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4 (1012) THE !
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ABIDING TRUST.
lioinang 8: 28.
Our God delays sometimes
T0 grant our prayer;
Doubt not His ways,
Though it be days?
11 U^U uo O tvo UVO t|
He'll answer thy request.
Or, if He stays the gift.
Thy faith should see
It may not be.
For He no gift denies,
Except in love.
Let naught thy faith, remove.
Barium Springs, N. C. ?Wm. Laurie Hill.
THE LAW OF PREVAILING PRAYER.
C. N. BROADHURST.
Prayer as a force in this great universe is not
even armroximatelv aDDreciated bv all who en
gage in the performance of this necessary Christian
duty. Especially to those persons who do
not know God as a father and a friend, is prayer
a force in the universe far beyond the powers of
their conception.
The materialist would teach us to believe that
the universe is a universe of law and that all that
transpires in connection with it transpires in accordance
with unvarying laws and that the very
idea that God will change the order of the universe
for the purpose of answering the prayer of
a mere mortal is in his estimation absolutely preposterous.
But the partial believer in the power of prayer,
attempting to answer the materialists would say
that the value of prayer is in its reflex influence,
therefore it is well for us to pray because
by so doing we bring ourselves into a more perfect
harmony to God's loving plans concerning
us. And the performance of the duty of prayer
is a preparation of ourselves in the production of
submission to the perfect and holy will of God.
But there is a great deal more than this in prayer
as the Scriptures so plainly teach us, and every
true Christian who has thoroughly tested the
power of prayer can abundantly testify.
1 can pick up a rock from the surface of the
earth and hurl it towards the heavens with all the
powers of my physical being, and as certain as 1
tnrow it it will fall back again to the surface
of the earth in conformity to the eternal law of
gravitation. 1 can pick up one of God's promises
from His precious word of truth, and assisted
l.\r it imt?l tlin itpuvnr /if fuitli t/iurur/lu tlin liouuoti
u in** * I nvy |/i lij v-i v/i iuibii uunuiuo tuv uvu T vu
of my hopes into the ears of a prayer-hearing
and prayer-answering God, with all the faith,
power and fervency of a trusting soul, and as
certain as I hurl it, its answer will fall back again
to the surface of this earth on the object of my
petitions, granting my requests and performing
results beyond the most extravagant expectations
of the petitioner in conformity to the external
law of prayer, so forceful, so powerful, so prominent,
so active on this planet earth where God
permits us to exist. For he has said: "All things
whatsoever ye ask in prayer believing ye shall
receive.''
God has not tied his hands with material laws
so that he cannot hear and answer prayer, so that
he cannot reach forth and help his children when
they call to him for help. Material laws are the
laws that control the material universe. God
made them and he can control them. He is above
them for he is their master. He can exact new
laws or suspend old laws and can control them as
he pleases and execute them at his will. The laws i
of the universe or the laws of nature are only <
God's way of running the universe or God's way ]
'RESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
leadings
of managing nature. The law of prayer is superior
to all the physical laws that help to control
the universe. And God has told us that because
of its superiority all other laws will be temporarily
suspended if necessary, in order to its execution.
We can then very easily arrive at the very
rational rvmn.lnainn ttint flnrt from thp vprv bp
ginning deliberately, wisely and intentionally
made prayer a part of the wise plan of his great
universe. Instead of prayer being an interruption
of God's plan, it is only its fulfillment. Instead
of prayer changing the divine will, it is
only its execution. Instead of prayer being a
violation of God's law, it is only its observance in
the highest sense, for prayer is the highest law
in the lofty spiritual realm, subordinating
all other laws as obedient and harmonious lower
laws of the God-created realm. And do not forget
that the greatest of harmony exists in the universe
when the prayer law is in command. Anologically
speaking, every day we behold chemical
law overruling mechanical law, and vital
law overruling chemical law, and moral law overruiner
all the other laws of the material creation.
So let us rejoice that the prayer law is master
and God designs that we should utilize it in the
promotion of our welfare and the advancement of
his glorious kingdom in the world. For "Ask
and ye shall receive" is the command of our Saviour.?"
Wireless Messages."
PATRICK HENRY'S DEATH.
In an age when it was fashionable to avow
sceptical sentiments, Patrick Henry was always
ready to defend the Christian faith. A member
of the Episcopal church according to his
latest biographer, Professor Tyler, he not infrequently
received the communion. On such
occasions his habit was to fast until he had been
at the Lord's table, and then to spend the day
in retirement.
One hour, at the close of the day, he spent in
private prayer and meditation, and during it
no one was suffered to intrude upon his privacy.
When he was Governor of Virginia he was so
alarmed at the spread of infidel sentiments
among the young men of the state that he printed,
at his own expense, an edition of Soainc
Jenyn's "View of the Internal Evidence of the
Christian Religion," and an edition of "Butler's
Analogy." When he met a young man of sceptical
tendencies, he would give him one of these
books. Doubtless the fact that the book was
presented by the Governor of his state secured
it attention from the young Virginian, which he
might not have paid had it been distributed by
a more humble colporteur.
Patrick Henry wrote out an elaborate an4-*
" A ~~ ~o ?? i> i?i. i
onci tu X oiuc a ngc ui ivcanuu, UUL UtJIIlg 1111pressed
by the replies to Paine, then appearing
in England, he directed his wife, shortly before
his death, to destroy the manuscript, which she
did.
In his last will, written by his own hand, he
concluded thus: "This is all the inheritance I
can give to my dear family. The religion of
Christ can give them one which will make them
rich indeed."
On the 6th of June, 1799, his kindred being
sent for, found him sitting in a large oldfashioned
armchair. He was dying from an inmiTiihlp
intArnnl diaApap TTio T\_
oiuiau^ ?JT.
Cabell, was about to administer a preparation
of mercury. Taking the vial in his hand, the
dying man said, "I suppose, doctor, this is your
last resort."
I u T H [ October 25, 1911
"I am sorry to say, Governor, that it is," replied
the doctor. "Acute inllamation of the intestine
has already taken plaee, and unless it is
removed, mortification will ensue, if it has not
already commenced, which I fear."
"What will be the effect of this medicine,
doctor?"
"It will give you immediate relief, or"?the
doctor could not nnisn tne sentence.
"You mean doctor," said the sick man, "that
it will give relief, or will prove fatal immediately."
"You can only live a short time with out it,
and it may relieve you."
"Excuse me, doctor, fpr a few moments,"
said Patrick Henry, drawing over his eyes the
silk cap lie wore. Holding the vial, he prayed
aloud for his family, his country, and his own
soul. "Amen!" said he, and swallowed the
medicine.
l)r. Cabell, who greatly loved the old patriot,
had gone out upon the lawn, where throwing
mmseii under a tree, lie wept bitterly. Mastering
himself, he returned to the house and found
his patient calmly watching the blood congealing
under his finger nails. The old orator fixed
his eyes on Dr. Cabell, with whom he had held
many discussions about the Christian religion.
"Doctor," said he with great tenderness, *'I
wish you to observe how real and beneficial the
religion of Christ is to a man about to die."
lie then breathed so gently for a few minutes
that those around him knew not when he
breathed out his spirit.?Youth's Companion.
PRAYER.
The skeptic asks, somewhat cavelierly, What
do you know about God* Very little. What
do you know about the laws of spiritual intercourse?
Very little. Why, then, do you pray?
We answer with parallel questions. What do
you know about electricity ? Very little. Whal
do you know about the laws of electricity 1 Very
nine, wny, tiien, do you ride in a trolley car /
We pray for the same reason that we ride in the
trolley car. The trolley car brings us to our
destination; the prayer gives us the inspiration
of comfort, illumination, and strength for daily
needs.
The skeptic asks, Is it conceivable that God
should set aside the laws of nature at the request
of one of his children If We answer this question
with another. Is it conceivable that a fellow
man should set aside the laws of nature at the
request of one of his fellow men? When your
child is sick, why do you call in a physician?
Can he set aside the laws of nature? No, but
he understands the laws of nature better than
you do, and by using them brings back health
to the siek philrl If o ?1 i '
J.J. u ^/u^aiuiou, WilUStJ UOIUVYIedge
and power are limited, can do this, why
should we not believe that God, with his larger
wisdom and larger power, can do so? The argument
of the skeptic against prayer, based on
the uniformity of nature, is equally an argument
against all requests by one person to another person,
and, indeed, against all activity of any kind.
The uniformity of nature does not prevent us
from helping one another, neither does it prevent
God from helping us.
But God already knows what things we have
need of before we ask him; why, then, should
we ask him? Will he yield to our teasing what
he would not yield to our needs? No. But ask
ing is often the necessary condition of receiving.?Exchange.
Be not too ready to condemn
The wrong thy brothers may have done:
Ere ye too harshly censure them
For human falts ask, "Have I none?"