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diff --git a/36899-8.txt b/36899-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0cc031 --- /dev/null +++ b/36899-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1851 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Praying for Money, 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: Praying for Money + +Author: Russell H. Conwell + +Release Date: July 29, 2011 [EBook #36899] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRAYING FOR MONEY *** + + + + +Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Juliet Sutherland and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + Praying for Money + + + Spiritual Telepathy + Day of Pentecost + Axioms + Praying for Money + Unanswered Prayers + Prayer for Others + Forms of Prayer + + + _By_ + RUSSELL H. CONWELL + + + VOLUME 9 + + NATIONAL + EXTENSION UNIVERSITY + + 597 Fifth Avenue, New York + + +EFFECTIVE PRAYER + +Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +Chapter I + +Spiritual Telepathy + + +It would be no more surprising for the discovery of a means of direct +spirit communication with the spiritual life than it was to be convinced +that Marconi had discovered a sure method of telegraphing and +telephoning without wires. The discovery of the laws which made +electricity a servant of mankind was an astonishing revelation which was +as unbelievable as is the law of spiritual telepathy. Human telepathy, +which is a mysterious means of communication between persons without the +use of known material agency, is in the initial and experimental stage. +But the possibility of such thought transference is generally admitted. +The psychical researchers into that science should be encouraged in +every way. On the eve of every such advance in human achievement there +always appear a host of superstitious dreamers and wild prophets, even +in the study of science, who hinder the sane searcher and often becloud +the mind of the student who is on the direct road to the needed +discovery. + +Spiritualism, which is here used as a comprehensive term, frequently +confuses the deliberations of honest truth-seekers with the advertised +works of deceivers, but it includes much in its curriculum that is worth +careful study. Among the host of disordered or weak minds who claim so +much that is foolish in connection with spiritual revelations there are +a respectable number of thoughtful, conservative searchers who cannot be +easily deceived. In all the successful "isms" in a Christian +civilization, and in all the popular religious sects, there is ever some +basic truth. Some one idea is so true and so strongly emphasized that it +often carries along a back-breaking load of absurd theories. The +thoughtless throng hears of several well-authenticated cases of fraud, +or of absurd teaching, in connection with spiritual meetings, or +messages, and leaps to the conviction that all claims of so-called +spiritualists are not worthy of consideration. So many thousands have +tried so sincerely to recall their dead without the least sign of an +answer that they refuse to examine the testimony of great men, like Sir +Oliver Lodge, whose belief differs from their belief. They will not read +what great minds have expressed on the subject. But the great +discoveries recently made in materialistic sciences have led thoughtful +men to hope for great discoveries in the relation of this existence to +another life. This expectation, or strong hope, made the study of the +spiritual revelations and conditions at the Temple a most thrilling +occupation. + +The reports of the answers to prayer so often use the words "happened to +think" that the observer cannot escape the conviction that either the +living human mind does send spirit messages or that some mysterious +power acts for it in forwarding messages. The great list of mysterious +impulses and intuitions which were noticed in those interesting seasons +of prayer could not have been all accidental nor could they be classed +under the natural laws of cause and effect. The connection between the +cause as seen in the prayer and the effect as related in the +"happened-to-think" result is often wholly hidden. + +A mother in Philadelphia prayed for her prodigal son and at that exact +time the son, alone in a Chicago hotel, felt an uncontrollable influence +to turn back to his home. A father prayed that his son might decide to +be a missionary, and the son, a sailor off the coast of South America, +at that same moment made the decision. A wife prayed that her husband +might be sent home sober. At the time she was kneeling by the kitchen +table he was waiting at the saloon to be served with brandy, but he +"happened to think" that his mother had prayed for him on her deathbed +and he could not take the liquor. + +A doctor, sadly defeated in his fight for the life of his patient, went +to his bedroom and prayed for light, and he "happened to think" that the +patient might have swallowed some piece of metal. There was no report of +the like symptoms in any case he could find in the medical books. But so +deep was the impression that he secured a powerful magnet and drew forth +the death-dealing needle. A merchant had an offer for his entire stock +which seemed favorable, and, as he was in need, the offer seemed +providential. But while the suggestion from the pulpit that each +worshiper pray for success in his occupation was being adopted he prayed +for his business. At that hour his son in Denver was also praying in +church. When he there thought of his father he decided fully to go home +and enter business with him. So completely did he decide that the next +morning he telegraphed to his surprised and delighted father that he +would come home if his father needed his assistance. The joy of having +his son at home again overcame his determination to complete a +favorable bargain, and he declined the offer promptly. Before the son +reached Philadelphia a sudden change in the paper market doubled the +sale value of the father's stock. + +One writer for a daily newspaper was meditating on some object of prayer +in the silence of the praying congregation when the idea of a textbook +on journalism for college use came to his mind for the first time. It +led directly to a series of syndicate articles which enabled him to +purchase the home for which he had been praying. A mechanic who had been +out of work, owing to a fire, prayed for a job. At the same time a +builder who was a stranger in the church was praying for a competent +partner. When the prayers were finished they "happened" to look at each +other across the church and each wondered why the other looked at him so +intently. The pews in which they sat were at right angles and it was a +natural thing for the occupant of one pew to glance at the inmate of +the other pew. After church each approached the other with the +simultaneous expression, "It seems to me that we have met before." But +that was their first meeting. Their firm is now engaged in large +construction work in concrete houses and factories. A servant girl in a +small home prayed for a dress suitable for church and at that hour her +mistress was visiting a friend who remarked that the photograph of a +deceased daughter greatly resembled the visitor's servant girl. A few +minutes later the friend of the mistress said: "I wonder if my +daughter's dresses would fit your servant? If they will fit her, there +are here two new gowns that the dressmaker sent home after my daughter's +death." + +So a young man, without advanced education, prayed hard for an +opportunity to get mental training to fit him for the ministry. At the +same moment a principal of a New Jersey academy was in the gallery far +removed from the young man and he prayed for direction in finding a +suitable janitor. The academy principal mentioned his need to one of the +church members who "happened" to know the young man. It was arranged +that the young man should work for his board and tuition and have five +hours a day for study. The worshiper described himself in his sketch of +the answer to his prayers as one whom "God has led into the fulfillment +of all his highest ambitions." He is pastor of a strong church in +Cleveland. A little tot prayed for a "singing doll," and her mother told +her that a doll was too small a matter to pray for. But the father +overheard the conversation, and, after purchasing the most costly one he +could find at his noon hour, he left it on the little one's bed in the +night when everyone else was supposed to be asleep. + +A widow prayed for some leadership in the sale of some wild land in +Louisiana. Her relatives urged her to let it go, as the "taxes will soon +eat it all." But the unexpected payment of a debt due her led her to +feel that, as she had been temporarily provided for, she would wait. In +about seven weeks she read in a paper that a company had struck oil on +the next section to her estate. She consequently leased the mineral +privileges of her land at a high price. + +A minister prayed for a sermon text and found that the Sunday-school +superintendent had thoughtlessly left in the Bible the Sabbath before a +slip of paper on which was written the title which Mary Magdalene used +when addressing Jesus in the Garden near his tomb: "Rabboni." The +minister now remembers that sermon when nearly all others are forgotten. +A student whose mental faculties were unusually dull for his age prayed +that he might pass his examination in mathematics. That night in his +dreams his subconscious self worked out plainly on a blackboard the two +hardest problems. A farmer prayed for some deciding hint in his choice +of seed for his land. On his way home he held a bundle in his lap which +was in a newspaper wrapper. In one column on the wrapper directly under +his eyes was an article on the soils and products of his country which +opened his vision and made his farming safe and profitable. An Alsatian +girl prayed that her father and mother might come to America. They knew +nothing of her petition, but on that same day and hour, allowing for the +difference in the reckoning of time, the parents resolved to come to +America, and financial aid was promised them. A lawyer was asking the +Lord for some clew to lost evidence, so necessary to his case to be +tried the next day, when the name of a witness whose relation to the +case he had not before thought of, and whose name had been long +forgotten, was suggested to him. While doubtful of the value of the +witness, he sought his name in the directory and found that the lost +witness was all-sufficient for the case. A dealer in real estate asked +the Lord to prosper a proposed transaction, if it were for the best, and +to hinder it if it would be injurious. He unintentionally omitted the +word "not" from the draft of a contract which he drew the next day and +the "accidental" omission brought him to unexpected possession of a +profitable block of houses. + +To the unbeliever all these testimonials prove but little. But to the +experienced observer of repeated answers to prayer they are conclusive +proofs of God's disposition to answer the "effectual, fervent prayer of +the righteous man." As a woman may feel when she puts her weary life +into the care of a strong and affectionate husband, the trusting +believer in prayer rests in God in a peaceful condition of soul, which +passeth all understanding. + + + + +Chapter II + +Day of Pentecost + + +That great day at the Baptist Temple stands out in the history of the +local church there even as the greater Pentecost must have been first in +the memory of the disciples at Jerusalem. No one who entered personally, +body and soul, into the services of that Easter in Philadelphia can +possibly forget the overpowering impressions of the Divine Spirit. +"Tongues of fire" seemed to the spectator no longer an extravagant +metaphor to use. For the sake of a careful examination of the question +whether the baptism of the spirit is of God or men, the plain facts are +here stated. + +It was Easter morning, 1893, when the sun began to gild the City Hall +tower. People flocked to the lower hall of the Temple from all +directions. Each greeted the other with the words, "He is risen," and +faces glowed as they assembled. There was no prearranged program and no +announcements. The people began to sing with enthusiasm before the +leader ascended the platform. Then came the moment of silent prayer. It +seemed as if "the place was shaken." The whole company trembled as if +they realized they were in the visible presence of the Almighty. The +most conservative shed tears. There were many brief expressions from the +audience, and often three were speaking at the same time. There was no +shouting, no riotous disorder, no wild movements of uncontrolled +emotion. Excited crowds at political gatherings, angry mobs, and +panic-stricken crowds seem to have a form of that emotional common +pressure. But that Easter gathering was a surrender of soul to the +telepathic influence of a common spirit. One elderly Quaker shouted at +the close of the meeting, "I would like to stay here forever," reminding +all of Peter's call for three tabernacles on the Mount of +Transfiguration. There was an intermission of an hour before the +morning preaching service in the auditorium. But the people would not go +out for breakfast. Some fasted all day. They talked about Christ and of +their home in Glory and exchanged promises to pray for friends, for +missions, and for churches. Before the hour of the established morning +service the large upper Temple had overflowed. There had been no +advertisement of the services. There were no unusual decorations of the +auditorium and no special music provided. The preacher had not prepared +a sermon, nor had he read over that morning a selected chapter. He had +been too much crowded with visitors and pressing calls of the needy and +dying to devote even a half an hour to mental preparation. But no +feeling of doubt or of weakness entered his heart. He felt a strange +support and uplift of soul which kept away all fears. He had not decided +to preach at all, and hesitated whether he had not best venture on an +"experience meeting" in the time usually allowed for the Easter sermon. +But the choir was inspired; they, too, felt the impression of a solemn +convocation. They never sang like that before, and the old tunes were +vibrant with a resurrection life. The people sang and wept. City +officials, principals of the schools, court judges, and merchants, let +the tears fall. There seemed to be an absolute surrender of all classes +to a common pressure toward God. The preacher arose with a most powerful +impulse to kneel and weep. He forgot to announce a text, but he began to +talk brokenly on the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene in the +Garden near the tomb. His vision of the scene was so real to him that he +has never through the years lost that clear view of it. The preacher +seemed to be there in the Garden. He saw the Lord; he heard that divine +voice; he saw that lovely face, the smile which greeted Mary. The +preacher heard the conversation, saw the excited woman fall at her +Saviour's feet, and heard him say, "I am not yet ascended unto my +Father!" + +Oh, where is there a language to describe to mortal men the +all-pervading glory and the thrills of angelic joy which the preacher +experienced under those circumstances? To himself he seemed to be taken +out of his physical limitations. He was not himself. He was a higher +personality. He saw visions of beauty and heard the harps of Glory. He +lacks no words nor thoughts. He speaks the ideas which are given him. +There is no other joy on earth with which to compare that. It is so +unlike the richest or sweetest emotions which other forms of happiness +awaken. It is supreme! Unaccountable things occurred that morning which +no prolonged or hard study has explained. The preacher cannot feel sure +that he was inspired, and hesitates to mention the facts lest men should +doubt their truth or ascribe to him an egotistical claim to sanctity. +But the experience with that sermon, and sometimes with other addresses, +presents a psychological study which none of the authorities on mental +law have yet explained. The stenographic report of the sermon showed +that the speaker quoted from Homer, Justinian, Macaulay, Shakespeare, +Longfellow, and Molière accurately, without hesitation, in the onrush of +his excited speech. But when he read them in the shorthand report he +could not remember that he ever had read those quotations and was +absolutely unable to recall that he used such words. The interpretation +which he unhesitatingly gave of the scene in the Garden and of the words +of Jesus were also new to him and caused him anxious hours of research +afterward to learn whether his views could have been correct. But no +sermon in his forty years of work in the pulpit has proven so reasonable +or so generally acceptable to the devout critics of Scriptural exegesis. +He has tried to account for the quotations by accrediting them to the +telepathic influence of stronger minds in the audience who were familiar +with them. But that, too, can be only a guess. The mystery is not +cleared up by such speculation. Perhaps the preacher should have called +in some one else to write this chapter; but that "some one else" is not +on call. Hence, these incidents are set down without a claim to uncommon +inspiration. + +Probably thousands of priests and preachers have felt a like exaltation. +But the closing hymn which began with general participation by all the +people was so broken before its close that the last verse was carried +only by a few. The people wept for joy. The preacher knelt at his chair +and prayed for aid to lead in the prayer and benediction. But the +benediction was not heard, and the audience was slowly convinced that +the benediction had been pronounced by the observation that the minister +dropped his hands and walked away. + +The Bible-school service in the afternoon was as solemn and impressive +as the morning. Many of the hundreds baptized that day expressed +themselves as having felt the dovelike Spirit of Peace descending on +them, too. Nearly, if not all, the scholars and visitors turned +sincerely and permanently to the Lord. + +The evening services were given up wholly to praise. The rejoicing was +deep and strong. The crowd standing in the aisles and on the steps did +not move until after the benediction. The number of those in the +sittings was three thousand one hundred and thirty-four, and of those +standing who got inside the doors was seven hundred and eighty-three. +Out of that number over three hundred decided openly to confess their +belief in the Christ. These numbers are not especially great when +compared with those of the great revivals, and are only mentioned here +for the purpose of study. Over seven thousand converts have been taken +into the membership of the Temple in thirty-nine years, but they have +not been the direct results of seasons of special revival. + +Great were the expectations of the church at that Easter as they +prepared for a great immediate harvest. But it was not gathered then. +The personal, individual gathering of converts continued as usual. The +great Pentecostal visitation seemed to have had another purpose. Each +candidate for baptism as usual required individual instruction and often +continued prayer before he or she could be thoroughly convinced of the +necessity of a public confession of our Lord. + +But the members of the church had in the Pentecost received a new +baptism of spiritual fire, and the interest in missions and in the Bible +was greatly increased. Five missions were established which soon became +strong churches. Young men arose by the score to study for the ministry, +and large gifts were made to the Temple University. Many kinds of local +enterprises for the poor, the drunken, the foreigners, and the aged were +opened by them in the city and suburbs. + + + + +Chapter III + +Axioms + + +The prayerful soul must be sure that "God is," and that he heeds the +call of his children. The religious soul must believe in a real Divine +Being. One condition necessary to successful prayer is a fixed belief in +the Maker of all things. The Christian should keep his brain supplied +with "axioms." An axiom is a self-evident truth, an immovable, +unchangeable fact. It is a fundamental principle of which all sane men +are cognizant. It is a statement of truth which is below and above all +argument--a truth which all men recognize as a part of their mental +existence. An axiom is simply a reference to a necessary condition in +the framework of the human constitution. Every living man acts on those +conditions, whether he recognizes them or not. The man whose common +sense recognizes those immovable principles builds his belief and +action on them safely. Prayer, like all other religious things or +conditions, needs to have a sure foundation. Therefore, axioms which are +used as the basis of mathematical science are true everywhere, and the +worshiper needs to recognize them as fully as the civil engineer. Here +are presented some of the axioms on which the believer safely rests his +faith. They cannot be proven, because they are vitally and essentially +true. Their nonexistence is positively unthinkable. If these axioms are +not essential to all mental action, then the world is a dreamy +unreality. + +"Two parallel lines will never run together or cross each other." All +recognize the absolute truth of the statement, and yet no one ever went +to the end of the lines to get local evidence of the fact. "Two halves +are equal to the whole," states the college professor before his class. +He would be an idiot if he tried to "prove it." He may illustrate the +idea by cutting an apple into halves and putting them together again. +But the essential truth of the proposition every mind had accepted +before he mentioned it. "Two quantities or objects which are equal to a +third quantity or object are equal to each other." A boy smiles at the +waste of time in telling him such an axiomatic or self-evident fact. But +the instructor is not attempting to inculcate a new principle, but +rather to call attention emphatically to an immovable fact woven into +the vital fabric of all human minds. The thinker who stands squarely on +those fundamental facts can trust himself and can be trusted by all. A +careful review of one thousand and twenty letters relating to +established cases of successful prayer showed that the believer accepted +as fundamentally true axiomatic facts of which the following is a +partial list. We know only because the mental knowledge is an essential +part of our intellectual existence. We therefore know: + + That two and two make four. + + That we exist. + + That we are independent, thinking beings. + + That there is moral obligation to do right. + + That there is good and evil. + + That our essential self is not the body. + + That every effect has an adequate cause. + + That all things made had a Maker. + + That there must have been a First Cause. + + That all things change. + + That nothing can be annihilated. + + That wickedness should be punished. + + That goodness should be rewarded. + + That all happiness depends on the state of mind. + + That there is a permeating spirit moving on all the events about + mankind. + + That man must eat to live. + + That when man has done his best, yet his success still depends on + Providence--often called Good Fortune or Good Luck. + + That prayer can influence external conditions. + + That light is not darkness. + + That love is not hate. + + That up is not down. + + That the future is not the past. + + That all men must leave the body. + + That mankind is sinful. + + That somewhere justice must be done to clear up the inequalities of + this life. + + That men essentially evil would not be at home or welcomed in a + heaven occupied only by the good. + + That worshiping an ideal of perfect righteousness makes the + worshiper like the ideal, as a perfect model makes a more perfect + statue. + + That some things have more intrinsic value than others. + + That the highest satisfaction of soul is in the communion with God. + + That the soul is indestructible and must live forever. + +These axioms are unchangeably true, and all doubts or attempts to +"prove" them bring only confusion and partial insanity. To doubt +generally that we see or feel or smell or think is to undermine all +knowledge and to make life a crazy jumble. Some things we do know; it is +suicidal to doubt them. These are mankind's chief good. They constitute +the world's greatest treasure, which is "everyday common sense." If +common sense, unadulterated, be given any man he will worship God. The +keenest scientist cannot safely leap off that one ship. + +One of the testimonials wherein the author, who was never a student in +the "school of doubt," tells why he came to feel the necessity of +prayer relates to one day's experience. He had decided, after much +thought, just how he would use his time before he left his little home +in the morning. He had made up his mind to take a trolley car, but a +heavy truck had fallen on the track, so he was compelled to change his +plan and walk. He reached his small store one half hour late, and a +customer that he had arranged to meet had called and gone. He intended +to call on a salesman, of whom he was to purchase a new stock of goods, +and the telephone was out of order, owing to the effects of the +electricity of a distant thunderstorm. He sent for a cab for the purpose +of visiting the salesman at the hotel in another part of the city, but +the horse attached to the cab fell at the store door and broke necessary +parts of the harness. The accident made his proposed trip useless, +because of the delay. He ordered his lunch which he usually ate in the +back store, but he did not get time to eat it, owing to a visit from a +salesman from New York, who wished him to take a large bankrupt stock +of a new line of goods. The coming profits seemed large and sure. He +would have missed that trade had the car been on time or the telephone +in order or had the horse not fallen. Even the lunch he had so +confidently expected to eat was thrown away. He went home at night with +an entire change in his plans, and entered on a new line of trade. His +wife was absent, attending on a sick neighbor, and his evening paper was +too torn to read. When he knelt at his bedside that night to pray the +feeling of utter dependence on God's providence made him throw himself +on the Lord as he had never done before. And after he was in bed he +could hear his daughter entertaining her company in the parlor by +singing, "I'll go where He wants me to go." That merchant was a man of +great discernment and honest daily piety, and is said to have acted as +agent for the government in the war time in the purchase of ninety +millions' worth of his line of goods. + +Another writer told of a young student for the ministry who came home on +a visit to his village church and tried to prove that the world was not +created by a personal God, that "evil and sickness are only delusions," +and that "we do not exist." But an old farmer, noted for honesty, and +whose common sense had caused the people to insist on his holding for +years the office of mayor, arose after that leader of the meeting sat +down, and remarked, "I still believe that, after all that has been said, +my cows are real cows, and my wife is real, Christ is real, and my tax +bills are real; and I believe that that young man will some day come to +himself, and admit that he was a theological idiot." But that old farmer +also testified that he did not feel the need of asking Christ for +definite things, but declared that prayer was his daily recreation, and +all things worked together for good. + + + + +Chapter IV + +Praying for Money + + +In all the forty years of praying, of which only a partial record could +be kept, there was no topic more satisfactory than the experience of +such a large company in praying for money. There was no prearranged plan +of procedure and no speculative purpose to obtain the help of God in the +accumulation of property. But for some reason, which is not now +recalled, there was given out for an evening's meditation the topic, +"Shall we pray for money?" There was a strong division of opinion, some +asserting that we are not authorized to pray for anything but for the +Holy Spirit. Others asserted with complete confidence that prayer should +be made for anything which we felt we needed. The majority appeared to +be assured that men must work and seek only "the kingdom of God," and +that they should believe that all other things would be given from God +as we should have need. Fortunately or providentially the men and women +who held to the theory that God commands his disciples to pray for money +determined to put the matter to a fair test. They were led by a +consecrated deacon, at whose house they held the weekly meetings. They +did not ask the Lord for money at first, but prayed daily for +instruction on the important question whether it was a duty, or was +permissible, for men to pray for success in their secular business. +There were four men and several business women whose experience was +especially valuable. One of them was the owner or partner in a +bookbindery. The company of believers devoted an entire evening to +prayer for the prosperity of his business. They agreed, further, to pray +for that one thing in unison at twelve o'clock each day for one week. +The conditions were especially for observation, as the owner of the +business was a devout, unselfish Christian who had determined, years +before, to give a tenth of all his income to the Lord's work, and he +stood willing to give his all if any good cause demanded such a +sacrifice. + +The first week was without visible result, and some who were weak in +faith abandoned the attempt to test the matter in that way. But the +small number left began to study the conditions to which the Lord had +required obedience in order to be certain of a favorable answer. Their +first conclusion was that it is right to ask the Lord for the +necessities of life, which always included food, clothing, shelter, +health, and worship. The good deacon stated that he had all of those +things. He, however, stated that he owed quite a large sum in his +business obligations, and he had prayed to the Lord to aid him in paying +his debts. Then with one accord that company decided to pray for that +one thing. + +The amount of the debts cannot now be recalled, but it was several +thousand dollars, contracted for business furniture and machinery. +Although there are several witnesses living, it is difficult to state +with assured accuracy the amounts involved. But to those who shared in +the experiment the principal facts stand out clearly in the memory. The +first noon prayer was on Wednesday, which was the day following the +prayer meeting. The deacon, after his noon lunch, went into a publishing +house on Chestnut Street, as was his custom almost daily. There he was +introduced to a gentleman from Washington, D. C., who told the deacon +that "for the first time in life" he had forgotten his train. He did not +know the deacon's business when he told the deacon that he must return +to Washington without visiting New York, as his business in Washington +could not be left longer without immediate attention. But in his +explanation he mentioned that he intended to give out a contract in New +York for the binding of blank books for the government. When the deacon +mentioned the fact that he was a bookbinder, and doing the same kind of +work, immediately the gentleman became interested, and remarked that he +did not know before that such work could be done in Philadelphia. He +made some inquiry in the store and, finding the deacon's reputation for +integrity and honesty was very high, he arranged with the deacon to put +in new machinery, to hire another floor in the building, and agreed that +the government should make an advance payment on the first order. + +The deacon hurried to another member of the prayer circle who was a +jeweler also on Chestnut Street and, with a tear, declared that the Lord +had already shown his hand in his business. The third day, as the deacon +was looking at some machinery, the salesman told the deacon that he had +heard that a New York bindery was going out of business on account of a +larger opportunity for the firm in another line of work, and the +salesman advised the deacon to go over and see it. When the next weekly +meeting of the prayer circle was held the deacon had bought in New York +all the machinery that he needed, all in good condition, and at an +astonishingly low price. Ever after that the deacon, when he entered his +office in the morning, shut himself in for ten minutes and prayed for +the Lord's direction in his business. + +Another prayer test followed by the agreement of that prayer circle to +pray for the jeweler, who was one of the circle and whose business was +in a most deplorable condition. The jeweler was old and forgetful, and +his son had moved out of the city rather than stay among his +acquaintances when the inevitable financial wreck should come. The +jeweler stated his condition fully to the meeting, and even declared his +intention of calling a meeting of his creditors as a preliminary to +bankruptcy proceedings. He said that the condition was so manifestly his +own fault that all he dared ask of the Lord was that the creditors would +be lenient toward him. + +Two or three days after that meeting the jeweler's son was called to +Philadelphia to attend the funeral of a member of his wife's family. +After the funeral, while talking with a manufacturer from Baltimore, who +was one of the mourners, the son said that his father was a first-class +clock maker of forty years' experience, but that he was unfitted for the +management of finances. The manufacturer said that he needed an +experienced man to superintend a new factory in Baltimore, then under +construction. The son advised his father to write to the manufacturer +for the job to begin work when he should close his Chestnut Street +store. The jeweler wrote a long description of his troubles, and asked +for employment. The manufacturer, after receiving it, took a train to +Philadelphia and then spent the afternoon and the greater part of the +night in trying to make a reasonable estimation of the value of the +Chestnut Street business. The outcome of that examination was that the +manufacturer took over the whole business, paid off the debts, and +formed partnership with the jeweler which opened into a prosperous +trade. + +An old lady who must have been one of that prayer circle wrote that she +recalled the fact that the circle agreed to pray for her business, which +was then a "notion store" on Columbia Avenue, Philadelphia. She writes +that soon after the united prayer for her business began there was a +fire which destroyed the store next to her lot. In the reconstruction of +the next store the owner was anxious to build larger and offered her an +unexpectedly large sum as a bonus and also desired to combine in a +partnership with her to put both stores into one general store. The +bonus she invested in an annuity, and the business afterward paid her +enough to live in all the comforts of a cultured life. + +It is said that everyone of that prayer circle became prosperous, but it +may be helpful to mention one more of the most remarkable cases. A young +clerk in a great national bank, who came from a farm to learn what he +could there of finances, stated freely that he was getting all that he +was worth to the bank, and that he was contented with his financial +condition. He told the circle that he did not wish to be included in +their prayer list. But when the reports began to come in of the +successful prayers and the circle grew in numbers and in interest he +began to consider how much more good he could do if he had a larger +income. He handled thousands of dollars daily, and checked up often the +accounts of prosperous and generous business men of the city. At last +the desire to be of more use to the Lord led him to begin to pray for +money. Finally, he confessed his changed attitude and asked the circle +to give one week of prayer for him. A few days later an epidemic of the +grippe laid in bed all but three of the bank's employees. One day the +assistant cashier and the clerk were the only persons on time at the +opening of the bank. They persuaded a vice president of another bank to +come to their assistance, and he was so impressed with the young +clerk's efficiency and coolness that he offered him the place of +assistant cashier in his own bank. The position was finally accepted, +and led to his promotion, a few years after, to the presidency of the +bank. + +The experience of that prayer circle was more or less the general +experience of the church members. The suggestions of a church service, +the aid to an honest and industrious life, and the greater health of +church members, generally confirm everywhere the fact that the Christian +faith and habits are surely the most favorable for "the life that now +is, as well as for the life which is to come." + +In connection with this phase of our narrative there should be written a +brief account of an experience which surprised even the most +conservative minds. Appeals for subscriptions have been made rarely in +the Temple. Such appeals have accomplished but little. The regular gifts +of the many persons have steadily paid all expenses and provided enough +over to finally pay off all debts. + +But there were seasons when unusual sums were needed and when the money +was furnished from some unexpected sources seemingly in direct answers +to special prayer. On one occasion there was an especially large sum +given into the treasury when it was imperatively needed and when no +notice of the need had been given from the pulpit. On one Sunday morning +the preacher could find no other satisfactory subject on which to build +a sermon, and he talked with the people about the Bible-school lesson +for that day. The subject included a description of how the Jews were +required to select the best lamb of the flock for an offering to God. +They did not hope that God would hear their prayers unless they gave +their best to the Lord. The sermon closed with a sentence or two of +application to our own times. The emphatic exhortation stated that +offerings and prayers should go together, but the offering should +precede the prayer. At the evening service some person sent to the +pulpit a note, asking that the printed order of services "be changed so +as, thereafter, to substitute the word 'offering' for the word +'collection.'" The minister, acting on the impulse of the moment, +announced a change in the order of the services, and said that as the +ancient custom of making an offering before asking the Lord for a gift +or blessing was surely acceptable to God, an "offering" would be taken +before the prayer, instead of after the prayer. No unusual sum came in +that evening. The notes of the church were coming due ten days later. +But those debts were not thought of by minister or ushers in any +relation to that offering, though prayers were often made for the help +of the Lord in the payment of the debt. + +The following Sunday morning the collection was said to be the largest +ever received by the ushers; while the fact was not mentioned from the +pulpit, it was the subject of general comment among the people after +service. At the evening service the offering was so great that one of +the ushers related how he had to go out and empty the basket he was +passing and come back to finish taking the offering. Nothing else had +been done or said, and the church notes were paid as a matter of course. +But the prayers made that day were made immediately before the offering +was taken. The question was put to the audience twice to ascertain if +anyone who made a special offering on that particular day had not been +answered, and there was no exception in the mass of testimony to the +efficiency of each prayer that day. The recitals of the marvels which +followed that prayerful offering were too startling for general belief. +The reports may have been exaggerated in the time of such general +excitement, but the people had complied with the conditions, and God had +answered clearly according to his promise. They had "brought the tithes +into the storehouse," and the Lord had poured out the blessings as an +infallible result. The letters which came to the officials of the church +relating incidents concerning the effects of the prayers made that day +were not filed then as they have been in later years, and the record +here must depend wholly on the memory of two or three witnesses. + +The following partial list of cases is very nearly correct. The cases of +sudden and in some cases instantaneous recovery of the sick were related +by hundreds of people. In one case a poor man whose only living child +was insane put his money into the basket that morning and prayed for his +child's recovery. Both he and she often declared that while being +forcibly given a cold bath at the time that offering was made she felt +"a loud report in her head like the report of a pistol," and her mind +was found to be normal in all respects from that instant. The father +went to the sanitarium that afternoon, as was his custom on the Sabbath, +and his daughter met him at the door in her right mind. + +A lady sold her best clothes and all her jewelry on Saturday and brought +the whole of the proceeds and gave all as an offering as she prayed for +her own healing. She suffered greatly from sciatic rheumatism, inherited +from several generations. She fell on the front steps of the church, as +they were helping her to the carriage, and arose to find the pain had +permanently disappeared. + +One old gentleman who was involved in a ruinous lawsuit over a lease of +his little shop brought all the profits of the previous week and +deposited them as he prayed for a legal and just victory. The next day +or on the second day his goods were so badly damaged by the smoke and +water, caused by a fire in the store next door, that the insurance +company took the stock at his valuation and the landlord withdrew his +suit. + +Another case generally believed, but not fully confirmed, was of an +Englishman who, not having money enough to pay his fare to Australia, +deposited all that he did have into the offering and prayed for his +passage. It was asserted and not contradicted that he found a +one-hundred-dollar bill the next day in his wallet or in his bureau +drawer, placed there by some friend whom he could not discover. Another +related how she determined to risk all on one prayer, and gave all as +she prayed. When the plumbers came to repair a leak the next week after +the prayer they discovered a loose board in the floor under which her +father had secretly hidden his money. The sum she found was much more +than enough to pay off the overdue mortgage on her cottage. + +There were probably fifty such cases reported in detail at the time. But +a solemn sense of sacredness connected with those experiences pervaded +the assemblies, and no notice of the cases was given from the pulpit. +And yet a calm and careful examination of the results of that exercise +of faith has often suggested a strong doubt whether that experience did +not do more harm than good. + +The direct and immediate results convinced the devout believers that +when a true servant of God makes a sincere offering God will invariably +accept the offering and answer in some manner his petition fully. But it +seems impossible to find the line between the motives which may make an +offering acceptable or unacceptable to God. The remarkable success of +that day of offering led many to believe that they could drive a bargain +with the Lord. Absurd as it seems, there were many earnest Christians +who believed that they could invest a small sum in an offering and by +asking for a large sum would make an immense profit in the transaction. +A dangerous spirit of gambling arose. Noble men and women were caught in +a theological net spread by the spirit of evil. The heavens soon became +brass and no offering seemed acceptable. It was a dangerous period in +the history of the church. Some gave up all faith in prayer. The +speculative spirit led some to give largely with a hope of a +hundredfold return. The treasury of the church was being filled rapidly, +but there were divisions over the investment of the money. Some strong +members left the church, while several counted their offerings as a dead +loss and went back "into the world" altogether. + +But there is left a good foundation for a consistent belief in the power +of consistent prayer in producing objective results. While it may be +difficult for a human father to discern between the motives of his child +who brings him a gift so as to be sure that the gift is the exhibition +of a pure affection, yet the Lord has no such limitation. He knows +whether the offering is a gambling venture or a lovely deed inspired by +a pure, unselfish love. God does love and does answer a cheerful giver. +The loving son remembers the unselfish devotion of his mother and the +offerings she gave him without thought of any return or reward and his +delight to have her ask him to do for her. God is love, and he loves the +lover. His intrinsic nature compels him to answer the call of his +beloved. But he cannot be driven or tricked into granting the prayer of +a greedy deceiver whose whole motive is selfish. The idea is foolishly +unrighteous which looks upon the arrangement of Providence as a slot +machine into which the pretended worshiper may put a copper penny and +draw out a gold dollar. As gold must be given for gold, so love must be +given for love. + + + + +Chapter V + +Unanswered Prayers + + +The many letters which report that prayers have not been answered made +the examination into that department of the investigation to be most +discouraging until the testimonies were read the second or third time. +Slowly it dawned on the reader that the writers did not know, after all, +whether their prayers were answered or not. A bright light was let in on +the subject by the expression of one who stated that he had prayed for +the means to pay off a mortgage on his home until he had abandoned all +hope and had decided to sell his house to the railroad company for a +siding. In answer to a later inquiry the discouraged petitioner stated +that the jury, to which by contract both parties agreed to leave the +assessment of the "land damages," had given him money enough to buy a +much finer home away from the continual annoyance of passing trains. + +Many of the wholly disappointed petitioners closed their complaints or +doleful faultfinding outbursts with the stereotyped quotation, +"nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done!" To some "the heavens are +as brass"; to others, their prayers did not go "higher than their +heads," and to still others their prayers became meaningless and like +"words called into the thin air." This phase of our topic could not be +followed up as far as a careful investigator could wish, because it +involved so much correspondence and so much delay. But a general +statement of the conclusions reached by those whose prayers had, +seemingly, not been answered can be safely made. They all naturally and +necessarily formed a concept of God by imagining him to be an all-mighty +and all-good man. The human mind seems incapable of forming any other +idea of God than can be obtained from a human model, greatly enlarged. +Jesus knew what was in man when he taught his disciples to say, "Our +Father." Human kings, human fathers, human saints human sinners are +really pictured in the minds of all who strive to visualize the +Almighty, or his Son, or the angels. No Hindu can even think Nirvana. No +mind can meditate on nothing. Everything conceived in the mind must be +like something else. Reasoning from "the known to the unknown," or "the +lesser to the greater," is the only possible process by which man can +know God. So all those seemingly defeated ones had looked up to God as +to a great man, and when he seemed to do nothing in answer to their +requests they concluded that he either did not hear or that he would not +even reply. They did not think, however, of their heavenly Father as +they would of an earthly father who was perfectly good. A good and wise +father must often deny his child the article for which he asks, but he +will not dismiss the matter with a curt denial. He will try to find +something else for his child, as has been already stated in a previous +chapter. The testimonies which asserted that the all-good God had denied +or ignored the requests of his followers were the strongest proofs of +the fact that God had granted their requests. The father who would not +give a stone to his child who asked for bread would not give a stone to +his starving child who asked for a stone. In those seasons when the +attention of the people was centered specially on the results of prayer +there was often heard the expression, "Perhaps He sees that it is best +for me that I should not get the blessing for which I asked." But a +consensus of opinion taken from the mass of correspondence showed a +general belief that there are no unanswered prayers. They believed that +in some other way which was better and wiser God sent his child a more +valuable token of his love. + +Those reports gave the student an insight into the popular religious +beliefs of the common people. The theological creeds and formulas which +are found in the libraries are written by talented, studious scholars +who put their own conclusion into print and do not attempt to set out +the opinions retained by the masses. Often a silent congregation retains +a strong belief in some theological idea which the preacher does not +recognize. Often the minister of a church, having the reputation of +being firmly orthodox, teaches theories which are not accepted by his +hearers. Hence, the scrutiny of all that correspondence covering so many +years gave an insight into the faith of the everyday Christian which was +enlightening and helpful. + +The testimony came from a much wider circle than the actual membership +of that church, as visitors at the Temple from other quarters of the +earth sent in their accounts of the way the Lord had answered their +prayers. In those letters some remark or some statement often +unconsciously disclosed this belief relating to prayer. Their beliefs +concerning death, the Judgment, the future life, the methods used by +the Lord in his administration, and the occupations of the saints in +heaven most strangely harmonized when a careful digest was made. The +divine plan of salvation and the Creator's purpose revealed in natural +law were sometimes quite at variance with the dogmas of the pulpit. But +the common theories came out so distinctly that a statement of them is a +matter of no difficulty. + +The common people connected directly or indirectly with the Christian +churches believe: + + That every person lives on as an individual after the body dies. + + That the life on earth determines the state of happiness or misery + in the spiritual existence. + + That the soul is of the same substance as that of the angels. + + That the occupation of the redeemed in the spirit world is the same + as that of the angels. + + That the departed persons know one another and keep company with + those they have loved and known on earth. + + That they serve God as his messengers to the inhabitants of the + earth. + + That they cannot be called nor can they visit the earth unless + especially sent by the Almighty. + + That the condition of the wicked or of those unfit for God's + service in heaven is unknown. + + That after the Judgment there may come the annihilation of the + wicked. + + That heaven is a condition of everlasting progress in knowledge. + + That salvation depends on the intrinsic character, and that a + conversion to Christ is a conversion to a godly character. + + That many of the ceremonies of the churches are useless, and that + the various denominations should endeavor to unite in some one + federation. + + That God is gradually building up a perfect human race on earth. + + That he commands his servants to come to his aid in securing that + end. + + That the best or only way to fit ourselves for heaven is in the + practice and discipline of helping humanity in the development of a + higher race. + + That Christ is a divine Spirit, existing from everlasting to + everlasting, and that his atonement for sinners is a part of God's + great purpose to people earth and heaven with perfect beings. + +But the consensus of the opinion which related to prayer and the methods +the Lord adopts to convey his answers should have special notice here. +There was a decided agreement in their imaginative conception of the +way the Lord arranged for the conveyance of his decisions to those who +call upon him. + +They hold in common that God is "immanent" in nature, and his replies to +our requests may come as quietly and mysteriously as God's answer to the +farmer who, in an act which is a prayer, places a seed in the ground. + +Many testified to their belief that "all things work together" in +producing the effects of prayer on those who love God. Nearly all, also, +believed that God often called an angel to him when the prayer of faith +came to him from the earth, and that he gave the angel personal +instructions to visit the petitioner and aid him or her. The views of +the Bible and its doctrines, according to the general opinion, appear to +be that it is the best book ever written, and that it was inspired by a +purpose so pure and unselfish as to be divine. One old lady expressed +the general sentiment of the entire body when she wrote that, "the +Bible is the best book I know of, and it is the only one which tells me +about heaven, and I don't let any fool of a scholar argue it out of my +life." + +The feeling of the average reader of the Bible is decidedly in favor of +the King James translation of the Bible, with the introductive address +to the king omitted. The division of that old translation into short +verses was of great assistance to the memory, and was generally quoted +by all classes. But when the new translation was set solidly in type it +decidedly changed the appearance of the book and added emphasis to an +impression that a new and different book had taken the place of the +Bible. The Bible was largely discarded by the common people wherever the +new version was forcibly introduced. The old translation, with +explanatory notes in the margin, was the ideal Bible for the masses, and +had it been retained the general disappearance of the Bible from the +homes and libraries would have been avoided. The so-called authorized +version was followed by many versions privately translated to emphasize +some creed or belief and added much to the confusion of the common +people. The changes in the wording of the new translation were +sufficient also to make those who had quoted the old version with +confidence doubt the correctness of their previous knowledge, and led, +naturally, to the discontinuance of Bible quotations by those who knew +the Bible best. The popular opinion appears to be that the new +translation was a great hindrance to the use of the English Bible. + +The number of readers of the Bible, however, is much larger than the +estimate which many modern writers give. The Sabbath school and +haphazard pulpit essays have not so completely supplanted the home study +of the Scriptures, as has been so often stated. The use of the Bible as +the standard of moral character continues to be the practice of millions +who may not study it closely or may not read it at all. That +miracle-working Book is still a most powerful moral force in all +departments of our civilized life. No patriot or respectable scholar can +ignore the value of the Bible as the highest literature or as the +foundation for all just human laws. The people do believe in it. + + + + +Chapter VI + +Prayer for Others + + +Although it is difficult to divide the subject of prayer into clearly +separate departments, yet, for the purpose of concentrating the thought +of the reader, and with the idea of emphasizing the importance of the +events selected, this chapter has been set apart for special discussion. +The possible relation of the law of mental telepathy to this experience +has already been suggested and need not be repeated here. But the recent +general sympathy with the parents of a child which was stolen led many +Christians to pray for the recovery of the precious little one. At the +Temple in 1889 such a case was presented at the church services and an +appeal made to the people to ask the Lord to influence the kidnapers to +bring back the child. That led to the discussion of many previous cases +where the parents believed that their lost child was returned to them +in answer to prayer. In two cases each child was carefully deposited at +the door of its parents. In both cases they had held special meetings of +their neighbors to pray for the return of their child, and in one case +they had appealed to the priest for his intercession. If the Lord used +his direct power to bring the child home it must have been used through +some event or some direct suggestion having an influence on the minds of +the captors, because in the cases here mentioned there was no clew +revealed which could lead to the abductors. + +But an older case may illustrate what most probably did occur in other +instances. In 1889 a child two years of age was stolen from the front +yard of a home in Charlestown, Massachusetts (now a part of Boston). A +large ransom was demanded which was far beyond the reach of the parents. +After several weeks of excited search by all the police organizations of +the nation the child was secretly returned, without ransom, and left +cheerfully rapping on its parents' door. One of the robber gang who had +conspired to steal children for ransoms, and who had laid the successful +plan to capture that child, was arrested several days after the return +of the child and confessed his share in the crime. His account of the +influences and events which led to the restoration of the child was a +most impressive and convincing illustration of the spiritual forces God +may use in such cases. + +The band of four robbers could not quiet the child when they carried him +away, and they resorted to a gag which nearly killed the child. But the +frightened little fellow screamed whenever the gag was taken from his +mouth and would not eat or drink. The child was evidently near to death. +Then one of the robbers carried the child to a woman who occupied a room +over a saloon in Brooklyn, New York. The woman was able to pacify the +child, and explained to acquaintances that the child was an orphan +whose mother, a near relation, had just died. The woman knew that the +child was being held for a ransom, of which she was promised a large +share. But she did not know from what part of the country the child +came. She was an irreligious, coarse, profane woman, and cared only for +money and drink. But one day she sent a letter to the resort of the gang +and told them that she had a clear presentiment that something dreadful +would happen to them if they did not hurry up the business of returning +the child. As they paid no attention to her warnings she wrote again, +saying that she would keep the child but ten days longer. They then +visited her or wrote to her to care for the child three weeks longer, as +they were sure of the "swag" by that time. + +In the following week one of the gang was caught by the foot in a +falling window sash as he tried to leap to a fire escape and he was +burned to death while he hung there. The hotel was in full blaze when he +awoke and his only possible escape was by that window. Another one of +the gang swallowed a broken glass button when hastily eating a piece of +biscuit at a railroad restaurant. He was taken to a hospital or +sanitarium in Montreal, where after long agony he died, and his body was +buried in the public ground. + +When the woman who held the child heard of that she took the child +boldly to the house where the other three or four abductors met and +flatly told them that all of them would come under a curse if they did +not return that child to his parents. But they made a joke of their +comrades' death, and gave her brandy until she wandered home drunk. The +child was then placed in charge of a poor widow in Hoboken, who was told +that the mother was dead and the father was at sea, but would soon +return. They paid liberally in advance for the child's board, and none +of the circumstances awakened the least suspicion in the widow's mind. +One night she slept with the child's arm across her neck. She awoke +with a dreadful feeling of being choked to death by a strong man who +exclaimed, "That child is stolen, and you must appear before God at once +to give an account." The details of her experiences are here quoted from +the New York _Herald_. + + The widow called it "a waking dream." She was so shocked by the + experience that she would not keep the child and sent for the man + who had brought the child and demanded that the child be at once + taken away. She did not believe that her warning was a premonition + of any crime nor that the child had been stolen, but she was in a + state of strange terror and told the man who came for the child + that she was too nervous to board so young a child. + + It appears that when the robber returned to the usual rendezvous, + after leaving the child at an orphan asylum and agreeing to pay for + the board of "his child," he found another member of the party down + with a sudden and dangerous fever. Then he, too, was struck with an + impression of coming doom. It remained upon him night and day. He + became so intoxicated that he was locked in the jail. In the + depression of his recovery from the drink he determined to kill + himself. Then the idea that he might escape from his horror by + taking the child back to its home became so insistent that as soon + as he was released he went after the child and took it back on the + night train. He told the lisping child to rap on his father's door + and "call for papa." Then he hastened away and did not return to + his former gang. + +This authentic incident may or may not prove that prayer was answered, +as it is not known what prayers were offered for that child's recovery. +But it does show how the Lord may work in other cases where prayers are +openly made. The angels of God are sent to pronounce curses on the +disobedient sometimes, and terrible plagues are sent on men by them. +Hence, the Lord does use various curses to work out his will and it +seems reasonable to believe that he does warn men and women by terrible +mental impressions. + +This theory is strongly confirmed by the testimonies found in this large +correspondence. Lost children were restored after prayers were made for +them in startlingly impressive manners. At Cape May a fisherman obeyed +a wholly unexplainable impulse and put back to the marshes, feeling that +he had "left something," but unable to remember what it was. There he +heard the cry of the lost child, wading waist deep in the incoming tide. +A merchant of Wilmington, Delaware, wrote that his child was taken by +the grandparents when his wife died, and after the grandparents died the +child was hidden by the relatives. The reason for the action was because +of a difference of religious faith. He began one day a regular system of +prayer for the recovery of his child. He went to a fishing camp in the +woods of Maine in August and his child came into his log hut for a drink +of water. She was with a party who camped near by in tents. Another +stolen child was the little son of a doctor who prayed long and hard for +the return of his little son. The sudden attack of chills felt by a +passenger on a Hudson River boat at the pier caused the officers to call +him on board from the wharf. The afflicted matron and his own child +were in the same stateroom together. + +One trustworthy officer of the church testified that his child had +wandered away from the railroad station while he was asleep on the +bench, and that he could not find her after an all-night search. He +prayed at his family prayers, asking the Lord in sobs to protect and +return his child. He said that an impression as strong as a voice +insisted in his mind that he ought to search in some freight yards +across the river. The yards were one mile from the station. He told his +friends how he felt and insisted that he would go to the yards and +search. There he found his starving child under an old fallen fence. He +never could discover any satisfactory solution of the mystery of her +presence in the railroad yards. She must have toddled the whole mile +among vehicles in the night. He has firmly believed in guardian angels +ever since that day. + +There were numerous cases told of mental impressions made upon children +away from home by the influence of a mother's prayer. To all of these +incidents the skeptic will assert that, though there be millions of +cases where men and women "happened to think" of the person praying at +the moment the prayer was offered, it would not be conclusive proof that +the thought was suggested by the prayer or in answer to it. But this +suggestion presents other cases wherein it is far more difficult to +disbelieve than it is to believe. The weight of evidence is almost +overwhelmingly on the side of the Christian believer. + +The belief that God will so adjust his providences as to bring to a +person friends, weather, business, health, and domestic peace in answer +to the prayer of some insistent friend is almost universal. General +Garibaldi stated that he found that his belief in the efficacy of his +mother's prayers in securing protection of his life when in danger was +accepted by all his friends as a statement which at least might be +realized. The common-sense view that where a theory cannot be subjected +to proof either way it surely is wisest to believe in that view which +has the strongest influence for good on the life and usefulness of the +believer. What a man believeth, as well as what he thinketh, determines +what he is. He who believes in the efficacy of his father's or mother's +prayers lives a nobler life than the skeptic. The sincere trusting heart +which believes that the Christ is the Son of God, and that man is under +the oversight of a loving heavenly Father, is nearer the highest +standard of human perfection than is the unstable and reckless man who +claims that all things exist by chance. + +The friend who sincerely prays for you is a friend who would sacrifice +most for you in case of need. Two lovers, separated far and praying long +for each other, is an exhibition of the truest, sweetest love. It is, +also, the best test of God's disposition to heed the requests of his +children. No prayer for another can be felt to be effective which is not +inspired more or less by real love. The loving heart is a large part of +a great previous character. He or she has an intercessory +disposition--an intrinsic tendency toward doing good, and that, with a +strong, clean mind, makes a true Christian. Such men are grateful to +those who pray for them, and are impelled to pray for others. These are +some of the reasons given by Christians why people ought always to +pray. + + + + +Chapter VII + +Forms of Prayer + + +It appears that the extremest ritualist does not feel wholly bound to +his prayer book. The people exercise great liberty in the choice of +words or postures when they go to Christ in anxious prayer. Appropriate +forms are reasonably sought for varying occasions, and some of the forms +of prayer which are venerable for age and sublimity are reverenced and +adopted because so often they best express the heart's sincere desire. +The Lord's Prayer is recited with profit in a formal church service, but +is seldom recited in time of extreme need. During the earthquake at San +Francisco no one was known to have repeated the Lord's Prayer. Christ +directed his disciples to pray "after that manner," and the spirit of +that prayer, as well as the divine ideas or principles it contains, are +applicable everywhere. + +But the exact words in English are not adjustable to every occasion. Men +in earnest ask for what they need in their own words and in their own +way. The effectual and fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much +because it is fervent and righteous. To be in every way right, and then +to add the inspiration or fire or fervency, are conditions which only +the righteous can fill. But, happily, the sinner is not required to be +right in all things before his prayer is heard. The stately dignity and +beautiful phraseology of the Catholic churches, the impressive forms of +the old English ritual, or the simple appeal of the mission worker are +all alike acceptable to God when they are the expression of real heart +worship or of a call for relief in some actual need. + +In the worship at the Baptist Temple there has been no form of prayer in +which the people so sincerely and so generally joined as in the prayers +found in some of the hymns. A study of the human or apparent agencies +which may have had some influence does not fully account for the spirit +of prayer which some hymns awaken. A cool and analytical examination of +this subject was made by the preacher one Sabbath morning for the +purpose of recording it here. A relation of the plain facts, without +using the circumstances to establish any sectarian theory, will most +clearly set out the case before the impartial critic. The hymn chosen +that morning for the opening of the service was selected chiefly because +it is a prayer. The three verses are as follows: + + FATHER, WHATE'ER OF EARTHLY BLISS + + Father, whate'er of earthly bliss + Thy sovereign will denies, + Accepted at thy throne of grace, + Let this petition rise: + + Give me a calm, a thankful heart, + From every murmur free; + The blessings of thy grace impart, + And make me live to thee. + + Let the sweet hope that thou art mine + My life and death attend, + Thy presence through my journey shine, + And crown my journey's end. + +The people were everywhere in motion. Some were coming in, some were +standing near the doors, some were talking in low voices in the rear of +the deep gallery, and many were arranging for their wraps or hats, while +all, in the freedom of the social atmosphere ever prevailing there, were +smilingly nodding to acquaintances or searching for hymn books. The +opening chorus of the Children's Church, at their regular service, in +the lower hall, could be indistinctly heard. The painful and awkward +silence which embarrasses and chills the incoming worshiper in some +churches was altogether absent that morning. The preacher began to read +the hymn without waiting for silence or attention. He simply remarked, +"Let us sincerely and intelligently use this old hymn for our opening +prayer." The congregation arose while the organist played a sweet, +tender prelude, giving the impression that the organ itself was praying. +A fair-haired child, kneeling in a snow-white night robe, lisping its +evening prayer, was suggested to hundreds by the worshipful music. The +well-trained religious chorus began to sing with devotion and unity and +opened the prayer with the harmonious call, "Father!" The congregation +instinctively raised their eyes toward heaven. Then all came strongly +into the hymn with the petition: + + "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss + Thy sovereign will denies, + Accepted at thy throne of grace, + Let this petition rise: + + "Give me a calm, a thankful heart, + From every murmur free; + The blessings of thy grace impart, + And make me live to thee." + +There was a single strain of an interlude and then the solemn prayer was +entered upon with an unction and appreciation that thrilled every soul +in the great audience: + + "Let the sweet hope that thou art mine + My life and death attend, + Thy presence through my journey shine, + _And crown my journey's end_." + +Then came a pause, and with a magnificent volume of sound the emphatic +"Amen!" confirmed the earnestness of the prayer. That was a real prayer! +The holiness of the spirit of worship had taken possession of the whole +congregation. All were interested in the reading of the Bible, and when +the notices were being read a most saintly old deacon sent up a slip of +paper to the preacher on which were written these words--"Pastor, please +give us another prayer for the next hymn!" The pastor read the note to +the people without comment, and looked over the hymn book for another +prayer, when his eyes fell on the following hymn: + + JESUS, I MY CROSS HAVE TAKEN + + Jesus, I my cross have taken, + All to leave and follow thee; + Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, + Thou, from hence, my all shalt be: + Perish every fond ambition, + All I've sought, and hop'd, and known; + Yet how rich is my condition, + God and heav'n are still my own! + + Let the world despise and leave me, + They have left my Saviour, too; + Human hearts and looks deceive me; + Thou art not, like man, untrue; + And, while thou shalt smile upon me, + God of wisdom, love, and might, + Foes may hate and friends may shun me; + Show thy face, and all is bright. + + Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! + Come, disaster, scorn, and pain! + In thy service, pain is pleasure; + With thy favor, loss is gain. + I have called thee, "Abba, Father"; + I have stayed my heart on thee, + Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, + All must work for good to me. + + Man and trouble may distress me, + 'Twill but drive me to thy breast; + Life with trials hard may press me, + Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. + Oh, 'tis not in grief to harm me + While thy love is left to me; + Oh, 'twere not in joy to charm me + Were that joy unmixed with thee. + + Know, my soul, thy full salvation; + Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care; + Joy to find in every station + Something still to do or bear. + Think what Spirit dwells within thee; + What a Father's smile is thine; + What a Saviour died to win thee: + Child of heaven, shouldst thou repine? + + Haste thee on from grace to glory, + Armed by faith and winged by prayer; + Heaven's eternal day's before thee, + God's own hand shall guide thee there. + Soon shall close thy earthly mission, + Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days, + Hope shall change to glad fruition, + Faith to sight and prayer to praise. + +Oh, pity the seekers after God who go to a house of prayer to be +provoked and harassed by the performance of some gymnastic performance +in acoustics, by some professional entertainer of theatrical audiences. +Pity, indeed, the devout soul pleading for comfort in some deep sorrow +whose sore heart is wrenched and bruised by the discordant attempts to +leap, catlike, from shelf to shelf, up and down the musical scale. Pity +the overtempted contrite sinner who enters to pray for the strength to +keep his resolution to reform and finds himself in a sham ceremonial +which introduces the inartistic performers who almost force him to do +worse. + +The extremely cultivated voice which seeks a prize exhibition of varied +tones, or the extremely crude egotism of the community singer who ties +himself in squirming knots as he yells the sacred and pathetic hymns +which were written for the deep devotions of a broken heart are both +sacrilegious and disgraceful. Pity the congregation who, after wasting a +most precious hour inside, hasten out, discussing along the street the +wonders of the wild musical exhibition, and forgetting that they went in +to worship. + +When the hymn we mentioned above was announced and read deliberately the +preacher said, feelingly, "Let us pray!" The prayer in that hymn was +used by all. As they sang, their faces flushed. Old men shed tears, and +the preacher decided, before the last verse was sung, to take for his +theme the last two lines: + + Hope shall change to glad fruition, + Faith to sight and _prayer to praise_. + +One could almost catch the gleam of the glories that John saw at Patmos. +The place was a Bethel to all the assembly. All were glad they were +marching on to Zion, and praised God with all their hearts for his +promise of a home in that land where there is no night. The deep, +soul-filled joy of the morning worship carried good cheer, hope, and +courage into a thousand homes and made the week's labors enjoyable and +prosperous. + +In choosing the form of prayer the temperament and state of health of +the worshiper may be an important consideration. But whether in hymns or +psalms or gestures, the call must be earnestly sincere. When the formal, +monotonous recitations of the customary Church rituals are recalled it +becomes a marvel that the Church survives the pious hypocrisy and +sacrilegious indifference of the Church pulpits and altars. The pulpit +is seen by all and the words and tones of the preacher are heard by all; +the place is the most conspicuous in the church life; and if the action +or the ceremony is hypocritical or careless there, then the whole +church is permeated by the same spirit. The form of expression must be a +secondary consideration in all prayer, while appropriateness and custom +have rightfully an influence on the petition. Yet the essential thing is +in the natural cry of a needy soul. Prayer, as a public function, should +be a stimulant or an instructor leading the individuals in the +congregation to pray by and for themselves. The people must pray. The +need of this was apparent in many of the requests made for prayer at the +Temple in Philadelphia. "Lord, teach us to pray," is ever the appeal of +the religious masses. The union of two or three in concerted prayer for +a definite thing was very effective. The observation of the same hour by +many people has often developed a deep religious life and secured +practical results. The testimony of one active business man exhibited +triumphantly the use of continuous prayer and may serve as a +comprehensive illustration. He wrote: + + I fought it out with myself, knowing the Lord Christ would work + with me. When I awoke in the morning I thanked God for shelter and + sleep. Then I began to pray for the least things of my morning + preparations--my clothes, my bath, my comb and brush, my articles + used in any way. I thanked God for, and prayed for, the continuance + of his kindness. I managed to keep in a state of prayer at the + breakfast table. I prayed for instruction in purchasing the + necessities of the home. I prayed as I left my door. I prayed along + the street for wisdom to transact business. I prayed for the + persons I met on my way. I prayed for the clerks, for the + customers, for thoughts, for words, for farsightedness, for a + contented disposition consistent with activity. If I wrote a letter + I asked the Lord to aid me in the writing and to protect the letter + on to its delivery. I did not speak aloud or tell people I was + praying. I kept the Lord constantly in mind. I had some + discouraging experiences with myself, but I kept pursuing the idea. + At last it grew easy and enjoyable. It was in every way a success. + I did not waste my money. I did not carelessly destroy articles I + used. I did not overeat. I did not get angry with my employees. I + felt a real interest in the welfare of others. I did my best and + left all to God. It is now a settled habit. My health is almost + perfect. Before I began to pray I was asthmatic and gouty. If this + has anything boastful about it, the Lord forgive me. But in the + request for my experience you insisted on "frankness in all + accounts." + +Whether it be possible for all to reach that prayerful condition and +retain it permanently cannot be denied or asserted infallibly. But it is +evident that but few reach it. The exhortation that is appropriate here +appears to be to urge an honest effort to get as near to that devotional +condition as possible and to hold all the ground we do gain. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Praying for Money, by Russell H. 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