely bound to moral principles. Religious life and home life are twin +sisters. They belong to the same family and have the same likes, +dislikes, and motives. They are congenial and necessary companions +almost everywhere. + +Let us examine the leading events wherein we seem to recognize the +divine hand and which led directly to the setting up of Christian homes. +One lady clerk in a department store, in her first letter asking for +prayer, said that she was forty-one years of age and that she had been +twenty years in the store. She said that she had hoped for a home all +her adult life, but had abandoned the hope and wished only to die soon. +She asked if suicide would be wrong under such sad circumstances. The +following Sabbath morning, after the service, the pastor of her church +incidentally introduced her to a widower of her age who had a +comfortable house, but who had rented it because he had no children. The +widower asked the pastor a few days later to pray for him as he had a +"very important matter" on his mind. Several days later he came to the +minister and said that he had dreamed three times and in each dream he +had precisely the same experience. He dreamed that he was climbing a +steep hill in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he had called for help to a +lady standing above him near the path, and when he took her hand he +recognized her as the lady to whom the minister had introduced him. He +declared that he really wished to set up a home again, but his first +impression of that lady was decidedly unfavorable. The minister +unreservedly advised the widower never to let a mere dream influence him +to overcome his calm judgment. The minister said that dreams were often +contrary to fair reasoning and should not be consulted in such important +matters. A few days later the lady called on the minister to ask him if +there was "any truth in dreams." Then she greatly surprised the minister +by saying that she dreamed several times that she was on a steep bank +near a cousin's home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and as the earth began +dangerously to break beneath her feet a man caught her and supported her +to the safe path. The mysterious thing in her story was that she +recognized the man as the gentleman to whom she had been introduced that +Sunday morning, but whose name she had forgotten. She said that the +repetition of the dream "set her to thinking," and she had called to +inquire who the gentleman was and what trust could be placed in dreams. +The minister was too surprised to declare again that no faith could be +put in any dreams. The minister said nothing to her about his previous +interview with the widower and let her depart with the remark that if +the Lord intended she should marry that man the Lord would also speak to +the man about it in some clear manner. The Lord never advises one party +to enter into such a contract when he knows the other party is +unwilling. In every holy marriage both parties are equally inspired +with the spirit of God and are both absolutely convinced that the Lord +had brought them together. The minister soon wrote to the widower, +advising him to call on the lady and tell her frankly that he desired to +make her acquaintance with a view to a marriage, if both should be +satisfied that it would be right. Every reader of this incident +recognizes or feels the impression of the universal law of nature and +can prophesy safely that they would marry. The minister was not present +at the wedding, but he was informed by those who did attend the ceremony +that the bridegroom told the guests the history of their dreams and +claimed that they were "obeying the voice of God" when they arranged for +that marriage. + +The doubting persons who claim that the repetition of the dreams and the +accidental meetings were singular coincidences that were in no way +influenced by angel spirits, do have enough support to make the angel +theory one of faith and remove the claim from the class of "scientific +demonstrations." The facts related cannot be questioned. But the +conclusions from those facts may differ widely and still be more or less +reasonable. + +The mysterious attraction which leads the bird and the beast to choose +their mates is of the same nature as that mating instinct which prevails +universally among mankind. But man's reasoning power and his +self-control make his choice of a wife a far more complicated matter. +The healthiest, strongest, and most intellectual races are ever those +whose laws and customs allow the greatest opportunity for unprejudiced +choice in the selection of life mates. Intermarriage of family +relations, or the marriages within a narrow circle of the same race, +ever produce weaklings and often idiots. In the lands where the parents +arrange all the marriages there is but little progress and but few real +homes. Wherever the parties refuse to be guided by the higher law of +affinity, or by a recognition of Divine Providence, there will seldom be +found a real home. "Affinity" is an abused word, and is often used to +bolster up a bad cause or to excuse a cruel crime. But the close student +of anthropology ever finds that the known natural laws do not account +for every case, nor can a satisfactory solution of sex attraction in +human affairs be found without admitting the mysterious and potent force +that is only spiritual. + +Looking back over the marriage records of the Baptist Temple for thirty +years, there appear some significant facts concerning home-making by +prayer. Through those thirty years of the record-keeping there was an +average of sixteen marriages a month, or five thousand and one hundred +in thirty years. The same pastor who officiated at the marriage of the +parents also, in many cases, officiated at the weddings of the children. +Not one case of divorce can be discovered and only two cases of +estrangement. The records of many praying churches probably show the +same conditions. + +But it is a sublime, soul-satisfying thing to meditate on such a great +list of happy Christian homes. The searcher, when he notes the +birthplaces of bride and groom, finds that they often come from the most +distant places and represent nearly all the races of the world. Calcutta +united with New York, Iceland with New Orleans, Philadelphia with +Chicago, Quebec with Quakertown, Worcester (Massachusetts) with Camden +(New Jersey), Japan with Chester (Pennsylvania), Alaska with Columbia +(South Carolina), country villages with cities, obscure daughters of +prairie farmers with sailors on the Atlantic, millionaires' sons with +working girls, and thousands of members of the church of all adult ages +uniting with other members of whom they knew nothing in childhood. + +From the atheist's point of view he can see nothing in that history but +a jumble of accidents or a snarl of events which cannot be untangled. +But to the devout believer in the theory that God sends his angels to +arrange the home-making as he did in the case of Rebecca and Isaac, that +list of homes presents a sublime view of a system for the kind +distribution of Heaven's chiefest blessings. Out of the seventy-two +hundred who united with Grace Church and its missions in the thirty +years mentioned above all but twenty-nine have been married. As a +home-making agency in the history of our nation the churches must hold +the leading place. + +When the remarkable series of reported dreams became known and was being +discussed by the people, there arose many men and women with unbalanced +minds who testified to the most inconsistent miracles in connection with +their dreams. Among the letters which they sent in when testimonials +were called for there were nearly one hundred which related foolish and +impossible experiences and which made the whole debate ridiculous. But +that uprising of those who were "possessed of evil spirits" did not +prove that the one case so well established was not the work of an angel +of God. + +There may be ten thousand dreams which are of no special value and which +are caused by natural law. But God seems to use only one here and there +for his special purposes. Thousands of seeds fall on the earth, but only +one may be selected to grow. There were cases related where dreams were +specially potent to the dreamers because of the suggestions made by the +dreams to the waking minds. A dream is often very potent as a reminder, +or as a caution, and is often a providential event used in God's plan, +although the dreams in themselves may have nothing unusual about them. +There could be no clearly remembered dream which did not have some +effect on the thought and later actions of the dreamer. With that view +many dreams need not have their origin in a special visit of an angel of +God. But again we must believe that there are dreams in which the angel +of God appears to man directly, and that such dreams are possible in any +age of the human world. Each claim, therefore, to a revelation of God in +a dream should stand alone and be accepted or rejected after a careful +study of all the causes and effects. + +The experiences with the Holy Spirit during those years of constant +prayer should find a special place in this record. For there were devout +souls who seemed to be constantly filled with the divine afflatus, and +they surely enjoyed the peace of God which passeth all understanding. +Here, again, we walk near a line that cannot exactly be located and +enjoy emotions or inspirations which cannot be described. An +all-pervading joy illumined every part of the human soul. "Where are you +going so early this Sunday morning?" was often asked of the hastening +pedestrian, and it was a common experience to hear him reply, "I am +going to the morning prayer meeting in the Temple to meet the Holy +Spirit." The Holy Spirit was there awaiting him. There were Pentecostal +days--supreme hours of strange elation, seasons of heavenly bliss which +cannot be accounted for on any psychological basis. A holy brooding of a +sin-expelling spiritual atmosphere permeated by a power like a perfume. +It was an indwelling of the Spirit which carried a purifying fumigation +wherein the worshiper simply let go of himself and rested in the arms of +his heavenly Father. Many felt that sacred presence and could only +express themselves in tears. Such Pentecostal visitations of the Spirit +have doubtless come to thousands of churches and to millions of +worshipers in other places, and this experience at the Temple is not +mentioned as if it were an unusual thing where prayer is the habit of +all the people. But it confirms the history of the visits of the Holy +Spirit related in the Bible, and must be accepted as a proof of the fact +that there is communication between the spirit world and the world in +which we live in the flesh. But these spiritual conditions are so +subtle, so elusive, so delicate, that it is easy to imagine that one is +in that condition when perhaps he is not. It was so disappointing and +perplexing to the sincere and reasonable Christian to have his +communication with the Holy Spirit disturbed by a wild-eyed and +loud-mouthed "Holy Roller" or an advocate of "The Holy Ghost and Us +Society" proclaim his wild theories and tell of the silly revelations +which he claimed the Spirit had made to him. Some of those disturbers +are now in the insane asylum, where they should have been before. + + Wherever God erects a house of prayer + The devil builds a chapel there. + And 'twill be found on examination + The latter has the largest congregation. + +It is a marvel that the gospel of Christ has outlived its own advocates. +The "cranks" who testified for Christ in his day were more harmful than +were the same number of his open enemies. Because of them the people +believed that Christ himself was a wild fanatic. The believer in Christ +must try prayerfully and carefully to distinguish between the devils and +the angels of light, and determine by their fruits which claimant is +possessed by the Spirit of God and which is controlled by the spirit of +evil. + + + + +Chapter V + +Prayer and the Bible + + +There are three methods used distinctively in the study of the Bible and +upon each of them prayer has a clear effect. This fact comes out fully +in the written testimonials received from the members of the church +worshiping in the Baptist Temple. One individual may read the Bible as +he would read any other book, and, consequently, finds it dull reading. +Another studies the historical references as an archaeologist or as the +scientific specialists examine a rare specimen. To them it is a curious +and strange collection of ancient manuscripts, and such a student finds +amusement in the research. Another regards the Book as a miraculous +revelation from God, and he handles the volume with reverent care and +reads the statements it contains as he would a letter sent from heaven +direct to him. Those three classes are found in almost every religious +gathering, and it is an intensely interesting thing to observe at close +range the various effects of prayer on such a congregation. When the +leader of the prayer service approaches the Bible with the manner of a +delighted seeker after truth, and, before opening the Book, leads the +people in a direct appeal to the Divine Spirit for instruction and +inspiration, the interest of the worshipers in the Book is especially +awakened. When the leader prays fervently and with frank sincerity that +the passages of the Bible to be read shall be illumined or be made alive +with special meaning and new emphasis, then the Book will be an +interesting volume to nearly all of the gathering. And when the leader +is himself expecting a special revelation from that Book at that time +his personal magnetism combines with his manner to help the worshiper +into a receptive, expectant state of mind. The people then expect to +hear "an important message from a most important person." The +helpfulness of those conditions anyone would understand, as they are in +accord with human experience in other gatherings. But the effect of the +prayer in bringing to each person present a different message from the +same verse puts the matter over into the realm of the supernatural. + +At one prayer meeting at the Temple, when a severe storm had cut down +the attendance to a number under twenty, the prayerful attitude of all +present made the session one of special spiritual illumination. The +Scriptures were read with accuracy and natural emphasis, and then each +listener was requested to state informally what was the chief lesson +which the reading brought to him. Each person present received a +distinct and helpful suggestion differing from the suggestions made to +any of the others. It is that well-established fact, so often +experienced, that makes the Bible a book unlike any other. In this, too, +is shown the importance of persuading everyone to read the Bible for +and by himself. It seems, however, to be universally true that when the +Bible is prayerfully, intelligently read aloud each praying listener +receives some message of special importance to himself. While all that +evening heard the same words from the same mouth, yet the circumstances +of each life were different from every other; the experiences had been +unlike, the inherited dispositions were different, the meaning of the +words was shaded by the variation in their home use, and a full +allowance was freely made for those differing effects. But those +considerations cannot, to the calm, critical student of the inspiration +of the Bible, account for the special and mysterious messages which come +to each participant in the meeting. The suggestions are often beyond the +application of the law of "the association of ideas." They cannot be +explained by any of the known psychological laws which seem generally to +govern the human mind. This experience with the Bible is the best +evidence of its divine inspiration. Archaeological, psychological, +etymological, or historical analysis cannot establish the accuracy of +the Bible so surely as that actual experience. The best proof is +subjective. The secular argument that the Bible carries on its face the +evidence that the writers were all inspired by a "good motive" is surely +an excellent reason for believing the Bible to be "inspired." A holy +motive, apparent in its wise communications, is clearly shown in the +Bible. The etymologist who rests his case on the conclusion that the +words "inspired by God" were formerly written "inspired by the Good," +and that the "All Good" being is the ideal God, is not far from the safe +definition. That does not in any way conflict with the theory that "all +Scripture, inspired by the 'All Good,' is profitable for doctrine, for +reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." The +complications into which the narrow theologian or technical philosopher +falls when attempting to reason about the Almighty often makes the +study bewildering and unprofitable. The testimony of the good and great +through all the ages that every line of the Book is written with the +unselfish purpose to do good is sufficient warrant for the common reader +in concluding that it has some unusual inspiration. + +The question was often discussed at the Temple whether it was safe after +prayer to open the Bible at random and be guided by the first verse on +which the eye rested. Some claimed that it was always safe to trust it. +Others said that it was only occasionally that they found it to be +reasonably instructive. Still others believed that the ascribing of such +magic, or miraculous, power to the Book was clearly a form of forbidden +idolatry. But the majority of the praying Bible readers felt convinced +that the selection of texts at random could not be trusted. Yet here +again we find strong evidence that sometimes the worshiper is directed +to a particular record which seems to be selected by a divine mind. +Again, it is wholly a matter of faith. The boy who asked his father for +a silver dollar and found one in the road which some traveler had +accidentally dropped, concluded that there was no design on the part of +his father to give him the dollar. But when he found a dollar there the +third time his conclusion that his father had placed all three of the +dollars there for him was not unreasonable, but, nevertheless, +erroneous. So while the Lord surely has established certain laws or +customs which seem permanent, yet he has the power and may change the +laws or allow exceptions, and one cannot believe in prayer without +believing that such changes are sometimes made. It is a far greater +strain upon human credulity not to believe it than it is to believe it. +The careful use of common sense in the interpretation of Biblical or +unusual events, examples, and records of wisdom is ever the safe and +sane proceeding. If one should pray for divine direction and opened the +Bible at random to find the Lord's advice he should always examine the +verse to see if its teaching or direction accorded with his petition. In +a "call" to the ministry there must be a conviction of duty in the soul +and also a road providentially opened to the would-be laborer. So in all +the thousands of answers to prayer at the Temple there was found a +conjunction of circumstances which showed that the worker was called by +the same Lord who had a work to be done. + +The will of man is a strong force and is in itself an effectual, fervent +prayer. The Lord prospers the person whose righteous will is decided, +persistent, and uncompromising. The too-frequent consultation of Bible +texts for hints or for direction shows a habit of doubt which is often a +clear evidence of weakness. But in this, as in almost every other +experiment, it is the consensus of opinion that the Lord does often +inspire the Bible, especially for certain devout seekers, and that he +inspires the soul with a keen, sensitive apprehension and appreciation +of the special revelation. The spiritually minded man or woman is the +only one who can interpret a spiritual book. The chief value of the +Bible is as a spiritual guide. It is the only book which explains the +Creator's revelation to this world, and is the only one which gives a +trustworthy description of the spiritual world. What a shadow would pass +over the earth, and what destruction, devastation, and misery would be +experienced, if, in one moment, all knowledge of the Bible were crossed +out! Sane men who reverently pray for the inspiration when they read the +Scriptures are the only safe guides to its sacred meaning. All who came +to the Temple to pray seem to have been lead to the Bible at once, and +thousands have learned to love it. To those who have prayed long over it +it has become a continual feast. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Health, Healing, and Faith, by Russell H. 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