{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_11553/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_11553","id":"gutenberg_11553","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11553","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity","Prayer"],"text":"FACTS STRANGER THAN FICTION\n\nTHE WONDERS OF PRAYER:\n\nA RECORD OF WELL AUTHENTICATED AND WONDERFUL ANSWERS TO PRAYER.\n\nAS NARRATED BY:\n\n    GEORGE MULLER,      W.W. PATTEN, D.D.,\n    D.L. MOODY,         CHAS. CULLIS,\n    C.H. SPURGEON,      S.I. PRIME, D.D.,\n    BISHOP SIMPSON,     E. KRUMMACHER,\n    NEWMAN HALL, D.D.,  MARTIN LUTHER,\n    BISHOP T. BOWMAN,   JOHN KNOX,\n    CHAS. G. FINNEY,    ABRAHAM LINCOLN,\n\nAND HOSTS OF OTHERS.\n\n\nNEW EDITION. REVISED BY D.W. WHITTLE.\n\n1885\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION.\n\n\nThe incidents which are published in this volume, are vouched for upon\nthe strongest proofs of authenticity possible to obtain, and are either\nof circumstances known amid my own experience, or connected with the\nlives of my correspondents and their friends. They are the thankful\nrecord and tribute to the power of _persevering faith_.\n\nNothing has been published concerning which there is the least shadow of\ndoubt. All have been carefully investigated.\n\nEvery case has been one of real prayer, and the results that have come,\ncame only in answer to the prayer of faith, and were not possible to\nobtain without it.\n\nThey demonstrate to a wonderful degree, the immediate practical ways of\nthe Lord with his children in this world, that He is far nearer and more\nintimate with their plans and pursuits than it is possible for them to\nrealize.\n\nNeither have we depended upon the relation of facts of a few, to\nconvince the world of the real power of faith, but have added concurrent\ntestimony of incidents actually known in the experience of such eminent\nclergymen as Charles Spurgeon, Newman Hall, Martin Luther, W.\nHuntington, Dr. Waterbury, George Muller, Dr. Cullis, Dr. Patton, Dr.\nAdams, Dr. Prime, Bishop Simpson, and many others.\n\nAlso we have added some incidents known and investigated and found\nabsolutely true, by the editors of the following journals, who add their\nunquestioning belief in the power of prayer: _The Christian, The\nEvangelist, The Observer, The Congregationalist, The Advance, The\nIllustrated Christian Weekly, The American Messenger, The Witness_.\nLikewise we have been greatly assisted by some of our Home Missionaries,\nwho, from their daily experiences with the poor and suffering, have been\neye-witnesses to remarkable experiences and the wonderful help of the\nLord in answering their prayers.\n\nThese testimonies here recorded must be accepted as true. They\ndemonstrate that answers to prayer are not occasional, and therefore\nremarkable that they do occur, but are of constant occurrence.\n\nThere may be many minds who, having carried no trial to the Lord, have\nnever been brought into intimate acquaintances of the ways in which the\nLord tries the faith of his children, nor led to see and observe his\nwonderful control over human wills and circumstances. The power of the\nLord is learned only by those who in deep trouble have faithfully sought\nHim and seen his ways of deliverance.\n\nNone can ever understand the full power of prayer until they have\nlearned the lesson of trust. It is only when for the _first time_ in the\nChristian's own life of faith, it realizes the hand of God in his\npersonal dealings with him, how near He is, or how clearly he feels the\npresence of that tremendous overruling Spirit which\n\n    \"_Turneth the heart whithersoever He will_.\"\n\nThe actual existence of our God is therefore proved, not alone from\n_History_, nor from the Bible alone, nor from current natural or\nreligious feeling and beliefs, nor from the testimony of old witnesses\nseveral thousand years old, _but from the actual incidents of present\nprayer_, and the _literal answer_. Daily faith and trust and prayer have\nmade the Christian deeply acquainted with Him and his ways, and humbly\ndependent upon his care and love and help, in the events of life. _No\none ever faithfully trusted the Lord in vain_.\n\nCircumstances so clouded that it has been impossible for men to control,\nhave, through believing prayer, been so made to change, that through\nthem has been revealed _living evidences_ of the presence of\n\n    _The Ever Living God_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nDISCERNING PRAYER.\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nBY D.W. WHITTLE.\n\n\nTo recognize God's existence is to necessitate prayer to Him, by all\nintelligent creatures, or, a consciously living in sin and under\ncondemnation of conscience, because they do not pray to Him. It would be\nhorrible to admit the existence of a Supreme Being, with power and\nwisdom to create, and believe that the creatures he thought of\nconsequence and importance enough to bring into existence, are not of\nenough consequence for him to pay any attention to in the troubles and\ntrials consequent upon that existence.\n\nSurely such a statement is an impeachment of both the wisdom and\ngoodness of God.\n\nIt were far more sensible for those who deny the fitness and necessity\nof prayer to take the ground of the atheist and say plainly \"We do not\npray, for there is no God to pray to,\" for to deny prayer, is practical\natheism.\n\nSo in the very constitution of man's being there is the highest\nreasonableness in prayer. And, if the position of man in his relation to\nthe earth he inhabits is recognized and understood, there is no\nunreasonableness in a God-fearing man looking to God for help and\ndeliverance under any and all circumstances, in all the vicissitudes of\nlife. The earth was _made_ for man. One has said \"there is nothing great\nin the world but man; and there is nothing great in man but his soul.\"\nWith this in view, how absurd to talk about \"fixed laws\" and\n\"unchangeable order,\" in a way to keep man in his trouble from God. It\nis all the twaddle of the conceit of man setting himself up to judge and\nlimit his maker. \"To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal?\nsaith the Holy One.\" The Creator is greater than his creation; the law\ngiver is supreme over all law. He created the earth that it might be\ninhabited by man, and He governs the earth in subordination to the\ninterests, the eternal and spiritual welfare of the race of immortal\nbeings that are here being prepared for glory and immortality.\n\nLaws, indeed, are fixed in their operation and results as subserving the\nhighest good in the training and the disciplining of the race, giving\nthem hope in their labor and sure expectation of fruit from their toil.\nBut as set in operation for _man's good_, so, in an exigency that may\nmake necessary their suspension, to secure his deliverance from peril\nand bring man back to the recognition of the personal God, as above,\nlaw, is it unreasonable to believe that God has power thus to suspend or\noverrule his own arrangements? A wise father will govern his children by\nrules as securing their best good. But he will retain in his power the\nsuspending of those rules when special occasions arise, when the object\nfor which they exist can be better secured by their suspension. Shall\nnot the living God have the same right?\n\nSo much as to the reflections suggested by the dogmas of natural\nreligion. They sustain in reason our faith in prayer. The basis,\nhowever, of our faith rests upon the unchanging and unchangeable\nrevelation of God, and not upon man's philosophy. Jesus taught his\ndisciples to pray, saying, \"Our Father which art in Heaven.\" As\nChristians, this is our authority for prayer. In the words, \"OUR\nFATHER,\" our Blessed Lord has given us the substance of all that can be\nsaid, as to _the privilege of prayer, what to pray for_, and _how to\npray_. There can be no loftier exercise of soul ever given to created\nintelligence than to come into conscious contact with the living God,\nand be able to say \"_My_ Father.\"\n\nAnd surely, as my Father, with a loving father's heart, it must be his\ndesire that I should tell him _all_ my needs, _all_ my sorrows, _all_ my\ndesires. And, so his word commands, \"Be careful for nothing, but _in\neverything_, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your\nrequests be made known unto God.\" (Phil, iv., 6.) Under this verse there\nis positively no exception of any request that may not be made known\nunto God. So there is true faith and right Christian philosophy in the\nremark, \"if a _pin_ was needful to my happiness and I could not find one\nI would pray to God for it.\"\n\nThe mistake of Christians is in _not_ praying over _little_ things. \"The\nhairs of your head are all numbered.\" Consult God about everything.\nExpect His counsel, His guidance, His care, His provision, His\ndeliverance, His blessing, in everything. Does not the expression, \"Our\n_daily_ bread,\" mean just this? Can there be any true life of faith that\ndoes not include this? Whatever will serve to help God's children to a\nbetter understanding of the blessed privileges of prayer, and prove to\nthem the reality of God's answering prayer in the cares, trials and\ntroubles of _daily life_, will approve itself to all thoughtful minds as\na blessing to them and an honor to God. It is the purpose of this volume\nto do this. We are more helped by testimony to _facts_ than by theories\nand doctrines. When we have illustrations before our eyes of God's care\nfor his children, and His response to their faith, even in the minutest\nthings, we understand the meaning of His promises and the reality of His\nprovidences.\n\nThe writer had many thoughts in this line suggested to him by an\nincident, with which he was connected, in the life of George Muller. It\nwas my happiness to cross the Atlantic in the company of this dear\nbrother on the steamship Sardinian, from Quebec to Liverpool, in June,\n1880.\n\nI met Mr. Muller in the express office the morning of sailing, about\nhalf an hour before the tender was to take the passengers to the ship.\nHe asked of the agent if a deck chair had arrived for him from New York.\nHe was answered, No, and told that it could not possibly come in time\nfor the steamer. I had with me a chair I had just purchased and told Mr.\nMuller of the place near by, where I had obtained it, and suggested that\nas but a few moments remained he had better buy one at once. His reply\nwas, \"No, my brother, Our Heavenly Father will send the chair from New\nYork. It is one used by Mrs. Muller, as we came over, and left in New\nYork when we landed. I wrote ten days ago to a brother who promised to\nsee it forwarded here last week. He has not been prompt as I would have\ndesired, but I am sure Our Heavenly Father will send the chair. Mrs.\nMuller is very sick upon the sea, and has particularly desired to have\nthis same chair, and not finding it here yesterday when we arrived, as\nwe expected, we have made special prayer that Our Heavenly Father would\nbe pleased to provide it for us, and we will trust Him to do so.\" As\nthis dear man of God went peacefully on board the tender, running the\nrisk of Mrs. Muller making the voyage without a chair, when for a couple\nof dollars she could have been provided for, I confess I feared Mr.\nMuller was carrying his faith principles too far and not acting wisely.\n\nI was kept at the express office ten minutes after Mr. Muller left. Just\nas I started to hurry to the wharf a team drove up the street, and on\ntop of a load just arrived from New York, _was Mr. Muller's chair_! It\nwas sent at once to the tender and placed in _my hands_ to take to Mr.\nMuller (the Lord having a lesson for me) just as the boat was leaving\nthe dock. I found Mr. and Mrs. Muller in a retired spot on one side of\nthe tender and handed him the chair. He took it with the happy, pleased\nexpression of a child who has just received a kindness deeply\nappreciated, and reverently removing his hat and folding his hands over\nit, he thanked his Heavenly Father for sending the chair. \"In\n_everything_ by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known\nunto God.\" \"Casting _all_ your care upon Him, for He careth for you.\"\n\nSo the word of God teaches us as His children (_inviting_ us to pray,\n_commanding_ us to pray, and _teaching us_ how to pray), that there is a\ndivine reality in prayer. Experience abundantly corroborates the\nteaching.\n\nEvery truly converted man knows from this experience that God answers\nprayer. He has verified the promise. \"Call unto me, and I will answer\nthee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.\"\n(Jer. xxxiii., 8.) His life is a life of prayer, and grows more and more\nto be a life of almost unconscious dependence upon God, as he becomes\nfixed in the habit of prayer. This, and it is the purpose of God, is the\nresult secured by prayer. With this in view, it will not be so much what\nwe expect to get by praying, as a consciousness of coming into closer\nrelations to God, the giver of all, in our prayers, that will give us\ntrue joy.\n\nOften God's children are driven to the throne of grace by some desperate\nneed of help and definite supply of an absolute want, and, as they cry\nto God and plead their case with tears before him, he so manifests his\npresence to them and so fills them with a consciousness of his love and\npower, that the burden is gone and _without the want being supplied_\nthat drove them to God, they rejoice in _God himself_ and care not for\nthe deprivation. This was Paul's experience when he went thus to God\nabout the thorn, and came away without the specific relief he had prayed\nfor, but with such a blessing as a result of his drawing near to God,\nthat he little cared whether the thorn remained or not--or, rather,\nrejoiced that it was not removed; that it might be used to keep him near\nto God, whose love so filled his soul.\n\nA widow once told the writer of the turning point in her Christian life,\nwhen God's love was so shed abroad in her heart that she had been\nenabled to go on through all her trials rejoicingly conscious of God's\npresence, and casting all her burdens upon Him. She was driven to seek\nGod by great need. Her husband's death left her destitute, with little\nchildren to provide for, and few friends from whom to look for\ncontinuous aid. Winter drew on, and, one day, her little boy came in\nshivering with cold and asked if he could not have a fur cap, as his\nstraw hat was very cold and none of the boys at school wore straw hats.\nShe was without a cent in the world. She gave a hopeful answer to the\nboy and sent him out to play, and then went to her bedroom and knelt and\nwept in utter desolation of heart before God, praying most earnestly\nthat God would give her a token that He _was_ her God and was caring for\nher by sending her a cap for her boy. While she prayed the peace of God\nfilled her soul. She was made to feel the presence of her Saviour in\nsuch a way that all doubts as to his love for her and his fulfillment of\nall his promises to care for her vanished away, and she went out of her\nroom, rejoicing in the Lord and singing his praise. She had no burden\nabout the cap, and was quite content for God to send it or not as it\npleased Him; and, in the afternoon, when a neighbor called, occupied\nwith the Lord and his wonderful love, the thought of the cap had gone\nfrom her mind. When the neighbor rose to depart, she said, \"You know my\nlittle boy died last fall. Just before he died I bought him a fur cap:\nhe only wore it two or three times. After his death I put away all his\nthings and thought I could never part with any of them. But, this\nmorning, as I went to the drawer to look them over, I felt that I should\ngive you this cap for your little boy. Will you take it of me?\" As she\ntook the cap and told her neighbor of the morning trial, prayer and\nblessing, two souls were filled with the sense of the reality of prayer\nand the love of God for his children. \"My little boy,\" said the widow,\n\"wore that cap for three winters. And often, when sorely tried by my\ncircumstances, has God lifted the burden from my heart, by my just\nlooking at it, and remembering the blessing that came with it.\"\n\nExperiences like this God gives to all his children, not for the purpose\nof leading them to look to Him for supplying their physical necessities,\nas an end, but to make Himself known to them, and to secure their\nconfidence and love, for \"this is life eternal, that they might know\nThee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.\" (Jno.\nxvii, 8.)\n\nThe use of prayer is to bring us into communion with God, for the growth\nof the spiritual life, that is ours by faith in Christ Jesus. To leave\nit upon any lower plane than this, is to rob it of its highest functions\nand to paralyze it of lasting power for good in any direction. The\npromises of God are conditioned upon our being in this state of heart\ntoward God. \"If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask\nwhat ye will, and it shall be done unto you.\" (Jno. xv., 7.) Abiding in\nChrist, our will will be His will, as to desiring that which will most\nadvance the divine life and promote confidence in God, and all our\ndesires for material blessings will be subordinated to this motive.\nRight here must come in a line of truth that will lead us from the\nspirit of dictation in our prayers to God in all matters pertaining to\nour worldly concerns. We cannot tell what is for our highest spiritual\ngood. The saving of our property or the taking it away. The recovery\nfrom sickness or the continuance of it; the restoration of the health of\nour loved one, or his departing to be with Christ; the removing the\nthorn or the permitting it to remain. \"_In everything_\" it is indeed our\nblessed privilege to let _our requests_ be make known unto God, but,\npraise his name, he has not passed over to us the awful responsibility\nof the assurance that _in everything_ the requests we make known will be\ngranted. He has reserved the decision, where we should rejoice to leave\nit, to his infinite wisdom and his infinite love.\n\nThere is a danger to be carefully guarded against in the reading of this\nbook and in the consideration of the precious truth. The incidents it\nrelates bring before the mind, of the unlimited resources and the\nunquenchable love of God, that are made available to believing prayer.\nThat danger has been suggested by what has been said, that the highest\nuse of prayer is to bring the soul nearer to God, and _not the making of\nit a mere matter of convenience to escape physical ills or supply\nphysical necessities_.\n\n\"That which is born of the flesh is flesh\" and continues flesh until the\nend. \"Have no confidence in the flesh\" is always a much needed\nexhortation. Now, unquestionably, the desires of the natural heart may\nand do deceive us, and often lead as to believe that our fervent earnest\nprayer for temporal blessing is led of the Spirit, when the mind of the\nSpirit is, that we will be made more humble, more Christ-like and more\nuseful by being denied than by being granted. Again, we are in danger of\ndisobeying the plain commands of _God's word_ in allowing prayer ever to\ntake the place of anything _in our power_ to do, and _that we are\ncommanded to do as a means to secure needed good_. He who has said \"pray\nalways,\" has also said, \"Be ambitious to be quiet and to do your own\nbusiness, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; that ye\nmay walk honestly toward them that are without, and may have need of\nnothing.\" (1 Thess., iv., 11, 12; R.V.)\n\nHow often the _flesh_ has led men to read (Phil, iv., 19): \"My God shall\nsupply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,\"\nin a spirit entirely opposed to this exhortation. They have ceased to\nlabor with their hands, and, without warrant in the providences of God\nand the judgment of brethren, have turned from doing their own business,\nexpecting the Lord to pay their debts and provide for their necessities.\nThe quotations of Scripture made by our Lord to Satan, \"Thou shalt not\ntempt the Lord, thy God,\" is surely applicable in all such cases. The\nspirit of a \"sound mind\" (see 2 Tim. i., 7) will surely recognize this.\n\nSo in _all_ things, that which God has given me intelligence and power\nto do, in avoiding evil or securing good, I am under direct command from\nhim to do, always depending upon His blessing to secure the needed\nresult. A _true faith_ in God will be made manifest by careful obedience\nto known commands. An _intelligent_ faith can never allow dependence\nupon means used to take the place of dependence upon the living God, who\nalone makes them efficacious.\n\nIt must result in _presumptions_ faith, if obedience is neglected, and\nthe results only promised to obedience are expected. That God _can_ give\nblessing, without the use of the ordinary means, on man's part, there is\nno question. That he _has_ done so is a matter of record. Yet we should\nremember that there were but _two_ miraculous draughts of fishes, and\n_only twice_ did our Lord make bread without the use of seed-time,\nharvest, grinding and baking. The _rule_ of Christ in his earthly\nministry was, most certainly, to receive the supply of his physical\nwants from His Heavenly Father, in the use of means to secure the\nresults offered in the ordinary operation of the laws of God. He went\ninto the corn-field at autumn and visited the olive tree for sustenance\nas did other men. And the question for his disciples is not what God\n_can_ do, and not what he _has_ done (that he may be known as God over\nall creation, blessed for evermore) in the suspension of natural laws,\nbut what has he revealed to us as his will during the time of the\npresent dispensation of the church on this earth, as to his children\nusing means for the avoidance of evil and securing of good, or depending\nentirely upon miraculous interference in answer to the prayer of faith\nfor all need without reference to use of means.\n\nDoes the prayer, \"Give us this day our daily bread,\" mean that we are to\ndo nothing to secure our bread, lest we show no faith in God, and simply\nwait in idleness for God to repeat the miracle of sending it by a\nraven? or, does it mean that with thankful hearts to God for the ability\nhe has given us to work, that we go forth diligently fulfilling our task\nin the use of all appropriate means to secure that which his loving\nbounty has made possible for us in the fruitful seasons of the earth,\nand return with devout recognition that He is the Creator, Upholder and\nGiver of all, bringing our sheaves with us. When seed-time and harvest\nfail and death is on the land, when corn fails in Egypt and there is no\nbread, when _we have obeyed him_ and sought to toil with our hands and\nno man has given unto us, then we will expect his interposition and will\nhave faith that he who has fed us by use of means, will supply us\nwithout means, and that He alone is the living God.\n\nIt is noticeable that the prophet Elisha, whose prayers God heard in the\nmultiplication of the twenty loaves during the dearth at Gilgal, was\nmade Elijah's successor when following his twelve yoke of oxen at the\nplough in the field, diligently using means to obtain bread, and\nundoubtedly communing with God all the while and recognizing the\nevidences of his love and power in every upturned daisy as he ploughed\nthe sod, and in every seed that he dropped into the fertile earth, and\nthought it grand to be a fellow worker with God in the husbandry of the\nearth and not one to be fed in idleness, neglecting the toil appointed\nto man, and losing the blessing that is promised in the word of God, in\nthe discipline and the knowledge of God in the operations of His laws,\nthat comes in a greater or less degree to all of earth's honest toilers.\n\nIt is the opinion of many of God's children that as the present\ndispensation draws to its close, there will be among the spiritually\nminded and consecrated ones of the church, a reproduction of the gifts\nof Pentecost for a last testimony to the world before Christ comes in\nglory. There is much Scripture that might be quoted to sustain this\nopinion. God grant in His grace and mercy that it may be so. But neither\nthe church or the world have any _claim_ upon God for it. The church has\nabused grace and the world has despised mercy. All the promises as to\nmiracles wrought for a testimony as to the truth of Christ's\nresurrection, have been fulfilled. If Christ were to come to-day, the\nworld would be without excuse in having rejected him, and could not\nplead that signs and wonders had been abundantly wrought in His name in\nthe establishing of His church upon the earth.\n\nThe question of our Lord in Luke xviii., 8, \"When the son of man cometh\nshall he find faith on the earth?\" suggests to many minds that there may\nnot be vouchsafed during the time immediately preceding his\nmanifestations, any marked interference by God in the way of miracles or\nsigns among his children, but that their faith in Him as the unseen God,\nand their trust in the truth and verify of His word, will be brought\nforth to the praise and glory of God and their joy, by their being left\nto the _word alone_ and the operations of the Holy Ghost by and through\nthe word for their comfort and stability in the faith.\n\nCoupled with this thought let it ever be borne in mind by the believer\nthat the testimony of God's word as to miracles, signs and wonders\nwrought by _Satanic agency_ in the church, during the last day, is clear\nand unmistakable, and warnings abound as to our danger from them.\n\n\"The Spirit saith expressly that in later times some shall fall away\nfrom the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of\ndevils.\" 1 Tim. iv., 1.\n\n\"But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come.\" \"Evil\nmen and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being\ndeceived.\" 2 Tim. iii., 1 and 13.\n\n\"Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no\ngreat thing if his ministers be transformed as the ministers of\nrighteousness. 2 Cor. xi., 14.\n\n\"And then shall that wicked be revealed. Even him whose coming is after\nthe working of Satan, _with all power, and signs_, and _lying wonders_;\nand with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish,\nbecause they received not the love of the truth that they might be\nsaved.\" 2 Thess. ii., 8 to 10.\n\nBy these passages it is plain that a sign or a wonder does not establish\na doctrine or endorse a man as certainly being _from God_. The doctrine\nand the man must be judged by the written word of God.\n\nIf there is ought in the doctrine that denies that Jesus is the Son of\nGod, that derogates in the slightest degree from the merit of His\natonement on the cross for our sins, or that takes the eye off from Him\nas the risen and coming Lord, the alone object of our faith and hope, or\nthat dishonors in any way God's holy word, taking from or adding to it,\n_then_ the more signs and wonders and manifestations of mysterious power\nthat there may be connected with it, then the more certainly we may know\nthat it is of Satan and not of God.\n\nAnd if, in the man who exhibits signs and wonders, there is a spirit\ncontrary to the spirit of Christ, in his seeking honor from man, and\nusing his power to establish a claim to such honor, \"speaking of himself\nas some great one,\" and not walking in humility as a sinner saved from\nhell and kept day by day by the power of God through faith in Christ,\nAnd if the purpose of his signs be to establish revelations he is\nreceiving in any form apart from the written word, then, though his\nsigns be as marvelous as those of the magicians in Egypt, or Simon\nMagnus in Samaria, he is, like them, a minister of Satan and not a\nminister of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe age abounds in doctrines and men of this kind. The life of faith\nlays the soul open to assaults of the Devil by their agency.\n\n\"Beloved try the spirits whether they be of God.\"\n\nLet us not waver in our faith in God's overruling providence, and in the\nreality of His interposition in answer to prayer for the deliverance and\nhelp of his people under any and all circumstances. \"In _everything_, by\nprayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our requests be made\nknown unto God,\" but let our first request be that we be kept in a sound\nmind obedient to the word, and let _all of_ our requests close with the\nutterance, from a sincere heart, of the words, \"Thy will be done.\" If\nthis be the attitude of our hearts our prayers shall be abundantly and\ngraciously answered, and God shall guide us from the wiles of the Evil\nOne for the sake of His dear Son Jesus Christ our Lord, through whose\nprecious blood we have all grace and all blessing. Amen.\n\nLAKE VIEW, July 24th, 1885.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nA MAN CAN RECEIVE NOTHING EXCEPT IT BE GIVEN HIM FROM HEAVEN. JOHN 3:\n27.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nHIS COVENANT.\n\n\n_\"Know, that the Lord, thy God he is God, the faithful God, which\nkeepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his\ncommandments, to a thousand generations.\"_\n\n_\"My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of\nmy lips.\"_\n\n_\"I will not suffer my faithfulness to fail.\"_\n\n_\"I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I\nwill also do it.\"_\n\n_\"He is faithful that promised.\"_\n\n_\"I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of\nDavid.\"_\n\n_\"Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.\"_\n\n_\"God is not a man, that he should lie; hath he said and shall he not do\nit? hath he spoken and shall he not make it good?\"_\n\n_\"Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven; thy faithfulness is\nunto all generations, thy word is true from the beginning.\"_\n\n_\"Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.\"_\n\n_\"The word of our God shall stand forever.\"_\n\n_\"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not\nreturn unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it\nshall prosper in the things whereto I sent it.\"_\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nANSWERS TO PRAYER\n\n\nA WONDERFUL ANSWER TO PRAYER AND PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE HOLY\nSPIRIT.\n\n\nA trustful Christian, whose heart had been deeply touched with thoughts\nof religion, was one day thinking and pondering and wishing that he\nmight be more truly convinced of the actual existence of the Holy\nSpirit. \"If,\" thought he, \"there is a Holy Spirit, a Superior Mind and\nWill, I reverently and sincerely wish that I may be convinced of it\nbeyond all doubt; that I may indeed know God is a living reality and\ndaily guide and mighty among the plans and ways of men.\" Though having\nall the needed mental, historic and heart belief and trust in God--still\nthere was desired that special satisfaction which can only come by\n_personal evidence._\n\nWith reverent feeling one morning, he asked the Lord humbly, in Prayer,\n\"_What can thy servant, do for thee this day? Teach him, that he may\ngladly minister to any one in thy name_.\" In the course of the day there\ncame to him the thought of the revival services then proceeding in\nBrooklyn, and feeling a cordial sympathy, he sat down and wrote a letter\nto _Mr. Moody_, with these words: \"_I know not how you are supported, or\nanything of your needs; but I feel like helping you in your good work.\nEnclosed find check for $25; take it and use it if you need it for\nyourself; if not, then do some good with it_.\" The circumstance was\nalmost forgotten, when the day after there came this wonderful reply\nfrom Mr. Moody:\n\n     \"_Your letter came to hand in the_ SAME MAIL, _at the_ SAME\n     INSTANT _of_ TIME, _with a letter from a brother in distress_\n     WANTING THE SAME AMOUNT. _And now you have made him happy, and\n     my heart glad, and the Lord will bless you for it.\"_\n\n\n     D.L. MOODY.\n\nHad there been a direct revelation from heaven, it could not have been\nmore astounding than this, to the heart of that Christian. His own\nprayer was answered, as to his search for the evidences of the Holy\nSpirit, but oh, how wonderfully!\n\nNone but a Superior, Higher, Overruling Spirit, could have known the\nthoughts and desires of each heart. Nothing but an Omnipotent hand of\nPower and Wisdom could have brought these two letters together at that\nidentical instant of time. None but an All-knowing Father could have\nfixed the amount of money which the one was to give and the other was to\npray for.\n\nThis was a wonderful conjuncture of time, desire and amount, and could\nnever have happened by any chance operation of Nature or the natural\nheart and will. Strangest of all, neither of the parties had ever met,\nknown or corresponded with each other before. Neither did Mr. Moody know\nof the desire of the one, nor the necessity of the other, until in the\nact of opening the two letters side by side. In the one envelope was the\nprayer; in the other the answer.\n\nThat check, those letters, with all signatures and endorsements and\nthose persons are this day living and can testify to the authenticity of\nthe circumstance.\n\n\nTHE PRAYER OF FAITH.\n\n\nThe family of Mr. James R. Jordan has resided in Lake View, Chicago,\nsince the spring of 1871. They are members of Lincoln Park\nCongregational Church. The father, Mr. James R. Jordan, died in October,\n1882, aged eighty-four years. Through a long series of financial trials,\nsorrows, afflictions by death and pressing cares, this family learned to\ndepend on God for their daily prosperity; and the cures wrought in them,\naccording to God's Word, are only a small portion of the remarkable\nanswers to prayer with which their history is filled.\n\nIt is an instructive fact for Christian meditation, that when the\nexercise of intelligent faith was necessary to their cures, the faith\nwas there _ready for exercise._ They had not to begin, as, alas! so many\ndo, at the very foundation, and find out first, what faith is, and next,\nhow to exercise it. They had learned long before what faith is and what\nfaith is not; that _faith is trustful obedience to the Word of God;_\nthat it _is not_ a determination to have one's own way, nor to expect\nthe immediate gratification of a desire, simply because the desire has\nbeen made known to God. They knew that faith obediently accepts God's\ncommands and promises, expects to comply with the conditions of those\ncommands and promises, and, so complying, expects to receive the results\nof such obedience at such times and in such ways as God appoints; all of\nwhich truths they found, and all of which may be found in the Holy\nScriptures.\n\nThus living in the hopes of the Gospel, realizing as much that their\n\"home is in heaven\" as that their \"rest is not here,\" they have, through\nthe years, performed the daily duties of their pilgrimage.\n\nThe writer has known them for thirteen years, and gratefully testifies\nthat their faith has strengthened her's, and that their cheerful hope in\nthe Lord has been a strong consolation to many who were in trouble.\n\nAfter the sudden death of the youngest son of the family, in 1880, the\ncare of the family devolved entirely upon the two daughters, Mrs. H.J.\nFurlong and Miss Addie S. Jordan.\n\nIn April, 1876, Mrs. Jordan fell and badly fractured her hip. She was\nthen seventy-seven years old. On account of her age she could not well\nbe etherized, nor endure the repeated necessary resetting of the bones,\nand consequently they grew together irregularly. Her hip-joint was\nstiff, so that she was never able to walk without the support of a cane\nor crutch. For eight years she could not leave her own little yard, nor\nclimb into a carriage, nor walk without support.\n\nThrough this misfortune her afflictions grew worse. In January, 1884,\nshe fell and broke one bone and dislocated another in the left wrist.\nNotwithstanding all that medical help could do, the shock brought on a\nsevere sickness, and when, after eight weeks, she left her bed to move\naround feebly, she had almost lost her sight and hearing, her hand was\nuseless, and her mind greatly impaired.\n\nOn her birthday, June 10, 1884, when she was eighty-five years old, she\ngreatly mourned that she had outlived her usefulness; that she could no\nlonger feed herself, nor read her Bible, nor remember the desirable\nsubjects for her prayers, and she hoped that she should not linger here\nlong in such a helpless and useless condition.\n\nDuring the latter part of this time the two daughters were sick, Mrs.\nFurlong with paralysis and Miss Jordan with consumption.\n\nIn the latter part of 1882 Miss Jordan, then in feeble health, was\nneeded at home to attend the father's last sickness, and Mrs. Furlong\nwas left to conduct their business alone. 'The extraordinary exertion\nbrought on paralysis. It began in her right arm, which became so\ninsensible that the strongest ammonia produced no sensation or apparent\neffect. Gradually her whole right side lost power, her foot dragged, and\nthough she did manage to move about, she was comparatively helpless.\nPhysicians spoke not hopefully; and protracted rest was recommended as a\n_possible_ relief. She planned to take electric treatment, though not\nvery hopeful about the result. She failed once to meet her physician,\nand while planning the second time to take the treatment, and\nconsidering Christ's miracles of healing, and the Bible's promises to\nthe sick, and having a feeling that possibly she might be doing wrong in\nnot relying entirely on the Lord, who had hitherto so much helped them,\nshe delayed a little, and failed again to meet the appointment. It was a\nSaturday evening in January, 1883.\n\nShe went home and sat down that evening alone, in the dining-room,\ndepressed. The enfeebled family--the aged crippled mother, the sick\nsister and her own young son--had retired. As she thought the subject\nthrough, she became convinced that it was not good to spend time and\nmoney in the way proposed. Instantly the words THE SAVIOUR filled her\nsoul with indescribable hope, and as she thought of His miracles, and\nhow _the same Jesus_, on earth, healed paralyzed ones, the hope grew\nthat He would heal her.\n\nWith the well hand she stretched out her paralyzed hand on the table and\nsaid: \"Dear Lord, will you heal me?\" Like an electric shock the life\nbegan to move in her arm, and the continued sensation was as though\nsomething that, previously, had not moved was set in motion. The feeling\npassed up to the head, and down the body to the foot. _She was healed!\nand she was grateful!_ She did not speak of her experience to the\nfamily, but retired. She rose early the next morning, and awoke her\nson,--a prayerful, dutiful young man,--and said to him, \"I'm going to\nchurch, to-day.\" He replied, \"Then I'll get up and go with you,\"\nexpecting that she must ride.\n\nHer soul was solemnly full that day of the felt presence of the Holy\nSpirit, and she did not like to talk. Her son watched her movements,\nastonished.\n\nShe went to the church, took a class again in Sunday School, and; in\ngoing back and forth to church that day and evening, walked about sixty\nblocks without weariness.\n\nWe are not permitted, here, to draw aside the curtain, to dwell upon the\nsurprises and the grateful joy of that ever-to-be-remembered, sacred\nday.\n\nA few days after this healing, she, with a consciousness that she was\nrunning a risk, lifted a heavy weight, and a numbness returned. She\nconfessed the sin to the Lord, and asked Him that, when she had been\nsufficiently chastened, He would take the trouble away. Gradually,\nwithin two days, it disappeared, and has never returned.\n\nAt the time when Mrs. Furlong was healed, in answer to prayer, Miss.\nJordan's case was considered hopeless. Her lungs had been diseased since\n1876. In November, 1879, her physician had decided that tubercles had\nformed in the left lung, and that the right lung was much congested and\nhardened.\n\nIn 1882 she had many hemorrhages, and gradually grew worse, so that she\ncould not use her left arm or shoulder without producing hemorrhage.\n\nMrs. Furlong, soon after her own healing, received a comforting\nassurance from the Lord that her sister would be healed; but Miss\nJordan, herself, had not that assurance. At this time she took little or\nno medicines, the physicians and the family having no confidence in\ntheir curative effect; but, on the 1st of January, 1884, she had so many\nchills and hemorrhages, that they sent for the family physician to aid\nin checking, if possible, the severe attack.\n\nDuring this apparently rapid descent deathward, Mrs. Furlong continued\nto repeat to the family and to the physicians that the Lord would heal\nher sister.\n\nMiss Jordan was one day so low that she could just be aroused to take\nher medicine. As Mrs. Furlong went to give it, Miss Jordan said to her,\n\"Do you want to throw that medicine away?\" Mrs. Furlong said \"Yes,\" and\nthrew it away. Six hours of united waiting upon the Lord followed. They\nwere hours of pain. From nine in the morning till three in the afternoon\nshe suffered indescribable pain. A few minutes after three, the pain\nleft her, and with a bright look she said, \"I believe I'm better.\" She\nwanted to rise and dress, but Mrs. Furlong advised her to rest through\nthe night. She said she had not, in five years, been so free from\nweariness and pain.\n\nThe aged mother was sick in bed with that broken wrist, and Mrs. Furlong\nfeared that her sister's improved condition would shock and perplex her.\n\nMiss Jordan lay on the lounge the most of the time for two days. One of\nher expressions was, \"It's perfect bliss to lie here free from pain.\"\nHer breathing became perfectly natural, and very soon the great hollow\nplace in the upper part of the chest, over the left lung, filled out.\nShortly before her healing she only weighed eighty pounds; but a few\nmonths after her weight had increased to one hundred and twenty pounds.\n\nShe progressed in health rapidly, and on the second Sunday after the\nhealing came she attended church. The feeble mother was most sensitively\nanxious lest her daughter should pursue some unwarrantable course which\nshould lead to relapse.\n\nMiss Jordan's health steadily improved, but it was several months before\na cough entirely left her. You may be sure that doubters made the most\nof that cough! _But it left her!_ At one time she brought on a slight\nrelapse by giving lessons in crayon drawing. She came to the conclusion\nthat the Lord had other work for her to do: and at this writing,\nSeptember, 1885, having prayerfully and watchfully followed the leadings\nof the Lord, is a missionary among the freedmen of the South, and is\nstrong in health and in faith, \"giving glory to God.\"\n\nOne of the aged mother's perplexities was that the Lord should want her\nto live on in such a helpless and useless condition, while her\ndaughters, who might be so useful, must die; but oh, how successful she\nhad by precept and example taught those daughters that \"He hath done all\nthings well!\" How patiently she suffered whatever she thought was the\nLord's will! How sweet was her constant thanksgiving! Said a pious\nChristian neighbor, whose poor health restricted her attendance at\nchurch, \"When I'm hungry for a blessing I go down to see old lady\nJordan.\"\n\nAfter eight painful weeks, she so far recovered from the sickness\nconsequent on the broken and dislocated wrist as to move around feebly,\nbut sight and hearing were almost gone. Her leg was stiff, her hand\nstiff, her wrist deformed, and her mind greatly impaired.\n\nMiss Jordan became very hopeful, and received strong assurance, in\nanswer to prayer, that her mother might be healed. Mrs. Furlong received\nno assurance whatever in her mother's case. There was a great deal of\ntalking and praying about it, in the family, and finally Mrs. Jordan\nhumbly claimed the Lord's help, beseeching Him that since He had\nrecorded that He would make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the\ndeaf to hear, if it was His will He would heal her. This was the night\nof June 16th, 1884.\n\nIn the morning Miss Jordan was so hopeful that she rose early, and\nattentively listened to the movements in her mother's room. She called\nthe little family's attention to them, saying, \"Just listen to her;\" and\nas, holding on by the banister, the aged mother came with her accustomed\nslow movements down to the dining room, Miss Jordan said, to them, \"Now,\nwatch her.\"\n\nAccording to the long habit of eight years, she began to reach out for\nher cane, unconscious that she had been walking around her room with new\nfreedom. Miss Jordan went toward her and said, \"Mother, do you want your\ncane?\" and, wondering, the old lady walked freely into the dining room.\nThey gathered around her, and said, \"Are you not healed, mother?\" and\nshe began to think _she was_, and sat down in her chair by the table.\nCould she move her hand? The doubled-up thumb, and straight, stiff\nfinger, were _perfectly free_ and as _limber as ever_, and the stiff\nwrist joint _moved with perfect freedom!_ She _heard as well as\nanybody!_ Could she see? She went up-stairs to her Bible, whose blurred,\ndim pages she had thought closed to her forever, and _she could read as\nwell as ever_, and without glasses! She could thread the finest needle.\nCould she kneel and thank the Lord? She had not knelt for eight years.\nYes, she could kneel as well as when she served the Lord in her youth!\n\nChristian reader, stop here and think what a joyful family that was that\nJune morning. That aged saint, of a little more than 85 years, was in\ngood health again! And her two daughters had been snatched from the jaws\nof death! What a triumph of blessed memories to leave in legacy to that\nyoung, hopeful, Christian son, who, in childhood, had himself repeatedly\nproved that the Lord hears and answers prayer!\n\nMrs. Jordan has never used cane or crutch since that morning. She has\nfrequently walked five blocks, to go to her church; and, a few weeks\nafter her healing, she one day walked the distance of about fifteen\nblocks. She has walked for hours in Lincoln Park, among the plants and\nflowers, and she goes up and down stairs, and wherever she likes, as\nwell as anyone.\n\nShe has the use of her faculties, and an altogether comfortable use of\nher sight, though that is not so acute as at first. Her earliest joy was\nthat she was permitted to see that the Lord had some purpose in sparing\nher so long.\n\nDear Christian reader, shall the wonderful manifestation of that\n\"purpose\" strengthen your faith? It helps me.\n\n\"Is anything too hard for the Lord?\" \"No good thing will He withhold\nfrom them that walk uprightly.\" \"If ye then, being evil, know how to\ngive good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father\nwhich is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him.\" \"If we live\nby the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.\"\n\nIn the hopes of the Gospel,\n\n                                                        Miss E. Dryer.\n\n150 Madison St., Chicago.\n\n\nALMOST A BANKRUPT.\n\n\nA prominent Christian had just entered a merchant's counting-room, when\nthe head man of the place said to him, \"Let us kneel and ask God to help\nme through, for without his help, I shall be a bankrupt before the\nsetting of the sun.\" So they knelt and prayed. That man went through the\npressure, and did not become a bankrupt.\n\n\n\"HE COULD NOT FLEE FROM THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.\"\n\n\nA clergyman of distinction gives this instance of the worthlessness of\nall attempts to flee from the Power of the Spirit.\n\n\"I looked out of my window one morning, while it was yet dark, and saw a\nlady standing at my gate, leaning against a post, and evidently weeping\nbitterly. I knew her. She was a member of the church, and was an\nearnest, consistent Christian. She was married to one of the most bitter\nUniversalists I ever knew. I stepped down the steps to her, and asked,\n'What is the matter?' She replied, 'Oh, my poor husband! I had so hoped\nand prayed that he might be converted in this revival! and now he has\nrode away, and says that _he will not come back till this religious\nflurry is over_. What shall I do to bear up under this?'\n\n\"I said, 'It is near the time for prayer. We will go and lay his case\nbefore the Lord, and make _special request_ that God will bring him back\nagain under the power of the Spirit. The Lord can bring him home, and I\nbelieve He will do it. We must pray for him.'\n\n\"She dried her tears in a moment, and seemed to seize hold of this\n'strong hope,' as we walked to the place of prayer. We found the room\ncrowded. It fell to my lot to lead the meeting.\n\n\"At the opening, I stated the case of this Universalist husband, who had\nundertaken to run away from the influence of the Spirit, by fleeing into\nthe country. I said that we must all pray _that the Holy Spirit may\nfollow him, overtake him, and bring him back again_, show him his sins,\nand lead him to Jesus.\n\n\"The meeting took up the case with great earnestness, and I could not\nbut feel that prayer would in some way be answered.\n\n\"_But can you imagine our surprise when, at our evening prayer meeting,\nthis same Universalist came in_?\n\n\"After standing a few minutes, till the opportunity offered, he said:\n\n\"'I went away on horseback this morning, and told my wife I was going\ninto the country to stay till this flurry was over. I rode right over\nthe hills, back from the river, into the country, till I had got\neighteen miles away. _There, on the top of a hill, I was stopped as Paul\nwas, and just as suddenly_, and made to feel what a horrible sinner I\nam. I am one of the worst sinners that ever lived. _I have lost my\nUniversalism_, and I know I must be born again, or I can never see the\nkingdom of Heaven. Oh, pray for me that I may be converted; nothing else\nwill do for me.'\n\n\"He took his seat amid the tears and sobs of the whole assembly. The\nhour was full of prayer for that man's conversion.\n\n\"This strong and intelligent man, once one of the bitterest\nUniversalists I ever knew, is now an elder in a Presbyterian church, and\none of the most joyous, happy, energetic men of God you will meet in\nmany a day. He believes he was 'converted on the spot in that prayer\nmeeting.'\"\n\n\nLIFE BROUGHT BACK AGAIN IN THE MIDST OF DEATH.\n\n\nThe following instance, when _death itself was made to give back the\nlife it claimed_, is personally known to us to be true: A mother, in\nthis city, sent a request for prayer to the Fulton street\nprayer-meeting, asking the Lord for the recovery of her daughter, who\nwas sinking rapidly, and who she felt was almost dying.\n\nHer husband, an eminent physician, and others, also, the most skilled\nphysicians of the city, gave up the case as hopeless. The mother felt\nthat now none but God could or would help; that in the Fulton street\nprayer-meeting were sympathizing friends, and to it sent her request.\nShe came to the meeting herself, to join in their prayers and testify\nher faith. The moments of the meeting passed on. One request after\nanother was read, but hers was not touched. She was sadly disappointed.\nHer child was so weak and almost dying, it could not live the day\nthrough, perhaps. The time was within a few minutes, less than three, of\nthe close of the meeting. She, at last, with faltering steps and\npalpitating heart, pressed her way to the desk and asked if her request\nwas there. Upon search, it was found that it had been overlooked. _Too\nlate_, said the leader, to _read it to-day_. See, the clock is at its\nlast moment; but it shall be read first thing at 12 o'clock, to-morrow,\nand special prayer shall be offered immediately.\n\nWith what heavy heart the mother went away, back to the chamber of the\ndying one, none can ever know. All night the waiting ones watched, with\ntheir ceaseless attentions and silent prayers.\n\n_A few minutes before_ 12 _o'clock the body sank, the eyes closed,\npallor came over the features, the spirit seemed gone_, and _all was\nstill; not a breath, not a motion--death had come_.\n\nThe mother had taken her watch, hung it on the pillow of the bed, and\nwith streaming eyes, yet ceaseless prayer, they watched the slow finger\nmove to 12 o'clock. At precisely twelve, all joined in prayer, lifting\ntheir hearts to God. _At fifteen minutes past twelve, the daughter\nopened her eyes_, saying, \"Mother, _I feel better_,\" then sank into\nsleep, _breathing steadily_; after three hours awoke to consciousness\nand sat up in bed, and before night was able to walk the floor of her\nchamber. Prayer brought that life back, even when death had taken it.\n_At the very moment when that precious prayer was offered in the\nmeeting, the Lord came and touched the dying one, and gave it new life._\nThe mother's faith and prayer was honored, and the Lord remembered his\npromise, \"_If ye believe, ye shall see the glory of God.\"_ The same Lord\nwho raised Lazarus and bade him come forth, also came and bade this\nprecious life come back again to earth.\n\n\nSAVED FROM THE HANDS OF A DESPERADO.\n\n\nThe following circumstance is communicated to us by a United States\nSurgeon:\n\n\"After the close of the Mexican war, and in the year 1849, a train was\nsent out from San Antonio to establish military posts on the upper Rio\nGrande, particularly at El Paso. I was surgeon of the quartermaster's\ndepartment, numbering about four hundred men. While the train was making\nup, the cholera prevailed in camp, for about six weeks, at first with\nterrible severity. On the 1st of June it had so far subsided that we\ntook up the line of march. After about four days out from San Antonio,\nthe health of the men became very good, and continued so through the\nwhole route, with the exception of occasional cases of prostration from\nheat, and slight fevers, the Summer being unusually hot. One evening in\nJuly, after coming into camp, I received a call to see a man who had\nbeen taken sick on the march. I found him lying under his wagon. The\nwagon was loaded with bacon, in bulk about two tons. The heat with the\npressure had caused it to drip freely. I asked him to come from under\nthe wagon, that I might examine his case and prescribe, for him. This he\nrefused to do; but demanded that I should crawl under the wagon to him,\nwhich I, of course, would not consent to do. No persuasion could induce\nhim to change his position in the least. Becoming satisfied that he was\nnot much, if at all sick, I left him. His profanity, threats and\nimprecations were fearful. Perhaps it would be well to give a short\nsketch of his life for the three years previous, as I learned it from\nmen who knew him, and had been with him for considerable portion of that\nperiod. He went to Mexico, at the beginning of the war, a soldier in the\nregular army. When his term of service expired, he was discharged, and\nsought employment in the quartermaster's department, as a teamster. He\nhad the reputation of being a thief, a robber and an assassin. In a few\nmonths he was ignominiously discharged from the service, and, at the\nclose of the war, he came to Texas, and sought and obtained employment\nas teamster in the train then organizing for El Paso. But, to return to\nmy narrative. On the morning after the occurrence at the wagon, a\nteamster came to me and said, in a hasty and abrupt manner, 'Doctor, Mc\nwill kill you to-day or to-night. He is full of rage, and muttering\nterrible threats. He was out very early this morning and emptied his\nsix-shooter, and came in and reloaded it and put it in first-rate\norder.' I said, 'Mc, what's up now?' He replied, 'I will kill that\nd----d old doctor to-day or to-night;' and he will do it. I have known\nhim make threats before, and have never known him fail to execute them.\nBut I must go; he must not know that I have seen you.' Knowing the man,\nI realized the danger, and felt that I was powerless, either to resist\nor avoid it. I retired within my tent and closed it up. I prostrated\nmyself before Him who is able to save. I prayed for deliverance from the\nhands of the cruel and blood-thirsty man, and that I might not be left\nin the power of him who was my enemy without cause. I submitted my cause\ninto the hands of Him who doeth all things well, and prayed for entire\nsubmission to his will. My anxiety subsided; my fear was removed, and I\ncommenced the duties of the day with usual cheerfulness.\n\n\"Soon after this, the camp broke and we were on the march. I fell back\nwith the officers of the rear guard, and the excitement of the morning\nwas soon forgotten. About 10 o'clock, a courier came back in haste, for\nme to see a man who had been thrown from his mule and crushed under the\nwheels of his wagon. He did not know who the man was--he was about half\nor three-quarters of a mile ahead. The thought then occurred to me, I\nshall probably have to pass Mc's team. I will ride square up with the\ncourier, and keep him between myself and the train. When we came to the\nspot I inquired who the man was, for he was so mutilated I could not\nrecognize him. _It was Mc. God was there_. Awe and terror took hold upon\nme. I was dumb with amazement.\n\n\"Mc had dismounted and walked some fifty rods by the side of his team.\nAttempting to remount, his mule whirled and pitched, and he was thrown\nupon his back, and his team with fourteen others instantly stampeded.\nBoth the fore and hind wheels on the near side of his wagon, passed\ndirectly over his face, and crushed every bone in his head. It was a\nfearful sight; not a feature of the human face could be discerned.\n\n\"The stampeded teams were flying wildly over the prairie, in spite of\nevery effort of the teamsters to control them.\n\n\"I directed the head of the corpse to be inserted in some new, thick\nsacks, in such a way as to prevent the oozing of blood, and that it be\nwrapped in his blanket and taken to the next camp for burial. When the\nstampeded teams came in, it was found that no other person was injured,\nnor any damage done.\n\n\"The philosopher may tell us of the reign of law; of the coincidence of\ncircumstances; of the action of natural causes; but, to the Christian,\nthe fact still remains--prayer was answered. God heareth his people when\nthey cry unto Him.\"\n\n\nTHE PRAYER OF A MISSIONARY IN MEXICO ANSWERED.--SAVED FROM BANDITTI.\n\n\n\"In the Spring of 1872, I was, with my wife and child, in the city of\nCadereita, Mexico, where we had been laboring as missionaries, but felt\nit was our duty to return to the States for a little season, and had\nbeen asking God to open up the way for us. At length, about the middle\nof March, the opportunity appeared to be given, the means being\nprovided; but the country was in a state of revolution (a no uncommon\nthing there), and, consequently, there were no stages running out of the\ncountry, so we had to take conveyance in Mexican carts. Therefore, we\nengaged two men, with their carts; one in which we might ride and carry\na mattress, which should serve as a bed at night, and the other, to\ncarry the baggage and provisions for ourselves and the horses, as our\nway was mostly through an uncultivated country.\n\n\"We knew that General Cortinas, with his troops, was somewhere between\nus and Texas, as the State we were in was one of those in rebellion. The\nblood-thirsty character of General Cortinas is well known on the\nfrontier, there being no less than seventeen indictments against him for\nmurder in the State of Texas. He is regarded as having a special hatred\nagainst Americans, and the Mexicans, themselves, stand in terror of him.\n\n\"Our friends and brethren in Cadereita tried hard to deter us from\ngoing, as most likely we would fall into the hands of General Cortinas;\nin which event, they said, the very utmost we could expect would be to\nescape with our lives, being left destitute of everything, in a\nwilderness road; but, as God had seemed to open up the way, providing\nthe means, we determined to go forward, trusting that He also would\nprotect us in the way. Therefore, having completed our arrangements, we\nstarted for Matamoras, some three hundred miles distant, on the 19th of\nMarch, the wives of the two men accompanying their husbands, making our\nparty six adults and one child; the brethren in Cadereita promising to\npray daily for our safety. The third morning, after commending\nourselves, as usual, into the care of our covenant-keeping God, we\nstarted on our journey. Some two hours later, we espied the troops of\nGeneral Cortinas, about two miles distant, marching toward us. We again\nall looked to God for protection, and prayed that, as he shut the mouths\nof the lions, that they should not hurt his servant Daniel, so He would\nnow restrain the evil passions of men, that they might not hurt nor\ninjure us--then we went on till we met the advance guard, who commanded\nus to halt and wait till the General came up. After nearly half an hour,\nGeneral Cortinas, with his escort, rode up to where we were waiting for\nhim. After the ordinary salutation, he asked: (_\u00bfde adonde vienen y\nadonde van?_) 'From whence have you come, and where are you going?'--to\nwhich we replied properly; then he asked: 'What is the news from Nueva\nLeon?' (the State we left)--to which we replied as faithfully as we\ncould. Then I asked him, 'Is the road safe between us and Matamoras?' He\nreplied: 'Perfectly; you can go on without any fear, and as safely as\nyou would in your own country.' Then, bidding us 'good morning,' he rode\non, not even inquiring about or examining any of our baggage.\n\n\"When we arrived in Brownsville, Texas, and told of how gentlemanly\nGeneral Cortinas had treated us, all pronounced it wonderful, and said,\n'We could not have believed General Cortinas capable of such kindness to\nAmericans so in his power. It was truly a miracle.' We believed that it\nwas God who restrained the naturally vicious passions of the man, in\ndirect answer to prayer.\"\n\n\nAN INFIDEL'S LIFE SPARED A FEW DAYS.\n\n\n\"During the Summer of 1862, I became acquainted with a Mr. A----, who\nprofessed infidelity, and who was, I think, as near an atheist as any I\never met. I held several conversations with him on the subject of\nreligion, but could not seem to make any impression on his mind, and,\nwhen a point was pressed strongly, he would become angry.\n\n\"In the Fall, he was taken ill, and seemed to go into a rapid decline.\nI, with others, sought kindly and prayerfully to turn his mind to his\nneed of a Saviour, but only met with rebuffs. As I saw that his end was\ndrawing near, one day I pressed the importance of preparing to meet God,\nwhen he became angry and said I need not trouble myself any more about\nhis soul, as there was no God, the Bible was a fable, and when we die\nthat is the last of us, and was unwilling that I should pray with him. I\nleft him, feeling very sad.\n\n\"Some four weeks after, on New Year's morning, I awoke with the\nimpression that I should go and see Mr. A----, and I could not get rid\nof that impression; so, about nine o'clock, I went to see him, and, as I\napproached the house, I saw the two doctors, who had been holding a\nconsultation, leaving. When I rang the bell, his sister-in-law opened\nthe door for me, and exclaimed, 'Oh! I am so glad you have come; John is\ndying. The doctors say he cannot possibly live above two hours, and\nprobably not one.' When I went up to his room, he sat bolstered up in a\nchair, and appeared to have fallen into a doze. I sat down, about five\nfeet from him, and when, in about two minutes, he opened his eyes and\nsaw me, he started up, with agony pictured on his face and in the tones\nof his voice, exclaimed, 'O! Mr. P----, I am not prepared to die; there\nis a God; the Bible is true! O, pray for me! pray God to spare me a few\ndays, till I shall know I am saved.'\n\n\"These words were uttered with the intensest emotion, while his whole\nphysical frame quivered through the intense agony of his soul. I replied\nin effect, that Jesus was a great Saviour, able and willing to save all\nwho would come unto Him, even at the eleventh hour, as He did the thief\non the cross.\n\n\"When I was about to pray with him, he again entreated me to pray\nespecially that God would spare him a few days, till he might have the\nevidences of his salvation. In prayer, I seemed to have great assurance\nof his salvation, and asked God to give us the evidence of his\nsalvation, by granting him a few days more in this world. Several others\njoined in praying God to spare him a few days, till he should give\nevidence of being saved.\n\n\"I called again in the evening; he seemed even stronger than in the\nmorning, and his mind was seeking the truth. The next day, as I\nentered, his face expressed the fact that peace and joy had\ntaken the place of fear and anxiety. He was spared some five\ndays, giving very clear evidence that he had passed from death to life.\nHis case was a great mystery to the doctors. They could not understand\nhow he lived so long; but his friends, who had been praying for him, all\nbelieved it was in direct answer to prayer.\"\n\n\nREMARKABLE PRESERVATION FROM BRAIN DIFFICULTIES.\n\n\n\"A few weeks ago, a man who had once been a member of my church, but had\nfallen from his steadfastness through strong drink, fell from a ladder,\nstriking his head on the corner of a stone, which made a dent in the\nskull of over two and one-half inches in length, and three-fourths of an\ninch in width, and half an inch in depth. This happened on Friday\nafternoon. At our prayer-meeting, in the evening, most earnest prayers\nwere offered in his behalf; the brethren prayed that God would restore\nhim his senses and spare him a few days, that he might repent of his\nback-sliding and be saved.\n\n\"The surgeons raised the skull, and his senses were restored; his mind\nseemed clear. This continued over a week, when it was evident that there\nwas still some pressure on the brain. The surgeons removed the skull,\nand found three pieces driven down into the brain. They expressed, from\nthe first, no hope of his recovery; but wondered much at the clearness\nof his mind, which continued for over two weeks. We believed that it was\nin answer to the prayers of the church that he might have time and\nopportunity to repent and prepare to meet God, which we trust he did.\"\n\n\nLITTLE GEORGE'S PRAYER.\n\n\nA clergyman writes us these incidents:\n\n\"I knew a poor family whose son George, four or five years old, was\naccustomed to pray. They lived five or six miles from neighbors, and, at\ntimes, were quite destitute. One day, as little George observed his\nmother weeping over their destitution, he said, \"Why, mother, don't cry\nany; we shall not starve; God will send us something to eat, I know He\nwill. I've just been praying, and asked Him to.\" The little fellow just\nas much believed God would send them food, as if he had asked a reliable\nneighbor and obtained his promise to supply their wants. In a day or two\nafter this, some friends living at a distance and knowing they were\npoor, took them the welcome surprise of a wagon-load of substantial\nmaterial for food and other comforts. The little boy grew up to be a\nChristian minister, and, about a year ago, on inquiry, his uncle told me\nhe had been at the head of an institution of learning in the\nSouth-west.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR A HORSE.\n\n\n\"My horse died, and, after traveling through the snow-drifts to my\nappointments, till I was lame, half sick, and unfit for service--as I\nhad not means to purchase a horse, I thought of quitting the work and\ngoing to teaching, and laid the matter before God, in prayer; soon after\nwhich, some person at a distance, who heard that I had lost my horse,\nwithout my saying a word about it, raised the means by which I procured\nanother.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR A WIFE.\n\n\n\"When I believed it would be well for me to seek a companion for life, I\nasked of God direction in making a wise choice, and that, in a matter of\nso much importance to me and others, I might meet with success or\n_hindrance_, as my heavenly Father knew best. He led me to a choice and\nmarriage, which I have not since regretted.\"\n\n\nCHURCH TROUBLES QUELLED.\n\n\n\"I might mention a dozen instances in which church troubles were\ngathering, and trials between members appeared certain, when all my\ntactics failed, and the wisdom of brethren was of no avail; my last\nresort was to ask God to send help and deliver from the threatened\nevil--and in ways that no one could foresee, complete deliverance came.\"\n\n\nA MINISTER'S SUPPLIES FALL SHORT.\n\n\n\"When very much in need of funds to procure supplies for a coming\nWinter, all expedients failed; then I asked God for assistance, when,\nunexpectedly, a friend in California sent me a little package of gold\ndust, which I sold, at once, for $130. This came when it was needed, and\nit did us good.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR A SERVANT.\n\n\n\"Some time after, we failed to find anything like suitable help in the\nhouse, which we greatly needed. Before starting out one morning, in\nsecret I prayed to God to direct me as I went on my uncertain business,\nand prayed as I called at different places, and soon found a colored\ngirl sixteen years old wanting a place, who came and proved to be the\nbest help we ever had, before or since. For seven years and a half she\nlived in the family, taught two of our children to read; was glad, from\nchoice, to move with us to different places, till she left to be\nmarried, fell sick and passed away. A dozen other times when driven in\nstraits, _in answer to prayer_ God has enabled us to procure necessary\nhelp, which was difficult to obtain.\n\n\"In 1874, while on my way to see my mother in Pennsylvania--who had just\nbeen paralyzed, and died the next week--I was suddenly paralyzed in my\nleft arm, by which, I have since been helpless and useless. After coming\nhere to live, being in want of a man to lift me in and out of bed, dress\nme, etc., for which we inquired of people, and prayed to God to send us\nthe needed help. We had not means to hire and pay any person to do such\nwork, even if he could be found. Soon the right one came, in the person\nof a young German, who was tramping through the country in search of\nemployment and food; was ready and glad to do any work for a living. For\npay that satisfied him and us, he staid in the family over a year,\nworking out doors and in; could be trusted to do business with money,\nand return every cent correctly. After being with us over a year, when\nwe needed him no longer, he obtained a situation in a good family, where\nhe is now living. In many instances, I have prayed to be healed of\nspecial sickness, always using what remedies I thought best, yet asking\nthe divine blessing on their use.\"\n\n\nHEALING.\n\n\n\"For over three years, I was troubled with frequent raising of blood\nfrom my right lung, which physicians failed to cure. Of this I prayed to\nbe relieved; after which, the soreness healed, and for several years it\nhas ceased to trouble me.\"\n\n\nTHAT $18.75.\n\n\nA man who had led a very wicked life, was converted and hopefully saved.\nPrevious to this time, a debt of $18.75 had not given him the slightest\nthought. After receiving a new heart, he distinctly heard God's command,\n\"Pay what thou owest;\" so called on his creditor, and urged him to send\nto his house and get a bureau, table and looking-glass, which he desired\nhim to sell and pay himself the sum due him; but, not wishing to deprive\nhis debtor of such necessary articles, refused, saying he would wait\ntill he could pay. The 18th of November was set, and, as the day\napproached, the prospect was no brighter; and when the night of the 17th\ncame around, he spent it in prayer that God would deliver him, and rose\nfrom his knees at daybreak, with the full assurance that \"He knoweth how\nto deliver.\"\n\nOn passing down a street the next morning, on his way to business, a man\nwho kept a large store was standing in the door-way, and called to him\nto stop a minute. Wondering what could be the nature of the call, he\nretraced his steps, to hear this astonishing news: \"_For three days I\nhave been impressed with the idea that I must give you_ $18.75, _and for\nthree days have been trying to ascertain why I must give you this\namount, for I do not owe any man a penny_. I cannot get rid of the\nthought, and if you value my peace of mind, I beg you take the money!\"\nSeeing, instantly, the hand of God in it, he told the story to the\nastonished storekeeper, then left to pay his debt with the money so\nstrangely given. His creditor, surprised to see him so promptly on time,\nquestioned him as to the manner of obtaining it, thinking, perhaps, he\nhad made a great sacrifice to do so. On being told just how it was given\nhim, said, \"_I won't take it; keep it. If God is as near to people as\nthat, I don't want it; it seems as if it had come directly from his\nAlmighty hand_.\" The result was the conversion of both the storekeeper\nand creditor, to whom the incident came as the undoubted evidence of\nGod's presence among them.\n\n\nGOD SENT THE BAG OF FLOUR.\n\n\nIn about the year 1830, in Central New York, there was a time of great\nscarcity of provisions. Grain was very high, and difficult to be\nobtained at any price; and, of course, families of limited means were\nvery much straitened. In one family, the wife and mother of six\nchildren, a Godly woman, worked at her trade (tailoress) to the extent\nof her ability, and prayed earnestly that God would deliver them from\npressing want. Husband and children all knew of their need, and of the\nfervent prayers of the wife and mother for their supply; but no one knew\nby what means the supply was to come. Every day, as their scanty means\nwere being consumed, the prospect grew darker. On the farm was a large\nquantity of pine timber. Four miles from there, in the next town, lived\na man who needed some shingles; and, casting about him to see where he\nshould obtain a supply, thought he would go and purchase a pine tree,\nand himself and man go into the woods and work it up into shingles. As\nhe was about starting, the thought occurred to him, \"Perhaps they may be\nin want of wheat flour--a bag cannot come amiss in this time of\nscarcity.\" So, putting two bushels in a bag, he proceeded to the next\ntown, entered the house, and made known his errand, saying, \"I have\nbrought along two bushels of flour towards paying for the tree, thinking\nyou might be in want of it in this time of scarcity, and I knew you live\nsix or seven miles from the mill, and have no horse.\" \"That is in answer\nto prayer,\" said the noble woman; and the husband believed it, though\nnot a praying man. When, at night, the oldest son came in, the mother\nsaid to him, \"God has answered our prayers, and sent a bag of flour.\" It\nis believed that, while this was not miraculous, it was as directly the\ninterposition of God, as feeding Elijah by the ravens; and it was in\ndirect answer to prayer for that special blessing.\"\n\n\nINCIDENTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF A CITY MISSIONARY.--A PRAYER FOR SUPPER\nANSWERED.\n\n\nAn educated, accomplished lady, reduced to the very lowest round of\npoverty's ladder, whom we shall call Mrs. X----, bears unfailing\ntestimony to God's hearing and answering the prayer of faith. The\ndaughter came up-stairs one day to announce the utter emptiness of the\nlarder. There was not even a piece of dry bread, nor a drawing of tea;\nnot a potato, nor a bean; and \"Charles, poor fellow, will come home from\nhis work at six, tired and so hungry; what _shall_ we do, mother?\"\n\n\"The Lord will send us something, before he comes,\" said Mrs. X----. So,\nfor three hours more the daughter waited. \"Mother, it is five o'clock,\nand the Lord has not sent us anything.\" \"He will, my dear, before\nhalf-past six;\" and the widow went in an adjoining room, to ask that her\ndaughter might not feel it vain to call upon God. In fifteen minutes,\nthe door-bell rang violently, and a gentleman, valise in hand, said,\n\"Mrs. X----, I left the room which I hired of you one year ago, in a\ngreat hurry, you will remember; and I owed you five dollars. I have not\nbeen in the city since, and am rushing out of it again--jumped off the\ncar just to give you this money. Good-bye.\"\n\n\nRELIEF FROM A CREDITOR'S DEMANDS.\n\n\n\"At another time, being sorely pressed by a heartless creditor, and\nalmost beside herself, she concluded to walk out and get free from the\ninsupportable burden, by change of air and scene for two or three hours.\nPassing the house of a friend, just returned from Europe, she called for\na few moments, and was presented with a small and peculiar plant,\nbrought from Wales. All the way home she was asking the Lord to release\nher from this relentless creditor, and all the way home a man, without\nher knowledge, was following her. Arrived at her own stoop, he suddenly\nconfronted her, bowed, apologized for the liberty, but said he had not\nhad a sight of that dear old plant since he left home; and if she would\nsell it to him, he would gladly give her ten dollars for it. As that was\nhalf the sum for which she was persecuted, and would probably relieve\nher from annoyance until she could raise the balance, she accepted the\noffer.\"\n\n\nTWO HUNDRED DOLLARS NEEDED AND GIVEN AT THE LAST MOMENT.\n\n\n\"At the time of her husband's death, there were _two hundred dollars_\ndue an institute, for board and tuition of their two little boys. His\ndeath was the flood-gate opened, which let in a successive torrent of\nperplexities, losses, dilemmas, delays, law-suits, etc. She had not been\nable to pay that bill; the principal was importunate, persevering,\nbitter, and, at last, abusive. She cried to the Lord for a week, day and\nnight, almost without ceasing. Then, a gentleman whom she had taken to\nher own house and carefully nursed through a dangerous illness, three\nyears before, called to say good-bye. He was on his way to a Bremen\nsteamer, and all other adieus were said, all his baggage on board,\nexcept the valise in his hand. Might her boy ride down to the wharf and\nsee him off? Of course she was glad to consent. When her son returned he\nbrought back a letter, which opened, she found to contain _two hundred\ndollars_ and the words, 'Not that money can ever express my gratitude,\nbut the enclosed may be useful for gas-bills or some other little\nhousehold matter.'\"\n\n\nHOW THE LORD REPAID A GENEROUS GIFT.\n\n\n\"Some gentlemen, urged to contribute to a most worthy cause, said, 'Go\nfirst to Mr. Z.--whatever he gives, we will.' Mr. Z., upon application,\nconcluded to make his neighbors do something worth while, and, as he was\nexpecting a thousand dollars in a very few days, subscribed the whole of\nthat. Upon the arrival of the vessel which was to pay his subscription,\nhe found the difference in exchange between certain countries, had\nswelled his thousand dollars to _twenty-two hundred_.\"\n\n\nTHE ASTONISHED GIVER.\n\n\n\"A gentleman, not marching in the ranks of 'cheerful givers,' was urged\nto bestow five dollars toward the 'Fresh Air Fund.' 'He could not;\nbusiness wretched; poor enough himself,' and all the well known line of\nexcuses. The friend assured him, if the Lord did not more than make it\nup to him, before the end of the week, he himself would return the\nmoney. To those terms he agreed, quite sure he should call on Saturday\nand get back the $5. But, the very next morning, he ran to the office of\nhis friend to say that an old debt, given up long ago, and for which he\nwould have taken one hundred dollars any moment, was paid him about an\nhour after the friend left his store. So astonished was he, that he even\ndoubted the check, which was for _five thousand dollars,_ and sent it to\nthe bank to test its genuineness before he would give a receipt for it!\"\n\n\nALL SAVED.\n\n\nIn a dismal basement, A. found a very interesting American family. The\nfather, in the last stage of consumption; a little girl of ten years, an\ninvalid from infancy. The mother and two daughters, both under fifteen,\nwere out all day at work, trying to keep even such a wretched shelter,\nand a little coarse food, as daily supplies. The three together could\nnot make over four dollars a week. The only person to wait on the two\nsick ones during the day, was a little boy four years of age, who, when\nthe missionary entered, was reclining upon the bed. But he started up,\nput more coal on the fire, and brought a drink of water, first to his\nsister, then his father; without any bidding, and with the consideration\nof a grown person.\n\nOn A.'s next visit, a few days after, he found the mother at home,\ngrief-stricken. Her eldest daughter had been taken ill the day previous.\nHe gave her all the money he had, prayed with them, and sent at once a\nkind, assiduous physician. In a few weeks the daughter died, but not\nwithout a good hope in Christ; and was buried at the expense of the few\nkind friends whom A. had sent to see the family. The dying daughter\nexhorted her dying father to seek his soul's eternal welfare, and not\nboast, as heretofore, of his life-long morality. Her conversations led\nhim to see his danger out of Christ, and, in a little while after his\ndaughter's departure, he followed. The mother had not before had a sure\nChristian hope; but, amidst such influences, her heart was soon opened\nto admit the truth. Not long after her bereavement she began having a\n\"cottage prayer-meeting\" in her room, and united with an evangelical\nchurch. She immediately became anxious for the conversion of her two\nboys, who were away, and urged the missionary to write them. He did so,\nfrequently, and his heaven-directed appeals led one of the boys very\nsoon to Christ. Soon after, he died; the brother returned home with\nconsumption. He took great pleasure in the little prayer-meetings, and\nin three months cheerfully and exultantly exchanged this world of\nsuffering for the one where father, brother and sister awaited him. Worn\nout with anxiety, care, hard work and poor health, the mother followed;\nleaving the invalid girl and youngest boy; who are watched over, not\nonly by their Friend in heaven, but friends on earth. The eldest\nsurviving daughter is an esteemed and consistent member of a church of\nChrist.\n\n\n\"THE LORD WOKE ME UP IN TIME TO SAVE MY CLOTHES.\"\n\n\nIn the very top of a four-story building, used only for various\nmanufacturing purposes, lived an old man and daughter. They lived\nliterally _by faith in Christ_, from _day_ to _day_; one hour at a time.\nAt his voice, followed Him, whether into darkness or light. Neither took\na step but as they held his hand. A lady calling one day, said, \"Oh!\nJennie, I thought of your large wash hanging on the roof, last night,\nwhen the drenching rain came; and I was so sorry to think you would have\nyour hard work all over again!\" \"_Oh! no ma'am. The Lord woke me up out\nof a sound sleep, just as the first few drops fell_! I hastened up and\nbrought them all down nice and dry, and had only got to the foot of the\nstairs with the last armful, when it poured down. Now that was the Lord,\nma'am, for there was not a single noise of any kind to waken me, and I\nwas sound asleep!\"\n\n\nTHE LORD TAKES AWAY THE CUSTOM OF A LIQUOR SALOON.\n\n\nAt one time, the landlord rented the ground floor to a liquor seller.\nThe loafers going in and out, especially on Sunday, were a great grief\nto Jennie and her saintly old father. They concluded to take it to the\nLord together, and, said the old man, \"He will be sure to attend to it;\nI have been young, and now am old, and I have never known Him fail\nme--He _never_ does.\" _In three weeks after, the dram-seller closed his\nplace for want of patronage_.\n\n\nHELP IN TIME OF NEED.\n\n\nA poor, humble Christian woman had a claim on some property in a\nneighboring State. It was in law, and she was summoned to attend court\nat a certain time. Having scarcely money enough for her daily bread, she\nwas obliged to borrow the means to take her there, and pay some cheap\nboard while awaiting the conclusion of the trial. She was positively\nassured by the lawyers, that she would receive several hundred dollars.\nShe was detained five weeks, instead of one, as she expected, and then\nthe suit was postponed till Fall. She was in agony of mind; in a strange\nplace--owing for board and washing, and no money to take her to her\nhome. Having spent a whole night pacing the floor and calling on the\nLord to redeem his promises, she felt the fresh air would do her good,\nand sadly took her way down a side street. She had gone but three blocks\nwhen she found a diamond ring. Being accustomed to the ownership of\ndiamonds in her younger days, she knew very nearly its value; took it\nhome, watched the principal papers, and the same evening saw a reward of\nseventy-five dollars offered for it. We can imagine that joy lent wings\nto her feet, and thanksgiving filled her whole heart. The sum was\nsufficient to pay her bills, bring her back and return a portion of the\nborrowed money.\n\n\nCAST OUT INTO THE STREET, YET NOT FORSAKEN.\n\n\nA piteous wail was heard on the street one day, and a poor Scotchman\ncrossed over to see the trouble. A widow and three children sat on their\nfew articles of household furniture. Put in the street, when they could\nno longer find five dollars for the rent of the kennel in which, for six\nmonths, they had not lived, but existed. He had just received five\ndollars for a piece of work, and was hurrying home with it to his sick\nwife, crippled mother and two children. He thought of the piece of\nmeat--a long untasted luxury--he meant to buy; of the tea his mother so\nmuch craved, and hesitated. Could he give these up? But the streaming\neyes of the children, and the mute despair on the face of the mother,\ntook down the scale. He ran several blocks and found an empty basement;\nhired it for four dollars; enlisted the sympathy and help of a colored\nboy to carry the furniture; put up the stove, bought a bundle of wood,\npail of coal, and some provisions with the other dollar; held a little\nprayer-meeting on the spot, and left with the benedictions of the\ndistressed ones filling his ears. The recital of his adventure\nobliterated for the time all sense of their own desires, and they\nthanked God together that their loss had been the widow's gain. The next\nmorning, while taking their frugal meal, a tea dealer, for whom this man\nhad frequently put up shelves, came to say he was short-handed, and if\nthe Scotchman was not very busy, he would give him a regular position in\nhis establishment, at a better salary than he could hope to earn.\nMeanwhile, hearing his wife was sick, he had brought her a couple pounds\nprime tea, and it occurred to him that venison steaks were a little out\nof the ordinary run of meat, and, as he had a quantity at home, he\nbrought a couple. Thus the Lord answered the prayer of the poor, and\nrepaid the generous giver who sacrificed his money for the Lord.\n\n\nA PERSECUTOR PUNISHED BY THE LORD.\n\n\nA most devout, hard-working and poorly paid man, was the object of\nconstant persecution by a cross-grained, ugly, infidel neighbor. For\nthree years the thing went on, till the Christian thought he must remove\nfrom the place. He could not do it without breaking up his humble home,\nfor which he had worked night and day. He and his wife were in deep\ndistress; told their plans to the Lord; asked Him to direct them to\nanother home, and then went to a newspaper office to advertise their\nlittle place for sale. The editor was out, and they preferred to see\nhim--would return home and call again to-morrow. The next morning the\ninfidel was found dead in his bed, from a stroke of apoplexy.\n\n\nHOW GOD ANSWERED MY PRAYER FOR $90.\n\n\n\"Suffice it, then, I was in debt. I was owing the large sum (large for a\npoor home missionary) of $90.00. Expecting soon to be called upon for\nthe payment of it, and not seeing any way to meet it, _I went to the\nLord with it_. Early in life I had made this resolution: that no man\nwhom I was _owing_ should ever ask me for money, and I not pay him; but\nnow, I could see no way out; and if, as I expected, it should be\ndemanded, I was not in a condition to meet it. Such was my condition\nwhen, on a certain day, the demand came. I took the letter from the\noffice at noon. What now was to be done? Again I took the case to the\nLord, and asked Him to help me pay it, so that my word need not fail, or\n_his cause suffer reproach._ I first determined to pay a part; but, as\nno letter could be sent out that day, I awaited the results of the day\nfollowing. From the northern mail, which first arrived, I took a letter\ncontaining an unexpected draft of $50 to my wife, from parties whom we\ndid not know, and had never seen, nor they us. Within twenty minutes\nmore I was presented with a _surprise_ of $40, from a people where I had\npreached for the six months past. Here was my $90, and, before the mail\nwent out, I had my letter written and in the mail. Both were as\nunexpected as if they had come from heaven direct.\"\n\n\nFROM WEALTH, TO POVERTY.\n\n\nA lady of superior culture and refinement, fell from opulence to extreme\npoverty, within four years. No less ready when at the bottom of\nfortune's ladder, than at the top, to do good as she had opportunity,\nshe paid another poor woman's way to a neighboring State, where\nemployment awaited her, and did it literally with her _last_ dollar-and\na-half! Supposing herself the possessor of a ten cent note, over and\nabove the twelve shillings, she went with her somewhat feeble protege\nover Jersey city ferry, and saw her safely in the cars. Starting back,\nshe was dismayed to find no ten cents in her pocket-book, and, all too\nlate, remembered having paid it for a quart of milk that morning; the\nsole breakfast of herself and daughter. Night was approaching--what to\ndo she did not know. She had a plain, worn, old gold ring on her finger;\nshe took it off, offered it to the ferry-master, who would not take it,\nthough she told him she found her money gone and would redeem it next\nday. She went back in the ladies' room and told it to the Lord,\nbeseeching his assistance. Just then, a girl passing, jostled against\nher and knocked down her parasol. She picked it up, happened to turn it\nupside down, and out rolled a _five-cent nickel!_ The Lord, then, hears\nprayer for even _five cents_ to provide for the comfort and need of\nthose whom He loves.\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR FIFTY DOLLARS.\n\n\nA clergyman writes _The Christian_ as follows:\n\n\"The Winter of 1872 I spent in missionary work, carrying the glad\ntidings of the kingdom of God into new fields in the 'regions beyond.'\nWith my devoted wife, I labored ardently for the salvation of men 'from\nthe wrath to come.' We were full of comfort to be thus engaged, though\nwithout pledge from man for support, or promised salary for preaching.\n\n\"In spite of our rigid economy, I had contracted some debts for the\nnecessaries of life. I have since learned to go without what the Lord\ndoes not provide means to pay for at once. I needed the money to pay the\ndebts, and felt impressed to pray for fifty dollars. I said to my wife:\n'_I am going to pray for fifty dollars_.' 'Well,' said she, 'I will join\nyou;' and we bowed before God and told Him our needs, and unitedly asked\nHim for fifty dollars; so that we might not bring ourselves or the truth\nwe preached, into reproach, by being unable to pay debts. We were agreed\nin asking, and thus claiming the promise: 'If two of you shall agree as\ntouching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my\nFather which is in heaven.' (Matt, xviii. 19). We had the assurance that\nmoney would come; but from whence we did not know, nor care, for we knew\nthe 'silver and gold' are the Lord's, as well as the 'cattle upon a\nthousand hills,' and he could easily cause some one to give or send us\nthe money.\n\n\"We felt full of peace; for we knew it was for God's glory to answer\nthat prayer. No one outside of the family knew we were praying for\nmoney. We did not go around among our friends and tell them we were\npraying for fifty dollars, in hopes that they would take it upon\nthemselves to answer the prayer. We told none but the God whom we serve.\n\n\"Some little time passed, and no money came, but we did not lose our\nfaith or assurance. One morning, at family prayer, I was led out to pray\nthat we might see the Lord's working in our behalf that day, and I rose\nfrom my knees with perfect confidence that our hearts would be made to\nrejoice in God that day. When I came in to my dinner I asked my wife if\nany one had brought our mail from the post-office. She said, 'Yes, there\nare some papers on your table.' 'What!' said I, with surprise, 'no\nletters?' I saw a peculiar expression on her countenance, and I asked no\nmore questions, but sat down to the dinner table and turned over my\nplate, and there saw a letter she had put beneath it; and as soon as I\nsaw the hand-writing I felt, there is money in this, though, of all\nsources, this was from the one least expected. I opened the letter, and\nthere was a draft for _fifty dollars, 'a gift to aid in preaching the\nGospel.'_ If I ever recognized the hand of God in anything, I did in\nthis; and if there was ever a time of devout thanksgiving to God, and a\nhumbling of self before Him in my house, it was that day. Since then, it\nhas been easier to trust in Him than before. He has said, 'I will never\nleave thee nor forsake thee.' He has also said, through his apostles,\n'Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication\nwith thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.'\"\n\n\nCONCURRENT TESTIMONY OF THE VALUE OF PRAYER.\n\n\nA request was published by the _Illustrated Christian Weekly,_ asking\nthat all who could report positive facts as direct results of prayer,\nand thus, tend to show that _\"God does answer prayer,\"_ should\ncommunicate them. Very many were communicated, regarding all trials and\ntroubles of the heart, and daily temporal or spiritual life. No one can\nquestion they are authentic to the highest degree; they should silence\nthe skeptic, and convince the worldly of the presence of the mysterious\npower and wonderful Spirit of God, which tempers the hearts and lives of\nmen and controls them as He wills.\n\n\nA WORLDLY MAN SURRENDERS.\n\n\nA clergyman says, \"I was very anxious for the building of a mission\nchapel to accommodate a flourishing mission-school that had been\norganized under my pastorate. Knowing that a certain physician of the\ncity was possessed of abundant means and had a praying Christian mother,\nthough he had long since given up going to church, I resolved to call\nupon him. Before starting from my study I knelt down and asked God to\nprosper me in my appeal. Upon going out of my parsonage the physician\nwas in the act of passing in his carriage. I hailed him, explained to\nhim my desire, and the result was not only a contribution of money as\nlarge as the largest, but a gift of a lot for the chapel worth several\nhundred dollars.\"\n\n\nA SERVANT'S PRAYER FOR A GOOD HOME.\n\n\n\"I was brought up religiously as a servant in a family in Connecticut,\nand from twelve years of age until twenty-three, knew no other home. The\nold couple died, and I lived with their children, but they were so\ndifferent that I became very unhappy and hardly knew what to do or which\nway to turn. I had no relatives and knew nothing of any world save the\nlittle one in which I had all my life moved, and I was terribly afraid\nto try any other. I could only offer my constant prayer for help, and it\nwas answered so much beyond my highest hope, and so kind were God's\ndealings with me that I was taken, almost without an effort of my own,\ninto a warm, loving heart, and such a happy home, and all so easily and\nsmoothly that to me it seems like a miracle; and never can I forget\nwhile I live, nor cease to believe that truly 'He is the hearer and\nanswerer of prayer.'\"\n\n\n\"BEFORE THEY CALL I WILL ANSWER.\"--A PASTOR PRAYS FOR DECISION AS TO\nGOOD CHOICES.\n\n\n\"The writer was once in great trouble to know what was duty. Urged by\nministers and laymen in high standing to undertake a work not exactly in\nthe line of the ministry, he hesitated. God's displeasure was feared,\nlest in doing what was desired 'sin might lie at his door.' To refuse\nthe wish of good and wise men might be resisting God's call. In this\ntrial of conscience he sought in fasting and special prayer the guidance\nof his Heavenly Father. While so doing the above promise came very\ndistinctly to his mind. He brought it to God as his own promise, and\npleaded, if it could be graciously done, that He would literally fulfill\nit to the suppliant. In the very act of thus pleading, he heard a rap on\nthe door. Opening it, there stood his mother-in-law. She said, 'Two\ngentlemen are in the parlor waiting for you.' I went down, and the\ninterview revealed the exact fulfillment both of the promise and the\nprophecy. The Lord answered my prayer two days before I called on Him.\nOne of the two came from New York to my home in a Western city to\ninquire about _the very thing which was troubling me. He was to me an\nentire stranger_, never having heard of him until I saw him. Having\nconsulted his friend, the Rev. M.W. Jacobus, D.D., they together came to\ncall on me about the matter at the very moment I was pleading with God\nthat He would mercifully, 'while yet speaking, hear me.' Now could\nTyndall and his followers desire a more literal, a more exact\nfulfillment of this prophecy and promise as proof of its inspiration,\nand of prayer as God's ordinance than that prayer for such fulfillment\nof these words actually before the prayer was made, and while the\npetitioner was 'yet speaking?'\"\n\nIt will be noticed that the best judgment of good men advise one course,\nbut trust in God for superior wisdom brought the case to answer in a\ntotally different manner, by means of an unknown person, a total\nstranger, who neither knew him nor his desire. The circumstance should\nconvince the world.\n\n\nA FAMILY PRAY FOR A GOOD SERVANT.\n\n\n\"About three years since my family comfort was very much disturbed by\nfailure to obtain a good housemaid. And, having been accustomed to wait\nupon God for right direction in my _temporal_ as well as spiritual\naffairs, in simple faith I asked Him to direct me on reaching New York\nCity to where I would find a girl of good character that would\nappreciate a Christian home. My steps were led to a boarding-house on\nGreenwich street, and on inquiring for a German or Swede girl I was told\nthey had a nice Swede just landed. I talked to her through an\ninterpreter and was satisfied from what she said, as well as from her\ncountenance, that she was the one I was searching for. She came to my\nhome and proved, in two years' service, almost faultless. In\nconversation one day, a short time after she came to our home, she said\nshe had had several places offered her that morning before I came, but\nshe did not like them; but as soon as she saw me, felt that she could go\nwith me--she was a Christian, member of the Lutheran church and wanted a\nChristian home. Her desire was granted and my prayer was answered.\"\n\n\nA RECOVERY FROM A DEATH-BED.\n\n\n\"Some forty years ago, in a rural parish in New England, a young man lay\napparently on his death-bed with a putrid fever. His aunt, in whose\nfamily he was staying, was a woman who had long lived in habitual\nintercourse with the unseen world through prayer. One afternoon, when it\nseemed to those around him that the sick one must die, she went away\nalone to speak with God. With intense earnestness she pleaded for the\nyoung man's life. And, being deeply interested in the portion of our\ncountry then beginning to be settled, she asked also that he might\nbecome a home missionary at the West. There were various circumstances\nwhich made this latter request, as well as the other, seem very unlikely\nto be fulfilled. And yet it was. The young man recovered, pursued a\ncollegiate and theological course, and still lives and labors as a most\ndevoted and useful Christian pioneer. More than once he has been a\nmember of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and his name\nis familiar to many.\"\n\n\nA POOR STUDENT PRAYS FOR MONEY.\n\n\n\"I was a poor student in a Manual Labor Institute at the West. The month\nof February was our regular Winter vacation. We were privileged to keep\nour rooms and have board at one dollar a week. But I had absolutely no\nmoney. I was six hundred miles from my friends, and they were unable to\nfurnish me with funds. I had no books for the new term, though these\nwere a necessity if I went on with my class, and there was no work about\nthe Institution, nor that I know of in the neighborhood at that season.\nMy case seemed an exceedingly bad one; and I had no idea from where any\nhelp could come. So I went to my room in the third story, locked my door\nand carried my case to the Lord. It was a long, earnest, tearful cry for\nhelp from Him who alone seemed able to give it. My prayer was answered.\nWhen I had been there I do not know how long, I heard footsteps in the\nempty hall, and in a moment a knock at my door. I wiped my eyes, and put\nmyself into presentable shape as soon as I could, and opened the door. A\nlad stood there who said: 'A man wants to see you at the front door.'\nDown the stairs I went, wondering who could want me and what he could\nwant me for. In the front yard was a man on a restless horse, who at\nonce said: 'We want you to teach our school for a month. The boys have\ndriven out the female teacher. We want you to take them in hand, and\nwe'll give you fifteen dollars and your board.' I said, 'All right, I'll\nbe down there to-morrow morning.' And then I went back to my room to\nthank God for hearing my prayer.\"\n\n\n\"I CAN'T STOP TO PRAY.\"\n\n\n\"A deacon living in a Berkshire town was requested to give his prayers\nin behalf of a poor man with a large family who had broken his leg. 'I\ncan't stop now to pray,' said the deacon (who was picking and barreling\nhis early apples for the city market), 'but you can go down into the\ncellar and get some corned beef, salt pork, potatoes, and butter--that's\nthe best I can do.'\"\n\n\nREMARKABLE HEALING OF A CHILD.\n\n\nA clergyman writes that during the ministration of his labors at Battle\nGreek, Mich., there were several remarkable manifestations of divine\npower--especially in the case of a little girl, the daughter of a Mr.\nSmith, a child of about six years.\n\n\"In September last, she was taken very sick with spinal fever. She\nbecame much reduced, extremely nervous and helpless, excepting to move\nher hands. Physicians gave up the case as a hopeless one, deciding that\nshould she live, her condition would be that of helplessness, a burden\nto herself and to her parents.\n\n\"But our gracious God had better things in store for that afflicted\nfamily. It was on a Sabbath afternoon, at the very hour when the crowded\ncongregation in our house of worship were in prayer for the influences\nof the divine Spirit, that a holy, solemn influence came into the\ndwelling of Brother Smith, as if an angel had come to touch the child\nwith healing power. The mother could not leave the bedside of her\nsuffering child to attend the meeting, and she says that a sudden change\ncame over her feelings, and it appeared to her that an angel had come\ninto the house, and had shed a holy influence in every part of it. It\nwas at that moment that the hitherto helpless child drew herself up in a\nsitting posture, and next rose upon her feet. She rapidly recovered to\nher usual habits of taking food and sleeping, and now takes the exercise\nof the most robust children of her age.\"\n\n\nGOD PAID THE RENT.--ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\nA poor Christian family were in distress. The husband, during a long and\npainful sickness, had borne his trials for months with cheerful\nChristian resignation; \"but, on this day,\" said a City Missionary, \"I\nfound them, for the first time, in tears. The cause I soon learned was\nthe want of means to pay the rent of their little home, which would come\ndue on the following Monday, and must be paid then, or they would have\nto leave and go they knew not where. The amount needed, _fifteen\ndollars_, and the amount in hand but _fifty cents;_ the future all dark,\nand no hope of recovery from sickness, and no hope of being able to meet\ntheir expenses--it might be of a long sickness and want--what could I do\nfor them? If theirs had been the only case of like wants that day, I no\ndoubt could have gone to a few friends and have collected the amount.\nBut that would not do them the good I felt they needed. But I felt sure\nof a better way to get it, and lead them to trust in the Lord, and\nglorify God and not man.\n\n\"On the wall, at the foot of the sick man's bed, I had hung, but a short\ntime previous, one of those precious silent comforters, a scroll of\nScripture texts, printed in large type, and a different prayer for every\nday in the month. On the page before us for _that day_, after calling\ntheir attention to it, I read the following words: '_And all things\nwhatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive_.' Matt.\n21:22. 'Again I say unto you, _that if two of you shall agree on earth\nas touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them_.\nMatt. 18:9; remarking, 'Are not those precious promises? Your fears,\ndear brother and sister, are that you will not be able to pay the rent\non Monday, and may be turned out into the street, unless you get the\nmeans to pay the rent; are they not?' 'That is so,' said they. 'There\nare two ways: one, to try to get some one to lend you the amount until\nyou can pay, if the landlord will not wait; another, to go and beg for\nit.' I have learned a better way, and wish I could lead you to do the\nsame. Do as David did. Have you ever gone to the Lord as directed above,\nand found in Him, as David did, a very present help in time of trouble?\nWould not your faith and confidence in God's word and in his kind,\noverruling providence be more strengthened, if, in going to Him now and\nmaking known your present troubles and wants, He should in a way,\nwithout your making known your wants to any other person, on Monday\nenable you to pay all?' The answer was, 'We should.'\n\n\"After prayer and encouragement to do so, I left them, with the promise\nto call the following Tuesday. Doing so, I was met at the door by the\nwife with a countenance full of joy. '_Oh, brother, we could not wait\nuntil you came, to tell you the wonderful answer to our prayer_. On\nMonday, _the very day_ that we had to pay the rent, one gentleman came\nand handed my husband _five dollars_, and early in the morning Mrs.\nF---- called and handed me _ten dollars_, making in all _just fifteen\ndollars_, the amount we needed; was it not wonderful? Oh, how good the\nLord is!' The same week another called and gave them an order for fifty\ndollars more, so that they were able to pay up all their debts, and the\nsudden joy soon led to a speedy restoration to health, and the husband\nis now one of the most active Christian workers and teachers in a\nmission school, and the wife and daughter are also trying to do all they\ncan to lead others to trust in Jesus.\"\n\n\nHE FORGETTETH NOT THE CRY OF THE HUMBLE.\n\n\nA City home missionary has told us of the case of a poor colored family,\nthe husband nearly one hundred years old, totally incapacitated for\nwork, and confined to his room by sickness nearly twelve years.\n\nAlthough very often in straitened circumstances, the Lord has never left\nthem to want for any good they needed, having, in a truly wonderful\nmanner supplied their wants, in answer to prayer. The wife, having for a\nlong time been kept from the enjoyment of church privileges by close\nconfinement, she had been sorely tempted to doubt her acceptance in\nChrist, and was in great darkness for days; but one day, in reading the\nfollowing words, found in the fifteenth chapter of John, _\"If ye abide\nin me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall\nbe done unto you,\"_ she was led to go to God in prayer, and to ask, if\nnot wrong in his sight, to grant her a request, that she might know that\nher prayer was answered, and that she was abiding in Him. The request\nwas that, as they were in trouble for the rent coming due the next day,\nand still in need of _three dollars,_ that the Lord would send them a\nfriend in a stranger, some one that they had never seen before, and that\nhe would put it into the heart of that stranger to give them three\ndollars, and then they would not be tempted to believe, as they had\nsometimes before, that it would have been sent by a friend even if they\nhad not prayed.\n\n\"But,\" said she, \"I knows if a stranger comes, none but the Lord could\nsend, then I would know the Lord heard my prayer, and I was truly the\nLord's. So I watch for the answer for you knows, brother, when we prays,\nthe Lord says we must believe we shall receive what we ask of Him, and\nthen He will give it. So I watch and listen for the knock at the door,\nand do you believe me, brother, about three o'clock in the afternoon, I\nhears a knock and opens the door, and a strange lady was there, one I\nnever saw before, and asked me if Mrs. H---- lived here; and said she\nhad been looking for us before, but could not find us; 'when, to-day I\nfelt I must try again, and I am so glad I have found you. I heard of you\nthrough a friend who has known you a long time.' She spoke many kind\nwords, and when she took my hand to say good-by, she left a little roll\nof notes, and when she is gone I count it, and _it was just three\ndollars._ I is been so happy ever since. I loves to tell how good the\nLord has been to us; every time I does so I feels so happy.\"\n\n\nINCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF AN INVALID.--HOW GOD CARES AND COMFORTS IN\nSMALL THINGS.\n\n\nThe following incidents are from the life of an invalid, personally\nknown to the editor of this book, and can be depended upon as authentic\nin every particular. They illustrate most beautifully the blessed way in\nwhich the Savior's everlasting arms are around, strengthening, and His\npresence comforting His weak and helpless ones, in all their little as\nwell as great trials of life. The ways in which he sent relief, and the\nmany hundred promises which he has given; will encourage other Christian\nhearts to trust the same _Omnipotent, ever Helping Friend._\n\n\nGIVING HER LAST MONEY TO THE LORD.\n\n\n\"'The first money the Lord gives me I will send to you,' were the last\nwords I said to my old father, as I stood waiting for the train to bear\nme to distant friends. So the weeks passed on, but I remembered my\npromise and waited patiently for the Lord to enable me to fulfill that\npromise. I had two dollars, but thought I must not give it away until\nmore came. But this feeling did not last long; something seemed to tell\nme the Lord would not send me any until that was gone. One day I\nreceived a letter from a friend containing this sentence: 'I have not\nhad three cents in five weeks.' My whole nature responded in a moment. I\nput part of my money into a letter for him, the rest into a letter for\nmy father. Now I felt clear. Then I told the Lord all about it. A week\npassed, and $5 came to me from my mother to pay my return fare. A few\ndays longer, and another $5 came from a lady friend, so I was provided\nfor. I needed a certain article of clothing, and one night made all\narrangements to get it next day. Morning came, and I went to the Bible\nfor my orders for the day; my eyes rested on these words: 'Be content\nwith what ye have.' This seemed so strange, because the Lord knew I\nneeded the dress; I was obliged to stay out of society on this account.\n'But the Lord knows best,' I thought, and gave up all idea of getting\nit. Nor did it trouble me further. I gave it all into his hands, feeling\nHe knew best. And afterwards it was made clear to my own heart I had not\ntrusted in vain. _'Commit all thy ways unto the Lord, for He careth for\nthee.'\"_\n\n\nMONEY WANTED TO PAY RAILROAD FARE.\n\n\n\"Once, on a visit, I left the company below, and went up stairs for an\nhour's quiet and prayer. I was to return the coming week and I had only\njust enough to pay my fare. For several days I had been anxious how I\nwas to get some money. This afternoon I had to pray very earnestly,\nbecause the need was great. An hour passed; I felt weary and\nunrefreshed, when a voice clear and near said unto me: 'Trust in the\nLord and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed.' It was not a human\nvoice, for no one was near me, but I started and looked around, _almost_\nexpecting to see an angel visitant. I saw nothing, but the sun shone\nbrighter outside, and the room seemed brighter than before. And why\nshould it not? The Lord had been there with words of cheer and comfort\nfor his little child. I arose and went below, where I found other\ncompany had called, and I was introduced to the lady and her husband,\nwhom I had met five years before. A pleasant chat and they left, after\ngiving me an invitation to visit them. At the door, as I learned from my\nfriend who attended them, Mrs. N---- said: 'I should like to give Miss\nB---- something,' and handed my friend _a five dollar bill for me_. I\nwas more than surprised. I cannot tell you the emotions of my heart.\nWhile I was yet asking, even, the messenger had brought my answer. I\ncould yet hear the soft sound of the voice up-stairs, and the soothing\ninfluence of the unseen presence still lingered round me. How quickly\nour needs flow on the wings of prayer into the very presence of our\nFriend and Master.\"\n\n\nPRAYER SAVES THE LIFE OF A LITTLE CHILD.\n\n\n\"A year ago this Summer, my sister's little baby, only five months old,\nwas taken very ill with that distressing complaint which often proves so\nfatal, and takes so many sweet little ones out of loving hearts and\nhomes. I loved baby Ernest, but never so well as when he lay so sick he\ncould not know it. We all loved him, and everything was done that could\nbe thought of to ease the little sufferer all those long, close, hot\ndays. Day after day, for four long weeks, we tenderly cared for him.\nSometimes his mother would watch his every breath, fearing each would be\nthe last. One Sunday he lay just where we put him, so quiet and still,\nwith the sweet baby face so white and calm, we thought we should lose\nhim soon, the little hands and feet were so cold. All through his\nillness, I kept asking the Lord to let his parents keep the tender bud\nhe had sent them. We could not let him die, and to-day I prayed very\nearnestly all the time--even when we could not warm the little body at\nall--we could not let him go. Well, Ernnie passed over the fearful day\nand became a happy, well boy. He was saved. No physician saved him. Our\ntender care did not save him. Prayer saved our Ernnie. Precious baby! He\nis such a jolly, happy boy now, filling every heart and the whole house\nwith his sunshine. How I love the little fellow. When I am here at his\nhome, he always comes to Auntie for love and tenderness. When I am\nresting on the lounge, he comes every few moments to kiss me, giving and\nreceiving real heart-love. We know God only lends these little treasures\nto their human friends. But oh, they bring so much love with them, it is\nhard to give them up.\"\n\n\nTHE LOST THIMBLE.\n\n\n\"One day I lost my silver thimble, a gift from my mother when I was a\nyoung girl. I prized it _very highly_. I looked everywhere, long and\nfaithfully. The tears would come, at the best, it had been so long a\nconstant companion. I gave up the search after a while, thinking some\none had taken it, or a child had lost it--any way, it was gone. Feeling\nsad over it, I sat down to console myself, and the thought came--pray\nabout it; so I did, and while I knelt there something whispered, 'Look\non the bed,' so plainly that I arose and went into my sister's\nsleeping-room where I had turned the spread aside, and there nestled, in\na fold of the quilt, _my thimble_. I involuntarily said, 'Thank God!'\nout of the depths of my glad heart. I had lain down a moment on this bed\nwith baby Ernest, early in the morning, and the thimble had fallen out\nof my pocket.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR $25.\n\n    \"God moves in a mysterious way\n    His wonders to perform.\"\n\n\n\"I had a present of twenty-five dollars once, which was a direct answer\nto earnest, pleading prayer. I was entirely out of money for months--I\ncould not earn a dollar. I had those who might have assisted me, but\nthey did not. I could have borrowed, but I might never be able to return\nit; I knew not what to do. One evening, thinking it all over, scanning\nthe dark cloud with anxious eyes, I said, 'If the Lord cannot help me,\nno one else can; I will ask Him.' And so I did, bringing all the\nprevious promises before Him, pleading my unworthiness, but my great\nneed; asking first for _ten dollars_; then, as I grew more earnest, I\nasked for _twenty-five,_ feeling almost frightened as the words came\nfrom my lips. Sometimes the thought would intrude, 'How can you ask for\nany given sum--how do you expect it will come?' so I said, one day, to\nthe Lord, 'Any sum you choose; you know best; I will be content.'\nSeveral weeks passed, and a sweet feeling of rest and assurance came,\nthat, whatever came of it, would be all for the best. But, by-and-by,\nwhen the anxious pleading feeling was all gone, one morning came a\nletter from one I had never seen, with $25--just what I had asked for. I\ncannot tell you just how I felt; I only know I held the check long in my\nhand, scarcely realizing it could be for me.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR OTHERS.\n\n\n\"My sister's husband wished to raise a certain sum of interest money by\na given time, but could see no way; was very much troubled about it;\nsaid he knew no one to whom he could apply. I told him to pray for it.\nHe answered, 'God won't hear the prayer of the wicked; suppose you ask\nhim yourself.' I did ask Him, earnestly and faithfully, and it was even\ngiven me the idea who my brother could ask to loan it him. I spoke of\nthe man to him--said I thought he might get it; so he called on him one\nevening, and the way was made plain for my brother to introduce the\nsubject; and when he came home that night, he brought with him the three\nhundred dollars.\"\n\n\nA VISIT TO FRIENDS.\n\n     \"I will hold thee by thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear\n     not, I will help thee.\"\n\n\n\"Once I held in my hand an open letter, containing an invitation to\nvisit friends I had never seen. My heart bounded with pleasure at\nthought of the journey, and the pleasant visit to follow; but, on second\nthought, it almost stood still--where could I get money and proper\nclothing? Several weeks passed in thought. I could see no way, and so I\nwrote my friends I could not come at present; but, in my heart, I could\nnot give it up. My parents were visiting in the far West, and I had no\none to advise me; so, up in my little room, night after night, I made it\na point to tell the Lord about it; and soon it seemed as easy and right\nas though I were talking to a friend. One day, my brother-in-law said he\nwould pay my expenses to and fro. I thanked him, and took fresh courage,\nand still kept on praying. Then the same good brother gave me money for\na dress; then a friend furnished other articles, and soon, I was en\nroute for the quaint old city by the sea. Every step was accomplished by\nthe simple way of prayer; and, when I slept, late that night, in a cosy\nroom at the Methodist parsonage in N.B., I could look back over the last\nfew weeks, and thank God for the _power of prayer_. But the best of it\nall was the lesson I had learned--one which I shall never forget, while\nmemory holds her magic power--to carry _everything_ to God in prayer; to\ntrust him in every matter, however small; and this is the whole secret\nof the power that lies in prayer.\"\n\n\"I found another lady visitor at my friend's and we were to share the\nsame bed. This was a little trial; I had to ask the Lord to give me\npatience--and He did. One night, I was very restless and nervous; I\ncould not sleep. I knew I was disturbing my friend--soon she said,\n'Annie, I am going to ask the Lord to come and put you to sleep. Now,\nlay still, and in five minutes you will be all right'. I did so, also\nbreathing the words, 'Give me sleep, dear Saviour.' The room seemed to\nbe full of a soft, soothing influence, and I fell asleep. Once only in\nthe night I awoke, but soon went asleep. When I awoke in the morning,\nrested and refreshed, Tillie, who was dressing near me, looked up with\nher pleasant smile and said, 'Annie, how wonderful it was. You were\nasleep in less than five minutes. It seemed as though Jesus stood close\nby your side; I could _almost see_ Him, I felt so clearly His presence.\nHe is here now, Annie; can't you feel Him near? He was very good to you\nlast night.' Yes, indeed, I felt the influence of His presence, and, all\nday, whenever I entered the room, I felt it, and it seemed as though I\nmust tread softly, it was so like holy ground. This feeling lasted\nthrough my stay, and, last Winter, while again visiting the home of my\nfriends, it all came back to me again. This beautiful influence has ever\nkept with me, and I never close my eyes in sleep until I say, 'Oh, Lord,\nbreathe upon me the sweet spirit of sleep.' However weary, sick or\nnervous I may be, I feel that the soothing power will come; and, with my\nhand in His, I rest peacefully, at last.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A NEW HAT.\n\n    \"Whatsoever thing ye ask in _My_ name\"--\n\n\n\"For a long while I had been without money, and my need was very great.\nI wanted a new hat so much; and the question arose in my mind, 'What am\nI going to do about it?' As I had no human arm to depend on for\nanything, of course there was only one way for me to do--ask the Lord\nfor money to get me a hat. With me, to think is to act, and so I told\nthe Lord all about it, asking, if it was His will, to send me, in His\nown way, money for the article I needed. Day after day passed, and I\nfelt almost discouraged. One day, a letter came from a lady friend I had\nnever seen, enclosing one dollar. I bought my hat--neither could I have\nused that dollar for another purpose. Soon after this, my physician\nordered something for me. I had no money to get it, but said I would get\nit soon as I could. Three weeks passed, and no money came. Then I asked\nthe Lord for enough to get my medicine. Another letter came from an old\nnurse, with a gift of one dollar. I had my medicine. Time after time, I\nhave not had wherewith to send my letters, and, as I have a large\ncorrespondence, it often is a real trouble. The only way I have to do is\nto _pray for it,_ and always, in some way, it comes; not in _my\nway_--not just as soon as I ask for it--but in His own way, He always\nprovides. I have learned to trust and not be afraid, even though the\nclouds hang heavy, and I see no ray of light, the promise is there, and\nfor me, 'I will _never_ leave thee, or forsake thee.' I am so entirely\ndependent on Him for everything that sometimes, in little matters, my\nfaith will, for a brief season, droop. Sometimes I have to plead and\nplead over again some particular promises; but these times of waiting on\nHim only strengthen me for future conflicts. 'Wait on the Lord, and he\nshall renew thy strength,' comes in beautifully on such occasions. No\nhuman being to help me; no one but God. Sometimes, when I sit alone,\nsuch a flood of feelings come over me, I well nigh sink. Loneliness,\nhomesickness, and the great want in every human heart of sympathy and\nlove, leave me, for a moment, without hope or faith; but, when the heart\nis weakest, and the need greatest, the loving Saviour is nearest. 'Like\nas a mother comforteth her child, so does He comfort me;' and then,\nsoothed by his power and love, how the aching heart rests 'by the still\nwaters, and in the green pastures.' There is nothing but prayer for the\nhelpless sinner; nothing else will bring us into loving companionship\nwith the Lord. We may go to Him always, with every trial, need or\nsorrow. He is ever waiting--ever ready to hear and answer.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A SEWING MACHINE.\n\n\n\"One day a lady friend said to me: 'Would you like some nice sewing,\neasy to do?' I answered, 'Yes.' 'Have you a sewing machine?' 'I have\nnot, but am praying for one.' 'That is right; so you believe you will\nhave it by praying for it?' I replied: 'If the Lord thinks I need it, He\nwill send it.' I had learned to use my sister's, but I wanted one of my\nown, to use just when I felt like it. So the thought kept in my heart,\n'Why can't I pray for one?' And yet it seemed foolish to go in prayer to\nGod for such a simple thing, but I had not then learned that _all\nthings,_ with Him, meant every wish and want of the human heart. But\nthere was no other way. He must send my machine, or I could have none. I\nprayed very earnestly. After a few weeks of waiting, one golden winter\nmorning it came--my beautiful machine--just what I wanted. This seemed\nso wonderful to me, that it seemed to bring me into nearer companionship\nwith the Lord, and ever after, whatever I needed, I went directly to Him\nfor. A ministerial friend once asked me what it was I had covered up on\nthe stand. I told him it was my piano, taking the cover aside and\nshowing him at once how my beautiful sewing machine worked. _'What tune\ndo you play oftenest?'_ he asked. _'Rock of Ages_ is its favorite one,\nand I never sew without singing it.'\"\n\n\n\nMONEY FOR POSTAGE.\n\n\n\"One day I opened my port-monnaie to get change for some little needful,\nwhen I found I had but ten cents. I used five of it. As visions of six\nor seven letters and many little things I needed came up before me, I\nsaid aloud: 'The Lord will have to send me some money pretty soon.' I\nthink once through the day I prayed for some money, but felt no\nuneasiness about it. That evening a lady friend called to say good-by\nfor the winter, and as she left gave me _fifty cents for postage._ While\nI was calling He answered me. About a week before this, I thought I\nwould ask the Lord for $5 for my physician. He had come so faithfully,\nday after day, without ever expecting one dollar, because I had told him\nfreely my circumstances. But I felt I must give him something for a gift\nat least. So I asked for five dollars. Day after day passed away, and I\nthought perhaps the Lord did not want me to have it. But still I prayed,\nasking it for His will, not mine. One morning a letter came from a very\ndear friend, containing a check for the amount for which I had prayed,\nand a little beside. It seemed such a signal answer to my prayer, that I\ncould scarcely speak, and in my heart a glad prayer of thanksgiving went\nup to Him, who had told me _to ask and I should receive._ A friend, to\nwhom I told this, said: 'Now you need this money yourself; I would not\ngive it to the doctor now--wait awhile.' 'But,' I replied, 'I dare not\ndo it. I need it, I know, but I asked God for it for my doctor, and I\nmust give it.' And here let me say, when we ask God for money, it is\nsacred, and must be spent only to please Him.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A BIBLE.\n\n\n\"For a long while it has been my habit to be entirely guided for the day\nby the first verse in the Bible on which my eyes rested. While dressing\nfor the day, I glance at the open page, or sometimes turning over the\nleaves. But my old Bible was poor print and small, and it troubled me\nfor a long while. So I thought I would ask the Lord to send me a new\none. I told Him all about it. One day, this Summer, the postman brought\nme a package of magazines and a letter. I began to undo the package,\neager to scan their welcome pages. My sister laughingly said she would\nread my letter, and suiting the action to the word, opened the envelope.\nI really did not mind what she was doing, until she said: 'Why there is\nsome money here, but no letter.' So she handed me the half sheet of\npaper, with the money folded inside. I looked it over, and there were\nonly these words in pencil: 'For a Bible, and three dollars.' We looked\nat each other; I could not say a word, until she said, 'What does it all\nmean? 'I answered, 'The Lord sent it, I know; where could it come from?'\nIt was wonderful--wonderful because I could not remember as I ever told\nany one that I was praying for a Bible.\"\n\n\nA SPRING MATTRESS.\n\n\n\"Last Summer, when I bought my bedstead, I did not have money to get\neither springs or a mattress, so I fixed up a clean, straw bed, and\ncovered it nicely with a thick comfortable. It was pretty hard--I did\nnot rest well. So, one sleepless night, I said aloud, 'I will just ask\nthe Lord to send me a set of springs.' I kept on day by day. When I felt\nthe severe pain which denoted illness, I thought of my hard bed and\nprayed more earnest. One day my physician spoke of my hard bed. I told\nhim I was going to have a better one; I was praying for some springs.\nAnd so I kept on. One day, a lady friend said something about my bed. I\ndid not say much. Somehow I felt I must not; I wanted to have it all the\nLord's doings, if I ever had any. One day my sister said a man was at\nthe door, who wanted to fit a set of springs to my bed. Why, I can't\ntell how I felt; even after God had answered my simple prayers, and\nhonored my faith so many times, I was astonished at this. But she helped\nme up, and the bed was fitted with nice, new springs. And they were\nmine. The man could not tell anything about them. My sister says,\n'Annie, did you order them?' I said, 'No.' 'Don't you know who sent\nthem?' I said, 'No.' 'Did you ask Mrs. W---- to order them?' I said, 'I\ndid not; I would lay here six years before I would do it. No, somebody\nhad a hand in it, but the Lord sent them, because I prayed for them all\nthe time.' A friend was present when my physician called. I told him\nabout the new springs. His kind face lit up grandly at this new evidence\nthat God did answer humble, faithful prayer, and he turned to my friend\nwith the words: 'I am glad they were just what she has been praying\nfor.' I do not think he had anything to do about them. But these springs\nare only another proof of his love and power, in touching the hearts of\nhis children to help others. And they have their reward. Soon after\nthis, a lady sent me a white spread for my bed. Surely, God is good to\nhis little ones.\"\n\n\nTHE HEALING OF MARY THEOBALD.\n\n\nThe following incident is related by her pastor, at Woburn, Mass., who,\nfor three and a half years, was well acquainted with her physical\ncondition, and who testified, in _The Congregationalist_, that no\nmedicine, or physician's aid or advice, was of any avail:\n\n\"From the first of my acquaintance to the last, she had an unswerving\nconfidence in her recovery. Many times has she said to me: 'I believe\nthat I shall be well. Jesus will raise me up. I shall hear you preach\nsome day.'\n\n\"But, in common with the friends who were watching her case, and with\nthe physicians who had exhausted their skill upon her in vain, I had\nlittle or no hope for her. It seemed to me that her life was to be one\nof suffering; that God was keeping her with us that we might have a\nheroic example of what His grace could enable one to bear and to become.\n\n\"A few days ago, I received from her lips the following statement of the\norigin and progress of her sickness: 'My first sickness occurred when I\nwas about sixteen years old. This illness lasted for a year. Indeed, I\nwas never well again. That sickness left me with a bad humor, which, for\ntwo years, kept me covered with boils. When the boils disappeared, the\ntrouble was internal. Physicians feared a cancer. For ten years, I was\nsick, more or less--sometimes able to work, sometimes utterly prostrate.\n\n\"'My second severe illness began in the Autumn of 1871. I had been\nfailing for two years. Then I was obliged to give up. I was on the bed\nfive months. From this illness I never recovered so as to labor or walk\nabroad. When not confined to my bed, I have been on the lounge, as you\nhave known me. No one can ever know the suffering which these years have\nbrought me.'\n\n\"My acquaintance with her began in the Spring of 1873. Several times\nsince I have known her, she has been carried so low that we have thought\nher release near at hand; and, indeed, the general tendency has been\ndownwards. I recently asked an intelligent physician, who had attended\nher for a year or more, to give me the facts in her case. He replied:\n'She is diseased throughout. Her system is thoroughly soured. It\nresponds to nothing. Almost every function is abnormal. There is no help\nfor her in medicine.' Other physicians had tried their skill with the\nsame result. It was generally admitted by doctors, friends and family,\nthat nothing more could be done for her. While all saw only suffering\nand an early death in store for her, yet she confidently expected to be\nwell, and her faith never waned.\n\n\"It was her custom to spend a few weeks each year in the family of one\nof the sisters in the church. At her last visit, it was evident to this\nlady that Mary was not so well as in former years. One day, when\nconversation turned upon this topic, she felt constrained to express her\nfears. But Mary was hopeful. A proposition was made, and arrangements\nwere perfected to visit Doctor Cullis, to secure the benefit of his\nprayers. But her feebleness was so great that the plan was abandoned.\n'If,' said Mrs. F., 'faith is to cure you, why go to Doctor Cullis, or\nto any one? Let us go to God ourselves; and, Mary, if you have faith\nthat God can and will cure you sometime, why not believe that He will\n_cure you now?_'\n\n\"She felt herself cast on God alone. All hope of human help was at an\nend. She had thought it, hitherto, enough patiently to wait His time.\nShe saw that, after all, she must not dishonor God by limiting His\npower. Again her Bible opened to the familiar passages, '_the prayer of\nfaith shall save the sick_;' 'according to your faith be it unto you.'\nShe felt that the time for testing her faith had come. She would\ndishonor the Lord no longer. Requesting the prayers of the family that\nGod would now grant healing and restoration, she tottered to her couch,\nand, asking that in the morning she might be well, calmly closed her\neyes in the assurance that it would be so. _And according to her faith,\nso it was. She came forth in the morning without a remnant of the pain\nwhich had filled a decade of years with agony_. That Sabbath was to her,\nindeed, 'a high day.' A week later the frequent prophecy that she should\nhear me preach was fulfilled.\n\n\"_Not a vestige of suffering remained_. So far as that is concerned,\nthere was not a hint left that she had been an invalid for almost a\nscore of years.\n\n\"_She immediately took her place in the family as a well person._ Two\ndays after, I saw her. She came to meet me with a step light and strong,\nand with a face written all over with thankfulness and joy. Since that\ntime all the abandoned duties of active life have been resumed. When\nlast I saw her, she was in bounding health and spirits, declaring that\nshe could not remember when she had felt so happy and well. That\nnight--one of the coldest of the winter, the roads at their iciest--she\nwalked more than half a mile to and from the prayer-meeting.\n\nIt is difficult for those who are not conversant with the case to\nbelieve it, yet there is no illusion in it. _That she went to sleep a\nsuffering, feeble, shattered woman, and, awoke free from pain, and that\nshe has been gaining in strength ever since, are facts that cannot be\ndoubted_.\"\n\n\nHOW PRAYER HELPED HIM TO KEEP THE PLEDGE.\n\n\nIn a rural district, in the North of England, lived a shoe-maker who had\nsigned the temperance pledge often, but never had strength to keep it.\nAfter a while, he was able to keep it, and reformed entirely. A friend\nwas curious to learn how he had been able, at last, to win the victory,\nand went to see him.\n\n\"Well, William, how are you?\"\n\n\"Oh, pretty well. I had only eighteen pence and an old hen when I\nsigned, and a few old scores; but now I have about ten pounds in the\nbank, and my wife and I have lived through the summer without getting\ninto debt. But as I am only thirty weeks old yet (so he styled himself),\nI cannot be so strong yet, my friend.\"\n\n\"How is it you never signed before?\"\n\n\"I did sign; but I keep it different now to what I did before, friend.\"\n\n\"How is this?\"\n\n\"Why, I _gae doon_ on my knees and pray.\"\n\nHere was the _real strength of prayer_. His own resolves were of no\nvalue; but when he called on God to help, then came new strength, and he\nwas kept by restraining grace. The bitter experience of those who pledge\nand pledge over and over again, and never gain the victory, at last must\ncome to either of two ends--their utter destruction, or else to call on\nGod in prayer, to help them keep the pledge manfully, and make them\nsteadfast in their resolutions.\n\n\nONE WHO REFUSED THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nThe following incident is related by D.L. Moody, the Evangelist, which\ncontains a warning, how the Holy Spirit avenges itself to those who\nrefuse its admonitions. It is a remarkable instance of the control of an\noverruling God, who alone knew that man's mind, and which alone could\nbring that text so often to his memory:\n\n\"There was a young man in my native village--he was not a young man when\nI was talking to him--we were working on the farm together one day and\nhe was weeping; I asked him what he was weeping about, and he told me a\nvery strange story. When he left home his mother gave him the text:\n'_Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these\nthings will be added unto you_.' He was ambitious to get rich, and\nthought when he had got comfortable, that was the time to give his\nattention to religion. He went from village to village, and got nothing\nto do. Sunday came, and he went into the village church. _What was his\ngreat surprise to hear the minister preach from that text_. It went down\ninto his heart--he thought that it was his mother's prayers that were\nfollowing him--he thought the whole sermon was for himself, and thought\nhe would like to get out. For days be could not get that text and sermon\nout of his mind. He went on still, from village to village, and at last\nhe went into another church after weeks had rolled away. He went for\nsome Sundays to the church, and it wasn't a great while before the\nminister _gave out this very text_. He thought surely it was God calling\nhim then, and he said, coolly and deliberately, _he would not seek the\nKingdom of God_. He went on in this way, and in the course of a few\nmonths, to his great surprise, he heard the _third sermon from the third\nminister on the same text_. He tried to stifle it, but it followed him.\nAt last he made up his mind he would not go to church any more. When he\ncame back to Northfield, after years, his mother had died, but the text\nkept coming to him over and over, and he said, 'I will not become a\nChristian;' and said he to me, 'Moody, my heart is as hard as that\nstone.' It was all Greek to me, because I was not a Christian myself at\nthe time. After my conversion, in Boston, he was about the first man I\nthought of. When I got back and asked my mother about him, she told me\nhe was gone out of his mind, and to every one who went to the asylum to\nsee him he pointed his finger and said: '_Seek ye first the Kingdom, of\nGod and His Righteousness_.' When I went back to my native village,\nafter that, I was told he was still out of his mind, but at home. I went\nto see him, and asked him did he know me. He was rocking backwards and\nforwards in his rocking chair, and he gave me that vacant stare and\npointed to me as he said, '_Young man, seek first the Kingdom of God and\nHis Righteousness_.' When, last month, I laid down my younger brother in\nhis grave, I could not help but think of that man lying but a few yards\naway. May every man and woman here be wise for eternity and seek now the\nKingdom of God and His Righteousness, is my prayer.\"\n\n\nTHE PRAYING SHOE-MAKER.\n\n\nA correspondent of _The American Messenger_ relates this instance of a\npoor man in the village where he lived, who, with a family of young\nchildren and a wife in very feeble health, found it extremely difficult\nto obtain a livelihood. He was at length compelled to work by the week\nfor a shoe-dealer in the city, four miles from the village, returning to\nhis family every Saturday evening, and leaving home early on Monday\nmorning.\n\nHe usually brought home the avails of his week's labor in provisions for\nthe use of his family during the following week; but on one cold and\nstormy night, in the depth of winter, he went towards his humble\ndwelling with empty hands, but a full heart. His employer had declared\nhimself unable to pay him a penny that night, and the shoe-maker, too\nhonest to incur a debt without knowing that he should be able to cancel\nit, bent his weary steps homeward, trusting that He who hears the ravens\nwhen they cry, would fill the mouths of his little family. He knew that\nhe should find a warm house and loving hearts to receive him, but he\nknew, too, that a disappointment awaited them which would make at least\n_one_ heart ache.\n\nWhen he entered his cottage, cold and wet with the rain, he saw a bright\nfire, brighter faces, and a table neatly spread for the anticipated\nrepast. The tea-kettle was sending forth its cloud of steam, all ready\nfor \"the cup which cheers, but not inebriates,\" and a pitcher of milk,\nwhich had been sent in by a kind neighbor, was waiting for the bread so\nanxiously expected by the children. The sad father confessed his\npoverty, and his wife in tears begged him to make _some_ effort to\nprocure food for them before the Sabbath. He replied, \"Let us ask God to\ngive us our daily bread. Prayer avails with God when we ask for temporal\ngood, as well as when we implore spiritual blessings.\" The sorrowing\ngroup knelt around the family altar, and while the father was entreating\nfervently for the mercies they so much needed, a gentle knocking at the\ndoor was heard. When the prayer was ended the door was opened, and there\nstood a woman in the \"peltings of the storm,\" who had never been at that\ndoor before, though she lived only a short distance from it. She had a\nnapkin in her hand, which contained a large loaf of bread; and half\napologizing for offering it, said she had unintentionally made \"a larger\nbatch of bread\" than usual that day, and though she hardly knew why, she\nthought it might be acceptable there.\n\nAfter expressing their sincere gratitude to the woman, the devout\nshoe-maker and his wife gave thanks to God with overflowing hearts.\nWhile the little flock were appeasing their hunger with the nice new\nbread and milk, the father repaired to the house where I was an inmate,\nand told his artless tale with streaming eyes, and it is unnecessary to\nsay, that he returned to his home that night with a basket heavily\nladen, and a heart full of gratitude to a prayer-answering God.\n\n\nHOW THE LORD CONTROLS EVEN THE LOCOMOTIVE AND THE RAILROAD TRAIN.\n\n\nA remarkable instance of how the Lord controlled circumstances for the\ndetention of one train, and speeded the arrival of the other, in answer\nto the prayer of a poor widow, who was in anxiety and distress, is thus\nknown to the editor of _The Watchman and Reflector_:\n\n\"Not long ago an engineer brought his train to a stand at a little\nMassachusetts village, where the passengers have five minutes for lunch.\nA lady came along the platform and said: 'The conductor tells me the\ntrain at the junction in P---- leaves fifteen minutes before our\narrival. It is Saturday night, that is the last train. I have a very\nsick child in the car, and no money for a hotel, and none for a private\nconveyance for the long, long journey into the country. What shall I\ndo?' 'Well,' said the engineer, 'I wish I could tell you.' 'Would it be\npossible for you to hurry a little?' said the anxious, tearful mother.\n'No, madam, I have the time-table, and the rules say I must run by it.'\n\nShe turned sorrowfully away, leaving the bronzed face of the engineer\nwet with tears. Presently she returned and said, 'Are you a Christian?'\n'I trust I am,' was the reply. 'Will you pray with me that the Lord may,\nin some way, delay the train at the junction?' 'Why, yes, I will pray\nwith you, but I have not much faith.' Just then, the conductor cried,\n'All aboard.' The poor woman hurried back to her deformed and sick\nchild, and away went the train, climbing the grade. 'Somehow,' says the\nengineer, 'everything worked to a charm. _As I prayed, I couldn't help\nletting my engine out just a little_. We hardly stopped at the first\nstation, people got on and off with wonderful alacrity, the conductor's\nlantern was in the air in half a minute, and then away again. Once over\nthe summit, it was dreadful easy to give her a little more, and then a\nlittle more, as I prayed, till she seemed to shoot through the air like\nan arrow. Somehow I couldn't hold her, knowing I had the road, and so we\ndashed up to the junction six minutes ahead of time.' There stood the\ntrain, and the conductor with his lantern on his arm. 'Well,' said he,\n'_will you tell me what I am waiting here for? Somehow I felt I must\nwait your coming to-night, but I don't know why_.' 'I guess,' said the\nbrother conductor, 'it is for this woman, with her sick and deformed\nchild, dreadfully anxious to get home this Saturday night.' But the man\non the engine and the grateful mother think they can tell why the train\nwaited. God held it to answer their prayers.\"\n\nThink of this wonderful improbability according to natural\ncircumstances. These trains never connected with each other, nor were\nintended to. There was no message sent ahead to stop. There was not the\nslightest business reason for waiting, yet the second conductor, on\narrival of the first, asks this question, \"_What am I waiting for_,\" and\nthe answer of the first is more singular, \"I don't know.\"\n\n\nANOTHER INSTANCE OF SUPERHUMAN CONTROL OF THE LOCOMOTIVE, IN ANSWER TO\nPRAYER.\n\n\nAn exact parallel instance to the foregoing is given in the experience\nof a correspondent of _The Christian_, which occurred in the latter part\nof November, 1864, while traveling with her aged father and two small\ngirls:\n\n\"We started from New Hampshire on Thursday morning, expecting to have\nample time to get through to Indiana before Saturday night; but, after\nwe crossed the St. Lawrence River, the next day, I think, there was a\nsmash-up on a freight train, which hindered our train about two hours. I\nbegan to feel anxious, as I knew our limited means would not permit us\nto stop long on the way. After the cars had started again, I inquired of\nthe conductor what time we should get to Toledo, fearing we should not\nreach there in time for the down train. _He said it would be impossible\nto gain the time._ Soon they changed conductors, and I made a similar\ninquiry, getting about the same answer. Still I hoped, till we reached\nthe Detroit River. Here I found that, though they had put on all the\nsteam they dared to, they were _almost an hour behind time_, so I should\nhave to stay over till Sunday night.\n\n\"After getting seated in the cars on the other side, I ventured to ask\nthe conductor if we should get to Toledo in time for the down train. He\nreadily said, '_No, madam, impossible! If we put on all the steam, we\ndare to, we shall be more than half an hour behind time._ If we were on\nsome trains we might hope they would wait; but on this, _never! He is\nthe most exact conductor you ever saw. He was never known to wait a\nsecond, say nothing about a minute, beyond the time._' I then inquired\nif we could not stay at the depot. He said, No; we should all freeze to\ndeath, for the fire is out till Sunday evening.\n\n\"A gentleman sitting in front of us said he would show us a good hotel\nnear by, as he was acquainted there. I thanked him, but sunk back on my\nseat. Covering my eyes with my hand, and raising my heart to God, I\nsaid, 'O, God, if thou art my Father, and I am thy child, put it into\nthe heart of that conductor to wait till we get there.'\n\n\"Soon I became calm, and fell asleep, not realizing that God would\nanswer my poor prayer; but, when we reached Toledo, to the astonishment\nof us all, there stood the conductor, _wanting to know the reason why he\nhad to wait_, when our conductor told him there was a lady with her\ncrippled father and two little daughters, who were going down on that\ntrain.\n\n\"Soon as all were out of the car, both conductors came with their\nlanterns and gave their aid in helping my father to the other train,\nwhere they had reserved seats by keeping the door locked. All was hurry\nand confusion to me, as I had my eye on father, fearing he might fall,\nit being very slippery, when the baggage-master said, 'Your checks,\nmadam!' I handed them to him, and rushed into the car; but, before I got\nseated, the car started, and I had no checks for my baggage. Again my\nheart cried out, 'O, Thou that hearest prayer, take care of my baggage!'\nbelieving He could do that as well as make the conductor wait. In a few\nmoments the conductor came to me with a face radiant with smiles,\nsaying, '_Madam, I waited a whole half hour for you_,--_a thing I never\ndid before since I was a conductor, so much as to wait one minute after\nmy time_.' He said, 'I know it was your father that I was waiting for,\nbecause there was nothing else on the train for which I could have\nwaited.' I exclaimed, in a half suppressed tone, 'Praise the Lord!' I\ncould not help it; it gushed out. Then he said, '_At the very moment all\nwere on board, and I was ready to start, such a feeling came over me as\nI never had in my life before. I could not start_. Something kept saying\nto me, _you must wait_, for there is something pending on that train you\nmust wait for. I waited, and here you are, all safe.' Again my heart\nsaid, Praise the Lord! and he started to leave me, when I said, 'But\nthere is one thing.' 'What is it?' was his quick reply. 'I gave the\nbaggage-master my checks, and have none in return.' 'What were the\nnumbers?' I told him. 'I have them,' he said, handing them to me, 'but\nyour baggage will not be there till Monday morning. We had no time to\nput it on, we had waited so long.'\"\n\n\n\nANOTHER WONDERFUL RECORD OF $25.\n\n\n_A Christian minister_, living in Northern Indiana, was in want, and\nknelt in prayer again and again before his Father in heaven. His\nquarterly allowance had been withheld, and want stared him in the face.\nConstrained by urgent need, and shut up to God for help, he pleaded\nrepeatedly for a supply of his temporal wants. Now see how extraordinary\nwas the plan of the Lord to send relief.\n\n\"In one of the lovely homes of Massachusetts, while the snow was falling\nand the winds were howling without, a lady sat on one side of the\ncheerful fire, knitting a little stocking for her oldest grandson, and\nher husband, opposite to her, was reading aloud a missionary paper, when\nthe following passage arrested the attention of the lady and fastened\nitself in her memory.\n\n\"'In consequence of failure to obtain my salary when due, I have been so\noppressed with care and want, as to make it painfully difficult to\nperform my duties as a minister. There is very little prospect,\nseemingly, of improvement in this respect for some time to come. What I\nsay of my own painfully inadequate support, is substantially true of\nnearly all your missionaries in this State. You, of course, cannot be\nblamed for this. You are but the almoners of the churches, and can be\nexpected to appropriate only what they furnish. _This, however, the\nMaster will charge to somebody as a grievous fault;_ for it is not His\nwill that his ministers should labor unrequited.'\n\n\"This extract was without name or date. It was simply headed 'from a\nmissionary in Northern Indiana.' Scores of readers probably gave it only\na passing glance. Not so the lady who sat knitting by the fire and heard\nher husband read it. The words sank into her mind, and dwelt in her\nthoughts. The clause, '_This, however, the Master will charge to\nsomebody as a grievous fault_,' especially seemed to follow her wherever\nshe went. The case, she said, haunted her. She seemed to be herself that\nvery '_somebody_' who was to answer at the bar of God for the curtailed\nsupplies and straitened means of this humble minister.\n\n\"Impelled by an unseen, but, as she believes, a divine presence and\npower, after asking counsel and guidance of the Lord, she took twenty-\nfive dollars which were at her own disposal, and requested her husband\nto give it to the Rev. Dr. H------ for the writer of the above\ncommunication, if he could devise any way to obtain the writer's\naddress.\n\n\"Doctor H------ is a prompt man, who does not let gold destined to such\nan end rest in his pocket. Familiar with the various organizations of\nthe benevolent societies, and only too happy to have an agency in\nsupplying the wants of a laborer in Christ's vineyard, he soon started\nthe money on its appointed errand. Early in April, the lady in her rural\nhome had the happiness of receiving the following note, of which we omit\nnothing, save the names of persons and places:\n\n     \"'DEAR MADAM.--I have just received a draft for twenty-five\n     dollars, as a special donation from you. This I do with\n     profound gratitude to you for this unselfish and Christ-like\n     deed, and to Him who put it into your heart to do it. How you,\n     _a lady a thousand miles away, could know that I was, and had\n     been for some time, urged by unusual need to pray for succor\n     and worldly support with unwonted fervency, is a matter of\n     more than curious inquiry. It is an answer to my prayer, for\n     the Lord employs the instrumentality of his children to answer\n     prayer, and, when it is necessary, he moves them to it. This\n     is not the first nor second time that I have been laid under\n     special obligation by Christian sympathy and timely aid_. May\n     He who said, He that giveth a cup of cold water to a disciple,\n     in the name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward, repay\n     you a thousand-fold for this favor.'\n\n\"Does not this little incident illustrate the power of prayer? The man\nof God, weary and heavy-laden, in his closet in Indiana, spread his case\nbefore the Lord. A disciple in Eastern Massachusetts, _a thousand miles\naway_ from the spot where the prayer was offered, who did not know\nanything about him or his need, is touched with his wants, and moved to\nsend him immediate aid.\"\n\n\nMR. SPURGEON'S COW.\n\n\n\"My grandfather was a very poor minister, and kept a cow, which was a\nvery great help in the support of his children--he had ten of them;--and\nthe cow took the \"staggers\" and died. 'What will you do now?' said my\ngrandmother. 'I cannot tell what we shall do now,' said he, 'but I know\nwhat God will do: God will provide for us. We must have milk for the\nchildren.'\n\n\"The next morning, there came \u00a320 to him. He had never made application\nto the fund for the relief of ministers; but, on that day, there were \u00a35\nleft when they had divided the money, and one said, 'There is poor Mr.\nSpurgeon down in Essex, suppose we send it to him.' The chairman--a Mr.\nMorley of his day--said, 'We had better make it \u00a310, and I'll give \u00a35.'\nAnother \u00a35 was offered by another member, if a like amount could be\nraised, to make it up to \u00a320; which was done. They knew nothing about my\ngrandfather's cow; but God did, you see; and there was the new cow for\nhim. And those gentlemen in London were not aware of the importance of\nthe service which they had rendered.\n\n                                                    CHARLES SPURGEON.\"\n\n\n\"TRUST IN THE LORD.\"\n\n\n\"A poor negro woman, after the death of her husband, had no means of\nsupport for herself and two little children, except the labor of her own\nhands; yet she found means out of her deep poverty to give something for\nthe promotion of the cause of her Redeemer, and would never fail to pay,\non the very day it became due, her regular subscription to the church of\nwhich she was a member. In a hard Winter she had found great difficulty\nin supplying the pressing needs of her little family; yet the few pence\nfor religious purposes had been regularly put by.\n\n\"As one season for the contribution came round, she had only a little\ncorn, a single salt herring, and a five-cent piece remaining of her\nlittle store. Yet she did not waver; she ground the corn, prepared her\nchildren's supper, and then, with a light heart and cheerful\ncountenance, set out to meeting, where she gave joyfully the five cents,\n_the last she had in the world_.\n\n\"Returning from the church, she passed the house of a lady to whom, a\nlong time before, she had sold a piece of pork, so long indeed that she\nhad entirely forgotten the circumstance. But, seeing her this morning,\nthe lady called her in, apologized for having been so tardy in the\nsettlement, and then inquired how much it was. Old Sukey did not know,\nand the lady, determined to be on the safe side, gave her two dollars,\nbesides directing her housekeeper to put up a basket of flour, sugar,\ncoffee, and other luxuries for her use. Poor Sukey returned home with a\njoyful heart, saying, as she displayed her treasures, \"See, my children,\nthe Lord is a good paymaster, giving us 'a hundred-fold even in this\npresent life, and in the world to come life everlasting.'\"\n\n\nEXACTLY EIGHTY DOLLARS.--\"THEY ARE SAFE THAT TRUST IN THEE.\"\n\n\nA clergyman somewhat advanced in years recently related to a\ncorrespondent of _The Messenger_ an incident in his own life, which well\nillustrates the provident care of our heavenly Father over his children.\n\n\"His first church was at V----, and, though he labored diligently,\nworking with his own hands for his support, he became eighty dollars in\ndebt. It was a grievous burden, and all his efforts to remove it proved\nunavailing. One day, when he felt especially cast down, he retired to\npray over the matter, and on his knees he besought the Lord to aid, as\nhe despaired of help from any other source. He felt strengthened and\nhopeful when he left his closet, and entered his church on Sabbath\nmorning with a lighter heart than usual. As he passed the door a young\nlady met him, and placed in his hand _fifty dollars_, saying that\n_twenty_ was to go for the Sabbath-school library, and the remaining\n_thirty_ was for himself. He was so surprised that he scarcely trusted\nhis senses, and asked her not less than three times, that he might not\nbe mistaken. As he preached that day, God seemed 'a very present help.'\nAt the close of the service, a young man, noted for his free-hearted,\nimpulsive character, stepped up and requested that he would perform a\nmarriage ceremony for him the next week. He did so, and received for his\nservices a bill, which he placed in his pocket, and, on looking at it\nafterwards, found it _fifty dollars_, thus making up _exactly the\neighty_ he had prayed the Lord to send him.\"\n\nWe too often forget that God is as willing to listen to our temporal\nwants as to our spiritual, and that \"no good thing will He withhold from\nthem that walk uprightly.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR FOUR DOLLARS.\n\n\nA Home Missionary from Brooklyn called one day upon an editor to gather\nsome tracts for distribution which he had published. The editor became\ninterested in the story of his visits among the poor, and though at\nfirst not specially moved to give money at that time, yet toward the\nlast, putting his hand into his pocket he pulled out all the bills there\nwere there, $4, and gave them to the missionary with these words: \"There\nis something which may come useful.\" The gift was all forgotten until a\nfew days afterward the missionary returned and said to the editor,\n\"After I left you I received a letter from a poor lady who had been\nowing money for rent for several months, which she could not possibly\npay. That very morning the landlord came and said that if she could only\nraise $4 he would excuse the rest; but she did not have the $4. I did\nnot know where to get it. I happened to drop in to see you; did not tell\nyou anything of the need, and asked for nothing; yet you gave me the\nexact $4 to answer that poor woman's prayer.\"\n\nAn infinite Creator and God had brought these circumstances together in\nthis exact way. Neither the editor nor missionary had ever met before.\nThe missionary did not know that the lady was in distress. Who was it\nthat sent the landlord to the lady and fixed that amount of $4 in his\nmind? Who was it that sent the home missionary to the office of a person\nhe had never seen or known? Who was it that knew of the $4 waiting in\nthat pocket and prompted that hand to take it out and give it away? Who\nwas it that led that missionary to obtain and send relief just as she\nwas praying for that special amount?\n\n_Was it chance or science? No, No. It was the will of a loving God_.\n\n\n\"AUNT SALLY'S\" FAITH.\n\n\n\"'Aunt Sally,' says the _American Messenger_, was a devout, working,\ntrustful Christian. Her husband was a cripple, almost helpless, an\nunbeliever, and to some extent an opposer of religion. They lived alone.\nThe severity of a northern winter was upon them, and in spite of her\nbest exertions their stock of fuel was scarcely a day's supply.\n\n\"'What can be done?' was the anxious inquiry of the unbelieving husband\nas they were rising from their bed. 'The Lord will provide,' was 'Aunt\nSally's' cheerful reply. 'I know you always say so, and so it has always\nproved,' was the answer of her unbelieving companion; 'but I see no way\nin which we can be provided for now.' 'Nor do I,' said 'Aunt Sally.'\n'But help will come. God will not desert us.'\n\n\"That winter's morning had not passed when their son, who had been a\nsoldier in the Mexican war, entered the door. It had been long since\nthey had heard from him, and they feared he was not alive. The sun went\ndown upon an abundant supply of fuel, cut in the forest by the strong\narms of the soldier-boy, and drawn to the door by means of his\nprocuring. The unbelieving husband and father declared he would never be\ndistrustful again.\n\n\nGOD CARETH FOR YOU.\n\n\n\"Nearly forty years ago I was given up by the doctors for a dying man\nfrom consumption. I had a wife and five children dependent on me, and\nfor many months was unable to provide for them by my own labors. All our\nearthly resources were gone, and one Sabbath morning, when breakfast was\nover, we were entirely destitute; there was no meal in the barrel nor\noil in the cruse. In family worship I read the fortieth chapter of\nIsaiah. I think up to that time I had never found the word of God so\nsweet and precious. I had very near access in prayer, and was enabled to\nlay my burden at the Saviour's feet. I closed with the Lord's Prayer; it\nseemed made on purpose for me. I think the petition, 'Give us this day\nour daily bread,' was offered in faith.\n\n\"_Within an hour there was a rap at the door_. When I opened it a young\nman stood there who had come three miles to bring us bread, sugar, and\nmoney. He apologized for coming on the Sabbath morning, but said an aunt\nof his was at their house the evening before, and felt so anxious about\nus she could not go away till he promised her he would come and bring us\nthose things.\"\n\n\nA PRAYER NOT ANSWERED.\n\n\n\"Many years ago, a man then recently married, settled in my native town.\nIt was then quite new, destitute of religious privileges, and given to\nall manner of wickedness. There was no Sabbath, and no sanctuary. The\nman was pious. The thought of bringing up a family in such a place\ndistressed him. He wished to remove; and he used to retire daily to a\nlittle grove, and _pray that God would send some one to buy his farm_.\nThis prayer was not answered. Better things were in store. A neighbor\nwas taken sick. He visited and conversed with him. In the midst of the\nconversation, one sitting by interrupted him and said, 'Sir, if what you\nsay is true, I am lost.' This gave new interest to the occasion. Prayer\nwas offered, the Spirit was found out, and many were converted. A\nprayer-meeting was started; other revivals followed; in due time a\nchurch was organized, a house of worship built, and a pastor settled,\nmainly through the instrumentality of that one man; and he trained up\nhis family there, and lived to see most of them members of the church of\nChrist. Do not despair, God will _either answer your exact prayer,_ or\n_do something better for you_; He knows what is for your best good.\"\n\n\nTRUST IN THE LORD.\n\n\n\"A pious woman, who was reduced to extreme poverty and deserted by her\nintemperate husband, was taken sick, and lay several days without\nphysical power to provide food for her two little children. She had\ndirected them where to find the little that was remaining in the house,\nand they had eaten it all. Still she lay sick, with no means of\nobtaining more, as night closed upon the hungry household. The children\nsoon forgot their hunger in sleep; but not so the mother. She saw no\nhelp for them but in God, and she spent the night-watches in spreading\nbefore him their necessities. As the morning approached her confidence\nin God increased, and that passage from his word rested with peculiar\nsweetness upon her mind, 'Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou\ndwell in the land, and _verily thou shalt be fed_.'\n\n\"Morning came. The starving children managed by her direction to build\nthem a little fire, and almost before they had commenced telling their\nmother of their hunger, a stranger came in. She introduced herself as\nMrs. J., saying she had known for some time that there was a new family\nin the neighborhood, and intended to call and make their acquaintance,\nbut had been prevented. _During the last night she had been so troubled\nand disturbed about it_, that she thought she would run in early, lest\nshe should again be prevented, and see if there was any way in which she\ncould be of service to them. The mother in bed, with her head bound to\nmitigate its pain, revealed the story of her sufferings, and the good\nlady soon learned their entire destitution. They were immediately made\ncomfortable; and all will be glad to know that it was the beginning of\nbetter days to that deserted wife and mother.\"\n\n\nTHE NECESSITY OF ASKING GOD'S BLESSING EVERY DAY, UPON YOUR DAILY WORK.\nEVERY WORK, HOWEVER GOOD, NEEDS SPECIAL, SPECIFIC, DAILY PRAYER FOR ITS\nPROSPERITY.\n\n\n\"A colporteur in the Wabash valley became quite discouraged and was\nalmost ready to give up his work, on account of the smallness of his\nsales. On every side, his ears were filled with complaints of 'hard\ntimes;' the wheat crop had partially failed two years in succession--the\nCalifornia emigration, and railroad and plank-road speculations had\nalmost drained the country of money. Frequently he would be told, that\nif he could come after harvest they would buy his books, but that it was\nimpossible to do so then. His sales were daily decreasing, and he became\nmore and more disheartened, until one night, after a laborious day's\neffort, he found that he had _only sold twenty-five cents' worth_! He\nfelt that he could not go on in this way any longer. He was wasting his\nstrength and time, and the money of the Society. On examination of the\nstate of his heart, he found that it had, gradually and almost\nunconsciously, grown cold and departed far from Christ. He felt that he\nhad not prayed as he ought to have done, especially _he had neglected\neach morning, and on his approach to each dwelling, to pray that then\nand there God would guide him, and own and bless his efforts to sell\nbooks._ He saw that probably here was at least a part of the cause why\nhis sales had become so small. Early the next morning, before any of the\nfamily were up, he arose and retired to the adjoining woods, where he\nhad a long and precious season of communion with God. There he anew\ndedicated himself and his all to the service of Christ. There, as under\nthe eye of the Master, he reviewed the time he had labored as a\ncolporteur, and prayed for forgiveness for the past and grace for the\nfuture. There he told the Saviour all about his work, and asked him to\ngo with him that day, preparing the way and enabling him to succeed in\nthe work on which he had entered. The result was what might have been\nexpected. He went forth a new man; his heart was interested more deeply\nin the truths which he was circulating--they were more precious than\never to his own soul, and he could recommend his books, as he failed to\ndo when his heart was cold and prayerless. _That first day he sold more\nbooks than during the whole week before._ In one instance, he sold\nseveral dollars' worth in a family where, as he was afterwards told by\npious men in the neighborhood, the father was most bitterly opposed to\neverything connected with true religion. God had prepared that man's\nheart, so that he was ready to purchase quite a library for his family.\nAnd in many families that met him that day with the usual salutation,\n'no money,' he succeeded in disposing of more than one volume by sale.\nAs he went from family to family, lifting up his heart in prayer to God\nfor success in the particular object of his visit, God heard his prayers\nand owned his efforts. And so, he assured me, it had been since;\nwhenever he had been _prayerful_--_prayerful for this particular\nobject_, and then had diligently and faithfully done his best, he had\ninvariably succeeded in doing even more than he expected.\"\n\n\nPRAYER FOUND THE REMEDY FOR THE DISEASE.\n\n\n\"A correspondent of _The Illustrated Christian Weekly_, states that a\nmother of her acquaintance had a child taken alarmingly ill. She sent\nfor the physician. The child was in convulsions. The doctor began at\nonce vigorously to apply the customary remedies--cold water to the head,\nwarm applications to the feet, chafing of the hands and limbs. All was\nin vain. The body lost nothing of its dreadful rigidity. Death seemed\nclose at hand, and absolutely inevitable. At length he left the child,\nand sat down by the window, looking out. He seemed, to the agonized\nmother, to have abandoned her darling. For herself, she could do nothing\nbut pray; and even her prayer was but an inarticulate and unvoiced cry\nfor help. _Suddenly the physician started from his seat. 'Send and see\nif there be any jimson weed in the yard_,' he cried. His order was\nobeyed; the poisonous weed was found. The remedies were instantly\nchanged. Enough of the seeds of this deadly weed were brought away by\nthe medicine to have killed a man. The physician subsequently said that\nhe thought that in that five minutes every kindred case he had ever\nknown in a quarter century's practice passed before his mind. Among them\nwas the one case which suggested the real, but before hidden, cause of\nthe protracted and dreadful convulsions. And the child was saved.\n\n\"Now, is there anything inconsistent or unphilosophical in the belief\nthat, at that critical moment, a loving God, answering the mother's\nHelpless cry, flashed on the mind of the physician the thought that\nsaved the child? Is it any objection to that faith to say, the age of\nmiracles is past? If the mother, may call in a second physician, to\nsuggest the cause and the cure, may she not call on God? What the doctor\ncan do for a fellow-practitioner, cannot the Great Physician do? Though\nthe doctor had often tried and thought, yet it was not till the last\nprayer and call on God, brought the remedy to his mind.\"\n\n\nPRAYER INSTANTANEOUSLY ANSWERED FOR CONVERSION.\n\n\nOn the evening of the fifty-first daily prayer-meeting in Augusta, Ga.,\na large gathering assembled in the St. John's M.E. Church, at which Dr.\nIrvine presided, and some very touching communications were read. One\nwas from a widowed mother, asking thanksgiving for the salvation of her\nyoungest daughter, recently from a boarding-school in New York city,\nwhere she had finished her education. Some weeks ago she had sought the\nprayers of the daily prayer-meeting for the conversion of her precious\nchild, who was spending a few weeks with some friends seventy miles from\nAugusta. Prayers were offered accordingly, but without intimation of any\nchange. The loving mother sent in a second application or prayer to Dr.\nIrvine, to be read on a recent Monday morning; all this without her\ndaughter's knowledge. On Tuesday the mother received a letter from her\ndaughter, dated two o'clock on Sabbath, informing her that on that day,\nand at that hour, she had resolved to give her heart to Christ,\nintending to ask admission to the church at the next communion. Strange\nto say, at the very moment when the faithful mother was writing her\napplication for prayers for that child, she was announcing her own\nconversion.\n\nWhat a verification of the blessed promise: \"Before they call I will\nanswer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.\"\n\n\nHELP FOR THE SHIPWRECKED.\n\n\nAdmiral Sir Thomas Williams, a straight-forward and excellent man, was\nin command of a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. His course brought him\nin sight of the Island of Ascension, at that time uninhabited, and\n_never visited by any ship_, except for the purpose of collecting\nturtles, which abound on the coast. The island was barely descried on\nthe horizon, and was not to be noticed at all; but as Sir Thomas looked\nat it, he was _seized by an unaccountable desire to steer toward it_.\n\nHe felt how strange such a wish would appear to his crew, and _tried to\ndisregard it; but in vain_. His desire became more and more urgent and\ndistressing, and foreseeing that it would soon be more difficult to\ngratify it, he told his lieutenant to prepare to \"_put about ship_\" and\nsteer for Ascension. _The officer to whom he spoke ventured to\nrespectfully represent that changing their course would greatly delay\nthem_--that just at that moment the men were going to their dinner--that\nat least some delay might be allowed.\n\nBut these arguments seemed, to increase Captain Williams' anxiety, and\nthe ship was steered toward the uninteresting little island. All eyes\nand spy-glasses were now fixed upon it, and soon something was perceived\non the shore. \"It is white--it is a flag--it must be a signal!\" And when\nthey neared the shore, it was ascertained that sixteen men, wrecked on\nthe coast many days before, and suffering the extremity of hunger, had\nset up a signal, though almost without hope of relief. What made the\ncaptain steer his ship in the very opposite direction to what he and his\ncrew wanted to go, but the _superhuman Spirit of God_.\n\n\nSAMUEL HARRIS'S LAWSUIT, AND HOW THE LORD SETTLED IT FOR HIM.\n\n\n\"When Samuel Harris, of Virginia, began to preach, his soul was so\nabsorbed in the work, that he neglected to attend to the duties of this\nlife. Finding, upon a time, that it was absolutely necessary that he\nshould provide more grain for his family than he had raised upon his own\nfarm, he called upon a man who owed him a debt, and told him he would be\nglad to receive the money.\n\n\"The man replied: 'I have no money by me, and cannot oblige you.'\n\n\"Harris said; 'I want the money to purchase wheat for my family; and as\nyou have raised a good crop of wheat, I will take that of you instead of\nmoney, at a current price.'\n\n\"The man answered: 'I have other uses for my wheat, and cannot let you\nhave it.'\n\n\"'How then,' said Harris, 'do you intend to pay me?'\n\n\"'I never intend to pay you until you sue me,' replied the debtor, 'and\ntherefore you may begin your suit as soon as you please.'\n\n\"Mr. Harris left him, meditating. Said he to himself, 'What shall I do?\nMust I leave preaching, and attend to a vexatious lawsuit? Perhaps a\nthousand souls may perish in the meantime, for want of hearing of Jesus!\nNo; I will not. Well, what will you do for yourself? Why, this will I\ndo; I will sue him at the Court of Heaven.' Having resolved what he\nwould do, he turned aside into a wood, and on his knees laid the matter\nbefore the Lord. Mr. Harris felt such an evidence of Divine favor,--he\nfelt, to use his own expressive language, that Jesus would become\nbondsman for the man, and see that he was paid if he went on preaching.\nMr. Harris arose from prayer, resolved to hold the man no longer a\ndebtor, since Jesus had assumed the payment. He therefore wrote a\nreceipt in full of all accounts against the man, and dating it in the\nwoods, where he had prayed, signed it with his own name. Going the next\nday by the man's house, on his way to meeting, he gave the receipt to a\nservant, directing him to give it to his master. On his return from\nmeeting, the man hailed him, and demanded what he meant by the receipt\nhe had sent him in the morning.\n\n\"Mr. Harris replied: 'I mean just as I wrote.'\n\n\"'But you know, sir,' answered the debtor, 'I have never paid you.'\n\n\"'True,' said Mr. Harris, 'and I know you said that you never would\nunless I sued you. But, sir, I sued you at the Court of Heaven, and\nJesus entered bail for you, and has agreed to pay me; I have therefore\ngiven you a discharge!'\n\n\"'But I insist upon it,' said the man; 'matters shall not be left so.'\n\n\"'I am well satisfied,' answered Harris. 'Jesus will not fail me. I\nleave you to settle the account with him at another day. Farewell.'\n\n\"This operated so effectually on the man's conscience, that in a few\ndays he _came and paid the debt_.\"\n\n\nA WAGON-LOAD OF FOOD.\n\n\n\"A young minister and his wife were sent on to their first charge in\nVermont about the year 1846. On the circuit were few members, and most\nof these were in poor circumstances. After a few months the minister and\nhis wife found themselves getting short of provisions. Finally their\nlast food had been cooked, and where to look for a new supply was a\nquestion which demanded immediate attention.\n\n\"The morning meal was eaten, not without anxious feelings; but this\nyoung servant of the Most High had laid his all upon the altar, and his\nwife also possessed much of the spirit of self-sacrifice; and they could\nnot think the Saviour who had said to those he had called and sent out\nto preach in his name: 'Lo! I am with you always,' would desert them\namong strangers. After uniting in family prayer he sought a sanctuary in\nan old barn, and there committed their case to God;--his wife met her\nSavior in her closet and poured out her heart before him there.\n\n\"That morning a young married farmer, a mile or two away, was going with\na number of hands to his mowing-field. But as he afterward told the\nminister, he was obliged to stop short. He told his hired help to go on,\nbut he _must go back_--_he must go and carry provisions to the\nminister's house_. He returned to the house, and telling his wife how he\nfelt, asked her help in putting up the things he must carry. He\nharnessed his horse into his wagon; put up a bushel of potatoes, meat,\nflour, sugar, butter, etc. He was not a professor of religion. The\nminister's wife told me there was a good wagon-load. He drove it to the\nhouse, and found that his gifts were most thankfully received. This\naccount was received from the minister himself,--David P.--, who died in\nChelsea, Mass., in Dec. 1875, and subsequently from his wife,--and\ncommunicated to a correspondent of '_The Christian_.'\"\n\n\n\"GOD'S RAVEN.\"\n\n\n\"A lady who lived on the north side of London, set out one day to see a\npoor sick friend, living in Drury Lane, and took with her a basket\nprovided with tea, butter, and food. The day was fine and clear when she\nstarted; but as she drew near Islington a thick fog came on, and\nsomewhat frightened her, as she was deaf, and feared it might be\ndangerous in the streets if she could not see. Thicker and darker the\nfog became; they lighted the lamps, and the omnibus went at a walking\npace. She might have got into another omnibus and returned; but a strong\nfeeling which she could not explain made her go on. When they reached\nthe Strand they could see nothing. At last the omnibus stopped, and the\nconductor guided her to the foot-path. As she was groping her way along,\nthe fog cleared up, just at the entrance to Drury Lane, and even the\nblue sky was seen. She now easily found the narrow court, rang the\nnumber 5 bell, and climbed to the fifth story. She knocked at the door,\nand a little girl opened it.\n\n\"'How is grandmother?'\n\n\"'Come in, Mrs. A----,' answered the grandmother. 'How did you get here?\nWe have been in thick darkness all day.'\n\n\"The room was exceedingly neat, and the kettle stood boiling on a small\nclear fire. Everything was in perfect order; on the table stood a little\ntea-tray ready for use. The sick woman was in bed, and her daughter sat\nworking in a corner of the room.\n\n\"'I see you are ready for tea,' said the lady; 'I have brought something\nmore to place upon the table.'\n\n\"With clasped hands the woman breathed a few words of thanksgiving\nfirst, and then said, 'O, Mrs. A----, you are indeed God's raven, sent\nby him to bring us food to-day, for we have not tasted any yet. I felt\nsure he would care for us.'\n\n\"'But you have the kettle ready for tea?'\n\n\"'Yes, ma'am,' said the daughter; 'mother would have me set it on the\nfire; and when I said, 'What is the use of doing so? you know we have\nnothing in the house,' she still would have it, and said, 'My child, God\nwill provide. Thirty years he has already provided for me, through all\nmy pain and helplessness, and he will not leave me to starve at last: he\nwill send us help, though we do not yet see how.' In this expectation\nmother has been waiting all day, quite sure that some one would come and\nsupply our need. But we did not think of the possibility of your coming\nfrom such a distance on such a day. Indeed, it must be God who sent you\nto us.'\n\n\"'The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of\nall their troubles.'\"\n\n\nHOW THE STOLEN SLEIGH WAS RETURNED BY A THIEF.\n\n\nThe widow of a minister of the Gospel sends to \"_The Christian_\" the\nfollowing instance illustrating God's faithfulness in hearing and\nanswering prayer:\n\n\"About the year 1829, my husband, who died January 2d, 1854, lent his\nsleigh and harness to a man calling himself John Cotton, to go some\ntwenty miles and be gone three days. Cotton was quite a stranger among\nus, having been in our place but six weeks. During that time he had\nboarded with my husband's brother, working for him a part of the time,\nand the rest of the time selling wooden clocks, of which he had bought a\nnumber. Three days passed, but he did not return. The fourth went by,\nand we began to think he had absconded. On inquiry, Mr. P. found that\nthe clocks had been purchased on credit, and all sold for watches or\nmoney; that Cotton owed sixty dollars toward his horse, and had borrowed\nof the brother with whom he boarded, horse-blanket, whip, and mittens.\nNow it seemed sure that he was a rogue, but what could be done? Pursuit\nwas useless after such a lapse of time.\n\n\"My husband felt his loss severely, for we had little property then, and\nwhat we had was the product of hard labor. But he was a Christian, and,\nI believe, always made his business a subject of prayer.\n\n\"About three weeks passed away. One evening, having been out longer than\nusual, he came in, and, with his characteristic calmness, said: 'I shall\nnot worry any more about my sleigh and harness, I think I shall get them\nagain.' 'Why do you think so?' His answer was: 'I have been praying to\nGod to arrest Cotton's conscience, so that he will be obliged to _leave\nthem where I can get them_, and I believe he will do it.'\n\n\"From this time, which was Wednesday evening, he seemed at rest on the\nsubject. The next Tuesday morning, as he stepped into the post-office, a\nletter was handed him from Littleton, N.H. It was written by the keeper\nof a public house, and read thus:\n\n     \"'_Mr. P.--Sir, Mr. John Cotton has left your sleigh and\n     harness here, and you can have them by calling for them_.\n\n                                                 Yours, etc., J--N\n     N----N.'\n\n\"He returned home with the letter, and started for L----; went there the\nsame day, some forty miles; found sleigh and harness safe, with no\nencumbrance. The landlord informed him that, a few nights before, at\ntwelve o'clock, a man calling himself John Cotton came to his house,\ncalling for horse-baiting and supper; would not stay till morning, but\nwished to leave the sleigh and harness for Mr. S.--- P.--- of\nMarshfield, Vt. He said he could not write himself; and requested the\nlandlord to write for him, saying he took them on a poor debt for Mr.\nP., in one of the towns below! He started off at two o'clock at night,\non horseback, with an old pair of saddle-bags and a horse blanket, on a\nsaddle with one stirrup and no crupper, on one of the coldest nights of\nthat or any other year. He took the road leading through the Notch in\nthe mountains, left nothing for either of those he owed, and we have\nnever since heard from him.\"\n\n\n\"NONE OF THE LORD'S CHILDREN LEFT DESOLATE.\"\n\n\n\"_The Christian Era_ tells of a Dutch preacher who held a meeting one\nevening in a strange city. While he was preaching, and enforcing upon\nthe hearts of his hearers the doctrine of the Cross, a police officer\ncame into the room and forbade him to go on. He even commanded him to\nleave the city. As he was a stranger in the place, and the night was\ndark, he wandered around the city gates. He was not, however, without\nconsolation; for he remembered Him who had said, 'Lo, I am with you\nalways. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy\nstaff, they comfort me.'\n\n\"He had long been in the school of Christ, and had learned to watch for\nthe slightest intimations of His will. While he was thus wandering\naround, suddenly he saw a light in the distance. 'See,' he said to\nhimself, 'perhaps the Lord has provided me a shelter there,' and, in the\nsimplicity of faith, he directed his steps thither. On arriving, he\nheard a voice in the house; and, as he drew nearer, he discovered that a\nman was praying. Joyful, he hoped, that he had found here the home of a\nbrother. He stood still for a moment, and heard these words, poured\nforth from an earnest heart: 'Lord Jesus, one of thy persecuted servants\nmay, perhaps, be wandering, at this moment, in a strange place of which\nhe knows nothing. O, may he find my home, that he may receive here food\nand lodging.'\n\n\"The preacher, having heard these words, glided into the house, as soon\nas the speaker said, 'Amen.' Both fell on their knees, and together\nthanked the Lord, who is a hearer of prayer, and who never leaves nor\nforsakes His servants.\"\n\n\nTHE NEW COAT THAT FITTED EXACTLY.\n\n\n\"A few years since, a young preacher in the State of Massachusetts, who\nwas laboring in a field which yielded no great pecuniary returns, had\nlaid aside the sum of fifteen dollars from his scanty income, with which\nto purchase himself a coat, of which he stood in need. Before he had\ntime to obtain it, there was presented to him a certain charitable\nobject which seemed to demand a portion of his little store. After some\nconsideration as to whether it was his duty to give as much as the ten\ndollars, which first presented itself to his mind as the proper sum to\nbestow, he concluded to follow his convictions, and thus assist one who\nwas more needy than himself, and trust in the Lord to provide the coat.\n\n\"Within two or three days afterwards, he was visiting at the house of\nhis mother, in another town, and she, as mothers will, noticed that his\ncoat had arrived at that condition which usually affords the preacher of\nthe Gospel evidence that he is shortly to have a new one, and she made\nsome remarks about its worn appearance, saying, 'It seems to me you need\na new coat.' 'I know it,' he replied, 'and I shall get me one as soon as\nI get the means.' She said, 'There is a coat up stairs which your\nbrother had made for him not over two weeks ago, which he never has worn\nbut once, because it was _made too small_, and he said that you might\nhave it, if you wanted it.'\n\n\"The coat was accordingly brought down and tried on, and it fitted\nexactly. The young man gladly accepted the coat, wondering a little at\nthe wisdom of the Lord in clothing him at the expense of his brother,\nwho was not particularly interested in the Lord's work, and who was so\nmuch larger than he was, that nothing short of the wisdom of Providence\ncould have made a coat that was measured for one of them ever to fit the\nother.\"\n\nThis was the return that God made to him for his sacrifice to the Lord.\n_Never withhold from the Lord_.\n\n\nPRAYING TO STOP THE WIND AND THE SAILING OF A VESSEL.\n\n\nThe late aged and venerable Rev. Dr. Cleaveland, of Boston, relates the\nfollowing incident:\n\n\"In a revival of religion in the church of which he was pastor, he was\nvisited one morning by a member of his church, a widow, whose only son\nwas a sailor. With a voice trembling with emotion, she said, 'Doctor\nCleaveland, I have called to entreat you to join me in praying _that the\nwind may change_.' He looked at her in silent amazement. 'Yes,' she\nexclaimed, earnestly, 'my son has gone on board his vessel; they sail\nto-night, unless the wind changes.' 'Well, madam,' replied the doctor,\n'I will pray that your son may be converted on this voyage; but to pray\nthat God would alter the laws of His universe on his account, I fear is\npresumptuous.' 'Doctor,' she replied, 'my heart tells me differently.\nGod's Spirit is _here_. Souls are being converted here. You have a\nmeeting this evening, and, if the wind would change, John would stay and\ngo to it; and, I believe, if he went he would be converted. Now, if you\ncannot join me, I must pray alone, for he must stay.' 'I will pray for\nhis conversion,' said the doctor.\n\n\"On his way to the meeting, he glanced at the weather-vane, and, to his\nsurprise, _the wind had changed_, and it was blowing landward. On\nentering his crowded vestry, he soon observed John, sitting upon the\nfront seat. The young man seemed to drink in every word, rose to be\nprayed for, and attended the inquiry meeting. When he sailed from port,\nthe mother's prayers had been answered; he went a Christian. The pastor\nhad learned a lesson he never forgot. The Lord had said, 'O, woman,\ngreat is thy faith; be it unto thee, even as thou wilt.' God answered\nthat prayer because the mother was seeking to advance His own kingdom.\nGod always hears a prayer that will in any way bring a soul to the\nLord.\"\n\n\nINSANITY CURED AND SUICIDE PREVENTED.\n\n\n\"_Augusta Moore_, writes _The Christian_, of a young lady called home by\nthe illness of her widowed mother, who died before she could reach her.\nThis alone was a terrible shock to the delicate daughter, who, having\nbeen reared in luxury, was ill-fitted for firm endurance of calamity.\nBut, when it became known that a relative, in whom she had placed\nconfidence, had managed, in ways that need not be explained, to defraud\nher out of her inheritance, her mind gave way and _she became insane_.\n\n\"For years, her distressed husband strove in every way to restore her\nreason, but she seemed rather to become worse, and showed signs of\nintentions to commit suicide; and her family and friends lived in a\nwretched state of apprehension. In spite of the most faithful\nwatchfulness, she twice succeeded in securing the means for\nself-destruction, but something prevented her from accomplishing her\ndesign. At last, it occurred to a friend to present this woman's case in\nthe prayer-meeting, to the Lord, and earnest prayer was offered for her\nrestoration.\n\n\"No immediate result appeared; but the friends _persevered_. During the\nWinter, a revival of religion occurred in the town where she dwelt, and,\nwith much difficulty, the insane woman, who declared that she was\nutterly and finally forsaken by God, was prevailed upon to attend the\nmeetings. They began immediately to have a good effect upon her. She\ncould sleep better; she grew more cheerful, and, in a short time, her\nreason returned to her. A happier, or more grateful woman than she now\nis, no mortal eyes ever beheld, and she affords one more instance of the\nLord's willingness to hear and answer fervent prayer.\"\n\n\nANSWERS TO PRAYER.\n\n\nDr. Newman Hall, minister of Surrey Chapel, London, gives the following\ninstances of answers to prayer from his own experience:\n\n\"The writer's brother, when superintendent of a Sunday School, felt a\nstrong impulse, one Saturday evening, to call on a member of his\nBible-class, whom he had never visited before, and to inquire if he was\nin any need. He found him very ill. Though the mother and sister seemed\nin comfortable circumstances, he felt constrained to inquire if he could\naid them in any way. They burst into tears, and said that the young man\nhad been asking for food which they had no power to supply, and that, on\nMonday, some of their goods were to be taken in default of the payment\nof rates. When he knocked at the door _they were on their knees in\nprayer for help to be sent them_. By the aid of a few friends, the\ndifficulty was at once met--but the timely succor was felt to be the\ndivine response to prayer.\n\n\"With that brother, the writer was once climbing the Cima di Jazzi, one\nof the mountains in the chain of Monte Rosa. When nearly at the top,\nthey entered a dense fog. Presently, the guides faced right about, and\ngrounded their axes on the frozen snow-slope. The brother--seeing the\nslope still beyond, and not knowing it was merely the cornice,\noverhanging a precipice of several thousand feet--rushed onward. The\nwriter will never forget their cry of agonized warning. His brother\nstood a moment on the very summit, and then, the snow yielding, began to\nfall through. One of the guides, at great risk, rushed after him and\nseized him by the coat. This tore away, leaving only three inches of\ncloth, by which he was dragged back. It seemed impossible to be nearer\ndeath, and yet escape. On his return home, an invalid member of his\ncongregation told him that she had been much in prayer for his safety,\nand mentioned a special time when she particularly was earnest, as if\nimploring deliverance from some great peril. _The times corresponded!_\nWas not that prayer instrumental in preserving that life?\"\n\n\nBISHOP SIMPSON'S RECOVERY.\n\n\nBishop Bowman gives the following instance from his own experience:\n\n\"In the Fall of 1858, whilst visiting Indiana, I was at an annual\nconference where Bishop Janes presided. We received a telegram that\nBishop Simpson was dying. Said Bishop Janes, 'Let us spend a few\nmoment's in earnest prayer for the recovery of Bishop Simpson.' We\nkneeled to pray. William Taylor, the great California street preacher,\nwas called to pray, and such a prayer I never heard since. The\nimpression seized upon me irresistibly, _Bishop Simpson will not die_. I\nrose from my knees perfectly quiet. Said I, 'Bishop Simpson will not\ndie.' 'Why do you think so?' Because I have had an _irresistible\nimpression_ made upon my mind during this prayer.' Another said, '_I\nhave the same impression_.' We passed it along from bench to bench,\nuntil we found that a very large proportion of the conference had the\nsame impression. I made a minute of the time of day, and when I next saw\nSimpson, he was attending to his daily labor. I inquired of the Bishop,\n'How did you recover from your sickness?' He replied, '_I cannot tell_.'\n'What did your physician say?' '_He said it was a miracle_.' I then said\nto the Bishop, 'Give me the time and circumstances under which the\nchange occurred.' He fixed upon the day, and _the very hour_, making\nallowance for the distance--a thousand miles away--that the preachers\nwere engaged in prayer at this conference. The physician left his room\nand said to his wife, '_It is useless to do anything further; the Bishop\nmust die_.' In about an hour, he returned and started back, inquiring,\n'_What have you done?' 'Nothing,'_ was the reply. 'He is recovering\nrapidly,' said the physician; '_a change has occurred in the disease\nwithin the last hour beyond anything I have ever seen; the crisis is\npast, and the Bishop will recover_.' And he did.\"\n\nThe doctor was puzzled; it was beyond all the course and probabilities\nof nature and the laws of science. What was it that made those ministers\nso sure--what was it that made the patient recover, at the exact hour\nthat they prayed? There is only one answer, \"_The ever living Power of a\nSuperior Spirit which rules the world_.\"\n\n\nTHE SEVEN LETTERS.\n\n\nThe following incident is given by \"_The Presbyterian_,\" on the\nauthority of a private letter from Paris:\n\n\"At a Bible reunion, held at the house of an English Congregationalist\nminister, where several colporteurs, teachers and others meet for\ndevotional reading and conversation, a brief anecdote was related by a\nclergyman living in La Force, who established there an institution for\nepileptics, where he has now three hundred, supported entirely on the\nprinciple of faith, like Muller's orphanage.\n\n\"At one time, he found himself in debt to the amount of five hundred\npounds. After a sleepless, anxious night, he found, on his table, seven\nletters. Opening five, he found them to be all applications, some of\nthem most painful in their details, for the admission of new inmates.\nHis excited mind could not bear it. Without opening the other two\nletters he threw them to his wife. 'Put them into the fire,' he said,\nand turned to seek relief in the open air. 'John,' said a sweet voice,\n'this won't do. Come back.' So he did, taking up the sixth letter, which\nproved to be from a stranger, enclosing a check for three hundred\npounds. The other envelope gave him just what was needed, just that and\nno more. He thanked God, and took courage. Will he ever again hear the\nsweet, sad voice, 'Wherefore didst thou doubt?'\"\n\n\nTHE LORD DID NOT FORGET THE POTATOES.\n\n\n\"A correspondent of _Arthur's Magazine_ tells of a poor woman who had\nbeen washing for us, who said: 'Seems as if the Lord took very direct\nways to reach people's feelings sometimes. Now, I was astonished once in\nmy life. I lived away out West, on the prairie, I and my four children,\nand I couldn't get much work to do, and our little stock of provisions\nkept getting lower and lower. One night, we sat hovering over our fire,\nand I was gloomy enough. There was about a pint of corn-meal in the\nhouse, and that was all. I said, 'Well, children, may be the Lord will\nprovide something.' '_I do hope it will be a good mess of potatoes_,'\nsaid cheery little Nell; 'seems to me _I never was so hungry for taters\nbefore_.' After they were all asleep, I lay there tossing over my hard\nbed, and wondering what I would do next. All at once, the sweetest peace\nand rest came over me, and I sank into such a good sleep. Next morning,\nI was planning that I would make the tinfull of meal into mush, and fry\nit in a greasy frying-pan, in which our last meat had been fried. As I\nopened the door to go down to the brook to wash, I saw something new.\n_There, on the bench, beside the door, stood two wooden pails and a\nsack. One pail was full of meat, the other full of potatoes, and the\nsack filled with flour_. I brought my hands together in my joy, and just\nhurrahed for the children to come. Little dears! They didn't think of\ntrousers and frocks then, but came out all of a flutter, like a flock of\nquails. Their joy was supreme. They knew the Lord had sent some, of his\nangels with the sack and pails. Oh, it was such a precious gift! _I\nwashed the empty pails, and put the empty sack in one of them, and, at\nnight, I stood them on the bench where I had found them, and, the next\nmorning, they were gone_. I tried and tried to find out who had\nbefriended us, but I never could. The Lord never seemed so far off after\nthat time,' said the poor woman, looking down with tearful eyes.\"\n\n\nTHE PRAYER IN THE WOODS.\n\n\nA friend relates the following incident, as received from the lips of a\npoor afflicted, crippled orphan boy, whose own experience is a practical\nillustration of the words: \"When my father and my mother forsake me,\nthen the Lord will take me up.\" Ps. xxvii 10.\n\n\"Out of many instances of answered prayer I will tell the following one:\nIn August, 1874, I wished to go to Lowell, a distance of some thirty\nmiles, or more. I had no money, and did not know how to get there. I\nasked the station-agent and the conductor, but each refused, saying it\nwould not be consistent with their duty. Knowing of no human help, I\nleft the depot and went into the woods, some ways from the station,\nwhere I could be alone, and tell that Friend who is able to provide, and\nwho is rich unto all that call upon Him. I knelt down beside the stump\nof a tree and prayed, and told the Lord all about it, and asked Him\neither to give me money, or provide some way that I could go where I\ndesired. I felt that the Lord heard and answered me, and filled my soul\nwith praise and joy. The language of my heart was, 'Bless the Lord.'\n\n\"As I turned and was going out of the woods, I heard a voice saying,\n'Halloo.' As I had seen no one, and knew not that any human being was\nnear, I was surprised at this greeting. 'Halloo!' said the stranger,' I\nnever heard such a prayer in my life. Why did you go and pray?' I told\nhim that I felt heavy, burdened, and I took the burden to the Lord. He\nsaid, 'I heard you pray--you want money, do you? The Lord has opened the\nway; here is five dollars. It is the best way to go to the Lord, and\ntrust Him to open the way. Go and use the money.' I thanked him, and I\nthanked the Lord, and went oh my way rejoicing in Him whose promise is,'\nMy God shall supply all your needs,' and who himself had heard and\nanswered my request.\"\n\n\nTHE LORD CAN DO IT.\n\n\n\"In one of the mountainous towns--says _The Christian_--in the north-\nwestern part of Connecticut, there lived, some time since, an aged\ncouple who had seen some eighty years of earthly pilgrimage, and who, in\ntheir declining days, enjoyed the care of a son and daughter, who\nresided with them at their home.\n\n\"In process of time, the son became sick, and drew nigh the gates of\ndeath. The doctor pronounced him incurable, saying that one lung was\nconsumed, and that he could live but a short time.\n\n\"The fear of her brother's death, and the thoughts of being left alone\nto bear the responsibility of the aged parents' care, burdened the\nsister's heart exceedingly, and led her to cry mightily to the Lord, to\ninterpose for his recovery, and spare him still to them; and her\nimportunate supplications ascended to God, until the answer came to her\nheart as a sacred whisper,--'I have heard thy cry, and have come down to\ndeliver thee.'\n\n\"Comforted by this sweet assurance, she rejoiced exceedingly, knowing\nthat what our Heavenly Father promises he is abundantly able to perform,\nand that He will fulfill his word, though heaven and earth shall pass\naway. But her faith was destined to be tried, and, on the very day after\nshe had obtained the assurance of her brother's recovery, in came some\none, saying, 'The doctor says S---- can live but a little time.' For an\ninstant, these words were like a dagger to the sister's heart, but she\nstill held fast her confidence, and replied: 'If _men_ can't cure him,\nthe _Lord_ can.'\n\n\"From that very moment, the brother began to amend. On the next day,\nwhen the physician came, he looked at him, commenced examining his\nsymptoms, and exclaimed in astonishment: 'What have you been doing? You\nare evidently better, and I don't know but you will get up, after all.'\n\n\"His recovery was so rapid, that in two weeks' time he was out about his\ncustomary duties on the farm; and that in weather so damp and foggy that\nit would have kept some stronger men in-doors. But he was well; the\nprayer of faith was answered, and it had saved the sick.\"\n\n\nANSWER TO PRAYER IN ALL THE LITTLE TEMPORAL ANXIETIES OF LIFE\n\n\nThe question having been asked, \"Does God answer Prayer, in even all the\nlittle anxieties and cares of daily life.\" _The Illustrated Christian\nWeekly_, called in 1876, for testimonies of the surety of God in\nfulfilling his promise, and giving answer in little things as well as\ngreat things. Many, even good Christians have believed that they should\nnot pray for anything for themselves, but only for those things which\nwere to be used for God's work. The following instances show that those\nwho are devoted to God's good work and helping in his service can ask\nfor anything needed for their personal comfort, and expect the Lord to\ngrant them. In truth the Lord _has commanded_ all his disciples, \"_Ask\nand receive, that your joy may be full.\" \"Anything that ye shall ask in\nmy name, I will do it_.\"\n\n\nBREAD TO THE HUNGRY.\n\n\n\"God was pleased to deprive me totally of my hearing in early boyhood.\nBy the late war I lost all of my earthly possessions. I have a wife and\nfamily totally dependent on me for a support. A man employed to attend\nto my little manufacturing business as manager, by imprudent management,\ndeprived me of every earthly dependence for a support. I had no refuge\nbut God. This feeling was intense beyond expression--God was my only\nhope. I laid my case before him. Then this came to me, 'Seek first the\nkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be\nadded unto you.' 'Now,' I said, 'I am deeply conscious that I and my\nwife seek and desire the kingdom of God above all things; God then will\ngive us temporal help.' Then a feeling came over me, a feeling of\nwaiting upon God. It was sweet waiting. I was at rest. I had thought\nfrequently if I could get _two hundred dollars_ I could start my little\nbusiness again. While thus trusting, and waiting, and praying, a package\nwas handed to me by the express-agent containing $200 from a stranger in\na distant county, against whom I held an old note dated 1856; and for\nmany years I had forgotten the note, and would have taken twenty-five\ncents for it any time. The man was bankrupt, and did not fear the Lord,\nnor know anything of my situation in life. He was under no legal\nobligation to pay the note.\"\n\n\nNO \"IFS.\"\n\n\"A number of years ago I went West to better my condition.... After a\nlittle time I went into business of my own, had but little capital, and\nmy good name to be punctual in paying for what I bought on credit was of\ngreat importance to me. I had promised to pay on a certain day a note of\nabout $60. I thought I was sure to get the money, but was disappointed;\nI went to the Lord for help, not knowing how he could send me the money,\nbut convinced that he was able to do it. At about noon the same day a\nman inquired for me. I knew him by sight; he had the name of being a\nhard man, took all the interest he could get, and never put any money\nout without security. He had not the note, but he asked me if I wanted\nto hire any money; if so he had _sixty dollars_ he would like to let me\nhave. The man took my note and never did ask for any security.\n\n\"At another time, being away from home some 2,000 miles, was at the\nhouse of an uncle; same evening I received a letter from my wife that\nthe children were very sick and but little hope of recovery. The letter\nhad been written for over a week. I communicated the contents of the\nletter to my aunt; went up in my room and prayed the Lord to be their\nphysician. I felt so sure that my prayer would be answered that I could\nnot help singing; when they heard me they thought what a cold-hearted\nman I must be to sing if the children were dying at home. _But from,\nthat day the children did get better, and in a short time were out of\ndanger_.\n\n\"In my younger years I had a good many ifs, but those are all gone; I\nknow that the Lord has the means at his command to answer all my prayers\nif I come believing, asking in the name of Christ.\"\n\n\nTHE HORSE IS HIS.\n\n\n\"The writer was preaching Sundays at a little country church, about 70\nmiles by rail from the institution where he attended. He went Saturday,\nreturning on Monday. One Saturday the train ran off the track. All day\nlong they worked at the wreck. At last, finding it too late to make\nconnection with the other railroad, he took the down train back to the\ninstitution. What should be done? A promise to preach forty miles across\nthe country had been made. There was also an appointment six miles\nbeyond for an afternoon service. It was now night. To drive across the\ncountry was the only way open, or stay at home. Two disappointed\ncongregations the result in the latter case. But the roads were heavy\nfrom recent rains. 'Twill be so late that none can direct. Friends said,\n'Stay; you can't go forty miles across, to you, an unknown country.' But\nthe writer felt it duty to go. Hiring a horse noted for endurance, at\nnine o'clock at night--dark, threatening--he set out. As he headed the\nhorse in the direction of the village--for he could find none who could\ntell him the exact road--he prayed: 'O God, starting out to preach thy\nword to-morrow, direct the way--guide this horse.' The night wore on; as\ncross-roads came, dropping the lines over the dashboard, the same prayer\nwas offered. When the horse chose a road, the driver urged him on. As\nday began to break, emerging from some wood in an unfrequented road,\nthey entered the village they sought. The sermon that morning was from\nthe text, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' The largest congregation\nof the Summer had gathered. It will not do to say that the horse knew\nthe road. Returning in broad daylight the next day, though directed and\ndirected again, we lost the way and went seven miles out of our course.\nA scientist might laugh at this way of driving, or at asking God to\nguide in such trivial matters. But we shall still believe that God led\nthe horse and blessed us in our attempt to serve him.\"\n\n\nALL OUR NEEDS.\n\n\n\"About eight years ago, while a Student in college, I became embarrassed\nfor want of funds. Debts began to accumulate. Anticipating money from\nusual sources, promises had been made to pay at a certain date.\n\n\"The time to make these payments approached. The anticipated money did\nnot come. A student in debt is most dependent and hopeless. In great\ndistress, locking the study-door, I sat down to think. First came\nvisions of an auction sale of a few books and scanty furniture; then of\nnotes and protests; finally the promises of God came into mind. I knew\nhe had promised to supply my wants. 'All things whatsoever ye have need\nof,' came home in great power. I am needy, I have given up business,\nall, to preach the gospel. I remember as 'twere yesterday the feelings,\nthe struggles, of that hour. With all earnestness I asked for help in my\nhour of distress. At last I felt confident that the aid needed would\ncome in time, Saturday; this was Monday. I thanked God for the answer--\nand being questioned by a needy creditor of that afternoon, assured him\nthat his money would be ready.\n\n\"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday passed--no sign, but faith said God will\nnot fail. Friday morning--heart beat fast as I went to the\npost-office--it seemed as if through its agency the help would come.\nNothing. But it must be here to-day. Returning from the office Friday\nevening, wondering how God would send deliverance, I saw on my table a\nlong official envelope. A classmate preceding me at the office had\nbrought it. A letter from a gentleman in Wall street whom I have never\nseen. On Monday, he casually asked of a tea-broker, an acquaintance, if\nhe knew of any one in H----. The broker mentioned, after a little\nthought, my name.\n\n\"The letter contained a request for service of a peculiar sort,\nconnected with some legal matters, contained money and promise of more.\n_Over three times the sum I asked God for was finally given. More than\nenough for a term's expenses_.\n\n\"I never mentioned the matter of my need at that time to a human being,\nnor spoke of the prayer. I have always thanked God for that, and am sure\nhe provides for me in accordance with his promise.\"\n\n\nHE HEALETH THE SICK.\n\n\n\"The wife of Deacon W. was sinking rapidly with pneumonia. Friends gave\nup all hope of her recovery, and even the hopeful physician felt that he\nwas hoping against hope. In his despair the husband bore the case\ndirectly to God; he sought the prayers of his minister and of the\nchurch; and he asked all Christians to pray that the mother of his\nlittle children might be spared. She lingered between life and death for\nseveral days, when unexpectedly to many, she began to gain strength, and\nin due season was about again. This was several years ago, and she has\nbeen an active worker in the church and Sunday-school ever since.\"\n\n\nA POWERFUL DREAM.\n\n\n\"My father, a minister of the gospel, was prostrated by sickness. A\nlarge family of little ones was dependent upon him for support. Funds\nran low. One evening my mother remarked that she had broken the last\ndollar. My father lay awake most of the night, praying to his God for\nhelp in this emergency. That same night a man in a parish not many miles\ndistant was much impressed by a dream. He dreamed that a minister who\npreached in his church not long before, was sick and in want. He knew\nneither his name nor his place of residence. He arose at the first dawn\nof day, and going to his own pastor inquired the name and address of the\nstranger who had recently preached for them. These obtained, he mounted\nhis horse, and knocked at our door just as my mother drew up the\nwindow-shades. She answered the knock, when, without a word, a stranger\nplaced an envelope in her hand and immediately rode away. The envelope\ncontained a ten-dollar bill, which we all believed was the Lord's answer\nto our father's prayer. Afterwards these facts were disclosed by the\npastor to him whom the Lord chose to disperse his bounty.\"\n\n\nASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE.\n\n\n\"In 1874, through Providence, I became sore pressed to provide for\nmyself and family; two of my children had just begun to learn to read. I\nwas desirous to procure for them the 'N.---,' (a children's journal,)\nbut I could not see how I was to pay for it and meet other obligations.\nSo I carried it to our Father in heaven, asking if it was best and\naccording to his will my children should get the 'N.---.' In about ten\ndays afterward I received a note from a lady friend, with whom I or none\nof our family had had any communication for weeks, and in that note she\nadvised us that her little daughter, the same age as our second, had\nsent as a Christmas gift a subscription for the 'N.---,' to be sent to\nour Mary's address. 'If ye abide in me, and my words in you, ye shall\nask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.'\"\n\n\nCASTING ALL YOUR CARE ON HIM.\n\n\n\"Once, soon after the death of my husband and the loss of all his large\nproperty, I had a bill of _fifty dollars_ to pay, and was notified two\nweeks beforehand that not a day's grace would be given. Besides what I\nwas earning by my pen, I had due me, in a neighboring city, just the\namount I should need--the income on my only remaining piece of real\nestate; and, as my tenant was always prompt, I wrote to him where to\nsend me the money, and gave the subject no farther thought. But, when\nthe time for his response was already past, and I heard nothing from my\ndebts, and but a few days to the time of my own need yet remained, I\nfelt anxious and sought divine direction as to the course I ought to\npursue. Rising from my knees, I took up my Bible, and the very first\nwords my eyes rested upon, were these: 'Casting all your care upon Him,\nfor he careth for you.' All anxiety from that hour left me; but I felt\nimpelled to apply to a certain editor for the payment of _twenty\ndollars_ he owed me, and I felt sure the other thirty would come from\nsomewhere.\n\n\"So the days passed until the morning of the day upon which I should be\ncalled on for the fifty dollars, and _still I had not a single dollar_\non hand to meet the claim. At ten o'clock my creditor came, but half an\nhour before him the postman had put into my hand a letter containing a\ncheck for _fifty dollars_, the exact amount I needed. It had come from\nthe editor to whom I had applied for twenty dollars, and lo! he had sent\nme fifty. The thirty advanced he said I could give him credit for on my\nnext MS. He did not know my need, but God did, and thus He had answered\nmy prayer.\"\n\n\nIN EVERYTHING MAKE KNOWN YOUR WANTS.\n\n\n\"Six years ago, on the low country of South Carolina, a friend asked me\nto go with him to a camp-meeting. I was delighted with the idea, for, in\nmy estimation, a good camp-meeting comes nearer heaven than any other\nplace on earth.\n\n\"Just three days before we were to go, an unexpected circumstance\nconnected with his business, made it impossible for him to leave. It was\nwith real heartfelt sorrow I heard of it. The day before we were to have\nstarted, as I saw another member of the family, who was going with a\nfriend, packing her trunk, it seemed to me I could not bear it. I\ncarried my trouble to my dear heavenly Father, begging him to send me a\nway to go.\n\n\"I rose from my knees with the sweet assurance in my heart my prayer was\nheard--packed my trunk and waited patiently. When night came and the men\ncame home, in the place of the expected buggy came a small spring-wagon,\nand a seat for me. What may seem more remarkable, the change between\nbuggy and spring-wagon was made ten miles away, while I was praying.\n\n\"I believe I enjoyed the meeting more for the feeling of thankfulness\nthat pervaded my whole being while there.\"\n\n\nTHE GREAT PHYSICIAN.\n\n\n\"Nearly five years ago, after a decline of almost two years, I was\nbrought very near to the grave. Medical aid availed nothing. I was\nfearfully emaciated, and my death was daily expected. A devoted mother\nand a sister, who had watched over me tenderly during my long illness,\nwere completely exhausted.\n\n\"I determined to apply to the Great Physician, as directed in James\n5:14. As I united with others in prayer, unconsciously I uttered these\nwords, 'I shall yet praise Thee in the great congregation.' All present\nfelt assured that it was the will of God to restore me to health.\nAppearances were against me; for some time I could sleep but very\nlittle, and there was no perceptible gain. But trusting in the sure\npromise, the next Sabbath I rode a short distance to church, and, as I\nthus ventured out little by little, my strength gradually returned. A\nfew months later, my mother, who through disease had been in a state of\ndespair for some years, was enabled again to hope in God's mercy.\"\n\n\nSHALL SAVE THE SICK.\n\n\n\"I was desperately ill. My physicians had done all in their power,\nwithout success--and yet I lived! For my father's sake, the hearts of\nhundreds waited the issue, and prayed for me! For his sake, the bells in\nthe neighborhood were tied--the criers did not come within sound of the\nhouse--nor was the sound of wheels heard upon the street. There was a\ndeath-like stillness without and within.\n\n\"The physicians sat with folded hands and wept, because the blow seemed\ntoo heavy for my father to bear--the thought that I was going to die\nwithout any assurance that I trusted in my Saviour!\n\n\"'It cannot be,' he said, 'I will wrestle with my God until He hears\nme!' Sunday came. In almost every church a special prayer was offered\nfor my recovery. After morning service, a band of devoted women met, and\noffered fervent prayers that God would spare my life. Evening came--the\nweary doctors went home, leaving the last sacred moments to my parents.\nEarly next morning they came again, and exclaimed, as they entered the\nroom, 'She is better! Prayer has saved her!' I still live, 'a spared\nmonument of God's mercy.'\"\n\n\nALL-SUFFICIENT FOR ALL NEED.\n\n\n\"I am a mother of seven children. By the help of our Father in heaven,\nwe have all of us gone regularly to church and Sunday-school. We are\npoor; and at length the time came we were not clothed so we could\ncomfortably go to church. I earnestly asked our Father to show me,\nwithin a week, which was right for us to do: to go in debt for clothes,\nor stay at home. Within that week, I received a large package of\nready-made clothing. The clothing came from a source I never thought of\nreceiving anything from.\"\n\n\nA VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.\n\n\"At one time, during a season of adversity, there was urgent occasion\nfor a certain sum beyond the income of the family, and there was no way\nof borrowing it. I took the matter to the Lord in prayer, asking Him, if\nthe money were really needed, as it appeared to be, to send it, and, if\nit were not, to remove the distressing circumstances. The answer came in\na sum five times the amount asked for, and in a manner totally\nunexpected.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"At another time, the mother of the family was very ill, and, when\napparently near death, the physicians had ordered a remedy which was to\nbe constantly employed, as her life, so far as they could judge,\ndepended on its use. One night, her symptoms became so alarming as to\ncompel the writer (who had charge of the nursing) to use this remedy\nmore freely than ever, and, about midnight the supply was exhausted.\nThere was no possibility of obtaining any more before morning, and the\nrest of that night, while attending to the other directions of the\ndoctors, I spent in one earnest, agonizing prayer that God would so\noverrule natural causes that death would not occur in consequence of\nwhat I felt to be my own culpable carelessness in not having provided a\nlarger quantity of an article so necessary. In His great mercy, He\ngranted the prayer, the dangerous symptoms did not increase during the\nseven or eight hours that intervened before the remedy could be\nprocured. One proof that it was a special mercy, is found in the fact\nthat there was no other such standing still of the disease, either\nbefore this or afterward. And the doctors were astonished when they saw\nthat the disease had made no progress, under conditions that rendered\nthat progress inevitable in the usual law of cause and effect. And when,\non her final recovery, Doctor Parker told her that she owed her life to\nthe good care I had taken of her, my thoughts went back to the long\nhours of that night of anguish, and I said, 'It was the Lord that took\ncare of her.' 'I meant your care, under Providence,' was the reply.\"\n\n\nHE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS\n\n\"I am a teacher by profession, and, a few years ago, I found myself\nplaced in a school whose every surrounding was utterly repugnant to my\ntastes, and to all my ideas of right and wrong and what good teaching\nshould be. At first, I kept hoping that things would grow better, and\nthat I should, at least, be able to have some influence on the modes of\nteaching; but I soon found that everything connected with the\nestablishment was directed by the iron will of an unscrupulous and\ntyrannical woman, whose laws were as irrevocable as those of the Medes\nand Persians. I at once decided I could not stay there long, but I had\nno other position in view, and it was not easy to secure one in the\nmiddle of the term. As usual, I made it a subject of prayer, and the\nresult was that, in a short time, I was most unexpectedly, and without\nthe least solicitation on my part, offered a much better position, in\nevery respect, which, of course, I was only too thankful to accept. That\nis only one instance, out of thousands I could name, where God has heard\nand answered my prayers, and I believe He will do so to the end.\"\n\n\nHOW THE LORD IS CONSTANTLY CARING FOR HIS TRUSTING POOR.\n\n\nA city missionary recently found, in this city on the streets, a refined\nEnglishwoman with her children, who had been turned out of her home for\nnon-payment of rent. With the aid of a few friends he installed her in a\nnew domicile, and procured work for her. From time to time he visited\nher, and rejoiced with her that God had sent him to her in the hour of\nextremity. At length, pressure of business kept him away for some time,\nuntil, one evening, he started out to look up a few dollars owing him,\nin order to procure some delicacies for a sick wife. One dollar was all\nhe could procure, and with that in his pocket he was returning homeward,\nwhen he became so impressed with the idea that he should visit the\nEnglishwoman that he turned aside and did so. He found her in tears, and\nasking the cause, heard the sorrowful tale of no work, no food in the\nhouse for to-morrow, which was Sunday. He was in doubt whether to give\nher the dollar and suffer his sick wife to go without something\npalatable, but in a moment, \"Blessed is he that considereth the poor;\nthe Lord will deliver him in time of trouble,\" presented itself to his\nmind, and--the dollar dried the widow's tears.\n\nUpon reaching his home he found a lady had called on his wife and\nbrought with her three or four kinds of jellies, fruit, home-made\nbiscuit, various relishing things; three times more than the dollar\nwould have purchased.\n\nThe same gentleman, while calling on a poor family one day, discovered a\nlittle house in the rear, which he visited, finding a neat, cleanly\nroom, occupied by an old lady, crippled with rheumatism. He found she\nhad no one in the world but a sister, a monthly nurse, to care for her.\nWhen first setting out on his tour that morning, the missionary had\nfifty cents given him by a gentleman, who expressed the hope that \"it\nmight do some good during the day.\" Although a number of visits had been\nmade, he had not felt called upon to bestow it until then, nor could he\ntell why he should want to put it in the old lady's hand at parting, but\nhe did so.\n\nShe was too much overcome by her emotions to speak, but she took his\nhand and led him to a little table, on which lay a Bible, opened at the\npassage, \"Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it\nyou.\" She said, \"Please tell me if any one sent you here?\" \"No.\" \"Did\nyou ever hear that I lived here?\" \"I did not.\" \"Then the Lord sent you\nin answer to my prayer this morning. For the first time in my life, I am\nwithout food. My sister was to have come home yesterday, but has not. I\nwas just asking the Lord to provide for me when you knocked at the\ndoor.\"\n\nSuch scenes as these amply repay our missionaries for all the toils and\nweariness, all the anxieties and perplexities of the work.\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR BREAD.\n\n\n\"Washington Allston, who stood at the head of American artists a half\ncentury ago, was, at one time, so reduced by poverty, that he locked his\nstudio, in London, one day, threw himself on his knees and prayed for a\nloaf of bread for himself and wife. While thus engaged, a knock was\nheard at the door, which the artist hastened to open. A stranger\ninquired for Mr. Allston, and was anxious to know who was the fortunate\npurchaser of the painting of the 'Angel Uriel,' which had won the prize\nat the exhibition of the Royal Academy. He was told that it was not\nsold. 'Where is it to be found?' 'In this very room,' said Allston,\nproducing a painting from a corner and wiping off the dust. 'It is for\nsale, but its value has not been adequately appreciated, and I would not\npart with it.' 'What is its price?' 'I have done affixing any nominal\nsum. I have always so far exceeded any offers, I leave it to you to name\nthe price.' 'Will four hundred pounds be an adequate recompense?' 'It is\nmore than I ever asked for it.' 'Then the painting is mine,' said the\nstranger, who introduced himself as the Marquis of Stafford, and, from\nthat time, became one of Mr. Allston's warmest friends and patrons.\"\n\n\nTHE DAUGHTER'S PRAYER.\n\n\nThe late Doctor Krummacher, chaplain to the king of Prussia, in\nreferring to faith and prayer, writes as follows:\n\n\"A little incident occurs to me which I can hardly withhold, on account\nof its simplicity and beauty. The mother of a little girl, only four\nyears of age, had been, for some time, most dangerously ill. The\nphysician had given her up. When the little girl heard this, she went\ninto an adjoining room, knelt down, and said: 'Dear Lord Jesus, O make\nmy mother well again.'\n\n\"After she had thus prayed, she said, as though in God's name, with as\ndeep a voice as she could: 'Yes, my dear child, I will do it gladly!'\nThis was the little girl's amen. She rose up, joyfully ran to her\nmother's bed, and said: 'Mother, you will get well!'\n\n\"And she recovered, and is in health to this day. Is it, then, always\npermitted for me to pray thus unconditionally respecting temporal\nconcerns? No; thou must not venture to do so, if, whilst you ask, you\ndoubt. But shouldst thou ever be inclined by God's Spirit to pray thus,\nwithout doubt or scruple, in a filial temper, and with simplicity of\nheart, resting on the true foundation, and in genuine faith, then pray\nthus by all means! None dare censure thee; God will accept thee.\"\n\n\nTHE LORD WILL PROVIDE.\n\n\n\"A city missionary, one Saturday night, was going home with a basket of\nprovisions on his arm. Meeting a policeman, he asked him if there had\nany families moved in the bounds of his beat during the week. He\nanswered, 'Yes,' and, pointing to a building up an alley, said, 'a woman\nand some children are living there now.'\n\n\"The missionary went to the house, rapped at the door, and was admitted.\nThe woman was sitting by a small light, sewing. In the corner of the\nroom, were two little girls, apparently from nine to twelve years of\nage, playing.\n\n\"The missionary said, 'Madam, I am here to see if you will allow your\ngirls to attend Sunday-school to-morrow morning.' 'I would, sir; but\nwhat you see on them is all the clothing they have, and you would not\nwish them to go as they are now.' 'The Lord will provide, madam. Have\nyou no money?' 'Not yet, but I have committed my case into the hands of\nthe Lord.' 'Have you anything to eat?' 'Nothing, sir!' 'What will you do\nfor breakfast?' 'O, sir, I once had a husband; he provided when he\ncould. These children had a father; he supplied their wants; but he is\ndead now. Yet my Maker, even God, is my husband, and He has promised to\nbe a father to the fatherless. We have committed all to Him, have called\nupon Him in this our day of trouble. I am trusting in God to take care\nof a poor widow and her children in a strange place, and I know He will\nprovide.' 'Thank God for such faith,' said the missionary; and, handing\nher the basket, said 'here is your breakfast, and you shall have the\nclothing for your children.' With tears streaming down her face, she\nreplied: 'Oh, thank God for his faithfulness! He heareth and answereth\nprayer. May He bless you!' And, said our dear brother to us, 'I felt the\npromise was sure, for she was blessed in receiving, I was more so in\ngiving.'\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR A LOAD OF WOOD.\n\n\nHere is an illustration of the way in which God sends relief in trouble.\nThe story is told by the Christian woman to whom it happened, in her own\nlanguage:\n\n\"About the month of January, 1863, I was living in Connecticut, alone\nwith two little boys, one of them four years old, and the other about a\nyear and a half old. My husband was away in the service of his country.\nWhen the coldest weather came, I was nearly out of wood. I went down\ninto the village, one day, to try and get some, but tried in vain; so\nmany men were away in the army that help was scarce. Very little wood\nwas brought into market, and those living on the main street, got all\nthat came, while those who lived outside the village could get none. I\ntried to buy a quarter of a cord from two or three merchants, but could\nnot get any. One of them told me he could not get what he wanted for his\nown family. Another said he wasn't willing to yoke up his team for so\nsmall a quantity; but, as I only had a dollar and seventy-five cents, I\ncould not buy any more, and so I was obliged to go home without any. I\nwent back to my little ones, feeling very sad. But while I sat there,\nalmost ready to cry, the words of Abraham came into my mind, 'Jehovah-\nJireh, the Lord will provide.' Then I went up to my chamber. There I\nknelt down and told God of my trouble, and asked him to help me and send\nthe relief that we needed. Then I went to the window and waited, looking\ndown the street, expecting to see the wood coming. After waiting a\nwhile, without seeing any come, my faith began to fail. I said to\nmyself, 'The Lord did provide for Abraham, but He won't provide for me.'\nOur last stick of wood was put in the stove. It was too cold to keep the\nchildren in the house without fire. I got the children's clothes out,\nand thought I would take them to the house of a kind neighbor, where I\nknew they could stay till we got some wood. But, just as I was going out\nwith the children, in passing by the window, I saw the top of a great\nload of wood coming up the road towards our little house. Can that be\nfor us? I asked myself. Presently I saw the wagon turn off the road and\ncome up towards our door. Then I was puzzled to know how to pay for it.\nA dollar and seventy-five cents I knew would only go a little way\ntowards paying for all that wood. The oxen came slowly on, dragging the\nload to our door. I asked the man if there wasn't same mistake about it.\n'No, ma'am,' said he, 'there's no mistake.' 'I did not order it, and I\ncannot pay for it,' was my reply. 'Never mind, ma'am,' said he, 'a\nfriend ordered it, and it is all paid for.' Then he unhitched the oxen\nfrom the wagon, and gave them some hay to eat. When this was done, he\nasked for a saw and ax, and never stopped till the whole load was cut\nand split and piled away in the woodshed.\n\n\"This was more than I could stand. My feelings overcame me, and I sat\ndown and cried like a child. But these were not bitter tears of sorrow.\nThey were tears of joy and gladness, of gratitude and thankfulness. I\nfelt ashamed of myself for doubting God's word, and I prayed that I\nmight never do so again. What pleasure I had in using that wood! Every\nstick of it, as I took it up, seemed to have a voice with which to say\n'Jehovah-Jireh.' As Abraham stood on the top of Mount Moriah he could\nsay, 'The Lord _will_ provide.' But every day, as I went into our\nwoodshed, I could point to that blessed pile of wood sent from heaven,\nand say, 'The Lord _does_ provide.'\"\n\n\nA REFRACTORY MAN COMPELLED TO PAY A DEBT.\n\n\nA refractory man who owed a small debt of about $43, refused to pay it\nall, but offered to do so if ten dollars was taken off. His creditor,\nfeeling that it was just, declined to abate the amount.\n\nFor more than a year the creditor waited, after having no attention paid\nto his correspondence or, claim by the debtor, who exhibited\nunmistakable obstinacy and want of courtesy. At last it was put into the\nhands of a lawyer. The lawyer, too, was fairly provoked at the\nfaithlessness of the debtor in his promises or his attention to the\nsubject; thus matters dragged wearily for months, yet exercised leniency\nin pressing the claim.\n\nThe creditor, whose forbearance had now reached the extremity of\nendurance, at last was led to take it to the Lord in prayer; saying he\nwould \"willingly forgive the whole debt if in anything he was wrong, but\nif the Lord thought it was right, hoped that his debtor _might be\ncompelled to pay the amount he so obstinately withheld_.\"\n\nTo the astonishment of all, a letter received from the lawyer four days\nafter, informed him _that his debtor had called and paid the claim in\nfull_ with interest to date. \"In doing so, he said he paid it _under\nprotest_,\" thus showing he was _compelled by something he could not\nresist to pay it all_.\n\n\nA HURRICANE PASSES AROUND A SHIP.\n\n\nA Sea Captain relates to the editor of the _Christian_, a remarkable\nincident, whereby in one of his voyages his ship was unaccountably held\nstill, and thereby saved from sailing directly into the midst of a\nterrible hurricane:--\"We sailed from the Kennebec on the first of\nOctober, 1876. There had been several severe gales, and some of my\nfriends thought it hardly safe to go, but after considerable prayer I\nconcluded it was right to undertake the voyage. On the 19th of October\nwe were about one hundred and fifty miles west of the Bahamas, and we\nencountered very disagreeable weather. _For five or six days we seemed\nheld by shifting currents, or some unknown power, in about the same\nplace. We would think we had sailed thirty or forty miles_, when on\ntaking our observations we would find we _were within three or four\nmiles of our position the day before_. This circumstance occurring\nrepeatedly proved a trial to my faith, and I said within my heart,\n'_Lord, why are we so hindered, and kept in this position_?' Day after\nday we were held as if by an unseen force, until at length a change took\nplace, and we went on our way. Reaching our port they inquired, 'Where\nhave you been through the gale?' '_What gale_?' we asked. '_We have seen\nno gale_.' We then learned that a terrible hurricane had swept through\nthat region, and that all was desolation. We afterwards learned that\n_this hurricane had swept around us, and had almost formed a circle\naround the place occupied by us during the storm. A hundred miles in one\ndirection all was wreck and ruin, fifty miles in the opposite direction\nall was desolation; and while that storm was raging in all its fury, we\nwere held in perfect safety, in quiet waters_, and in continual anxiety\nto change our position and pursue our voyage _One day of ordinary\nsailing would have brought us into the track of the storm, and sent us\nto the bottom of the sea._ We were anxious to sail on, but some unseen\npower held us where we were, and we escaped.\"\n\nThe Captain was a prayerful man, trusting in his Lord, though his faith\nwas tried, and he thought the Lord was not helping him. Yet the Lord was\nkeeping his promise to him, \"_The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in\nsafety by him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long_.\"\n\n\nRECOVERY FROM SPINAL DISEASE.\n\n\n\"Miss M---- is the daughter of a respectable farmer, an elder in a\nPresbyterian church in Western Pennsylvania. When a young girl her spine\nwas injured while nursing her aged and helpless grandmother, and she has\nbeen a great sufferer for many years. For eleven years she has not been\nable to attend church nor to go from home, and for a long time was\nunable to leave her chamber or her bed. Two years ago she was so ill\nthat hopes of her recovery were abandoned, her mind was thought to be\nseriously, even hopelessly impaired. Her physician acknowledged that her\ndisease baffled his skill.\n\n\"A few months ago, being near her residence and hearing that her health\nwas better, I called on her, and to my surprise, found her able to sew,\nwalk about, and even go down stairs. She informed me that she suffered\nso intensely from the remedies used for her cure, and constantly grew\nworse, that she determined to do nothing more; it seemed like fighting\nagainst God; she would put herself into His hands to do with her as He\npleased. Then it seemed to her that the Saviour came to her and said,\n'M----, what aileth thee?' She told Him all her case, and He soothed and\ncomforted her. From that time she began to improve; the paroxysms of\npain grew less, and disappeared; her nervousness was relieved, she could\nsleep, her mind was full of peace. She said, 'I am not cured, and do not\nexpect to be well, but I can bear what I have to suffer, and am willing\nto depart whenever it is the Lord's will to take me away to himself.'\"\n\n\nPRAYER FOR A PAIR OF BOOTS.\n\n\nIn the Fall of 1858, H----, a student in the Theological Seminary at\nPrinceton, N.J., was in great need of a new pair of boots. His toes were\nsticking out of his old ones, and he had no money to purchase new ones.\nAll the money he could command was barely enough to pay his fare to his\nhome, where be had promised a dear friend to be present on the\napproaching communion Sabbath.\n\nH---- was a man of great faith, and was accustomed to carry all his\nwants to God in prayer. To God he carried the present emergency, and\nearnestly importuned Him, that He would send him a pair of boots, and\nthat He would do it before the approaching Sabbath. He was persuaded\nthat God heard, and would answer his petition, yet his faith was sorely\ntried. Saturday morning came and still there was no answer; he resolved,\nhowever, to go to his home, fully persuaded that God would in good time\ngrant his request. He took the morning train at the Princeton depot, and\nreached home about eleven o'clock. It was a hard trial for him to go to\n\"Preparatory Lecture\" with his boots in the condition they were in; yet\nat two o'clock he went, still praying that God would send him a new pair\nof boots. During the service, a merchant in the town took a seat in the\nsame pew with him, and at the close of the service, without a word being\nspoken on the subject, the merchant, after shaking hands with H---- and\ninquiring of his welfare, asked him if he would do him the favor of\ngoing down town to a certain boot and shoe store and select from the\nstock as good a pair of boots as he could find, and, said the merchant,\n\"have them charged to me.\" It was, as, H---- said to me on his return to\nthe seminary, a direct answer to prayer. Indeed, it might be said of\nH---- that he went through college and seminary _on prayer_. He laid all\nhis plans before God, pleaded his promises, and never was disappointed.\n\n\nUNDER GARMENTS IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\nAmong the students in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J., in\n1860, was my intimate friend L----. He was at the time poorly clad, but\nwas a devoted Christian, and is at present a successful foreign\nmissionary.\n\nOne day when on the Seminary campus, I heard two of the students very\nthoughtlessly criticising the exceeding shabbiness of L----'s wearing\napparel, his short pants, old shoes, and socks with no heels in them. At\nalmost every step L---- took when playing ball, his bare heels could be\nseen. That day, after evening prayers, I took L---- by the arm, for a\nwalk to \"Orthodox point,\" a tree about a mile distant from the Seminary.\nDuring our walk, I gently told him of the criticisms I had heard, and\nlearned more fully than I had ever done of his destitution of wearing\napparel, especially of under garments. I offered him a share of mine, or\nthe loan of money, so as to meet his present wants, but this he declined\nto receive, saying, that he \"would take it to the Lord in prayer,\" and\nthat God would in good time supply all his wants. I, too, bore his case\nto the throne of grace. The next day after this, on going into his room,\nhe laid before me an empty envelope, and a five dollar bill, and asked\nme the question, \"Did you throw that envelope with that bill in it,\nthrough that ventilator?\" I assured him that I did not. \"Well,\" said he,\n\"when I came in from recitation a short time ago, I found this envelope\non the floor and that five dollar bill in it. It has evidently been\nthrown in through the ventilator.\" We both recognized God's hand in the\nprovision made and mentally gave thanks to our Heavenly Father. Soon\nafter this, \"a missionary box\" was sent to the Seminary, and my friend\nwas therefrom well supplied with under garments. Frequently afterward\ndid he say to me, in substance, \"Prayer is the key to God's treasury.\nTrust in Him and the Lord will provide.\"\n\n\nUNEXPECTED RELIEF.\n\n\nHenry Badgerow was a man about seventy years of age at the time of the\nincident, and a resident of Steuben county, State of New York. This was\nin the year about A.D. 1830-31. He had been for many years an invalid--\nso much so that he couldn't walk--the result of a horse running away\nwith him. In a forest, isolated from neighbors, the old man resided\nalone with an aged wife. They were quite poor, and wholly dependent upon\nthe labor of a son who worked away from home for others. This son was at\nlength taken sick with a fever, and unable to minister to his parents'\nwants. This was in mid-winter, when storms were frequent and the snows\ndeep and lasting. One evening when the storm was at its highest, this\nold couple found themselves without a particle of food in the house.\nMatters were desperate with them. They could see but starvation staring\nthem in the face. They resolved upon prayer, having a firm trust in\ntheir Heavenly Father, whom for many years they had been humbly serving.\nThey did not retire, but continued in fervent prayer that God would send\nthem food. About two and a half miles distant lived a young married man\nin comfortable circumstances, by the name of Joseph Clason (the author\nof the story). He was not at this time a Christian, although it was not\nlong after this he was converted, and has since lived an eminently\nactive and godly life. About 12 o'clock on the night of the snow storm\nabove mentioned, young Clason awoke. His first thoughts were of old Mr.\nBadgerow and his condition in that storm. His mind became so impressed\nwith the thought of him, and so wrought upon that he could not again go\nto sleep, although trying so to do. At length he awakened his wife, told\nher that he was in trouble about Mr. B., for fear he and his wife were\nstarving. She replied that if he would get right up and make a light,\nshe would prepare something, and that he had better take it right down.\nYoung C. did so, taking with him a pail of provisions. After a jaunt\nthrough the storm and snow in the dead hour of night, he reached the old\nman's cabin. There he found a light burning. He knocked; the door was\nopened by the wife. The old man was fervently praying; but when he saw\nyoung C. with the pail of provisions, he held up both hands and said,\n\"Now I know that God heareth prayer. Not one mouthful have we in the\nhouse to eat. I know that God sent you here.\" Young C. staid with the\nold couple until daylight. The conversation revealed that about midnight\nthe old man perceiving that a storm had arisen, and that unless relief\ncame, which was not likely, they would starve, resolved to appeal to his\nHeavenly Father, saying that God who sent the ravens to feed Elijah\nwould feed him if he went to him in faith, and now God had heard his\nprayer, and he blessed God that he could do so in all trouble and trial.\n\nThe old man having asked C. how he came to visit them, he replied he\ndidn't know, but supposed God had sent him, as he had awoke and couldn't\nagain sleep on account of thought of him.\n\nThe incident made a serious and lasting impression on young C's mind.\n\nIn the morning, as C. was returning home, he came by his father's house;\nhis mother, espying his pail, wished to know where he had been. He\nreplied, \"To feed the hungry.\" His father spreading the incident, the\nneighbors all turned out and brought in enough provision to last them\nduring several weeks, the old man being greatly loved and respected by\nhis community, on account of his sterling Christian life and character.\n\nMr. Joseph Clason is still living, now seventy-five years of age, in\nBazine, Ness county, Kansas.\n\n\nTHAT BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS GIFT. HOW THE LORD USED IT.\n\n\nA lady and gentleman were walking up Madison avenue, New York City, from\nchurch, when incidentally the lady said, \"We are trying to get up\nChristmas decorations and entertainment for our Mission School.\"\n\n\"_Well, put my name down for anything you like_,\" and then came into his\nmind a certain sum to give.\n\nA day passed on, it seemed forgotten; but a note from the lady reminded\nhim of his promise, and he responded, giving the exact sum originally\nthought of, $25. Notice, now, the most singular disposition of it,\nwhich, by the hand of Providence, was made to go on its circuitous way\nto meet those who needed it most.\n\nThe next Sabbath, the lady and gentleman again meeting each other, she\nsaid, \"Your gift was too large. I cannot take so much from you. I shall\ngive you back part.\"\n\n\"But I won't take it.\"\n\n\"Well, you must. I can't keep it.\"\n\nIt resulted in the lady taking $15 from her muff and forcing it back\ninto the gentleman's hand.\n\nThe gentleman felt badly. \"_I intended this for the Lord, and now it is\nrefused. It is the first time I ever heard that money ever given to a\nSunday school was not wanted. I meant the whole for the. Lord_. If she\ndon't want it and wont keep it, I will give the rest away. _It does not\nbelong to me_.\" Before night he had enclosed it in a letter and sent it\nout of the city to an invalid as a _Christmas present_. He had occasion\nnot long after to visit the invalid, and was fairly astonished at the\nextraordinary circumstances connected with its use; and this is his\nstory, told in his letter to the lady who returned the $15.\n\n\"The sequel to the $15 is far more beautiful and wonderful than anything\nI have ever known. This invalid had been praying for some money for a\nneeded article of dress to protect her from cold. _The_ $15 _came the\nvery next morning in answer to her prayer. But it was more than enough_.\nAs a consistent Christian, having asked the Lord only for enough to meet\nbut one need, she felt as if the rest belonged to the Lord and must be\nused for Him. So in wondering how to use it, she thought of a poor woman\nwho needed a new calico dress, and at once bought it and gave it to her.\nShe had but $5 left. A dear friend was in distress; his horse and\ncarriage had been seized for failure to pay the livery bill of their\nkeeping; he could not collect any money of the debts due him, to pay his\nbill, and had nothing. His wife and children were in New Britain, and\nhere he was, no means to get there. The little Christian invalid sent\nhim her $5, the last money she had, not knowing where her next was to\ncome from, with these words: \"_The Lord has sent you this_,\" and though\nhe offered to return, or use only part, she said, \"_No, the Lord meant\nthis for you_. You must keep it, I will not take it back.\" Now see how\nbeautifully all these incidents have been made to work for the good of\nmany, by the managing hand of Providence.\n\n\"My original gift of $25 to you was _more than enough_. You did not need\nit all for your Sunday-school, and the Lord made you force back the $15\nupon me. I could not keep it, because I felt, it belonged to the Lord.\nSo I sent it to the little invalid.\n\n\"She, too, had only needed a part, and used only what she asked the Lord\nfor, and then she, in her turn, gave the rest away. The most wonderful\npart of it is, that the money you gave back to me, and I gave to the\nLord, was _three-fifths of the amount you received_, and the money the\nlittle invalid gave away _to the Lord_ was also _three-fifths the amount\nshe received. The money which you kept for your use was just two-fifths,\nand the money that the invalid kept for her own use was just two-fifths\nalso. The very next day after she had given her money away_, a lady\ncalled and gave her some money, which _was precisely the same amount_\nwhich _the poor woman's calico dress_ had cost, (though she knew nothing\nof the circumstances), and in return for the $5 which she gave her\nfriend in distress, and refused to take back, the Lord remembered her\nand gave her a good home.\n\n\nTHE WIDOW'S WOOD AND FLOUR.--THE UNBELIEVING ONES MADE SPEECHLESS.\n\n\nThe following instance is known to _The Christian_ as true, and to a\nremarkable degree indicates how thoroughly God knows our minutest needs,\nand how effectively He makes those who ever reproach his name ashamed of\ntheir unbelief.\n\n\"A friend and relative of the one who was 'a widow indeed,' one who\ntrusted in God, and continued in supplications and prayers day and\nnight, was once brought into circumstances of peculiar straitness and\ntrial. She had two daughters who exerted themselves with their needles\nto earn a livelihood; and at that time they were so busily engaged in\ntrying to finish some work that had long been on their hands, they had\nneglected to make provision for their ordinary wants until they found\nthemselves one Winter's day in the midst of a New England snow storm,\nwith food and fuel almost exhausted, at a distance from neighbors, and\nwithout any means of procuring needful sustenance.\n\n\"The daughters began to be alarmed, and were full of anxiety at the\ndismal prospect, but the good old mother said, 'Don't worry, girls, the\nLord will provide; we have enough for to-day, and to-morrow may be\npleasant,' and in this hope the girls settled down again to their labor.\n\n\"Another morning came, and with it no sunshine, but wind and snow in\nabundance. The storm still raged, but no one came near the house, and\nall was dark and dismal without.\n\n\"Noon came, and the last morsel of food was eaten, the wind was almost\ngone, and there were no tokens of any relief for their necessities.\n\n\"The girls became much distressed, and talked anxiously of their\ncondition, but the good mother said, 'Don't worry, the Lord will\nprovide.'\n\n\"But they had heard that story the day before, and they, knew not the\nstrong foundation upon which that mother's trust was builded, and could\nnot share the confidence she felt.\n\n\"'If we get anything to-day the Lord will have to bring it himself, for\nnobody else can get here if they try,' said one of the daughters,\nimpatiently, but the mother said, 'Don't worry.' And so they sat down\nagain to their sewing, the daughters to muse upon their necessitous\ncondition, and the mother to roll her burden on the Everlasting Arms.\"\n\nNow mark the way in which the Lord came to their rescue, and just at\nthis moment of extremity, put it into the heart of one of his children\nto go and carry relief. _Human Nature_ at such a time would never have\nventured out in such a storm, but waited for a pleasant day. But Divine\nWisdom and power made him carry _just what was needed, in the face of\nadverse circumstances, and just at the time it was needed_.\n\n\"Mr. M. sat at his fireside, about a mile away, surrounded by every\nbounty and comfort needed to cheer his heart, with his only daughter\nsitting by his side.\n\n\"For a long time not a word had been spoken, and he had seemed lost in\nsilent meditation, till at length he said, 'Mary, I want you to go and\norder the cattle yoked, and then get me a bag. I must go and carry some\nwood and flour to sister C.'\n\n\"'Why, Father, it is impossible for you to go. There is no track, and it\nis all of a mile up there. You would almost perish.'\n\n\"The old man sat in silence a few moments and said, 'Mary, I must go.'\nShe knew her father too well to suppose that words would detain him, and\nso complied with his wishes. While she held the bag for him, she felt\nperhaps a little uneasiness to see the flour so liberally disposed of,\nand said, 'I wish you would remember that _I_ want to give a poor woman\nsome flour, if it ever clears off.' The old man understood the\nintimation and said, 'Mary, give all you feel it duty to, and when the\nLord says stop, I will do so.'\n\n\"Soon all things were ready, and the patient oxen took their way to the\nwidow's home, wallowing through the drifted snow, and dragging the sled\nwith its load of wood and flour. About four o'clock in the afternoon,\nthe mother had arisen from her work to fix the fire, and, looking out of\nthe window, she saw the oxen at the door, and she knew that the Lord had\nheard her cry.\n\n\"She said not a word--why should she? She was not surprised!--but,\npresently, a heavy step at the threshold caused the daughters to look up\nwith astonishment, as Mr. M. strode unceremoniously into the room,\nsaying, '_The Lord told me, Sister C, that you wanted some wood and\nflour_.'\n\n\"'_He told you the truth_,' said the widow, 'and I will praise Him\nforever.'\n\n\"'_What think you now girls_?' she continued, as she turned in solemn\njoy to her unbelieving daughters.\n\n\"_They were speechless_; not a word escaped their lips; but they\npondered that new revelation of the providential mercy of the Lord,\nuntil it made upon their minds an impression never to be effaced.\n\n\"From that hour they learned to trust in Him who cares for _His needy_\nin the hour of distress, and who, from His boundless stores, supplies\nthe wants of those who trust in Him.\"\n\n\nA PAIR OF SHOES.--THE LORD'S REBUKE TO THOSE WHO \"DIDN'T BELIEVE.\"\n\n\nThe following incident occurred in Connecticut: In an humble cottage two\nsisters were watching over and caring for a much-loved brother, who, for\nmany long months had been upon a bed of sickness. At length, the younger\nof them began to be discouraged. She was dependent, for her clothing,\nupon her labor; her shoes were worn out, and how should she get another\npair, unless she could leave the sick bed and go away from home and work\nand earn some money.\n\n\"Well,\" said the mother, \"I know you need a pair of shoes, but don't\nworry, the Lord will provide.\"\n\n\"_Do you think that_ THE LORD _will come down from heaven and buy me a\npair of shoes_?\" said the younger sister, with an expression of\ndiscouragement and vexation on her countenance.\n\n\"No,\" said the mother, \"but perhaps he will put it into somebody's heart\nto buy you a pair.\"\n\n\"Perhaps He will, _but I don't believe it_,\" said the discouraged girl.\n\n\"Well,\" said the other sister, who was a little more hopeful, \"you won't\nget them any quicker by fretting, so you might as well be quiet.\" Then\nthe subject dropped and the day passed as usual.\n\nAs the shades of evening were gathering, a brother who lived at some\ndistance, and who knew nothing of their previous conversation, called to\ninquire after their prosperity. After the customary salutations he said,\n\"You have been sick here a long time, and I thought I would come round\nand see if I could not do something for you; thought perhaps by this\ntime the girls needed something.\" Then turning to the younger sister, he\nsaid, \"_How is it, aren't your shoes worn out?\"_\n\nShe dropped her eyes, blushed deeply, and, perhaps, a little\nconscience-smitten, answered not a word. Nothing was said of the\nprevious conversation, though it was not forgotten by those who heard\nit. The brother soon saw for himself enough to satisfy him, and said no\nmore, but went away. The next day _two pairs of shoes_ were sent around\nto her, and with them came to her heart a lesson which she never forgot.\n\nShe lived many years after that, but was never heard to murmur in that\nway again, and often said that the two pairs of shoes taught her to\n_wait, hope and trust_, and thereby learn implicit confidence in Him who\nsendeth all blessings. The last time she alluded to the occurrence, she\nsaid, \"_I was speechless then, but, by the grace of God, I will not be\nin the world to come_.\"\n\n\nTHE LAME HEALED.\n\n\nRev. Charles G. Finney, during his life-time, was familiar with the\ncircumstances connected with the remarkable healing of a sick lady in\nOberlin, O., the wife of Rev. R.D. Miller, and these facts were vouched\nfor as unquestionably authentic. Mr. Finney says:\n\n\"Mrs. Miller is the wife of a Congregational minister, and a lady of\nunquestionably veracity. However the fact of her healing is to be\naccounted for, her story is no doubt worthy of entire confidence, as we\nhave known her for years as a lame, suffering invalid, and now see her\nin our midst in sound health. This instantaneous restoration will be\naccounted for by different persons in different ways. Mrs. Miller and\nthose who were present regard the healing as supernatural and a direct\nanswer to prayer. The facts must speak for themselves. Why should not\nthe sick be healed in answer to the prayer of faith? Unbelief can\ndiscredit them, but faith sees nothing incredible in such facts as are\nstated by Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller's own statement is as follows, and it\nis fully endorsed by the most reliable citizens and members of the First\nchurch at Oberlin:\n\n\"From my parents I inherited a constitution subject to a chronic form of\nrheumatism. In early life I was attacked with rheumatic weaknesses and\npains, which affected my whole system. For nearly forty years I was\nsubject to more or less suffering from this cause, sometimes unable to\nattend meeting for months at a time. For seven years, until the last\nthree months, I have been unable to get about without the aid of crutch\nor staff, generally both. I have used many liniments and remedies, but\nwith no permanently good result. I have been a Christian from early\nlife, but last Spring, in our revival, I received a spiritual refreshing\nfrom the Lord, which gave a new impulse to my faith. Since then my\nreligion has been a new life to me.\n\n\"Last Summer, several of us Christian sisters were in the habit of\nspending short seasons of prayer together, that the Lord would send us a\npastor. Some of our number had read the narrative of Dorothea Trudel,\nand had spoken to me on the subject of healing in answer to prayer. My\nfaith had not then risen to this elevation. I had in fact accepted what\nI supposed to be the will of God, and made up my mind to be a lame and\nsuffering invalid the rest of my life. I had long since ceased to use\nremedies for the restoration of my health, and had not even thought of\npraying in regard to it, for I regarded it as the will of God that I\nshould suffer in silent submission.\n\n\"Notwithstanding what had been said to me, I remained in this opinion\nand in this attitude until the 26th of September, 1872, when several\nladies met at our house, by appointment, for a prayer-meeting. I had\nbeen growing worse for some time, and was at that time unable to get out\nto attend a meeting. I was suffering much pain that afternoon; indeed, I\nwas hardly able to be out of my bed. Up to this time none of the sisters\nwho had conversed with me about the subject of healing by faith, had\nbeen able to tell me anything from their own experience. That afternoon,\none lady was present who could speak to me from her own experience of\nbeing healed in answer to the prayer of faith. She related several\nstriking instances in which her prayers had been answered in the removal\nof divers forms of disease to which she was subject. She also repeated a\nnumber of passages of Scripture, which clearly justified the expectation\nof being healed in answer to the prayer of faith. She also said that\nJesus had shown her that he was just as ready to heal diseases now as he\nwas when on earth; that such healing was expressly promised in\nScripture, in answer to the prayer of faith, and that it was nowhere\ntaken back. These facts, reasonings, and passages of Scripture, made a\ndeep impression on my mind, and, for the first time, I found myself able\nto believe that Jesus would heal me in answer to prayer. She asked me if\nI could join my faith with hers and ask for present healing. I told her\nI felt that I could. We then knelt, and called upon the Lord. She\noffered a mighty prayer to God, and I followed. While she was leading in\nprayer I felt a quickening in my whole being, whereupon my pain\nsubsided, and when we rose from prayer I felt that a great change had\ncome over me, that I was cured. I found that I could walk without my\nstaff or crutch, or any assistance from any one. Since then my pains\nhave never returned; I have more than my youthful vigor; I walk with\nmore ease and rapidity than I ever did in my life, and I never felt so\nfresh and young as I now do, at the age of fifty-two.\n\n\"Now, the hundred and third psalm is my psalm, and my youth is more than\nrenewed, like the eagle's. I cannot express the constant joy of my heart\nfor the wonderful healing of my soul and body. I feel as if I was every\nwhit made whole.\"\n\nThe testimony of eye-witnesses to this healing is as follows:\n\n\"We were all present at the time of the healing, and know the facts to\nbe true. We are all Christians, and have no interest in deceiving\nanybody, and would by no means dishonor God by stating more than the\nexact truth. Since the healing, Mrs. Miller is still with us, and in\nexcellent health. Neither the severe cold of last Winter, nor the\nextreme heat of this Summer, has at all injured her health. From our\nfirst acquaintance with her, she has been so lame as to be unable to\nwalk, except by the aid of crutches. Since which time she has been able\nto walk without help, and appears perfectly well.\"\n\nHer husband, also adding his testimony, says:\n\n\"She has been unable to walk without crutches for a series of years. A\nlong time ago, we tried many remedies and physicians, with no lasting\ngood results, and were expecting she would remain an invalid. Of late,\nshe had applied no remedy, nor taken any medicine. At the time of her\ncure, she was much worse than for a long while before, being in great\npain continually, until the moment she fully believed, and, _in an\ninstant_, she was restored to perfect soundness. From that moment to\nthis she has not felt a particle of her former complaint.\n\n\"She can now walk for miles as fast as I wish to, without feeling very\nmuch fatigue, does all her own housework, and attends seven meetings\nduring the week. In short, she is stronger, and seems as young and spry,\nas when we were married, thirty-two years ago. The work of the dear\nSavior in her cure seems to be perfect, and she is an astonishment to\nall who knew her before and see her now. To _His_ name be all the\npraise.\n\n\"Another lady, the same week my wife was healed, a member of the First\nCongregational Church, confined to her bed with a complicated disease,\nwas prayed for, and restored at once to soundness.\"\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL CURE OF MRS. SHERMAN.\n\n\nAlthough there are so many cases of healing in answer to prayer, yet the\nincident of the healing of Mrs. Sherman is so minute, and resulted in\nsuch a radical change of the physical constitution, that it is necessary\nto relate it in full detail. It is too well proven to admit the\npossibility of a doubt.\n\n\"Mrs. Ellen Sherman is the wife of Rev. Moses Sherman, and, at the time\nof this occurrence, in 1873, they were residents of Piermont, N.H. She\nhad been an invalid for many years. In the Winter after she was fifteen,\nshe fell on the ice and hurt her left knee, so that it became weak and\neasy to slip out of joint. Six years after, she fell again on the same\nknee, so twisting it and injuring the ligaments that it became partially\nstiff, and, the physician said, incurable.\n\n\"The next Summer, by very fast walking, one day, she brought on special\nweakness, which no physician was able to cure. From that moment she was\nsubject to severe neuralgia, sick-headaches, at least monthly, and\nsometimes even weekly.\n\n\"In December, 1859, while stepping out of doors, she slipped, by reason\nof her stiff joint, and fell, striking near the base of the spine,\ndirectly across the sharp edge of the stone step. This caused such a\nsickness that she was obliged to leave the school she was attending.\n\n\"Three years after (in January, 1862), she fell at the top of a\nstairway, striking just as before, and sliding all the way down to the\nfoot. This nearly paralyzed the spinal cord, and caused deep and\npermanent spinal disease. After this she was up and down for many years,\nattended by various physicians, yet nothing bettered, but, rather,\ngrowing worse. It may be said, for short, that every organ of the lower\nbody became chronically diseased, and that the headaches increased in\nviolence.\n\n\"In September, 1872, through a severe cold, she took her bed, where she\nlay, except when lifted from it, till the night of August 27, 1873. She\nwas unable to walk a step, or even stand. She could sit up only a short\ntime without great distress. The best medical skill that could be\nprocured gave only temporary relief. The spine grew worse in spite of\nevery appliance, and the nervous sensitiveness and prostration were\nincreasing. During the two or three weeks immediately preceding her cure\nshe was especially helpless, two persons being required to lift her off\nand on the bed. On the Monday before, one of her severest neuralgia\nsick-headaches came on. During Wednesday she began to be relieved, but\nwas still so sick that when, in the evening, she tried to have her\nclothes changed, she could only endure the change of her night-dress.\"\n\nIt will be seen from this her utter physical helplessness, and not the\nslightest hope of any amelioration. During the night of August 27th, she\nenjoyed a blessed time of communion with her Lord, giving herself, in\nall her helplessness, wholly to Him to do as he wills.\n\nWith feelings beyond all expression, she _felt_ the nearness of her\nmighty Savior, and the sense of receiving a new and most delicious\npulsation of new life. At last, though she had been bed-ridden for\ntwelve months, and incapable of any bodily assistance, she felt an\nuncontrollable impulse to throw off the clothes of the bed with her left\narm, and sprang out of bed upon her feet, and started to walk across the\nroom.\n\n\"Her husband's first thought was that she was crazed, and would fall to\nthe floor, and he sprang towards her to help her. But she put up her\nhands against him, saying with great energy, 'Don't you touch me! Don't\nyou touch me!' and went walking back and forth across the room speaking\nrapidly, and declaring the work which Jesus had been working upon her.\n\n\"Her husband, quickly saw that she was in her right mind, and had been\nhealed by the Lord, and his soul was filled with unutterable emotion.\n\n\"One of the women of the household was called, also their son, twelve\nyears old, and together they thanked God for the great and blessed\nwonder he had wrought.\n\n\"In the morning, after a sleep of several hours, she further examined\nherself to see if entirely healed, and found both knees perfectly well;\nand though for sixteen years she had not been able to use either, now\nshe lifted the left _foot_ and _put it upon the right knee_, thus\nproving the completeness of her restoration.\n\n\"At the end of two years from her healing, inquiry having been made as\nto how thorough had been the work, Mrs. Sherman gave full and abundant\nevidence. 'I cannot remember a Summer when I have been so healthy and\nstrong, and able to work hard. I am a constant wonder to myself, and to\nothers, and have been for the two years past. The cure exceeded my\nhighest expectations at the time I was cured. I did not look forward to\nsuch a state of vigor and strength. No words can express my joy and\ngratitude for all this.'\n\n\"The parents of Mrs. Sherman also testify of the wonderful change\nphysically which occurred with the cure.\n\n\"Before, her appetite was always disordered, but on the very morning of\nthe healing it was wholly changed, and her food, which distressed her\nformerly, she ate with a relish and without any pain following; and she\nso continues. For years before a natural action of the bowels was rare.\nFrom that day since, an unnatural one is equally rare.\n\n\"For fifteen years, with few exceptions, she had had severe neuralgic\nsick headaches monthly or oftener. From that time she has been natural\nand without pain, with no return of the headaches, except a\ncomparatively slight one once, from overdoing and a cold taken through\ncarelessness.\n\n\"There was also at that time an immediate and radical change in the\naction of the kidneys, which had become a source of great trouble\nbefore. Moreover the knee which had been partially stiff for so many\nyears was made entirely well. In fine, her body, which had been so full\nof pain, became at once free from pain, and full of health.\n\n\"The week after she was healed she went fifty miles to attend a\ncamp-meeting, riding five miles in a carriage, the rest by cars. A near\nneighbor said, 'She will come back worse than ever.' Though the weather\nwas especially bad, she came back better than when she went.\"\n\nThese are but few out of many expressions respecting her extraordinary\nrecovery, which fully satisfy the believing Christian that _the Great_\nPhysician is with us now, \"_healing the lame_,\" and curing the sick. It\nis faith only, unyielding, which the Lord requires ere he gives his\nrichest blessing.\n\nThe unbelieving one simply sees in it \"_something strange_,\" which he\ncan not understand, but the faith-keeping Christian knows it is the sign\nof his _Precious Lord_, in whom he trusts and abides forever.\n\n\nDR. NEWMAN HALL'S TESTIMONIES TO THE VALUE OF PRAYER.\n\n\nDr. Newman Hall, of London, in his wide experience has met with many\nincidents of answered prayer, and thus relates several:\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR THIRTY POUNDS.\n\n\n\"On a recent evangelizing visit to Newport, one of its citizens said to\nme, 'In yonder house dwell a man and wife, who recently needed a sum of\n\u00a330 to meet some payment the next morning. Having failed in their\nefforts to collect it, they earnestly prayed God to provide it. The\nstore was being closed for the night when a sea-captain knocked at the\ndoor and asked for some seamen's clothes. The gas was relighted, and\nvarious articles were selected; the purchaser then asked for the\naccount, and the money was paid--_a little more than_ \u00a330. The man and\nhis wife thanked their Heavenly Father for sending it in this way in\nanswer to prayer.'\"\n\n\nRECOVERY FROM DANGEROUS ILLNESS.\n\n\nDr. Newman Hall was once visiting, on his dying bed, John Cranfield, son\nof the great originator of ragged schools, under the ministry of Rowland\nHill.\n\n\"We were conversing on prayer. He said, 'A remarkable instance occurred\nin connection with my father. The former organist of Surry Chapel, Mr.\nHoward, was dangerously ill. He was greatly beloved, and his friends met\nfor special prayer that God would spare his life. My father on that\noccasion was remarkably earnest in asking that the life of his friend\nmight be lengthened, as in the case of Hezekiah. The next day he began\nto recover; and during fifteen years was a blessing to his friends and\nthe church.'\"\n\n\nA SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER IN DISTRESS.\n\n\n\"My brother,\" says Dr. Hall, \"told me that when superintendent of a\nSunday school he felt a strong impulse, one Saturday evening, to call at\nthe home of one of his teachers whom he had never visited before. He\nfound his mother and sisters in such evident distress that he inquired\nthe cause. With much reluctance they explained that, being unable to pay\ntheir taxes, their goods were to be taken on the coming Monday, and they\nhad been asking special help from God to save them from a disaster which\nthey felt would be a dishonor to religion. By the aid of a few friends\nthe difficulty was at once met, but the timely succor was regarded as\nthe divine answer to their prayer.\"\n\n\nRESCUED IN PERIL.\n\n\n\"With my brother I was once climbing the _Cirrha di Jazze_, one of the\nmountains in the chain of _Mount Rosa_. When nearly at the top, we\nentered a dense fog. Presently our guides faced right about and grounded\ntheir axes on the frozen snowed slope. My brother, seeing the slope\nstill beyond, and not knowing it was merely the cornice overhanging a\nprecipice of several thousand feet, rushed onward. I shall never forget\ntheir cry of agonized warning. He stood a moment on the very summit, and\nthen, the snow yielding, he began to fall through. One of the guides, at\ngreat risk, had rushed after him, and seizing him by the coat, drew him\ndown to a place of safety.\n\n\"No one could be nearer death and yet escape. On his return home, an\ninvalid member of his congregation told him that she had been much in\nprayer for his safety, and mentioned a special time when she was\nparticularly earnest, as if imploring deliverance from some great peril.\n_The times corresponded._ His life was saved in answer to her prayer.\"\n\n\nA PHYSICAL IMPEDIMENT REMOVED.\n\n\n\"A clergyman, of great scholarship and genius, has told me of a\nremarkable answer to prayer, authenticated by three missionaries known\nto himself, who are personally acquainted with the facts.\n\n\"A Prussian, the master of a hotel in India, was anxious to relinquish\nhis large income, and labor as a missionary among the Santil tribes.\nObjection was made to him on account of an impediment in his speech\nwhich would render him, in speaking a foreign language, incapable of\nbeing understood. Believing in the efficacy of prayer, he called\ntogether his friends, specially to ask that his impediment might be\nremoved. The next morning, he presented himself again at the Mission\nHouse--_the impediment had gone_! He was accepted, relinquished his\nbusiness, and is now preaching the gospel to the Santils in their own\ntongue.\"\n\n\nRESTORATION FROM DEATH.\n\n\n\"My father, the author of the _Sinner's Friend_, narrates in his\nautobiography a circumstance which he often used to speak of with great\nemotion.\n\n\"My mother was very ill, and apparently dying. The Doctor said that now,\nif at all, the children might be brought for her to look at them once\nmore. One by one we were brought to the bedside, and her hand was placed\non our heads.\n\n\"Then my father bade her farewell, and she lay motionless as if soon to\nbreathe her last.\n\n\"He then said to himself, 'There is yet one promise I have not pleaded,\n\"If ye ask anything in my name I will do it.\" He stepped aside, and in\nan agony of soul exclaimed, '_O, Lord, for the honor of thy dear Son,\ngive me the life of my wife!'_\n\n\"He could say no more, and sank down exhausted. Just then the nurse\ncalled him to the bedside saying, 'She has opened her mouth again as if\nfor food.' Nourishment was given, and from that time she began to\nrecover. The doctor said it was miraculous. My father said it was God,\nwho had heard his prayer.\"\n\n\nTHE HELP OF THE LORD IN LITTLE THINGS.\n\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Patton, of Chicago, in receiving many letters from\nclergymen, received one from Mr. F., a pastor in Massachusetts.\n\nIn it he speaks of his unsuccessful search for a valuable knife, prized\nas a present from a friend, which he had lost on a hillside covered with\nlaurels. He paused in prayer, asked to be guided, commenced his search,\nand was almost immediately successful thereafter.\n\nThe same letter also mentions the case of a friend in a responsible\nposition under the government, whose accounts failed to balance by\nreason of an error, which, after long search, he could not detect.\n\nIn great distress he betook himself to prayer, and then opening his\nbooks, _on the very first page_, which he happened to glance at, and at\nthe top of the column, he saw instantly the looked for error, standing\nout so plainly that he wondered he had not seen it before.\n\nThe writer also speaks of a rubber shoe being lost and promptly found\nafter mention in prayer.\n\nThese may seem little matters, but they are the privileges of the\nrighteous to ask \"anything\" of \"Him who careth for them.\"\n\n\nA BOY'S FAITH IN PRAYER\n\n\nIn a letter to Dr. W.W. Patton, by Mr. T.I. Goodwin, M.D., of Staten\nIsland, he describes a little incident which happened to him when only\nthirteen years old.\n\n\"He lost a choice penknife while collecting and driving several cows\nfrom a pasture covered with grass two inches high. Having read\nHuntington's Book of Faith, he thought of prayer, and in childlike trust\nhe knelt under a tree, outside the bars, and prayed for his lost\ntreasure; for he was a farmer's boy, and his spending money amounted to\nonly about fifty cents a year. 'I rose up, cast my eyes down on the\nground, and without planning my course or making any estimate of\nprobabilities, walked across the meadow centrally to near its farther\nedge, saw the penknife down in the grass directly before me, and picked\nit up all as readily as I could have done had any one stood there\npointing to the exact place. _Had I gone ten feet to the right or left_\nI could not have seen the knife, for the grass was too high.'\"\n\n\nA PRAYER FOR FIVE DOLLARS.\n\n\nOne of the City Home missionaries in New York city received on a certain\nday five dollars with special directions that it be given to a certain\npoor minister in Amos street. In the evening the missionary called and\ngave him the money.\n\nFor a moment the good man stood amazed and speechless. Then taking down\na little journal he turned to the record made in his diary of that\nmorning, and showed it to the missionary. \"_Spent two and a half hours\nin earnest prayer for five dollars_.\"\n\n\"And now here it is,\" said the man, with a heart overflowing with\ngratitude. \"The Lord has sent it.\" Both giver and receiver had their\nfaith strengthened by the incident.\n\n\nGO TO THE POST-OFFICE.\n\n\nA correspondent of \"_The Guiding Hand_\" relates this incident:\n\n\"In the year 18--, having a brother living in the city of R., I went to\nsee him. Going to the store where he had been at work, I found that the\nfirm had suspended, and that he was thrown out of employment, and had\nbroken up housekeeping, but could not ascertain where he was, only that\nhe was boarding somewhere out in the suburbs of the city. I searched for\nhim all day, but in vain.\n\n\"It was _absolutely necessary_ that I should find _him_. What MORE to do\nI knew not, except to _pray_. Finally, I was impressed to write a line\nand drop it into the post-office, and I obeyed the impression, telling\nhim, if he got it, to meet me at a stated place, the next morning, at\nten o'clock. _I prayed earnestly_ that the Lord would cause him _to go\nto the post-office,_ so that he might get my letter. I felt full of\npeace, and at rest about the matter. The next morning, at ten o'clock, I\nwent to the place appointed for him to meet me, _and he soon came in_.\"\n\nThis incident might seem one of ordinary or chance occurrence, but for\nthe following unusual circumstances:\n\n\"As they were returning to their home, his brother said: 'There is\nsomething _very strange_ about my going to the post-office this\nmorning--_I had my arrangements all made to go with a party, this\nmorning early, to the bay, fishing; but, when I awoke, I had such an\nimpression to go down to the post-office, that I had to forgo the\npleasure of going to the bay, and went to the post-office and found your\nletter_.'\n\n\"I replied, '_It was the Lord_ that impressed you in answer to my\nprayer, for I have prayed earnestly for the Lord to send you to the\noffice this morning,' and, although but young in years and religion, I\ngave God the praise for his guidance and His grace.\"\n\n\nTHE WIDOW'S TREE\n\n\nNot many years ago a violent storm, with wind and thunder, spread\ndevastation all through the valley of Yellow Creek, Georgia. For a mile\nin width, trees were uprooted, barns and fences were prostrated, and all\nthe lands were desolated.\n\nRight in the center of the tornado stood a small cabin. Its sole\noccupants were an aged widow and her only son. The terrible wind struck\na large tree in front of her humble dwelling, twisting and dashing it\nabout. If it fell it would lay her home in ruins. Desolation, death\nitself, might follow. The storm howled and raged. The great trees fell\nin all directions. When it seemed her tree must also fall and there was\nno remedy, she knelt in fervent supplication to Him who gathereth the\nwind in his fists, that he would spare that tree. Her prayer was heard.\nThe tree was spared, and was the _only one_ left within a considerable\ndistance of the widow's cabin.\n\n\nTHE LORD PAID HIS INTEREST.\n\n\nA most curious answer to prayer occurred in the experience of a home\nmissionary in Brooklyn. It illustrates how God, in his trials of faith\nto see if His people do really cling to the promises, compels them to\nmarch right into the scene of danger, and into the mouth of the cannon,\nthat apparently is open specially to shoot them down.\n\nThe interest on the mortgage of his property was due in a few days. Its\namount was $300. He did not have the money--did not know where to obtain\nit. With anxious heart during the day, he kept up his faith and courage\nby thinking of the Lord's promises, and, the last night before the\neventful day, was spent in prayer, until the assurance came that all was\nwell. Often he pleaded, often he reminded the Lord that, as his life was\n_His_, to save him from reproach, and not let his trust in the Lord\nsuffer dishonor before others.\n\nThe last moment came--no money--no relief. With sinking heart he went to\nthe holder of the mortgage to announce his utter inability to meet his\ndemand. While there, just at the last moment, when he was about to\nleave, the gentleman said, \"_By the way, here is an envelope I was told\nto give you.\"_\n\nThe missionary opened it, _and out came six fifty dollar bills,_ just\nthe _three hundred dollars prayed for_. The Lord met and delivered him\nin the very jaws of the enemy.\n\n\nWILL THE LORD DELIVER FROM BAD HABITS OF TOBACCO, RUM, LIQUOR,\nLICENTIOUSNESS, ETC., IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\nThis question having been asked by a clergyman of Brooklyn, Rev. S.H.\nPlatt, he received a large number of communications, which evidently\nprove that the Lord is _willing_ and _does_, either _instantaneously_ or\ngradually in answer to prayer, deliver and take away wholly the bad\n_habits_ and _appetites_ of those who are willing to forsake their\nsinful ways and cleave only to Him. _The Lord's salvation cleanses and\ndelivers the body as well as the soul_.\n\nWe quote a few extracts from his correspondence, which is but a small\nportion out of many published in his volume, \"_The Power of Grace_.\"\n\n\nCURED OF TOBACCO APPETITE.\n\n\n\"A little more than a year has elapsed since I left off the use of\ntobacco. This further time has more fully developed the thoroughness of\nthe case spoken of and the completeness of the victory over an evil\nhabit. I am filled with wonder, for I expected a terrible fight with an\nappetite, strengthened by an indulgence of about thirty-five years, but\nthe enemy has not shown his head. _Not only has the desire for smoking\nbeen effectually squelched_, but a perfect hatred of smoking has been\ndeveloped on account of the offensiveness of the odor of tobacco. I\nfrequently cross the street, or change my seat in a car to escape the\npuff of smoke, or the fetid breath of a smoker. 'Thanks be unto God who\ngiveth us the victory.'\"\n\n\nBAD HABITS WHOLLY OVERCOME.\n\n\n\"A physician of extended practice was converted and reclaimed while I\nhad charge of the place in which he lived. He had acquired the habit of\nusing large quantities of whiskey and brandy, and withal more or less\ngiven to licentiousness. Since that time he has been steadily advancing\nin morals and moral power, till he now preaches the gospel as a local\npreacher, side by side with the best of the district.\"\n\n\nWAS IT INSTANTANEOUS?\n\n\n\"Yes, as respects tobacco; he became convicted of its sinfulness by a\nvoice saying, 'That is not the way to glorify God: stop, and stop now.'\nAnd from that moment he says he has never used it, neither does he in\nany way like the smell, or even the sight of tobacco.\"\n\n\nTHE LORD DELIVERS FROM BODILY SINS.\n\n\"I had used tobacco from my childhood, and the love and use thereof grew\nupon me. I became convicted of its sinfulness, went to God and said,\n'_Destroy the appetite, and give me power over it_. Save me that I may\nglorify thee as a God of power for our present sins, and I will glorify\nthee ever more.' I wrote out the contract and signed it, and from that\nblessed afternoon have no recollection of ever desiring it even.\"\n\n\nANOTHER DELIVERANCE.\n\n\n\"Tobacco was a great trouble to me; and I had tried a number of times to\nleave it off, but could not do so. One night as I was retiring to rest,\nI thought I would kneel by my bed and ask _Him_, who never refuses to\nanswer prayer, to take from me the desire for tobacco, and from that\nmoment it has been impossible for me to use it.\n\n\nNOT YOUR OWN STRENGTH CAN BREAK THE HABIT.\n\n\n\"I smoked tobacco excessively for fifteen years, commencing when I was\nabout twenty years old. I often strove to break off from the use of it;\nindeed I determined time and again to desist from it, sometimes\nabstaining for a few months or weeks, once for twelve months, _but the\ndesire never left me_, and whenever I tasted it I was sure to take to it\nagain. I sometimes vowed whilst upon my knees in prayer, to abstain from\nit and never touch it again, but I always attempted to do this in my own\nstrength; hence I failed, being overcome by the almost irresistible\ninfluences it had upon my appetite, so long accustomed to the use.\n\n\"One Sunday morning, I retired to a secluded place, got down upon my\nknees, and asked the Lord to help me quit it, determining then and there\nthat I would, God being my helper, never touch the accursed thing again\nby any kind of use in the way of consumption, and from that day to this,\nI have never had any desire to smoke or chew tobacco, or to use it in\nany way; I lifted my heart to God, imploring his assistance in\nabstaining from it. I have now been clear of the desire of it for nearly\ntwenty-three years.\"\n\n\nA DOUBLE CURE.\n\n\n\"At the age of twelve years I commenced to use tobacco, and continued to\nuse it, both smoking and chewing, till five years ago, when in answer to\nprayer the appetite was instantly removed.\n\n\"The circumstances were as follows: I had tried many ways to leave off\nthe use of tobacco, but the appetite was so strong that I could not\nwithstand it. At one time I left it off for a month, but not a day\npassed but I craved it, and when I did begin again it tasted as good as\never. I found that tobacco was injuring my health. My nervous system was\nmuch deranged.\n\n\"For more than a year before I left it off there was scarcely a night\nbut I lay for two or three hours, before I could go to sleep. I resolved\na great many times I would leave off, but always failed. I had also\nacquired the habit of drinking, and became a confirmed drunkard.\n\n\"I knew the habits were killing me, but I was powerless to stop. One\nevening a prayer-meeting was appointed at my house. The minister in his\nremarks spoke about habits, and said that religion would cure all bad\nhabits, such as tobacco, &c., and that by prayer God would remove all\nevil appetites.\n\n\"I thought but little about it that night; was very careless and\ntrifling about it. The next morning I took out my tobacco to take a\nchew, and thought of what the minister had said the night before. It was\na new idea to me. I put the tobacco in my pocket again, and said, '_I'll\ntry it_.'\n\n\"_I was alone in my barn; I kneeled down and asked God to remove the\nappetite from me. It was done. I was cured_. I felt it. I knew it then.\nI have never had a desire for it since. There has been no hankering for\nit or for strong drink since. My sins were all forgiven, and I was made\na new man all over, inside and outside.\n\n\"When I go into company where they are smoking, I have no desire for it\nat all, neither have I for drinking, any more than if I had never had\nthose habits. _My nervous difficulty was also instantly cured_. No more\ntrouble about sleeping, and I know that Jesus can heal and remove and\ndestroy all evil habits.\"\n\n\nA SPECIAL WORD TO ALL SEEKING TO ESCAPE EVIL WAYS.\n\n\nShould these words meet the eye of any one so troubled over any evil way\nor bad habit from whose bondage he would gladly escape, let me say to\nyou these words of good cheer: \"_The Lord can save you, the Lord can\ndeliver you, the Lord can wholly heal you. He can take away your\nappetite and cleanse you thoroughly_. He has done it for many others. He\ncan do it for you. Realize that your own strength can not do it. Forget\nnot that it is only in answer to your own prayer. Those who want this\ngood gift must _pray for it_. Deliverance may be instantaneous or\ngradual, but do not cease your prayer. Seek in the Bible for those\npromises which show that he can _deliver from all evil_, and plead them\nand then trust in Him and his strength to fulfill them.\n\n\"Forget not also to ask others to pray for you, and remember that the\nanswer is sure to come if you add to your prayer these true thoughts of\nyour heart, '_Deliver me and I give myself to thee forever_.'\n\n\"If you expect so great a gift from the Lord, he asks of you, '_What are\nyou willing to do for me_?'\"\n\n\nHELP AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT. FAITH REWARDED.\n\n\nA clergyman in the State of New York, through the influence of a\ndisaffected member, was unfairly and precipitately deprived of his\npulpit, which involved a large family in necessity. At supper the good\nman had the pain of beholding the last morsel of bread placed upon the\ntable without the least means or prospect of a supply for his children's\nbreakfast. His wife, full of grief with her children, retired to her\nbed. The minister chose to sit up and employ his dark hours in prayer,\nand reading the promises of God. Some secret hope of supply pervaded his\nbreast, but when, whence, or by whom, he knew not. He retired to rest,\nand in the morning appeared with his family, and offered family prayer.\nIt being the depth of Winter, and a little fire on the hearth, he\ndesired his wife to hang on the kettle, and spread the cloth upon the\ntable. The kettle boiled, the children cried for bread; the afflicted\nfather, standing before the fire, felt those deep emotions of heart over\nhis helplessness and impending starvation which those reared in\naffluence never know.\n\nWhile in this painful state some one knocked at the door, entered, and\ndelivered a letter into the minister's hand. When the gentleman was gone\nthe letter was opened, and to the minister's astonishment it contained a\nfew bank bills, with a desire for acceptance. So manifest an answer to\nprayer from Divine Goodness could not but be received with gratitude and\njoy, and fulfills to the very letter these promises: \"Verily thou shalt\nbe fed.\" Psalm 37:3. \"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.\" Heb.\n13:5.\n\nTo ascertain how this occurrence came to take place, this remarkable\ncoincidence of relief at the identical moment of time when there was the\nlast appeal to God, the incident was communicated to the editor of a\nreligious journal. Having an intimacy with the gentleman said to be the\none whose hand had offered the seasonable relief, he determined the next\ntime he made him a visit to introduce the subject, and, if possible, to\nknow the reason that induced the generous action. The story was told\nwith a modest blush which evinced the tenderness of his heart. On\ninterrogation, he said \"he had frequently heard that minister. On a\ncertain morning he was disposed for a walk; thought in the severity of\nthe winter season a trifle might be of service, as fuel was high; felt a\nkind of necessity to enclose the money in a letter; went to the house,\nfound the family, delivered the paper and retired, but knew not the\nextreme necessity of the minister and his family, either at that time\nnor till this very moment when his friend introduced the subject. Thus\nit is seen none but God knew the want or moved the hand that gave the\nsupply, and brought them to meet at the right time.\n\n\nSPINAL DISEASE CURED.\n\n\n\"There was a little girl in this place that had the\ncerebro-spinal-meningitis; several had died with this disease, and the\nphysician had given her up to die. The weekly prayer-meeting met in town\nthat night, and her parents wrote a note and sent it by their little\nson, requesting prayer that their little daughter might live and not\ndie, signed with the names of both parents. From that time she began to\nrecover, and to-day she is a bright little girl, with full use of every\nfaculty, and not deformed as most persons are from this terrible\ndisease. I cannot view it in any other light than a direct answer to\nprayer.\"\n\n\nAN OLD MAN'S PRAYER.\n\n\n\"I feel also like mentioning another instance. I knew an old father in\nIsrael, a minister of the gospel, who once in speaking with a brother\nminister, after a revival of religion in which five of his grandchildren\nhad professed their faith in Christ, among others with whom he had\nlabored; said if he could only live to see his one remaining\ngranddaughter brought into the fold, and the two Presbyterian churches,\nthen, called the Old and New school, united, he could say, like Simeon\nof old, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine\neyes have seen thy salvation.' About three years after, the two\nPresbyteries met near this place in Germantown, Mo., and he seemed as if\nhe could not contain himself till the time came for the meeting, so\nanxious was he for this great desire of his heart to be fulfilled. On\nthe day of meeting he took sick and could not be present at any of the\nsessions, but many of his brethren were with him, among whom was this\none he had been conversing with. The sessions lasted three days, and\nupon the last evening his wishes were gratified, the two Presbyteries\nmerged into one, singing 'Blest be the tie that binds;' and his youngest\ngranddaughter united with the church, and after the meeting adjourned\nthis brother came to watch with the aged servant of God. He was\npermitted to convey the glad news to him, and see a heavenly smile light\nup his countenance as he passed away with his earnest prayer gratified.\"\n\n\nTHE MYSTERIOUS LEADINGS OF PROVIDENCE.\n\n\nThe following incidents are contributed to the book by a prominent\nclergyman:\n\n\"A period, ever memorable in the life of the writer, occurred in the\nAutumn of 1832, while attending a protracted meeting of more than\nordinary interest and power, held under the auspices of the Baptist\nchurch in the city of Schenectady, under the then pastoral charge of\nRev. Abraham D. Gillette, this being his first settlement. It was in one\nof the meetings that the Holy Spirit impressed my mind of its sinfulness\nand the need of a Savior, not only to cleanse my soul of sin and sinful\nstains, but to save me. These impressions caused me to humble myself at\nthe feet of sovereign mercy; and in the midst of my pleadings, God\nanswered my prayer, and opened to me new views, views of the heavenly\nkingdom, which so electrified my soul, that with a full heart I could\nsay, 'Blessed be the Lord who has shown me marvelous works in this\nlonely place beneath the star-lit sky.'\n\n\"This great change was, and is, to me the most wonderful interposition\nof God in my behalf in answer to prayer. This answer to prayer the\npromised result of faith in Him.\"\n\n\"Again, in the year 1836, the writer in the year mentioned was employed\nby a transportation company, in the city of Troy, in the character of an\nemployee having direction of a portion of the business of the company\nwhich brought me into close relation with the many boatmen connected\nwith the company. Association with the boatmen was painful to my\nreligious nature, compelled, as I was, to hear all manner of offensive\ntalk. The latter led me to indulge a wish that I might free myself from\nsuch company, in order to form associations with persons of my own\nreligious turn of mind. But God willed otherwise, as will be learned\nfrom the recital of God's dealings with me on an occasion of a journey\nalone in a carriage from Troy to Schenectady. It was on the occasion\nalluded to that most of the time was occupied in prayer, and the burden\nof my prayer was 'that God would open up a way for me wherein I could\nfind more congenial company, where in fact my religious feelings would\nnot meet with the trials incident to my present associations.' But He\nwho knew my needs better, came to my relief in words seemingly distinct\nenough to be heard. This was the answer: 'I have placed you just where I\nwant you.' Instantly my prayer for a change of location or separation\nfrom my business and its connections ceased, and since, instead of\nlooking for easy positions, wherein the principles of the faith which is\nin me may be undisturbed, I deem it suited to my growth in grace and\nincrease in devotion to my Master's cause, to covet the association of\nmen whose only tendency is to evil continually. I have found by\nexperience in the latter direction, that although many tongues are loose\nin the habit of profanity, I am roused more and more by grace to impart\nwords of counsel. I know that efforts at consistency in Christian\nconduct and converse will stop the mouth of profaners of the name of our\nRedeemer, God.\"\n\nAnother instance of the presence of God with his children is clearly\nmanifest in the following sketch of a meeting of two brethren, of whom\nthe writer was one, held in the conference room of the First Baptist\nchurch in Troy, N.Y., of which church he was a member. The meeting\nalluded to occurred in the early spring of 1840 or '41. We were\naccustomed to meet almost every day for the purpose of arranging the\nSunday school library, but would occupy a portion of the time, usually\nat noon, in prayer for such persons or objects as were presented to the\nmind. On the particular occasion we propose to mention, it was mutually\nagreed that we pray for one of the brethren, whose gifts were of a high\norder, and his usefulness hindered by a lack of spirituality. We\nmutually bowed in prayer for this brother, and while thus engaged the\ndoor of the room was opened, and a person entered and knelt between us,\nbut who he was, or the purpose of his visit we knew not until we had\nended our prayer, at which time the person spoke and requested us to\ncontinue praying for him.\n\nAt the conclusion of the service, the question was mooted how he came\nthere. His reply was in substance as follows: \"When standing on a stoop\non the corner of Fourth and Congress streets, cogitating which way I\nshould go, I was impressed by a voice within which directed my course to\nthe Conference Room. I debated with the impression, taking the position\nthat it being noon no meeting was then in progress. Still the impression\nremained, and could not be removed. Noticing this, I gave way to the\nvoice and here I am.\" Neither of the three thus brought together could\ndoubt for a moment that our prayer for this brother was answered. His\njoy was great in view of being thus called from his delinquency to share\nin the fullness of his Savior's love.\n\n\"Another instance in the experience of the writer very clearly shows the\npower and worth of prayer. About the year 1840, in the Autumn thereof,\nhe experienced a lack of vital, spiritual energy. This had been of\nmonths' continuance, but to his joy, culminated after retiring to rest.\nAfter this manner, before sleep overcame him, he was impressed to\npresent his case before the mercy-seat. To do so he arose from his bed,\nretired to a quiet part of his home and bowed in prayer, seeking to\noccupy the entire night if need be in prayer for the bestowal of the\nHoly Spirit, and the consequent revival influences of other days. This\nseason of prayer was of short continuance; but not by reason of\ndisrelish for the exercise, but because my prayer was answered and a\ncomplete breaking away of the previous hindrances to my spiritual\nenjoyment. Since the event alluded to, now more than thirty-six years, I\nhave not been afflicted by doubts, and counsel brethren and sisters not\nto allow themselves to be made unhappy by this evil to our spiritual\nprogress.\"\n\n\nLIFE SPARED FOR TWO WEEKS.\n\n\n\"On the 8th of January, last, I was called upon to visit a dying man in\nJersey City, whom the doctors had said could not live but a few hours. I\nfound him in severe bodily sufferings and a terrible agony of mind. He\nhad lived a moral and upright life in the eyes of the world, but\ncareless and neglectful of all religious duties, and now with eternity\nbefore him he felt his life a failure and his imperative need of help.\n\n\"In his agony he would cry out, 'Lord, help me,' and perhaps the next\nmoment blaspheme the name of God. I sought to show him his great sin in\nhaving so long neglected God and his salvation, and at the same time\nassured him that Jesus was a great Savior, 'able to save to the\nuttermost all who would come unto Him.' I went from his bedside to the\nunion prayer-meeting, held in our city during the week of prayer, where\nI presented his case and asked the brethren to pray that God would save\nthis poor man even at the eleventh hour, and spare him to give good\nevidence of his conversion. His case seemed to reach the hearts of all\npresent, and most earnest prayers were offered in his behalf; so strong\nwas the faith that many came to me at the close of the meeting and said\nthat young man will certainly be saved before he is taken from this\nworld.\n\n\"In answer to prayer he was spared nearly two weeks, and for some six or\nseven days before his death, gave much clearer evidence of being truly\nconverted than could have been expected of one in his condition.\"\n\n\nA MISSIONARY'S EXPERIENCE IN MEXICO.\n\n\n\"While laboring with my wife as a missionary in Northern Mexico, we\nsupported ourselves for nearly four years by teaching and such other\nways as the Lord opened up to us.\n\n\"But our schools being decidedly Protestant, and I preaching regularly,\nthe opposition from Romanists was very strong; this, together with the\nextreme poverty of the people, made our income very small. Frequently\nthe opposition would rise to that pitch that only the children of the\npoorest would be permitted to come, but we never turned these away,\nthough they could pay no tuition, trusting that God would provide for us\nin some other way.\n\n\"Early in the year 1869, we were much exercised to know the will of the\nLord concerning us, whether he would have us continue or not. We brought\nour case before the Lord and prayed him to make known his will and\nprovide for our necessary wants. In about three weeks we received a\ncheck for eighty dollars, sent us, as we felt, truly by the Lord in\nanswer to our prayer through a friend in New York, who knew nothing of\nour circumstances or prayer.\n\n\"In August the same year, our condition became such that it seemed as if\nin a few days we would be wholly without the necessaries of life. We\nlaid our case before the Lord, and as he did not appear to open up any\nway for us to leave the field, we went forward with our work as\nfaithfully as we knew how, believing that the Lord would provide in his\nown time and way, when one evening, just after family worship, a rap\ncame to the door. I opened it, there came in quite a company of persons,\nall bearing something, and just exactly the things we needed most, and\nto the amount of over fifty dollars' worth, and about a sixth of it was,\nas we learned, given by Romanists who had opposed us very strongly all\nthe time we had been there. Truly the Lord answers prayer and turns the\nhearts of men to do his will.\"\n\n\nTHE GREATEST OF PHYSICIANS.\n\n\nMiss X. of Brooklyn, had suffered long and severely from a distressing\ntumor. One physician after another had plied his skill, but to no\npurpose; even the celebrated Doctor Simms of New York, corroborated\ntheir verdict, that there was no help for her but in the knife. She\nfinally consented to that terrific method, but was in no condition of\nstrength to bear the operation. It was decided to postpone it till the\n22d of June. Twelve doctors were invited to be present. Meanwhile a diet\nnurse sent from New York, remained with her, to prepare her system for\nthe ordeal.\n\nThree days preceding the one appointed for the operation, she was\nattacked by severe nausea, which lasted two days, and so weakened her\nthat again the doctors were all notified by the attending one, that a\nfurther postponement was imperative, and a certain date fixed in\nNovember.\n\nAll this time her own prayers were unceasing, those of her friends added\nto her own; and many a remembrance in the Fulton Street meeting, cheered\nand encouraged her.\n\n_By November, the tumor had totally disappeared!_ That was two years\nago. She is still well, strong; able to walk three miles any time.\n\nShe is as certain that the whole cure was performed by the Lord in\nanswer to all those fervent prayers, as she is certain she lives and\nmoves.\n\n\nHOW THE LORD PAID BACK THE $5.\n\n\nMr. H., missionary, was appealed to by a poor man who seemed almost\ndistracted. He had a wife and five children; one of them ill; had been\nsick himself for three months, and owed rent for the whole of that time.\nThe landlord had served him with a writ of ejectment, and he could get\nno other tenement, unless he could pay five dollars on the rent. He had\napplied to a well-known society in Brooklyn; but they were entirely out\nof funds and gave him a note to the missionary, hoping he might have or\nfind the desired help. But missionaries' pockets are more often\ndepleted, than those of benevolent organizations, and the one in\nquestion was fain to take the applicant to a friend, whom we shall call\nQ.\n\nThe poor man told his story, asked the five dollars only as a loan, and,\nhaving an order for the painting of two signs, said he should be paid\nfor them when done, and could return the loan the next Saturday, one\nweek from that time.\n\nMr. Q. saw, at once, that the utter destitution of the family, and the\nneed of _everything_, would prevent the man returning the money, however\nmuch he might wish to, and so refused to lend it. The case was urged,\nbut without avail; and the missionary sent the man away, promising to\nsee him again that night or on Monday. After his departure, the\nfollowing conversation passed between the gentlemen:\n\nQ.--\"Now, H., I don't take any stock in that man. Can you not see that\nhis paying that money back, is a simple impossibility?\"\n\nH.--\"Well, perhaps so; but the question with me in such cases, is this:\nWhat is duty? Admit that he cannot pay it, or even that he will not try;\nis it not better to relieve his desperate need, than to have him perhaps\nturn criminal and prey upon society? He _must_ leave the house he is in;\nhe _cannot_ get another without the money, and he is desperate; feels\nthat five dollars he must have, by fair means or foul. Moreover, think\nof his wife and children, leaving him out of the question. Now let us\nopen this little Bible, and see what meets our eye first.\"\n\nQ.--\"Oh, pshaw! You know I do not believe in that kind of thing! Do you\ngo to the Bible for everything?\"\n\nH.--\"Why not? Can we have any better guide?\"\n\nQ.--\"Oh! well, I don't work that way. Now about that man and his money.\nI will toss up a penny with you, whether I lend or not.\"\n\nH.--\"No you won't! You know I don't believe in chance, but in the Lord.\nAnd would you sooner rest your decision on a gambler's test, than on\nGod's promise? Now just let us open the book.\"\n\nQ.--\"Well; what do you see?\"\n\nH.--\"'The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again; but the righteous\nsheweth mercy, and lendeth.'\" 37th Psalm, 21st verse.\n\nAs there was no hunting up of passages, nor leaves turned down to open\neasily, the coincidence was impressive, as well as amusing, and H.,\nfollowing it up, said, \"Lend him the money, and if he does not pay you\nnext Saturday night, I will.\"\n\nIt was so agreed upon, and, when the man called on the missionary on\nMonday morning, he was sent to Q. for the relief.\n\nThe week passed on, as they all pass, weighted and freighted with human\nills; some capable of alleviation, some not; but of the former, a full\nshare had come under the notice and care of the missionary, and Saturday\nfound him stepping into the Fulton street prayer-meeting, N.Y., for\nfresh encouragement and benediction on his labors.\n\nAt its close, a gentleman said to him, \"Mr. H., I have known you by\nsight for years; know your work; but have never given you anything; and\nI promised myself the next time I saw you, I would do so. Have you any\nspecial need of five dollars now? If so, and you will step to the bank\nwith me, you shall have it.\" Instantly it flashed through the mind of H.\nthat this was the day when, either the borrower or he, must pay his\nfriend. It may be supposed that he went to the bank with alacrity. Going\nback to B. and meeting the friend, he learned that neither man nor money\nhad appeared, and at once tendered the five dollars, telling the story\nof the Lord's care in the matter.\n\nQ. was so interested in this manner of obtaining supplies, that he\nrefused to take the money, and instructed H. to use it in the Lord's\nwork.\n\n\nPRAYING FOR MONEY FOR A JOURNEY.\n\n\nA lady, Miss E., residing in New Bedford, received a letter telling of\nthe serious illness of her mother, in New York. Sick herself, from\nunremitted care of an invalid during eight years, poor as Elijah when\nhis only grocers were the ravens, too old for new ambitions, too well\nacquainted with the gray mists of life to hope for many rifts through\nwhich the sunshine might enter, she had no sum of money at all\napproaching the cost of the trip between the two places.\n\n\"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou\ntrust,\" is a text bound over her daily life, as a phylactery was bound\nbetween the eyes of an ancient Hebrew. She lives literally, _only one\nday at a time_, and walks literally by faith and not by sight. So then\nas ever, the Lord was her committee of ways and means; but for three\ndays the answer was delayed. Then, an old lady called to express her\nindebtedness for Miss E.'s services three years before, and ask her\nacceptance of ten dollars therefor, \"no sort of equivalent for days and\ndays of writing and searching law papers, but only a little token that\nthe service was not forgotten.\"\n\nThere was the answer to her prayer; there the redemption of the pledge:\n\"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about\nhis people from henceforth, even forever.\"\n\n\nEMPLOYMENT FOUND.\n\n\nA man and wife were out of employment, and in very great trouble. Mr. H.\n(missionary) had added his efforts to theirs, and sedulously sought\namong the families he knew, for positions for them. After two weeks'\nfruitless endeavor, he said to the man, \"Well, John, let us go into the\nFulton street meeting and leave it with the Lord.\" They did so; the\nrequest was read and remembered.\n\nThe very next day, Mr. H. received a note from one of the families to\nwhom he had already applied, and without success, requesting him to send\nthe man and wife of whom he had spoken. Very joyfully he did so, and\nthey were both engaged! Mr. H. considered it a very marked answer to\nprayer, inasmuch as it was quite difficult to find a family who wanted a\nman as well as woman servant; and that particular family was, of all\nothers, the least likely to make such an arrangement!\n\n\nA BARREL OF FLOUR.\n\n\nFor the \"Faith Home for Incurables\" Mr. H. received, one day, five\ndollars. A barrel of flour was terribly needed. He went to a large house\nin New York, hoping the Lord would incline the proprietor to sell him a\nbarrel for that sum. He felt too poor, was not willing; and with a heavy\nheart, Mr. H. returned, asking the Lord what next he should do. He\ncalled at the store of a friend, where the following conversation took\nplace. \"Well, did you get the flour?\" \"I did not; they feel too poor,\nand I am terribly disappointed. It is almost dark now; I have lost my\ntime going over there, and at this hour, the flour merchants here are\nclosed.\" \"Well, Mr. ---- called here, and I told him you were in, and on\nwhat errand you had gone to New York. He said he would send a barrel to\nmy store if I would send it up to the Home; and I did so, about an hour\nago.\"\n\n\nWONDERFUL WAYS OF THE LORD IN GUIDING HIS PEOPLE.\n\n\nOur missionaries move amidst the reality of scenes which religious\nfiction vainly strives to equal. Remarkable proofs of genuine and vivid\npiety, triumphs of patience and grace, lifting their possessors above\nthe most painful and distressing circumstances, are met with in all\ntheir explorations, and more than repay them for toil or privation.\n\n\nWONDERFUL CONVERSION OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC.\n\n\nA frame dwelling in an alley, two rooms on the first floor, in the\nsmaller one a bed-ridden old colored man, who had fought the battle of\nlife for ninety years, fifteen of them on his bed, with eyes so dimmed\nby age that he could not even read; and a wife who was eye, ear and\nsolace to him, are the salient points of our first picture.\n\nThey were both earnest, exultant Christians, around whom the angels of\nGod encamped day and night. The wife was brought up in the West Indies,\nas a Catholic, but her ideas of religion consisted mostly in counting\nbeads on a rosary. After coming to Brooklyn, she became a servant in the\nfamily of a well-known naval officer, and was always a favorite on\naccount of her vivacity. One day, a young painter who was working there,\nand proved to be one of the Christians whose light shines for all in the\nhouse, spoke to her, and invited her to a prayer-meeting in a Protestant\nchapel. She refused, laughing; but the painter's assurance next day,\nthat she had been prayed for in that meeting, made her restless, uneasy\nand sick. In a few days, she was confined to her bed and pronounced by\nsome doctors, a victim to consumption. One, more sagacious than the\nrest, said her trouble was of the mind, not the body, and a minister\nwould be better than a doctor.\n\nIt proved to be the case; she was soon led into a glimmering hope,\nthough feeling that she literally carried a burden on her back. Starting\nout, one night, to look for a place of worship, she turned her feet to a\nMethodist meeting from whence the sound of singing had reached her. In\nthe prayer and exhortation, however, there were words which revealed to\nher the secret of faith and salvation. She felt the burden loosen and\nfall from her shoulders, so sensibly, that involuntarily, she turned and\nlooked for it on the floor. In a few moments she began to realize the\nfreedom she had gained, and started to her feet in joy and wonder.\n\nHer work then began in her own home, and through her prayers of faith,\nfive members of the Commodore's own family and an Irish Catholic servant\ngirl, were brought to \"Christ, the living way.\" For years her faith was\nproved by her works; her daily example in the household, her watchings\nand waitings by the bedside of her helpless husband--poverty, sickness,\nperplexities of every sort, but made her hope the brighter, her hold the\nfirmer. With no dependence for their daily bread but the benefactions of\none and another person, sometimes entire strangers, they never knew what\nit was to suffer actual want, nor did Frances ever believe that her\nfriend would forget her.\n\n\nREMARKABLE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM LIGHTNING IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\nI was riding on top of the Boulder Pass of the Rocky Mountains, in the\nsummer of 1876, when a sudden storm of rain, wind, and furious tempest\ncame up. There was no shelter from rocks, no trees or buildings to be\nseen--a lonely, wind-swept summit. I knew that the lightning on those\nhigh elevations was fearful in intensity. I was appalled at the prospect\nbefore me, but feeling that God had promised to care for his children--\n\"No evil shall befall thee or come nigh thy dwelling\"--I composed\nmyself, and though on horseback, with the rain beating in torrents, I\noffered simple prayer to God that he would save me from the rain and\nstop it. But _No_, it came harder than ever; then I prayed that I might\nbe protected from all danger, \"_for I trusted in Him_!\"\n\nI rode on and on for miles, chilly, cold, wet through, the clouds\nhanging low and the lightning flashing above me, around me, striking\nnear me, constant flashes, peals of thunder; but I was not terrified.\n\"God must keep me.\" _Twice I was distinctly struck_ with the electric\nflash, detached portions or sparks from the electric cloud, directly in\nthe center of the forehead, but it had no more force than just to close\nmy eyes, shake my head a little, obscure my sight a moment, and then it\nwas all over, and I was clearer, cooler, calmer, happier, and more\nself-possessed than ever before. I attribute my protection from peril\nentirely to prayer, and the fierceness of the tempest and the proximity\nof danger were permitted by the Lord to try my trust. Those portions\nwhich struck me, if in ordinary times had been given me from an electric\nbattery in a school-room, a shock with sparks only one-hundredth the\nsize, would have killed me.\n\nI can thus say with thanks, faith was then made perfect in danger, and\nthe Lord _was faithful_ in hearing his child's cry, and delivered him.\n\n\nGOD NEVER FAILED HER.\n\n\nAn aged colored woman, lived that life of faith which shines brighter\nand brighter unto the perfect day. Born a slave, on Long Island, she was\nnever taught to read, never enjoyed any social privileges; but the God\nof the widow of Sarepta, who had neither \"store-house nor barn,\" was her\nGod, and brought her out of the house of spiritual bondage.\n\nShe outlived all her early associations; all her children and\ngrandchildren, husband and brother passed on before, leaving her alone\nin poverty and sickness. Yet she sat in her little hut, a cheerful,\nhappy Christian; a living witness for God as a covenant-keeper.\nDoubting, despondent souls were always glad to visit her, to listen to\nher simple words of wisdom and gather strength from her invincible\ntrust. Roman Catholic neighbors persecuted and even threatened her; but\nin reply to a missionary who remarked that it must be very trying and\nsomewhat dangerous, she said, \"Don't you know the Lord has a hook in the\njaws of the wicked, so they shan't hurt us if we belong to him? Jesus is\nalways with me; so I'm never alone and never afraid.\"\n\n\nHIS MOTHER'S PRAYER.\n\n\nA poor sailor, leading a most profligate and abandoned life, whose\npraying mother followed him like a shadow into and out of his drinking\nsaloons and gambling houses, at last absented himself from home,\nwhenever he was in port. Her burden, finally, seemed too great to bear,\nand she resolved to make a stronger effort than ever before, to cast it\nupon the Lord. As she knelt, with her heart well-nigh bursting with this\ndesire, she felt a powerful conviction that, at last, she was answered.\nFor several years the son went on in his wicked career, and the mother\nsorrowed that it was so, but her soul was no longer laden with fear; she\nfelt the assurance of his conversion, sooner or later. Again, for\nseveral years, she never heard of him, and thought him dead; then she\nceased praying for him, and was steadfast in the faith of meeting him in\nheaven. But sight was to be given her, as a reward for faith. He\nreturned, at last, only thirty years of age, but broken down in health,\nand worn out by dissipation and hardship. Still unconverted, but, to\nsatisfy his mother, he consented to remain in the room during a visit of\nthe missionary of that district; a man with sufficient tact not to make\nhis efforts obnoxious. He did not tell the young man he was a sinner and\nmust flee from the wrath to come; he merely presented the _love_ of\nJesus; the love that saved to the very _uttermost_; that waited more\npatiently than any earthly friend, and forgave more royally. At first,\nhe listened indifferently, but, at last, burst into tears, saying, \"I\nthought I was so bad He didn't want anything to do with me.\" A long\nconversation, and others at intervals followed, and, before his death,\nwhich occurred several months after, his mother's heart was gladdened by\nthe account of his change, and the knowledge that, in farthest lands,\nhis thoughts were back with her. The deeper he went in sin, the more\nunsatisfactory and abhorrent it became, and he would have turned, long\nbefore, to the Lord, had he believed there was the least hope for him.\nWhen he closed his eyes to earth, a few friends enabled his mother to\ngive him respectable burial, in the same grave where, years before, his\nfather was laid.\n\n\nTHE HEART OF STONE RELENTS.\n\n\nAnother consumptive in the neighborhood, was thoroughly an infidel. Mr.\nA. visited the house three times a week, and, at last, succeeded in\novercoming his objections to a weekly prayer-meeting in his house. In\nhis hearing, earnest supplication was always made for him, and, at the\nend of four months, the heart of stone relented. He had not, at first,\nthe courage to appropriate the promises to himself; but one morning very\nearly he sent for the missionary to reveal the news that he felt all his\nsins forgiven, and had \"Christ _in_ him, the hope of glory.\" four months\nmore he lived to hear witness continually to God's amazing mercy, and\nthen joyfully expired, declaring himself saved by grace alone.\n\n\nA DISCOURAGED ONE REVIVED.\n\n\nMr. C----, walking home one Saturday afternoon, fell into a discouraged\ntrain of thought because he appeared to have done so little for the\nMaster that whole week. At that moment a young man took him by the hand\nsaying--\"You do not know me, but I know you. A few weeks ago I was on\nthe high road to destruction, but now through your instrumentality I am\nin the narrow path which leads to everlasting life. I attended your\nprayer-meeting one evening in company with a friend of mine. You spoke\nwith great earnestness, and after we sang the last hymn you remarked,\n'How can I bless whom God has cursed? For he declares, If any man love\nnot the Lord, he shall be accursed.' I cannot describe my sensations.\nFor several days I could find no peace, but when at last my faith rested\non Jesus, I found that peace which flows like a river; and now, like\nMoses, I have chosen rather to suffer affliction with the children of\nGod than to enjoy the pleasures of sin, for I know if I have to face any\ntrouble on account of my religion, I can look forward to a glorious\nreward.\"\n\n\nTHE PRISONER LOOSED.\n\n\nOn the third floor of a tenement house, a missionary, Mr. B., found a\ncomely, intelligent young English woman in great distress. Her heart\nseemed wrung by grief. A few kind words of sympathy drew from her the\nstory of her woe. She came to this country with her husband and three\nyoung children. He was employed as book-keeper in a large mercantile\nhouse; but soon became addicted to drink, and the story is ever the\nsame; loss of position, poverty, disgrace, suffering and recklessness.\nOn the day of the missionary's visit, he was in a prison cell, committed\nas a vagrant and common drunkard. The wife was bitterly weeping in her\ncheerless home, and the children around her fretting with hunger. Mr. B.\nwas so touched he could scarcely find words with which to console her,\nbut turned to Isaiah and read, \"For thy maker is thy husband; the Lord\nof Hosts is his name.\" \"For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but\nwith great mercies will I gather thee.\" After his prayer, she felt\ncalmer, and entreated him to come the next week, on the day her husband\nwould be released. He complied; found a prepossessing and cultivated\nman; and upon telling him how earnestly his wife and himself had prayed\nfor him, was rejoiced to learn that in that lonesome cell the Spirit of\nGod had visited him, filled him with a sincere wish to reform the future\nand redeem the past. The missionary called again and again, and\nwitnessed the strong determination of the young man to fight against his\npernicious habit. He was soon employed again in a large house, became a\nregular attendant at the Lord's house, and began to pray both publicly\nand privately for help from on high. Only a few months, and both husband\nand wife united with a church and became teachers in the Sabbath school.\nTheir own home, once laid waste, again blossomed like the rose.\n\n\nPRAYING FOR TEA.\n\n\nOn a top floor in a street of tenements lives a colored woman one\nhundred and ten years old! Her son, a man over seventy, lost his wife, a\nneat, active Christian woman, very suddenly, and his aged mother was\nplunged in despairing grief. \"Why, why was I left, old and rheumatic and\nuseless, and Mary, a smart, busy, capable woman taken away without a\nminute's warning?\" was her continual cry. But the son was left desolate,\nand the two rooms were to be kept clean, the meals provided before he\nleft for his work in the morning, and after his work at night; there was\nno one else to do it, and love for him called out new effort. With cane\nin one hand she treads the rooms back and forth, performing the\nhousehold duties. Eyes undimmed, faculties unimpaired, she _does what\nshe can_. Upon receiving a call a few months after the death of her\ndaughter-in-law, she said--\"You've brought me a whole pound of that nice\ntea! Well, honey, _I asked the Lord for some good tea last night, and I\nknowed well enough it would be along some time to-day, cos He never\nkeeps me waiting long_. I found out why he took Mary instead of me; old\nas I was, I wasn't half so fit to go, and he was so full of mercy he let\nme stay long enough to see it! You know, honey, I've got no one to talk\nover old times with. There ain't none of 'em left that I was young with,\nand not many I was old with; but I'm never lonesome, for I'm too busy\nthinking of all the Lord's watching and waiting for me. I'm dreadful\nlittle use, but my son couldn't get along very well without me, and then\nI tell you I'm so busy thinking, I ain't got any time to be lazy or\nlonesome. Good many little things we want, too, and I have to be runnin'\nto the Lord for 'em.\"\n\n\"Do they come every time, auntie?\", \"Every single time, honey! He never\nfails, no matter who else does. He knows I don't ask for no nonsense;\nonly for the things we really need, and he has promised them all the\ntime.\" \"But, are there not times, auntie, for instance, when your son is\nsick, when you cannot see where rent and food is coming from?\" \"Don't\nwant to see, honey! What's the use seein'? Believin's the thing!\nBelievin's better than money.\" And so, all the revolving months, this\nrelic of the last century walks by faith in the unseen.\n\n\nGIVING HER LAST DOLLAR TO THE LORD.\n\n\nA poor woman, sitting in a little church, heard the minister make an\nurgent appeal for money enough to pay a debt of two hundred dollars,\ncontracted by the church the previous Winter. She had one dollar in her\npocket; half drew it out; thought of the improbability of having any\nmore for several days; put it back. Thought again, \"Trust in the Lord\nfor more;\" drew it wholly out, and deposited it in the basket. The next\nmorning, a lady called to settle a bill of two dollars, so long unpaid\nthat it was, long before, set down among the losses.\n\n\nTHE DANISH GIRL'S BLESSING.\n\n\nA very poor Danish girl, broken down in health, utterly unable longer to\nlabor for her own support, was provided with the means, and urged to go\nto Denmark, as her friend felt sure there was some good in store for her\nthere, meaning, more definitely, the restoration of her health. She\ncould not be induced until, thoroughly satisfied by several tokens that\nit was the Lord's will, and then she consented.\n\nA devout, humble Christian missionary became acquainted with her soon\nafter her arrival, and, being struck with the beauty of holiness in\nevery action and conversation of her life, asked her to marry him, that\nhe might have the constant satisfaction of rendering her life\ncomfortable, and finding his own encouragement in her unfailing faith.\nHis letters are full of his saintly wife, and her signally blessed\nefforts in winning people to put their trust where it need fear no\nbetrayal.\n\n\nTHE SWEDISH GIRL BLESSED.\n\n\nA Christian Swedish girl, who had, for three years, done the washing of\na certain family, had so interested them by her care of an aged father,\nand gained their esteem by her humble piety, that, wishing to go to\nEurope for six months, they offered her two rooms in their house for\nthat time, that she might not only save the labor necessary to pay her\nrent, but, also, take charge of their effects. The offer was gladly\naccepted, and recognized as a token especially from the Lord.\n\nIn times when the father was yet able to work a little, they had\neconomized to a degree that resulted in saving twenty dollars. It was\nlaid by for three months' rent, when he should be no longer able to earn\nit. That time had come; as yet the money had not been touched; but Satan\nsent a wicked woman to hire the next room, and, while the father was\nasleep, and his poor daughter at church, she stole it. Their grief was\ngreat, but they reminded the Lord how hardly it was earned, and how\nfaithful lie had always been to His promises. It can be easily\nunderstood with what emphasis this unexpected offer came to them.\n\n\nSAVED FROM DROWNING.\n\n\nA poor German woman rushed frantically through the street and into the\nhouse of a countrywoman, very little better off than herself, declaring\nshe would drown herself that very night if _no_ one would give her work.\nA family on the same floor gave her the use of a very small, bare room\nfor one week, free of charge; after that, it would be eighty cents per\nweek rent. Her countrywoman shared with her, such as she had for the\nevening and the morning, and after the breakfast, sent for a good,\never-ready missionary to talk and pray her into a better frame of mind.\nHe did so, but confirmed and rested her faith on substantial works. He\nprocured employment for her before the sun set; enough to pay the rent\nand get a little common food. Then obtained coal sufficient to last a\ncouple of months; and so, leading her little by little into light and\nhope, drew her into regular attendance at the Mission chapel in her\nneighborhood.\n\n\nTHE WIDOW IN \"WANT\".\n\n\nA home missionary in Brooklyn, who has an enviable reputation for his\nentire consecration to the work of helping the poor, one day when\nengaged in his benevolent works, entered a restaurant, kept by a\nChristian friend, a man of like spirit with himself, who, in the course\nof conversation, related to him the following circumstances,\nillustrative of the power of prayer.\n\nHe had, on a certain day, cleared a large sum, part of which consisted\nof _Mexican dollars_. Returning home in high spirits, he felt as if he\ncould go to sleep sweetly on this silver pillow. But a thought suddenly\nintruded, which gave a new turn to his feelings. It related to a poor\nwoman in his neighborhood, the widow of a very dear friend of his, whom\nhe knew to be in want. \"Shall I take all this money to myself?\" thought\nhe. \"Does not the Providence who gave it to me say, _No! Give some of it\nto the widow of your friend_.\"\n\nWith this impression he retired, as was his habit, quite early, but he\ncould not sleep. The thought of the needy widow haunted him. \"I will go\nto-morrow,\" said he to himself, \"and see what I can do for her.\" But\nthis good intention proved no opiate to his disturbed mind. \"Possibly\nshe or I may not live to see to-morrow.\" Something seemed to say _go\nnow_. He tossed from side to side, but could not sleep. _Go now_ kept\nringing in his ear. So at length the restless man had to dress himself\nand go.\n\nAt this late hour, not far from eleven, he sallied forth to find the\nwidow. Seeing a dim light in the upper story where she resided, and\nfollowing its lead, he crept softly along on the stairway, until he\nreached the room from which a low sound issued. The door was slightly\najar; through which he could hear the voice of prayer, scarcely audible,\nbut deeply earnest. He dared hardly stir, lest he should disturb the\npraying widow. But he came on an errand, and he must accomplish it. But\nhow? Recollecting at the moment, that he had in his pocket a few of the\n_Mexican dollars_, he gently pushed at the door, and it opened just wide\nenough for his purpose. So taking each piece of money between his\nfingers, he rolled it in along the carpet, and withdrew as noiselessly\nas he had ascended. Returning to his home, he fell asleep and slept\nsoundly, as well he might, after this act.\n\nThe widow at length arose from her knees, and was struck on seeing the\nshining money lying about her floor. Where had these pieces of silver\ncome from? Here was a mystery she could not solve. But she knew it was\nfrom the Lord, and that he had answered her prayer. So with tears of\ngratitude, she gave thanks to Him, \"whose is the silver and the gold.\"\n\nShortly after this event, she attended prayer-meeting, where she felt\nconstrained to make known this wonderful interposition in answer to\nprayer. The Christians present were as much astonished as herself. The\nsilence which ensued was broken by a brother of that church, who rose\nand said, \"What this good woman has told you, is strictly true. These\ndollars came from the Lord. They came in answer to her prayer.\" He then\ndetailed the circumstances before related. \"God deputed me to carry this\nmoney, and providentially I am here to night to testify to the fact that\nGod hears and answers prayer.\"\n\nIt seems, from a subsequent statement, that this widow, owed a certain\nsum, that she was obliged to pay immediately, and having nothing in\nhand, she was pleading, that night, that her Heavenly Father would send\nher the needed amount.\n\n\nTHE SEWING GIRL RELIEVED JUST IN TIME.\n\n\nA sick Scotch girl was found lying on a narrow bed in a close,\nuncomfortable room, her sobs audible to the missionary, when half-way up\nthe stairs. Her story was short. When about, she earned three dollars\nand a half a week, at a business that was killing her. Of that, she paid\nthree dollars for her board; leaving but the half-dollar for clothing or\nincidentals. But now--she had been lying there two weeks; six dollars\nwere due for board, and still she was unable to rise, and, when she did,\nhow could she ever pay the back indebtedness?\n\nThe woman with whom she lived, was too poor herself to give her the lost\ntime, and, moreover, was one of the class whom struggle and battle\nhardens. The missionary came just in time to quell the poor girl's\nfears, and paid her debts; mind and body were set at rest, and, one or\ntwo Christian ladies being made acquainted with the case, attended to\nthe comforts which hastened her recovery; and, when once more pursuing\nher avocation, her \"mither's God\" seemed very near, not as one afar off.\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A HOME.\n\n\nA young Southern girl, who had lost a position through five months'\nsickness, and found herself, at last, in the street and penniless,\nturned her steps to a daily prayer-meeting. She said her earliest\nimpressions from her mother were, that the Lord never failed those who\nreally put their trust in Him. She had sought work for food and shelter,\nthough destitute of sufficient covering to keep her from trembling with\ncold, and, so far, sought in vain; but she was sure it was waiting for\nher somewhere, and she thought perhaps God's people could tell her\nwhere. She was right. A sweet-faced lady, who had listened, said she\nwanted some young girl who might help her a little when she left for her\nsummer residence, and she had been waiting to find a child of pious\nparents. Bessie went home with her from that very meeting, and, in two\nweeks, came back, with bright eyes and warm, good clothing, to say\ngood-by to the ladies who had spoken to her so kindly, and, in whose\nmidst, she had found a second mother. They were to leave town the next\nday, and she asked permission to come to the meeting once more and tell\nwhat the Lord had done for her.\n\n\nHOW MUCH GOOD TWO DOLLARS DID.\n\n\nA lady sent two dollars to a brave-hearted sister--who, by faith alone,\nand not by money, had gathered some sick and poor about her, and lived\nonly by prayer--and a note of apology and half-contempt that it was such\na miserable pittance. She received, in reply, the following little\nfinancial statement:\n\n\"My Dear Friend:--Remember the five loaves and two fishes, and listen to\nthe message of your two dollars. This is the way I expended it:\n\n    Corned beef,. . . . . . . . . . . . .  $0 80\n    Chop and egg for sick aunty,. . . . . .   13\n    Sweet potatoes, . . . . . . . . . . . .   25\n    White potatoes, . . . . . . . . . . . .   10\n    Cabbage and bread,. . . . . . . . . . .   30\n    Tea, milk and sugar,. . . . . . . . . .   30\n                                           -----\n                                           $1 88\n\nThe balance bought the coal with which it was cooked, and _fifteen_\npeople were fed!\"\n\n\nSAVED FROM STARVATION.\n\n\nOn the second floor of a rear house lived a lady well known once as\namong the foremost members of a wealthy church. The first blow of\nadversity opened a wide passage for a succession of disasters. She\npassed through the whole sliding scale, until the missionary found her\nin the poor, dilapidated tenement where, for two days and nights, she\nhad lain in bed to keep warm; or as nearly so as her scanty covering\nwould admit.\n\nIt was Saturday, and the only food she had to keep her alive until\nMonday, was two soda biscuits! She had sold everything comfortable in\nthe way of furniture; all her clothing but one respectable suit for the\nstreet, and the only thing remaining, that pointed to the history of\nbetter days, was a pair of gold eye-glasses, given her by her dying\nmother. Within a few months her dire necessity had often pointed to the\nglasses; but she could not see without them, nor could she sell the gold\nframes unless she had means to have the glass set in commoner ones.\nMoreover, the harpies who feed and thrive on the miseries of the poor,\nwould in no case have given her more than twenty-five cents for them;\nand the short respite derived from that amount would not have\ncompensated for the sacrifice. She had looked at them that morning; felt\nthat starve she must and would, but that souvenir of her mother should\nnever leave her. She went back to bed and prayed fervently that the Lord\nwould show her some way of escape, or take her that day to himself. She\nslept an hour or two, and then awakened, strong in the conviction that\nhe would show her some way before night, and though it was six o'clock\nP.M., before the missionary called, no doubt had arisen to trouble her\nmind; and as soon as he entered and introduced himself, she said--\"You\nare a messenger from the Lord, sir; I have been expecting you.\"\n\n\nGOD WITH US.\n\n\nAn old woman was taking home' some sewing the night before, and passing\nthrough a narrow and dark street, was knocked down by a runaway horse.\nTaken up senseless and unknown, she was carried into the house of a kind\nfamily who sent for a physician. It was not till next morning that she\nrecovered consciousness, and was able to give her address. A messenger\nwas at once dispatched to her husband, who was supposed to be wild with\nterror. He was truly thankful to hear from human lips of her\nwhereabouts; but said he knew she was not dead, and he would see her in\nthe morning; for the Lord had been with him all night and assured him of\nit. He had also kept the fire from going out; and now that she would be\nbrought home in a few hours, he was ready to trust his Father, as he had\nbeen through the night. His hourly friend was Immanuel, God _with_ us;\nnot God somewhere or other in infinite space.\n\n\nA VESSEL SAVED.\n\n\nA vessel was six months making the passage from Liverpool to Bermuda\nIsland. Fogs enveloped it; winds sent it hither and thither; captain and\nmate lost their reckoning, lost their senses; and when, added to the\nrest, the vessel sprung a leak, gave up in despair. Crew and passengers\nwere finally reduced to a few drops of water and one potato a day, and\nthey merely waited death from starvation or drowning. All but one! One\nman; a minister, whose faith and belief in their final escape burned but\nbrighter and brighter, as the others sank in the gloom of silent\ndespair. A few days before they made the land, the leakage suddenly\nceased; no one could account for it; but a week after their arrival,\nwhen the vessel had been condemned by the authorities as unsea-worthy,\nit was proposed to turn it bottom upward and see what stopped the leak.\nGod seemed to have performed a miracle for them, when it was discovered\nthat that end of the vessel was entirely covered with barnacles!\n\n\nA REMARKABLE PRAYER CONCERNING A REMARKABLE TEXT.\n\n\nA clergyman, accustomed to preach regularly in his journey through\nFleming Circuit, Kentucky, was preparing on one Saturday for the labors\nof the next day. He was then staying at the residence of a family named\nBowers, from which he was to journey the next day five miles to preach\nat 11 A.M., at a church called Mt. Olivet. On this Saturday, as he\nrelates the incident, as soon and as privately as practicable, I pored\nover the Bible in quest of a suitable subject for the next day at Mount\nOlivet, and strange to tell! not one passage in the whole Book, that\nafternoon and night, could I fix upon, as, in my estimation, suitable\nfor the next day. There was one passage, (two or three clauses of which\nI had by some means got fixed in my memory), that early that afternoon\nappeared in my mind as though each word was written in CAPITAL LETTERS.\nI turned to the whole passage as soon as I could find it; Heb. 6: 4-6;\nand read, \"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,\"\netc., etc. I had previously studied that whole subject, as recorded in\nthe original, and as disposed of by learned Commentators of different\ncreeds. I had settled in my own mind the import of the passage. But it\nseemed unsuitable for me, not then three years old in the ministry, to\nattempt the settlement of a theological question, about which the best\nand most learned of modern days had differed. I therefore tried to\ndismiss it from my mind, and to find some passage more suitable for the\ncoming morrow. But my constant effort proved unsuccessful; and the said\npassage in Hebrews often recurred to my mind. Thus passed my time till I\nhad to go to bed, resolving to attempt an early settlement of the\ngrowing difficulty next morning. But the morning studies produced no\nchange in the unsettled state of the question, what shall I preach from\nto-day? Thus matters remained until I reached Mount Olivet, and had to\nbegin service without a text. But I concluded if a suitable text did not\noccur while singing, praying and reading some Scripture lesson, rather\nthan have no text, I would take Heb. 6: 4-6. And, cornered in this\ndilemma, so I did, and used it as well as I could.\n\nI then passed around the circuit as usual, and the fourth Saturday\nthereafter, I arrived again at Brother Bowers', preached, met the class,\netc. Then, when all the class had left the room except their own family,\nBrother and Sister Bowers said to me, each manifesting intense feeling\nand interest, \"Have you heard of the _strange_ thing that happened when\nyou were here four weeks ago?\" Said I, \"No! what was it?\" They said,\n\"Did you see a man sitting in the house while you was preaching to-day?\"\ndescribing his dress, looks, etc. I answered, \"Yes.\" Said they, \"Did you\nsee a woman sitting over there,\" describing her? I said, \"Yea.\" Said\nthey, \"They are husband and wife--their name is--(I have long since\nforgotten the name)--they are good members of the Presbyterian church,\ntheir children are members of our class, as you have called their names\nevery time you have examined us. The man and his wife were here and\nheard you four weeks ago--they know our rules, and when those not of our\nchurch were dismissed, they left their children with us, as usual, and\ntheir parents started home. And, as they themselves tell us and others,\nas they went along, said the woman to her husband, 'Does not Mr. Akers\npreach to-morrow at Mount Olivet?' And he answered, 'I believe he does.'\nSaid she, '_Well, if I thought he would take a certain text I would like\nvery much to go and hear him._' Said her husband, '_What text_?' And she\nrepeated the whole passage in _Hebrews_ 6:4-6. Said her husband, 'Well,\nI reckon he will take some subject that will be interesting, and if you\nsay so we will not go to our own church to-morrow, we will go to Mount\nOlivet.' She answered, '_Agreed,_ and I do pray the Lord that he may\ntake that text.' And she says, she continued to pray all that evening\nand next morning, until sitting in the church at Mount Olivet, she heard\n_you read out the said text, when she knew the Lord had answered her\nprayer_, and she could scarcely help from loud crying of thanks to God.\"\n\nI then told Brother and Sister Bowers my troubles about that text, as\nabove stated. The Lord answers prayer.\n\n\nHOW SHE LEARNED TO LOVE THE BIBLE.\n\n\nThe Rev. Frederick G. Clark thus writes of an answer to prayer, from one\nwho wanted to love the Bible more:\n\n\"Twenty-seven years ago, in the congregation of my first charge, was a\nlady whose love for the Bible was something remarkable. In the\nconfidence of a pastoral visit, she told me of her joy in the divine\nword, and also recited the incidents of her experience in this regard.\nShe had formerly read her Bible as so many do--a chapter now, and a\nhalfchapter then, without much interest or profit. She was, even then,\nmost interested in religious things. But her chief sources of spiritual\nstrength were in such writings as those of Baxter, Payson and Robert\nPhillips. It was her custom to read the Bible from duty, and then turn\nto these uninspired volumes for the kindling of a higher devotion. For a\ngood while this satisfied her; but, at length, she came to feel grieved\nabout it. She thought it a dishonor to God's word that any book should\nbe as interesting to her as the Bible. She tried to change this, but, at\nfirst, with little success. The Bible was still duty--Baxter was\npleasure and spiritual elevation.\n\n\"_At length, she could bear it no longer; so she took the case to God,\nwith strong crying. She told her Heavenly Father how grieved she was\nthat any book should rival the Bible in her affections. She asked this\none thing--and she renewed her prayer every day--that her first delight\nmight be in reading the word of God_. I think it was some time before\nshe felt that her request was granted. But, at length, the answer to her\nprayer was complete and marvelous. A strange light came over the sacred\npage. A fascination held her to her Bible. She discovered a depth, a\nmeaning, a curiosity, a charm, which were all new and most wonderful.\nSometimes, when she had finished reading her Bible for the night, and\nhad closed the book and had moved towards her bed, she would go back\nagain and enjoy the luxury of a few more verses.\n\n\nTHE BLIND RESTORED TO SIGHT.\n\n\nAt the age of twenty years, a lady in Winchester, Iowa, began to lose\nher health, and in a short time was confined to her bed. And she\nwrites:--\"In addition to this I lost the use of my eyes, and was blind\nand helpless, a greater portion of my time for five years.\n\n\"I enjoyed the blessing of prayer and trust some six months before\nfeeling a liberty to pray for the healing of my body; fearing I should\ndesire it without due submission to God's will. It was with _fear and\ntrembling_ that I first made known this request. Though my pleadings in\nthis direction were earnest, and often agonizing, yet I could say with a\nfervor as never before, 'Not my will, but thine be done.'\n\n\"About the end of November, or early in December, 1873, I realized that\nmy faith was perfect, that I was ready _now_ to be healed, that my faith\nwas momentarily waiting on God, resting without a doubt on the promises.\nFrom this time forward my faith remained fixed with but one exception.\nDuring the time between December, 1873, and July, 1874, I was healed to\nsuch an extent that I could walk some, and see more or less every day,\nthough sometimes with only one of my eyes. A portion of this time I felt\nas though in a furnace of fire; but amid the flames I realized the\npresence of the Son of God, who said, '_have chosen thee in the furnace\nof affliction_.' This for a time seemed an answer to my petition, and so\nthought it my life-work to suffer; for a while my faith became inactive,\nand I almost ceased praying for my health. Though I felt submissive, yet\nsomehow I was soon crying, and that most instinctively, 'Thou Son of\nDavid, have mercy on me.' After this, my faith did not waver. Oh, the\nlesson of patience I learned in thus _waiting_ on _God's_ good time. And\nwith what comfort could I present my body an offering to Him, realizing\nthat as soon as at all possible with His will, I should be healed; I had\nan assurance of this, but did not know whether it would be during life,\nor accomplished only at death.\n\n\"In this manner I waited before God until the morning of the 29th of\nJuly, when, without ecstasy of joy, or extra illumination, came a sense\nof the presence of Jesus, and a presentation of this gift, accompanied\nwith these words: 'Here is the gift for which you have been praying; are\nyou willing to receive it?'\n\n\"I at first felt the incoming of the Divine power at the parts diseased,\nsteadily driving out the same, until death was swallowed up in victory.\nI at once arose from my bed, and proceeded to work about the house, to\nthe great astonishment of my friends, some of whom thought me wild; but\nI continued my work, assuring them that Jesus had healed me. Realizing\nthe scrutiny and doubt with which I was observed, I said to my father,\n'What do you think?' He replied, 'It is supernatural power; no one can\ndeny it.'\n\n\"My healing took place on Wednesday; on Saturday was persuaded to lie\ndown, which I did, but found the bed was no place for me; thought of\nPeter's wife's mother, who 'arose and ministered to them; knew that to\nher, strength, as well as health, was instantly given, as in the case of\nthe palsied man, who rose, took up his bed, and departed. I returned to\nmy work, backing my experience with those in God's word, and since then\nhave not lain down during the day time.\n\n\"My friends could not realize the completeness of the cure, until I read\na full hour, and that by lamp-light, and until asked to desist, the\nfirst opportunity after being healed.\n\n\"A week from this time, I discharged the hired girl, taking charge of\nthe household work, which I have continued with perfect ease. About four\nweeks after my healing, had occasion to walk four miles, which I did\nwith little or no weariness. Let me add to the praise of God, that I\nhave no disease whatever. Am able to do more hard work with less\nweariness, than at any other period in my life, and faith in the Lord is\nthe balm that made me whole.\"\n\n\nTHE WIDOW'S SHOES.\n\n\nA poor woman--a widow with an invalid son--a member of the church, could\nnot attend church, or the neighborhood prayer-meetings, for the want of\nshoes. She asked the Lord for the shoes. That very day the village\nschool-master called in to see her son. Meanwhile he noticed that the\nboy's mother had very poor shoes. He said nothing, but felt impressed,\nand inwardly resolved to purchase the poor woman a pair of shoes\nforthwith. He accordingly hired a horse, rode two miles on horseback to\na shoe-store, bought the shoes, and requested them sent to the widow's\ncottage without delay. They proved a perfect fit; and that very night\nthe overjoyed woman hurried to the prayer-meeting to announce that in\nanswer to prayer the Lord had sent her the shoes.\n\nThe young school-master, who, I suspect, was my informant himself, now a\nvenerable, white-haired man, heard the poor woman's testimony; and his\npillow that night was wet with tears of gratitude and joy because God\nhad used him thus to bless the poor widow, and to answer her prayers.\n\n\nA REMARKABLE DREAM.\n\n\nThe late Dr. Whitehead was accustomed to repeat with pleasure' the\nfollowing fact: In the year 1764, he was stationed as an itinerant\npreacher in Cornwall. He had to preach one evening in a little village\nwhere there was a small Methodist Society. \"The friend,\" said he, \"at\nwhose house we preached, had at that time a daughter, who lived with one\nof our people about ten miles off. His wife was gone to attend her\ndaughter, who was dangerously ill of a fever; and her husband had that\nday received a message from her, informing him that his child's life was\ndespaired of. He earnestly and with tears desired Mr. Whitehead to\nrecommend his daughter to God in prayer, both before and after\npreaching. He did so in the most warm and affectionate manner. Late that\nevening, or very early next morning, while the young woman's mother was\nsitting by her daughter's bedside (who had been in a strong delirium for\nseveral days), she opened her eyes and hastily addressed her mother\nthus: 'O mother! I have been dreaming that I saw a man lifting up his\neyes and hands to heaven, and fervently praying to God for my recovery!\nThe Lord has heard his prayers, and my fever is gone; and what is far\nbetter, the Lord has spoken peace to my soul, and sealed His pardoning\nlove on my heart. I know it, I feel it, my dear mother; and His Spirit\nbears witness with my spirit, that I am a child of God, and an heir of\nglory.' Her mother, thinking that she was still in delirium, desired her\nto compose herself, and remain quiet. The daughter replied, 'My dear\nmother, I am in no delirium now; I am perfectly in my senses; do help me\nto rise, that upon my bended knees I may praise God.' Her mother did so,\nand they both praised God with joyful hearts, and from that hour the\nyoung woman recovered so fast, that she was soon able to attend to the\naffairs of the family where she lived. She had never seen Mr. Whitehead,\nprevious to this remarkable time; but some weeks after, she saw him, and\nthe moment she beheld his face, she fainted away. As soon as she came to\nherself, she said, 'Sir, you are the person I saw in my dream, when I\nwas ill in a violent fever; and I beheld you lift up your hands and eyes\nto heaven, and most fervently pray for my recovery and conversion to\nGod. The Lord, in mercy, heard your prayers, and answered them to the\nhealing of my wounded spirit, and to the restoration of my body. I have\nwalked in the light of His countenance from that time to the present,\nand I trust I shall do so as long as I live.' How remarkably does this\ncircumstance illustrate the words of St. James, 'The prayer of faith\nshall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have\ncommitted sins, they shall be forgiven him!'\"\n\n\n\"YOU MUST NOT GO.\"\n\n\nA remarkable instance of deep impression occasionally made by the Holy\nSpirit on the mind of the Rev. William Bramwell during prayer, occurred\nin Liverpool. A pious young woman, a member of Society, wished to go to\nher friends, then living in Jamaica. She took her passage, had her\nluggage taken on board, and expected to sail on the following day.\nHaving the greatest respect for Mr. Bramwell, she waited upon him, to\ntake leave and request an interest in his prayers. Before parting, they\nknelt down, and he recommended her to the care of God. After he had been\nengaged in prayer some time, he suddenly paused, and thus addressed her,\n\"My dear sister, you must not go to-morrow. God has just told me you\nmust not go.\" She was surprised, but he was positive, and prevailed upon\nher to postpone her voyage, and assisted her to remove her luggage out\nof the vessel. The ship sailed, and in about six weeks intelligence\narrived that the vessel was lost, and all on board had perished.\n\n\nEVIL AVERTED.\n\n\nA correspondent of the _Guide to Holiness_ says: \"We remember a poor\nwoman who had had a life of sore vicissitude which she bore with\nremarkable Christian cheerfulness; and after a time of the suspension of\ntrial, a bad prospect came in sight. She resorted to a friend to whom\nshe confidingly related the threatening evil, and at parting said, 'Oh\npray for us.' The case as it was known was taken immediately that early\nmorning to the throne of grace and laid out in all its circumstances\nwith a deeply sympathizing heart, and a consciousness of the past\nsufferings of that woman--and as the friend rose from prayer, the answer\nwas given that the evil was averted, and a new change would come to that\nafflicted one.\n\n\"That very day a strange deliverance and opening appeared which set that\nfamily at rest from their peculiar trials for the rest of life.\"\n\n\nHOW A POOR LITTLE CRIPPLE CONVERTED A VILLAGE.\n\n\nMr. D.L. Moody relates the instance of a poor little cripple, whose\nprayers were answered to the conversion of _fifty-six people._\n\n\"I once knew a little cripple who lay upon her death bed. She had given\nherself to God, and was distressed only because she could not labor for\nHim actively among the lost. Her clergyman visited her, and hearing her\ncomplaint, told her from her sick bed she could pray; to pray for those\nshe wished to see turning to God. He told her to write the names down,\nand then to pray earnestly; he went away and thought of the subject no\nmore.\n\n\"Soon a feeling of religious interest sprang up in the village, and the\nchurches were crowded nightly. The little cripple heard of the progress\nof the revival, and inquired anxiously for the names of the saved. A few\nweeks later she died, and among a roll of papers that was found under\nher little pillow, was one bearing the names of fifty-six persons, every\none of whom had in the revival been converted. By each name was a little\ncross by which the poor crippled saint had checked off the names of the\nconverts as they had been reported to her.\"\n\n\nPLEASE GOD, GIVE US A HOME.\n\n\nMr. Moody tells of a beautiful answer to the faith of a little child.\n\n\"I remember a child that lived with her parents in a small village. One\nday the news came that her father had joined the army (it was the\nbeginning of our war), and a few days after, the landlord came to demand\nthe rent. The mother told him she hadn't got it, and that her husband\nhad gone into the army. He was a hard-hearted wretch, and he stormed,\nand said that they must leave the house; he wasn't going to have people\nwho couldn't pay the rent.\n\n\"After he was gone, the mother threw herself into the armchair, and\nbegan to weep bitterly. Her little girl, whom she taught to pray in\nfaith, (but it is more difficult to practice than to preach,) came up to\nher, and said, '_What makes you cry, mamma, I will pray to God to give\nus a little home, and won't He_?' What could the mother say? So the\nlittle child went into the next room and began to pray. The door was\nopen, and the mother could hear every word.\n\n_\"'O, God, you have come and taken away father, and mamma has got no\nmoney, and the landlord will turn us out because we can't pay, and we\nwill have to sit on the door-step, and mamma will catch cold. Give us a\nlittle home_.' Then she waited as if for an answer, and then added,\n'_Won't you, please, God_?'\n\n\"She came out of that room quite happy, expecting a home to be given\nthem. The mother felt reproved. God heard the prayer of that little one,\nfor he touched the heart of the cruel landlord, and she has never paid\nany rent since.\"\n\nGod give us the faith of that little child, that we may likewise expect\nan answer, \"_nothing wavering_.\"\n\n\n\"OF COURSE HE WILL.\"\n\n\nMr. Moody also gives the story of a little child whose father and mother\nhad died, and she was taken into another family. The first night she\nasked if she could pray, as she used to do.\n\nThey said, Oh, yes! So she knelt down, and prayed as her mother taught\nher, and when that was ended she added a little prayer of her own: \"_Oh,\nGod, make these people as kind to me as father and mother were_.\" Then\nshe paused, and looked up, as if expecting an answer, and added, \"_Of\ncourse he will_.\"\n\nHow sweetly simple was that little one's faith; she expected God to\n\"do,\" and she got her request.\n\n\nSTRIKING ANSWER.\n\n\nThe following incidents are specially contributed to these pages by Rev.\nJ.S. Bass, a Home Missionary of Brooklyn, N.Y.:\n\n\"While living in Canada, my eldest daughter, then a girl of ten years of\nage, rather delicate and of feeble health, had a severe attack of\nchorea, \"St. Vitus's dance.\" To those who have had any experience in\nthis distressing complaint, nothing need be said of the deep affliction\nof the household at the sight of our loved one, as all her muscles\nappeared to be affected, the face distorted with protrusion of the\ntongue, and the continuous involuntary motions by jerks of her limbs.\nThe ablest medical advice and assistance were employed, and all that the\nsympathy of friends and the skill of physicians could do were of no\navail. She grew worse rather than better, and death was looked to as a\nhappy release to the sufferings of the child, and the anguish of the\nparents; as the medical men had given as their opinion that the mind of\nthe child would become diseased, and if her life were lengthened, it\nwould be an enfeebled body united to an idiotic mind.\n\n\"But God was better to us than our most sanguine hopes far better to us\nthan our fears.\n\n\"In our trouble we thought on God, and asked his help. We knew we had\nthe prayers of some of God's chosen ones. On a certain Sunday morning I\nleft my home to fill an appointment in the Wesleyan chapel in the\nvillage of Cooksville, two miles distant. I left with a heavy heart. My\nchild was distressing to look upon, my wife and her sister were worn out\nwith watching and fatigue. It was only from a sense of duty that I left\nmy home that morning. During the sermon God refreshed and encouraged my\nheart still to trust in him. After the service, many of the congregation\ntarried to inquire of my daughter's condition, among them an aged saint,\nSister Wilson, widow of a Wesleyan preacher, and Sister Galbraith, wife\nof the class-leader. Mother Wilson encouraged me to 'hope in God,'\nsaying 'the sisters of the church have decided to spend to-morrow\nmorning together in supplication and prayer for you and your family, and\nthat God would cure Ruth.'\n\n\"Monday morning came. Ruth had passed a restless night. Weak and\nemaciated, her head was held that a tea-spoonful of water should be\ngiven her. My duties called me away (immediately after breakfast) to a\nneighbor's; about noon, a messenger came, in great haste, to call me\nhome. On entering the sick-chamber, I noticed the trundle-bed empty, and\nmy little girl, with smiling face, sitting in a chair at the window,\n(say eight feet from the bed.) I learned from the child that, while on\nthe bed, the thought came to her that, if she could only get her feet on\nthe floor, the Lord would help her to sit up. By an effort, she\nsucceeded, moving herself to the edge of the bed, put her legs over the\nside until her feet touched the floor, and sat up. She then thought, if\nshe tried, the Lord would help her to stand up, and then to walk; all of\nwhich she accomplished, without any human aid, she being left in the\nroom alone. The same afternoon she was in the yard playing with her\nbrothers, quickly gained flesh, recovered strength, with intellect clear\nand bright; she lived to the age of twenty-two, never again afflicted\nwith this disease, or anything like it. At the age of twenty-two, ripe\nfor heaven, it pleased God to take her to himself.\n\n\"The sisters, led by Mother Wilson, waited on God in prayer, and God\nfulfilled that day the promise--Isaiah 65:24: 'And it shall come to\npass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet\nspeaking, I will hear.'\"\n\n\nA REMARKABLE CASE.\n\n\nOn the afternoon of Monday, August 20, 1869, I was sent for to visit\nMrs. M., who was reported to be very sick. Arriving at the house, I was\ntold that \"Mrs. M., after a hard day's work, had retired to rest\nSaturday night in her usual state of health, that immediately after\ngetting in bed she had fallen asleep and had not awoke up to this time,\n(6 o'clock Monday evening,) that three physicians had been in attendance\nfor 30 hours, that all their efforts to arouse her were without avail.\"\n\nIn the chamber, Mrs. M. lay in the bed apparently in a troubled sleep,\nshe was a woman of medium size, about 50 years of age, the mother of a\nlarge family; around her bed stood her husband, four sons and a\ndaughter, and relatives, about twelve persons in all. The husband and\nsons were irreligious, but awed in the presence of this affliction.\n\nI felt, as perhaps I never felt before, my ignorance, my helplessness,\nand the necessity of entire dependence on God for guidance and\ninspiration, that prayer should be made in accordance with his will.\n\nI knelt at the bedside and held the woman's hand in mine, lifted up my\nheart to God and prayed, \"If it be thy will and for thy glory, and for\nthe good of this family, grant that this woman may once more open her\neyes to look upon her children, once more open her lips in counsel and\nholy admonition.\" While thus praying, as I believe, inspired by the\nSpirit of God, and with faith in Jesus Christ, I was conscious of a\nmovement around me, and opening my eyes, I saw Mrs. M. sitting up in\nbed. Some of the persons in the room were weeping, others laughing; the\nsons came nearer the bed, and asked, \"Mother, do you know me? do you\nknow me?\" She called each by name, and beckoned to her daughter, held\nher by the hand. I, poor faithless one, was wondering what does this\nmean? One of the sons took me by the hand saying, \"Oh! Mr. Bass, God\nheard and answered that prayer.\" I sung the hymn, \"There is a fountain\nfilled with blood,\" Mrs. M. singing to the close, and then, apparently\nexhausted, sank back on the pillow, speechless and unconscious. The\nphysicians were sent for, came, wondered, speculated, administered\nmedicine, blistered the calves of the legs, and cupped the back of the\nneck, but to no purpose. She remained in speechless unconsciousness till\nthe next afternoon, when, while prayer was being made, she again opened\nher eyes, sat up and conversed with her children and friends. In a few\ndays she resumed her household duties, enjoying a good degree of health\nand strength, and faithfully serving God and her generation until it\npleased God to call her home to the rest prepared for the people of God,\nthree years after the incident, the subject of this paper.\n\n\nA LITTLE GIRL'S BEAUTIFUL FAITH.\n\n\nA little German girl, who had never hitherto known the name of the Lord\nJesus, was led to attend a Mission school. It was the custom at the\nschool, before the little ones received their dinner, to lift their\nhands and thank God for their food.\n\nWhen in course of time she spent her days at home, and her father's\nfamily were gathered around their own table, this little girl said:\n\n\"_Pa, we must hold up our hand's and thank God before we eat._ That's\nthe way we do at the Mission.\"\n\nSo winning was the little one in her ways, the parents yielded at once.\n\nAt another time her father was sick and unable to work, and the little\ngirl said, \"_Pa, I'm going to pray that you may get well and go to work\nto-morrow morning_.\"\n\nAt four o'clock in the morning she awoke and called out, \"_Pa, don't you\nfeel better_.\" The father said, \"Yes, I am better,\" and he went to his\nwork in the morning, although weak and obliged to rest by the way.\n\nThere came a time once when he could not get work, and there was no food\nin the house for dinner.\n\nThis little girl knelt down and asked God to send them their dinner, and\nwhen she rose from her knees, she said, \"Now we must wait till the\nwhistle blows, till 12 o'clock.\"\n\nAt twelve o'clock the whistle blew, and the little girl said, \"Get the\ntable ready, it is coming,\" and just then in came a neighbor with soup\nfor their dinner.\n\n\nTHE LORD HELPS TO PAY DEBTS.\n\n\nThe author of this incident is known to the editor of \"Remarkable\nProvidences,\" and speaking of it says: \"_God never gave me exactly what\nI wanted. He always gave me more.\"_\n\n\"When I married I was a working man; I had not much money to spare. In\nabout three months after my marriage, I fell ill, and my illness\ncontinued for more than nine months. At that period I was in great\ndistress. I owed a sum of money and had no means to pay it. It must be\npaid on a certain day, or I must go to jail. I had no food for myself or\nwife; and in this distress I went up to my room, and took my Bible. I\ngot down on my knees and opened it, laid my fingers on several of the\npromises, and claimed them as mine. I said, 'Lord, this is thine own\nword of promise; I claim thy promises.' I endeavored to lay hold of them\nby faith. I wrestled with God for sometime in this way. I got up off my\nknees, and walked about some time. I then went to bed, and took my\nBible, and opened it on these words: '_Call upon me in the day of\ntrouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me_.'\n\n\"I said, 'it is enough, Lord.' I knew deliverance would come, and I\npraised God with my whole heart. Whilst in this frame of mind I heard a\nknock at the door. I went and opened it and a man handed me a letter. I\nturned to look at the letter, and when I looked up again, the man was\ngone.\n\n\"The letter contained the sum I wanted, and five shillings over. It is\nnow eighteen years ago. I never knew who sent it. God only knows. Thus\nGod delivered me out of all my distress. To Him be all the praise.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A LOST POCKET-BOOK.\n\n\nA contributor to _The Christian_ writes as follows:\n\n\"A few months since I lost my pocket-book, containing money and papers\nof a large amount--more than I felt able to lose--and which I should\nfeel the loss of, as I was owing at that time about the same amount.\n\n\"On the day of my loss, I had been from home about a mile and a half,\nand it was about 9 o'clock _in the evening_, when I returned. And it was\nnot till then that I ascertained my loss.\n\n\"My health was very poor, and the prospect of regaining the lost\npocket-book was quite uncertain; it was so dark that I thought it would\nbe impossible for me to find it. Consequently I determined to remain\nawake during the night, and at 3 o'clock in the morning search for it,\nand if possible, find it before any one should pass over the road.\n\n\"The seeming impossibility of finding it, and the reflections consequent\nupon the loss of the money were so unpleasant to me that I was led to\nmake it a subject of prayer, fully trusting that in some way God would\nso direct that I should come in possession of it. If so, I determined to\ngive him $25 of it.\n\n\"As soon as I had formed this purpose, all that unpleasant feeling left\nme, and I did not admit a single doubt but I should get it.\n\n\"Accordingly, _at 3 o'clock in the morning_ I made a thorough search,\nbut could not find it. Yet my faith in God's guiding hand did not fail\nme, and I believed that my trust would be realized.\n\n\"While I was thus thinking of the certainty of the fulfillment of the\npromises of the Gospel to the believer, I was called on by a gentleman,\na leading business man of the place, who came to know if _I had lost\nanything_.\n\n\"I told him I had lost my pocket-book. He wanted to know how much it\ncontained. I told him. He said his son had occasion to pass early on\nthat morning, and had found it in the road, and that in all probability\nI should otherwise have lost it, as two men passed by immediately after\nit was found.\n\n\"Thus God found it and returned it to me.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nLIVES OF FAITH AND TRUST\n\n\nAN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF FAITH AND TRUST.\n\n\nFor many centimes there has not been a more remarkable testimony of\nunfaltering trust in the faithfulness of God in supplying human wants,\nthan is found in the life and labor of George Muller and his Orphan\nHome, in Bristol, England. His record is one of humility, yet one of\ndaily dependence upon the providence and the knowledge of God to supply\nhis daily wants. It has been one of extraordinary trial; yet never, for\na single hour, has God forsaken him. Beginning, in 1834, with absolutely\nnothing; giving himself, his earthly all and his family to the Lord, and\nasking the Lord's pleasure and blessing upon his work of philanthropy,\nhe has never, for once, appealed to any individual for aid, for\nassistance, for loans; but has relied wholly in prayer to the\nLord--coming with each day's cares and necessities--and the Lord has\never supplied. He has never borrowed, never been in debt; living only\nupon what the Lord has sent--yet in the forty-third year of his life of\nfaith and trust--he has been able, through the voluntary contributions\nwhich the Lord has prompted the hearts of the people to give, to\naccomplish these wonderful results: _Over half a million dollars_ have\nbeen spent in the construction of buildings--_over fifteen thousand\norphans have been cared for and supported--and over one million dollars_\nhave been received for their support. _Every dollar of which has been\nasked for in believing prayer from the Lord_. The record is the most\nastounding in the faith of the Christian religion, and the power and\nprovidence of God to answer prayer, that modern times can show.\n\nThe orphans' homes have been visited again and again by Christian\nclergymen of all denominations, to feel the positive satisfaction and\ncertainty that all this were indeed the work of prayer, and they have\nbeen abundantly convinced.\n\nThe spectacle is indeed a _standing miracle. \"A man sheltering, feeding,\nclothing, educating, and mailing comfortable and happy, hundreds of poor\norphan children, with no funds of his own, and no possible means of\nsustenance, save that which God sent him in answer to prayer_.\"\n\nAn eminent clergyman who for five years had been constantly hearing of\nthis work of faith, and could hardly believe in its possibility, at last\nvisited Mr. Muller's home for the purpose of thorough investigation,\nexposing it, if it were under false pretenses or mistaken ways of\nsecuring public sympathy, or else with utmost critical search, desired\nto become convinced it was indeed supported only by true prayer. He had\nreserved for himself, as he says, a wide margin for deductions and\ndisappointment, but after his search, as \"_I left Bristol, I exclaimed\nwith the queen of Sheba, 'The half had not been told me.' Here I saw,\nindeed, seven hundred orphan children fed and provided for, by the hand\nof God, in answer to prayer, as literally and truly as Elijah was fed by\nravens with meat which the Lord provided_.\"\n\nMr. Muller himself has said in regard to their manner of living:\n\"_Greater and more manifest nearness of the Lord's presence I have never\nhad, than when after breakfast, there were no means for dinner, and then\nthe Lord provided the dinner for more than one hundred persons; and when\nafter dinner, there were no means for the tea; and yet the Lord provided\nthe tea; and all this without one single human being having been\ninformed about our need_.\"\n\nThus it will be seen his life is one of daily trial and trust, and he\nsays, \"Our desire therefore, is, not that we may be without trials of\nfaith, but that the Lord graciously would be pleased to support us in\nthe trial, that we may not dishonor him by distrust.\"\n\nThe question having been asked of him, \"Such a way of living must lead\nthe mind continually to think whence food, clothes, etc., are to come,\nwith no benefit for spiritual exercise,\" he replies: \"Our minds are very\nlittle tried about the necessaries of life; just because the care\nrespecting them is laid upon our Father, who, because we are his\nchildren, not _only allows_ us to do so, _but will have us to do so_.\n\n\"It must also be remembered that even if our minds _were_ much tried\nabout our supplies, yet because we look to the _Lord alone_ for all\nthese things, we should be brought by our sense of need, into the\npresence of our Father for the supply of it, _and that is a blessing_,\nand satisfying to the soul.\"\n\nThis humble statement from the experience of one who has tried and\nproven the Lord in little things, as well as large, conveys to the\nChristian that world of practical instruction which is contained in the\nprecepts of the Bible, viz: to _encourage all to cast their cares on\nGod_; and teaches them the lessons of their dependence upon Him for\ntheir daily supplies.\n\nThe meaning of the Lord's blessing upon the work of Mr. Muller, is to\nmake it a standing example and illustration to be adopted in every\nChristian home. \"_How God supplies our needs, how he rewards faith, how\nhe cares for those who trust in Him. How he can as well take care of his\nchildren to-day as he did in the days of the Prophets, and how surely he\nfulfills his promise, even when the trial brings us to the extremities\nof circumstances seemingly impossible_.\"\n\nMr. Muller's experience is remarkable, not because the Lord has made his\nan exceptional case for the bestowal of blessings, but because of the\n_remarkable, unwavering and persevering application of his faith_, by\nthe man himself.\n\nHis faith began with small degrees, and small hopes. It was painfully\ntried. But it clung hopefully, and never failed to gain a triumph. Each\ntrial only increased its tenacity, and brought him greater humility, for\nit opened his own heart to a sense of his own powerlessness, and this\nfaith has grown with work and trial, till its strength is beyond all\nprecedent.\n\nThe lessons which the Lord wishes each one to take from it, is this:\n\"_Be your faith little or weak, never give it up; apply my promises to\nall your needs, and expect their fulfillment. Little things are as\nsacred as great things_.\"\n\nIn the journal kept by Mr. Muller during his many years of experience,\nhe has preserved many incidents of answer to prayer in small matters, of\nwhich we quote the following from his book. \"_The Power of Faith and\nPrayer_.\"\n\n1. \"One of the orphan boys needed to be apprenticed. I knew of no\nsuitable believing master who would take an indoor apprentice. I gave\nmyself to prayer, and brought the matter daily before the Lord. At last,\nthough I had to pray about the matter from May 21 to September, the Lord\ngranted my request, and I found a suitable place for him.\n\n2. I asked the Lord that he would be pleased to deliver a certain sister\nin the Lord from the great spiritual depression under which she was\nsuffering, and after three days the Lord granted my request.\n\n3. I asked the Lord daily in his mercy to keep a sister in the Lord from\ninsanity, who was then apparently on the border of it. I have now to\nrecord his praise, after nearly four years have passed away, that the\nLord has kept her from it.\n\n4. During this year has occurred the conversion of one of the greatest\nsinners that I had ever heard of in all my service for the Lord.\nRepeatedly I fell on my knees with his wife, and asked the Lord for his\nconversion, when she came to me in the deepest distress of soul, on\naccount of the most barbarous and cruel treatment that she had received\nfrom him in his bitter enmity against her for the Lord's sake. And now\nthe awful persecutor is converted.\n\n5. It pleased the Lord to try my faith in a way in which before, it had\nnot been tried. My beloved daughter was taken ill on June 20. This\nillness, at first a low fever, turned to typhus, _and July 3 there\nseemed no hope of her recovery_.\n\nNow was the trial of faith, but faith triumphed. My wife and I were\nenabled to give her up into the hands of the Lord. He sustained us both\nexceedingly.\n\nShe continued very ill till about July 20, when restoration began. On\nAugust 18, she was so far restored that she could be removed to Clevedon\nfor change of air. It was then 59 days since she was taken ill.\n\n6. The heating apparatus of our Orphan Home unexpectedly gave out. It\nwas the commencement of Winter. To repair the leak was a questionable\nmatter. To put in a new boiler would in all probability take many weeks.\nWorkmen were sent for to make repairs. But on the day fixed for repairs\na _bleak north wind set in_.\"\n\nNow came cold weather, the fire must be put out, the repairs could not\nbe put off. Gladly would I have paid one hundred pounds if thereby the\ndifficulty could have been overcome, and the children not be exposed to\nsuffer for many days from living in cold rooms.\n\nAt last I determined on falling entirely into the hands of God, who is\nvery merciful and of tender compassion. I now asked the Lord for two\nthings, viz.: \"That He would be pleased to change the _north wind into a\nsouth wind_, and that he would give the workmen a mind to work.\n\nWell, the memorable day came. The evening before, the bleak north wind\nblew still; but on the Wednesday the south wind blew _exactly as I had\nprayed_. The weather was so mild that no fire was needed.\n\nAbout half-past eight in the evening, the principal of the firm whence\nthe boiler-makers came, arrived to see how the work was going on, and\nwhether he could in any way speed the matter.\n\nThe principal went with me to see his men; to the foreman of whom he\nsaid: \"The men will work late this evening, and come very early again\nto-morrow.\"\n\n\"_We would rather_,\" said the leader, \"_work all night_.\"\n\nThen remembered I the second part of my prayer, that God would give the\nmen a mind to work. By morning the repair was accomplished, the leak was\nstopped, and in thirty hours the fire was again in the boiler; _and all\nthe time the south wind blew so mildly that there was not the least need\nof a fire_.\n\n7. In the year 1865, the scarlet fever broke out in several of the\nOrphan Homes. In one of which were four hundred girls, and in the other\nfour hundred and fifty. It appeared among the infants. The cases\nincreased more and more. But we betook ourselves to God in prayer. Day\nby day we called upon Him regarding this trial, and generally two or\nthree times a day. At last, when the infirmary rooms were filled, and\nsome other rooms that could be spared for the occasion, to keep the sick\nchildren from the rest, and when we had no other rooms to spare, at\nleast not without inconvenience, it pleased the Lord to answer our\nprayers, and in mercy stay the disease. The disease was very general in\nthe town of Bristol, and many children died in consequence. _But not one\nin the Orphan Home died. All recovered_.\n\nAt another date, the whooping-cough also broke out among the four\nhundred and fifty girls of our Home, and though many were dying in the\ntowns of the same disease, yet all in the Orphan Home recovered except\none little girl who had very weak lungs, a constitutional tendency to\nconsumption.\n\n8. In the early part of one Summer, it was found that we had several\nboys ready to be apprenticed, but there were no applications made by\nmasters for apprentices. This was no small difficulty, as the master\nmust be also willing to receive the apprentice into his own family. We\nagain gave ourselves to _prayer_, instead of _advertising_. Some weeks\npassed, but the difficulty remained. We continued in prayer, and then\none application was made for an apprentice, and from the time we first\nbegan, we have been able to find places for eighteen boys.\"\n\n\nTHE CONSUMPTIVE'S HOME.\n\n\nIn the United States there is a Parallel Record to George Mailer's Life\nof Faith and Trust, found in the history of the Consumptive's Home of\nBoston, Mass. It was established twelve years since by Doctor Cullis,\nwho in the ardor of his faith and trust gave himself to the work of the\nLord, by ministering in _Jesus' Name_, to the poor consumptives who were\nunable to provide for themselves. Doctor Cullis is a man of humility,\nand devoted to his life work, and has been most abundantly blessed by\nthe Lord in his field. To the honor and glory of our Heavenly Father, he\nhas never been forsaken by Him.\n\nThe Institution began twelve years ago, in small quarters. Now it\nembraces a very large gathering of useful enterprises: _A Consumptive's\nHome, Children's Home, Grove Hall Church, Tract Repository, a Training\nCollege_, and a _Cancer Home_. The means provided have all been sent by\nthe Lord, who has prompted the hearts of good people to send to it their\nvoluntary contributions.\n\nThere is no financial fund, endowment, or pecuniary provision whatever\nexisting for the support of the Home. No individuals have made any\nagreement for its support; there is no trade or occupation used or\nconnected with it, whereby to obtain any remuneration. There has never\nbeen any appeal to man for assistance, no subscriptions ever taken, no\ncontributions solicited, either publicly or privately; there are no\nagencies or connections to receive funds from any religious society for\nprocuring charitable relief.\n\nThe supplies for the carrying on of this work, during these twelve\nyears, have been wholly _in answer to believing prayer, to the Lord_.\n\nThey have fulfilled faithfully the Lord's commands, \"_Cast all your\ncares on Him, for he careth for you_.\" They have also pleaded in faith,\nwithout a doubt, \"_Anything ye shall ask the Father in my name, I will\ndo it_.\" And they have asked and received, and the Provider has never\nyet failed them.\n\nDuring the twelve years' time there has been sent to the Consumptive's\nHome, without any solicitation whatever, but in answer to believing\nprayer and faith and trust in God's providence, a sum no less than\n_three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, and over fifteen hundred\npatients have been gratuitously cared for_. No one has been urged,\nasked, or even hinted to contribute to it. Each morning, noon and night\nprayer has been offered to send means to provide for their daily wants,\nand the Great Shepherd has sent the supplies.\n\nDuring these twelve years, the experiences of Doctor Cullis, the\nfounder, have been most remarkable in the frequent answers to prayer in\nminute details of life, and especially in healing. There are so many\nsuch cases, that there is no possible room to doubt. There have often\nbeen moments, yes, days of distress and intense trial, when, with not a\nsingle penny on hand, it seemed as if failure had come; but faith could\nnot let the promise go, neither was it possible for them to believe that\nHe who could do so much, would forsake so good a work, which was\nundertaken only in obedience to the guidance and direction of the Lord;\nand God has always brought deliverance, and honored them and brought\nglory to his own name.\n\nIn the daily history of these struggles and trials and triumphs of\nfaith, are found many surprising incidents, a few of which we relate.\n\n\nA BAD DEBT PAID.\n\n\n\"To-day a bill was paid of $31, which I had given up as good for\nnothing. A long time ago I gave it to the Lord in prayer, and promised\nHim if it was ever canceled that it should be His.\"\n\n\nHELP IN NEED.\n\n\n\"The sums received for several days had been small. One day as the\nDoctor was in prayer for his needs, he received a note from a lady\nasking him to call at her house, naming the day and the hour. At the\ntime appointed he called, and found the lady sick in consumption, near\nto death. She said she had some money which she wished to dispose of\nbefore her death. She placed in his hand a _five hundred dollar note_.\nIt was her last gift. She had received it from the hand of the Lord, and\nshe returned it to Him again.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR STOVES.\n\n\n\"This afternoon, knowing the necessity of stoves for some of the upper\nrooms, as the weather is quite cool, I went to the Lord, in prayer, and\ntold him of our need, praying Him in one way to supply us.\n\n\"I then went down town to a friend, to look at stoves and inquire the\nprice, when he said, 'that's all right, I shall not charge anything,'\nand said he would see that they were put up. This man knew nothing of\nour great need; he had never visited the Home, knew but little about it,\nand not a word did he know of the state of my purse. \"The Lord inclined\nthe man's heart to give the stoves.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A FURNACE.\n\n\n\"I am earnestly praying for the means to purchase a furnace, for we\ncannot receive patients into the new Home until it can be warmed. I am\nlooking to the Lord, and He will help.\"\n\n_Seven days later_. \"A gentleman has this day ordered a furnace to be\nput in, with fourteen tons of coal at his expense. I will here say that\nhis attention was not called to our need, but he asked how the house was\nto be warmed; he then learned of our want, and ordered as above. Truly,\n'Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be confounded.'\"\n\n\nTHE LORD'S RETURN FOR GIVING UNTO THE POOR.\n\n\n\"This afternoon a poor woman, whose history I have known for some time,\nand who has a sick husband over eighty years of age, called on me,\nstating that she had only a ten-cent loaf of bread for herself and her\nhusband to eat since Wednesday, and to-day is Saturday.\n\n\"Notwithstanding my own need, I felt that I could not withhold from one\nin greater straits than myself, so in Christ's name, I gave her enough\nto procure necessary food for a few days. The Lord did not forget it,\nbut this evening has returned the amount with bountiful interest. For\nthe turn I gave Him, He has sent me $40. _'There is that scattereth yet\nincreaseth_.'\"\n\n\nA WATCH GIVEN TO THE LORD--HOW THE LORD RETURNS A BETTER ONE.\n\n\n\"Last year, during a season of great need, I sold my watch; yesterday,\nthe Lord returned it by a gift of a much better one from a friend, who\nhad purchased it abroad, knowing nothing of my need, thus proving, 'He\nthat soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully.'\"\n\n\nTHE LORD GAVE DOUBLE WHAT WAS ASKED FOR.\n\n\n\"This morning and noon I called upon the Lord in prayer for the means to\npay a bill of $100. By three P.M., a check was sent me of $200.\"\n\n\nBLESSINGS AMID CALAMITIES.\n\n\n\"The roof of one of our houses having caught fire from a spark from a\nneighbor's chimney, it was mostly destroyed; some of the furniture, and\nthe whole home badly damaged by water. All hearts thanked the Lord the\ncircumstances were no worse. In the midst of our calamity, blessings\nsurrounded us. An unknown donor sends in 20 tons of coal. For weeks I\nhave been praying for the means to purchase our Winter fuel, and now the\nLord has inclined the heart of an unknown friend to supply our need.\"\n\n\nA REMARKABLE PROMISE.\n\n\nAt one period in the history of the Consumptive's Home, a sum of three\nthousand dollars placed in the safe, and reserved to be used for payment\non the purchase of a new building was stolen, and there was not left a\nsingle dollar; every penny was gone.\n\nNothing daunted, again going to the Lord, and pleading the Lord's own\npromise, \"_If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask\nwhat ye will and it shall be done unto you_.\" The request was made in\nprayer for the three thousand dollars, and the promise of the amount was\ndefinitely made to be paid out a certain day.\n\nThe day came. Before it had arrived, the Lord had sent the three\nthousand dollars with unusual contributions, and both the promises of\nthe Lord and that of his children were kept.\n\nThe ordinary business man would have said it was foolishness for a poor\nman, with not a penny in the world, all his means stolen from him, to\npositively promise on a certain day the next month, to pay so large a\nsum, exactly the same as was stolen.\n\nThe skeptic would have said, \"All foolish to plead before an unseen God,\nand ask for such a sum. You will never get it. Why didn't your God\nprevent your money from being stolen. If your Bible is true, he ought to\nhave protected you from loss.\"\n\nThe answer to all these is thus: The Doctor did trust in the promise of\nan unseen God, whom he had tested in the past many hundred times, and\nwho had always been faithful in keeping his promises, and his faith knew\nthat his God would not suffer his own work to fail nor suffer reproach.\n\nStill further to silence the skeptic, let it be said that after the\nrobbery became known, the sympathy for the institution became so much\ngreater, that the contributions voluntarily sent in consequence thereof\nreplaced the three thousand dollars within thirty days, and produced far\nmore in excess, to go towards other needs. Thus an adversity became a\nblessing. The Lord uses sorrow to produce good.\n\n\nA WOMAN DELIVERED FROM THE HABIT OF DRINKING.\n\n\n\"I visited a family for whom I have felt a deep interest for weeks past.\nThe father had been out of employment some time, and they have lacked\nfood and clothing. Much of their trouble has been caused by the\nintemperance of the mother. Her husband has borne long and patiently\nwith her, and although she would for a long time leave off drinking, it\nwas only to fall again still lower. While furnishing them with clothing,\nand assisting them in other ways, I besought the mother to give her\nheart to Jesus, knowing that he could keep her from falling. She became,\na constant attendant at our meetings. Says \"_Jesus has taken her love\nfor drink all away_.\" One of her little ones, who is just beginning to\ntalk, said the other day, \"Mamma, you don't drink now.\" They are a happy\nfamily, and their home is greatly changed.\n\n\nPRAYER FOR PURCHASERS.\n\n\nWhen removal to the new Home was determined upon, there still remained\nfive of the old buildings on hand to be disposed of. This too was taken\nto the Lord in prayer that he might send purchasers.\n\nOne building was sold in October, and the remaining four in November.\nWhen it is considered that a portion was property usually very difficult\nof sale, and that no advertisement of it had been made, no other means\nthan prayer resorted to, it must be convincing to all that there must be\n\"one who knoweth all things,\" who hears and helps in financial as well\nas in spiritual necessities.\n\n\nASKING FOR LARGE GIFTS.\n\n\nUpon the 26th of September the record of the Home was as follows: \"There\nis due on the first of next month, $2,450 interest on our property, and\nwe are now within four days of the time, with not a dollar towards it.\nFor several days I have been asking that amount of the Lord.\"\n\nNow here was a man depending wholly upon _chance gifts_ for the\nlivelihood of several hundred people, with a debt of over two thousand\ndollars to pay in four days. His occupation and work were such that no\none could even possibly think of making any loans, as there was no\nsecurity. Neither was it the principle or the practice of the Home ever\nto solicit a dollar. What was to be done? _It was taken to the Lord in\nprayer_, and all waited the result.\n\nWas it at all probable that so large a sum of money could be sent in so\nshort a time by any one or any number of persons?\n\nThat evening a letter from the probate office at Exeter, N. H., was\nreceived by Dr. Cullis, informing them of the death of a citizen of\nPortsmouth, with a bequest to the Home of _five thousand dollars_. The\nLord answered their prayer the same day and sent _double what was asked\nfor_.\n\n\nA SEVERE TUMOR HEALED.\n\n\nDuring the year 1872, there was under the professional care of Dr.\nCullis, at the Consumptive's Home, a Christian lady with a tumor which\nconfined her almost continuously to her bed in severe suffering. All\nremedies were unavailing, and the only human hope was the knife; but\nfeeling in my own heart the power of the promise, I one morning sat down\nby her bedside, and taking up the Bible, I read aloud, God's promise to\nhis believing children. \"_And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,\nand the Lord shall raise him up: and if he have committed sins, they\nshall be forgiven him_.\"\n\nI then asked her if she would trust the Lord to remove this tumor and\nrestore her to health and to her missionary work. She replied, \"I am\nwilling to trust the Lord for it.\"\n\nI then knelt and anointed her with oil in the name of the Lord, asking\nHim to fulfill his own word. Soon after I left she got up and walked\nthree miles. From that time the tumor rapidly lessened until all trace\nof it at length disappeared.\n\n\nFAITH CURED HER.\n\n\nThis incident was related by the lady herself in a public meeting in\nBoston, where it was heard by the sorrowing wife of an afflicted\nhusband, whose statement is as follows:\n\n\"I was first confined to my house with a violent cold. I lost my voice\ncompletely, suffered with pain in my lungs and expectorated almost\nconstantly. I grew worse every day, and in a week called in a physician.\nOn examination he found my lungs diseased. I also had fever. With all\nhis care my cough grew worse, and night sweats set in; a few weeks later\nmy wife was told by the Doctor that my lungs were badly ulcerated, and\nthat my case being hopeless, it was not worth while for him to attend\nlonger; also that she must NOT be surprised if I should pass away\nsuddenly. I then tried some highly recommended medicine, which seemed\nonly to increase my disease.\n\n\"When I became so weak as to be nearly helpless, Dr. Cullis was called\nin. He sounded my lungs and gave the same verdict, saying my only hope\nfor recovery was in the Lord. Diarrhea also set in, and my feet began to\nswell.\"\n\nThis statement will show his perfect helplessness.\n\nAfter the return of his wife from the above meeting, he read over and\nover the precious promises of God, and became more and more convinced of\nthe power of faith. Believing that \"_He is faithful that promised_\" he\nsent for Dr. Cullis to come and pray with him.\n\n\"Dr. C. prayed, anointed me with oil, and in the name of the Lord Jesus,\ncommanded me to be healed. Instantly my whole being was thrilled with an\nunknown power, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. From the\nmoment I believed, the _work was done_. My lungs, so long diseased,\nbreathed with new vigor, and I returned thanks to God for the results of\nfaith. Since that memorable night I have taken no medicine, and my\nhealth has been constantly improving, so _that I am feeling better now\nthan I did before my sickness_.\"\n\nTwo years after he was seen by Dr. Cullis, and continued in perfect\nhealth, and engaged in active business.\n\n\nCURED OF CANCER.\n\n\nA lady came to the Consumptive's Home with a cancer in the cheek, which\nhad attained the size of a filbert. It had a very red and angry\nappearance. After prayer for her healing she went into the country, when\nsome one remarked, 'E. thinks that faith will cure her, but _that_ is\nsomething that will have to be burned out or cut out.' Her friends tried\nto induce the use of various applications, all of which she firmly\nrefused. She returned home in eight weeks, entirely cured. Her friends\nacknowledged, '_Faith did do good after all_.'\n\n\nCURED OF NEURALGIA.\n\n\nA lady of East Cambridge writes, \"For nineteen years I have been\nafflicted with neuralgia; added to this, of late years a combination of\ndiseases has rendered life an intolerable burden, and baffled the skill\nof every physician to whom I have applied. By the prayer of faith I have\nbeen healed, both body and soul, and made to rejoice continually. I can\nnow say I am entirely well, and engaged in arduous work--often among the\nsick, losing whole nights of rest.\"\n\n\nCURED OF SPINE DISEASE.\n\n\nDr. Cullis thus speaks of a signal answer to his prayer. \"While at the\nhome of L.R. in England, I was asked to pray with his daughter, who had\nspinal curvature. Subsequently L.R. writes, 'We. are full of\nthankfulness and praise about E. She is quite well and strong, and does\neverything like her sisters. She has such perfect faith that the Lord\nhad healed her, that she at once put away the board and said she should\nnever lie upon it again, and on the following Sunday she walked four\nmiles in a hot sun, and sat for two hours on a bench without a back. As\nfar as we can judge, she is quite well in every respect. For fifteen\nmonths before she had been a constant cause of anxiety to us--never\nwalked or attended to study.'\"\n\n\nAN INJURED LEG RESTORED TO PROPER LENGTH.\n\n\n\"Some months ago a young lady called, requesting to be prayed for. She\nsimply told me that some years ago she was run over and her hip badly\ninjured. I asked her if she could trust the Lord for healing. She\nreplied, 'Yes.' I prayed, with her, and she went home.\n\n\"I learned after a day or two, that she was perfectly cured, and\nobtained from her these facts: Some six years before, she was run over\nby a hack, and her hip so injured that she was confined to her bed for\nsix months. She then got up with a permanent lameness, one limb being\nshorter than the other. In two or three instances since, she has been\nconfined to her bed for three months at a time. She now walks perfectly,\nboth limbs being of the same length. She says of herself, 'I can leap\nand run as well as any other person, and my heart overruns with praise\nand thanksgiving to God.'\"\n\n\nA LOST VOICE REGAINED.\n\n\n\"Some nine months since a lady showed signs of indisposition, and soon\nwas attacked by a cough. Change of air was prescribed, but after a lapse\nof some weeks she returned to her home, in no way improved. Physicians\nwere consulted, her lungs found to be much irritated and pulse low. Soon\nall appetite left her, a hoarseness succeeded, resulting in entire loss\nof voice.\n\n\"There was little desire to eat, as everything taken into the stomach\ncaused great distress. Months succeeded; nothing could be gained from\nmedical treatment. I felt that I must trust all to God. I seemed to feel\nthat God would heal me. I read in his Bible, 'The prayer of _faith shall\nsave the sick_.' I accepted it at once, I felt sure that it was for me.\nI was led to visit Boston and see Doctor Cullis. I stated all the\ncircumstances of my illness, and was asked if I could trust God to heal\nme? I replied, 'Yes, I am sure the Lord is able and willing.'\n\n\"'We knelt in prayer; _in a moment, as it were, my. voice came to me, I\nwas able to talk with ease_, and from that time nothing that I have\neaten has given me any distress. The Lord's promises are sure, and He\nhas filled my soul with joy and praise.'\"\n\nIn speaking of the many cases of cures in answer to prayer, Doctor\nCullis says: \"I have noticed that in some cases the cure has been\ninstantaneous; others I have prayed with two or three times, or even\nmore. My explanation is, as far as I have been able to observe, that\nthere has been oftentimes a question or lack of faith on the part of the\npatient; for some seem to come, not in faith, but as a matter of\n_experiment. God's word says it is the prayer of faith that shall save\nthe sick._\"\n\nFrom this it will be noticed that the _faith is that of the patient,_\nand the more strongly it is fixed on God and the promise, the surer the\nanswer.\n\nIt is but justice to say, that in no case has there ever been the\nthought or the assumption, by Doctor Cullis himself, of having _any\ndivinely conferred power_ to heal all that come to him, or for whom he\nmay pray. No such power would ever be given to any human creature by our\nLord. It is the Lord himself who works the wonder--but solely because of\nthe faith of sufferers who have sought the addition of the prayer of one\nwho is stronger in faith and prayer than its own. Each must wait upon\nGod, and must have faith without a doubt, and perfect willingness to\ntrust all to Him, and continue to expect the blessing.\n\nIt should be noticed, also, that all who have come pleading the prayer\nof faith, and asking the Lord for relief, have either then, or before,\n_pledged themselves to the service of the Lord_, and have desired the\ngood gifts they seek, that they may more efficiently work for His own\nhonor and glory, and the good of others.\n\nWhen such a desire for healing is united with the desire and the promise\nto work in future for the Lord, His own kingdom and glory, the Lord is\npleased with it, and His promise is made sure to those who come in\nfaith.\n\nIt is needless to say that those who come for prayer, with the desire\nonly for _experiment_, and also those who are _withholding their lives\nor pledges of devotion to Him, need never expect an answer_.\n\n\nCURED OF ST. VITAS' DANCE.\n\n\n\"Very early in childhood, I was seized with a nervous trouble, something\nlike St. Vitus' Dance. As I grew older it did not pass off, but settled\ninto a disease of the muscles. It became a terrible affliction. It was\nusually under my control, but I could not endure protracted work of any\nkind, or unusual fatigue; I had consulted, in various cities, the best\nphysicians, but they pronounced it incurable. All that could be done was\nto be careful of overwork and excitement. It must have been twenty-five\nyears since I was first taken.\n\n\"Doctor Cullis asked me if I could give my body to the Lord to be\nhealed; I felt that I could truly say 'Yes.' He then, in a simple\nmanner, prayed that the Lord would restore strength of nerve and muscle.\nI went home, touched and improved by the comforting words. At the end of\nthe week I was startled at the recollection that I had felt hardly\nanything of my trouble. My nerves began to feel as if they were held\nwith a grasp of iron. The muscles refused to move as before at every\ninclination. For two weeks this painful tension lasted. Then I felt a\ngradual relaxation, and found that I was strong like other people. I\ntested myself in the severest way--walked, wrote and lifted--after each\nexertion I could enjoy perfect rest. The mystery of the miracles was\nexplained to me. This power of God manifested in the past, is manifest\nto us still. Faith can grasp and use it. Close beside us stands a\n_living Christ_.\"\n\n\nHIP DISEASE CURED.\n\n\nA lady from Brooklyn, N.Y., came to the Consumptive's Home for prayer\ncure.\n\n\"She had a diseased hip, and _had used crutches for twenty years_. Often\nthe hip joint would slip from its socket, so that it was impossible for\nher to walk without crutches. She now writes, 'My lameness was\nincurable, and God interposed in my behalf, in answer to your prayer. I\nhave been able to walk for five months without the crutches I have used\nfor over twenty years.'\"\n\n\nA BAD DEBT PAID.\n\n\nA correspondent of Doctor Cullis, who was unable to collect a debt from\na refractory and worthless debtor, promised to give it to the Lord, if\nit was ever paid. The following is his letter:\n\n\"Perhaps you remember that the writer, some months ago, asked you to\npray that some money which had been due him a long time, and which to\nall human appearance was never to be paid, might by God's interposition\nbe paid in full. Enclosed, find the full amount, $25, which was paid a\nfew days since. All glory to Him, who _never, never fails_.\"\n\n\nCONSUMPTION INSTANTLY HEALED.\n\n\n\"At a meeting in the Chapel of the Consumptive's Home, held March 7,\n1876, public prayer was offered for a young man in Florida, who was\napparently gone in consumption; an interested friend had previously\nwritten him that prayer would be offered for him at that time.\n\n\"Not long after she received letters from him, stating that at _that\nsame hour_ he too had joined in supplication, and _was instantly\nhealed_. He says that while before the Lord, pleading his promise, his\nvoice and strength were taken away for a time. Then he began to praise\nthe Lord, and to feel, 'tis done,' and it was done, and tells of the\nwonderful change, his ability to talk and sing, with no difficulty\nwhatever.\"\n\n\nCURED OF CATARRH.\n\n\n\"I have been afflicted with catarrh for over twenty years. I had\nconsulted many physicians and used many remedies--all failed to help me.\nIn the Spring of 1874, I grew so much worse that life became a burden; I\nsuffered from dizziness and great prostration; I was urged to go to you\nfor faith cure. This was no new thing to me; I believed in it, yet found\nit difficult to exercise faith for myself.\n\n\"My daughter went to see you, as I was then unable to go. I looked to\nGod, and believed from that very moment. My whole soul and body seemed\nthrilled, and I began to gain strength immediately.\n\n\"In a few days I was able to go to your _Home_. You prayed simply that\nGod would take all disease from me. I have been entirely well from that\ntime; not only cured of catarrh, but tumors on my limbs were entirely\nremoved. I desire to give God the praise; I bless him that He does\nforgive our transgressions and heal our diseases.\"\n\nThese instances are only a very few out of many, that have occurred, too\nnumerous for repetition here. It must be admitted, that God has most\nsignally blessed the faith of the inmates of the Consumptive's Home,\nanswered their prayer for others. In nearly all the cases of healing\nwhich have occurred, the sufferers have failed in all other means, and\nin their extremity have depended wholly in faith in God.\n\nIn speaking of them, Doctor Cullis says: \"We do not give these instances\nof the healing of the body, dear friends of Jesus, as in any degree\nparamount to the healing of the soul; but that as the dear children of\nGod, we may claim all our privileges, and enjoy the knowledge of our\nfullness of possession in Him who declares\" _all things are, yours_.\"\nShall we in any manner, of smallest or largest import, limit the love\nand power of God, who deigneth out of the highest heaven to declare,\"\n_The Lord thinketh upon me_.\" As an earthly parent separates no part of\nthe well-being of his child from his watchful care, so doth our Heavenly\nFather not only \"_forgive all our iniquities_,\" but \"_healeth all our\ndiseases.\" Let us not confine faith operation to the saving of the soul,\nwhile God's word is full of previous promise for the saving, keeping,\nand healing of the body_.\n\n\"_For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy\nwounds, saith the Lord_.\"\n\n\nA MOTHER'S FAITH--THE LIFE OF BEATE PAULUS.\n\n\nIn a sketch of the life of Beate Paulus, the wife of a German minister\nwho lived on the borders of the Black Forest, are several incidents\nwhich illustrate the power of living faith, and the providence of a\nprayer-hearing God.\n\nThough destitute of wealth, she much desired to educate her children,\nand five of her six boys were placed in school, while she struggled, and\nprayed, and toiled,--not only in the house, but out of doors,--to\nprovide for their necessities.\n\n\"On one occasion,\" writes one of her children, \"shortly before harvest,\nthe fields stood thick with corn, and our mother had already calculated\nthat their produce would suffice to meet all claims for the year. She\nwas standing at the window casting the matter over in her mind, with\ngreat satisfaction, when her attention was suddenly caught by some\nheavy, black clouds with white borders, drifting at a great rate across\nthe Summer sky. 'It is a hail-storm!' she exclaimed in dismay, and\nquickly throwing up the window, she leaned out. Her eyes rested upon a\nfrightful mass of wild storm-clouds, covering the western horizon, and\napproaching with rapid fury.\n\n\"'O God!' she cried, 'there comes an awful tempest, and what _is_ to\nbecome of my corn?' The black masses rolled nearer and nearer, while the\nominous rushing movement that precedes a storm, began to rock the sultry\nair, and the dreaded hail-stones fell with violence. Half beside herself\nwith anxiety about those fields lying at the eastern end of the valley,\nshe now lifted her hands heavenward, and wringing them in terror, cried:\n'Dear Father in heaven, what art thou doing? Thou knowest I cannot\nmanage to pay for my boys at school, without the produce of those\nfields! Oh! turn Thy hand, and do not let the hail blast my hopes!'\nScarcely, however, had these words crossed her lips when she started,\nfor it seemed to her as if a voice had whispered in her ear,' Is my arm\nshortened that it cannot help thee in other ways?' Abashed, she shrank\ninto a quiet corner, and there entreated God to forgive her want of\nfaith. In the meantime the storm passed. And now various neighbors\nhurried in, proclaiming that the whole valley lay thickly covered with\nhail-stones, _down to the very edge of the parsonage fields, but the\nlatter_ had been quite spared. The storm had reached their border, and\nthen suddenly taking another direction into the next valley. Moreover,\nthat the whole village was in amazement, declaring that God had wrought\na miracle for the sake of our mother, whom he loved. She listened,\nsilently adoring the goodness of the Lord, and vowing that henceforth\nher confidence should be only in Him.\"\n\nAt another time she found herself unable to pay the expenses of the\nchildren's schooling, and the repeated demands for money were rendered\nmore grievous by the reproaches of her husband, who charged her with\nattempting impossibilities, and told her that her self-will would\ninvolve them in disgrace. She, however, professed her unwavering\nconfidence that the Lord would soon interpose for their relief, while\nhis answer was: \"We shall see; time will show.\"\n\nIn the midst of these trying circumstances, as her husband was one day\nsitting in his study, absorbed in meditation, the postman brought three\nletters from different towns where the boys were at school, each\ndeclaring that unless the dues were promptly settled, the lads would be\ndismissed. The father read the letters with growing excitement, and\nspreading them out upon the table before his wife as she entered the\nroom, exclaimed: \"There, look at them, and pay our debt with your faith!\nI have no money, nor can I tell where to go for any.\"\n\n\"Seizing the papers, she rapidly glanced through them, with a very grave\nface, but then answered firmly, 'It is all right; the business shall be\nsettled. For He who says, \"The gold and silver is mine,\" will find it an\neasy thing to provide these sums.' Saying which she hastily left the\nroom.\n\n\"Our father readily supposed she intended making her way to a certain\nrich friend who had helped us before. He was mistaken, for this time her\nsteps turned in a different direction. We had in the parsonage an upper\nloft, shut off by a trap-door from the lower one, and over this door it\nwas that she now knelt down, and began to deal with Him in whose\nstrength she had undertaken the work of her children's education. She\nspread before Him those letters from the study table, and told Him of\nher husband's half scoffing taunt. She also reminded Him how her life\nhad been redeemed from the very gates of death, for the children's sake,\nand then declared that she could not believe that He meant to forsake\nher at this juncture; she was willing to be the _second_ whom He might\nforsake, but she was determined not to be the _first_.\n\n\"In the meanwhile, her husband waited down stairs, and night came on;\nbut she did not appear. Supper was ready, and yet she stayed in the\nloft. Then the eldest girl, her namesake Beate, ran up to call her; but\nthe answer was, 'Take your supper without me, it is not time for me to\neat.' Late in the evening, the little messenger was again dispatched,\nbut returned with the reply: 'Go to bed; the time has not come for me to\nrest.' A third time, at breakfast next morning, the girl called her\nmother. 'Leave me alone,' she said; 'I do not need breakfast; when I am\nready I shall come.' Thus the hours sped on, and down stairs her husband\nand the children began to feel frightened, not daring, however, to\ndisturb her any more. At last the door opened, and she entered, her face\nbeaming with a wonderful light. The little daughter thought that\nsomething extraordinary must have happened; and running to her mother\nwith open arms, asked eagerly: 'What is it? Did an angel from heaven\nbring the money?' 'No, my child,' was the smiling answer, 'but now I am\nsure that it will come.' She had hardly spoken, when a maid in peasant\ncostume entered, saying: 'The master of the Linden Inn sends to ask\nwhether the Frau Pastorin can spare time to see him?' 'Ah, I know what\nhe wants,' answered our mother. 'My best regards, and I will come at\nonce.' Whereupon she started, and mine host, looking out of his window,\nsaw her from afar, and came forward to welcome her with the words: 'O\nMadame, how glad I am you have come!' Then leading her into his back\nparlor he said; 'I cannot tell how it is, but the whole of this last\nnight I could not sleep for thinking of you. For some time I have had\nseveral hundred _gulden_ lying in that chest, and all night long I was\nhaunted by the thought that you needed this money, and that I ought to\ngive it to you. If that be the case, there it is--take it; and do not\ntrouble about repaying me. Should you be able to make it up again, well\nand good--if not, never mind.' On this my mother said: 'Yes, I do most\ncertainly need it, my kind friend; for all last night I too was awake,\ncrying to God for help. Yesterday there came three letters, telling us\nthat all our boys would he dismissed unless the money for their board is\ncleared at once.'\n\n\"'Is it really so?' exclaimed the innkeeper, who was a noble-hearted and\nspiritual Christian man. 'How strange and wonderful! Now I am doubly\nglad I asked you to come!' Then opening the chest, he produced three\nweighty packets, and handed them to her with a prayer that God's\nblessing might rest upon the gift. She accepted it with the simple\nwords: 'May God make good to you this service of Christian sympathy; for\nyou have acted as the steward of One who has promised not even to leave\nthe giving of a cup of cold water unrewarded.'\n\n\"Husband and children were eagerly awaiting her at home, and those three\ndismal letters still lay open on the table, when the mother, who had\nquitted that study in such deep emotion the day before, stepped up to\nher husband, radiant with joy. On each letter, she laid a roll of money\nand then cried: 'Look, there it is! And now believe that faith in God is\nno empty madness!'\"\n\n\nTHE PERSECUTOR'S FATE.\n\n\nDr. Eugenio Kincaid, the Burman missionary, states, that among the first\nconverts in Ava were two men who had held respectable offices about the\npalace. Some time after they had been baptized, a neighbor determined to\nreport them to government, and drew up a paper setting forth that these\ntwo men had forsaken the customs and religion of their fathers, were\nworshiping the foreigner's God, and went every Sunday to the teacher's\nhouse; with other similar charges. He presented the paper to the\nneighbors of the two disciples, taking their names as witnesses, and\nsaving that he should go and present the accusation on the next day.\n\nThe two Christians heard of it, and went to Mr. Kincaid in great alarm,\nto consult as to what they should do. They said if they were accused to\ngovernment, the mildest sentence they could expect would be imprisonment\nfor life at hard labor, and perhaps they would be killed. Kincaid told\nthem that they could not flee from Ava, if they would; that he saw\nnothing he could do for them, and all that they could do was to trust in\nGod to protect them, and deliver them from the power of their enemies.\nThey also prayed, and soon left Kincaid, saying that they felt more\ncalm, and could leave the matter with God.\n\nThat night the persecutor was attacked by a dreadful disease in the\nbowels, which so distressed him that he roared like a madman; and his\nfriends, which is too often the case with the heathen, left him to\nsuffer and die alone. The two Christians whom he would have ruined then\nwent and took care of him till he died, two or three days after his\nattack. The whole affair was well known in the neighborhood, and from\nthat time not a dog dared move his tongue against the Christians of Ava.\n\nIs there no evidence in this of a special providence, and that God\nlistens to the prayers of persecuted and distressed children?\n\n\nTHE CAPTAIN AND THE QUADRANT.\n\n\nA godly man, the master of an American ship, during one voyage found his\nship bemisted for days, and he became rather anxious respecting her\nsafety. He went down to his cabin and prayed. The thought struck him, if\nhe had with confidence committed his soul to God, he might certainly\ncommit his ship to Him; and so, accordingly, he gave all into the hands\nof God, and felt at perfect peace; but still he prayed, that if He would\nbe pleased to give a cloudless sky at twelve o'clock, he should like to\ntake an observation to ascertain their real position, and whether they\nwere on the right course.\n\nHe came on deck at eleven o'clock, with the quadrant under his coat. As\nit was thick drizzling, the men looked at him with amazement. He went to\nhis cabin, prayed, and came up. There seemed still to be no hope. Again\nhe went down and prayed, and again he appeared on deck with his quadrant\nin his hand. It was now ten minutes to twelve o'clock, and still there\nwas no appearance of a change; but he stood on the deck, waiting upon\nthe Lord, when, in a few minutes, the mist seemed to be folded up and\nrolled away as by an omnipotent and invisible hand; the sun shown\nclearly from the blue vault of heaven, and there stood the man of prayer\nwith the quadrant in his hand, but so awe-struck did he feel, and so\n\"dreadful\" was that place, that he could scarcely take advantage of the\nanswer to his prayer. He, however, succeeded, although with trembling\nhands, and found, to his comfort, that all was well. But no sooner had\nhe finished taking the observation than the mist rolled back over the\nheavens, and it began to drizzle as before.\n\nThis story of prayer was received from the lips of the good Captain\nCrossby, who was so useful in the Ardrossan awakening; and he himself\nwas the man who prayed and waited upon his God with the quadrant in his\nhand.\n\n\nTHE FAITH OF DOROTHEA TRUDEL.\n\n\nThe life of Dorothea Trudel has afforded some remarkable instances of\nanswer to prayer; during the years 1850 to 1860, at the Swiss village of\nM\u00e4nnedorf, near the Lake of Zurich, and that of Molltingen, were seen\nand witnessed, cases of cure in response to unyielding faith in the\npromises of the Lord.\n\nDorothea Trudel was a worker in flowers, and in time came to have many\nworkers under her, and when she was about thirty-seven years of age,\nfour or five of her workers fell sick. The sickness resisted all\ntreatment, grew worse, appeared to be hopeless. She was a deep, earnest\nChristian, and while diligent and unselfish as a nun, yet her anxiety\nfor her work people drew her to earnest prayer and study of the\nScriptures for relief. Like a sudden light, she says, the well known\nprayer of the Epistle of James, 5: 14, 15, flashed upon her.\n\n\"If medical skill was unavailing, was there not prayer? And could not\nthe same Lord who chose to heal through medicines, also heal without\nthem? Was he necessarily restricted to the one means? There was a time\nwhen his healing power went forth directly; might it not be put forth\ndirectly still?\"\n\nAgitated by these questions, she sought help in prayer, and then\nkneeling by the bedside of these sick people, she prayed for them. They\nrecovered; and the thought that at first had startled her, became now\nthe settled conviction of her life.\n\nHer reputation spread; others who were sick, came to her for relief, but\nshe sought only the recovery of the patients by prayer alone. Many\nrecovered. Her doors were besieged, and at last she consented to receive\ninvalids at her home, from compassion. By degrees her own house grew\ninto three, and at last it became in fact a hospital.\n\nShe lived a life of humility, and perfect simplicity, yet strength of\nfaith, and at her death her work was, and still is, carried on by Mr.\nZeller, who also has had marvelous successes in answer to prayer.\n\n\nREMARKABLE CURES.\n\n\nThere have been gathered together in her biography, well authenticated\ncases of answer to prayer, when the patient was considered wholly\nincapable of help from medical skill.\n\n\"There was one of a stiff knee, that had been, treated in vain by the\nbest physicians in France, Germany and Switzerland; one of an elderly\nman who could not walk, and had been given up by his physicians, but who\nsoon dispensed with his crutches; a man came with a burned foot, and the\nsurgeons said it was a case of '_either amputation or death_' and he\nalso was cured; one of the leading physicians of Wurtemburg, testifies\nto the cure of a hopeless patient of his own; another remained six\nweeks, and says he saw all kinds of sicknesses healed; cancers and\nfevers have been treated with success; epilepsy and insanity more\nfrequently than any other form of disease.\n\n\"Neither is the life and experience of Dorothea Trudel an exceptional\none. Pastor Blumenhart of Wurtemberg, has had his home crowded for years\nwith patients, and cures occur constantly.\n\n\"The mother of Dorothea Trudel was an eminently pious woman, and it was\nher custom, when any of her children were ill, to bring them in prayer\nbefore the feet of the Heavenly Physician, as Dorothea herself says:\n'Our mother had no cure except prayer, and though at that time we did\nnot understand, yet since then we have found it out, that it was the\nhealing hand of the Saviour alone, that helped and restored us.'\"\n\n\nCURED OF THE SMALL-POX.\n\n\n\"Even when I had the small-pox, and became blind, no doctor was sent\nfor, and no one was told of it. Our father was not at home (he, father,\nmost unfortunately, was not a religious person); and when our mother\nasked him to come, telling him how ill I was, he would not believe it,\nand preferred to remain with his friends. Our mother, however, was not\nin the least vexed or excited; she prayed for him, for all of us,\nespecially for her sick child, and before my father came home, my eyes\nwere re-opened.\"\n\n\nCURED OF SEVERE FITS.\n\n\n\"Once again, one of my brothers had a fit brought on through fright. It\nwas a most violent and painful attack, and we were greatly alarmed. This\ntime, also, our father was out; and our mother said to us, I know this\nfearful illness, my children; it is one of the heaviest trials which\ncould have, occurred, but Jesus, who cured that lunatic boy, can heal\nour child. Do not speak of the attack to any one; we will go only to\nJesus about it; and then she prayed with us.\n\n\"Not long after, a second fit came on, and again our father was taking\nhis pleasure at the public house. This time mother told him what had\nhappened in his absence; but he laughed at it, and said, 'I don't\nbelieve it; you were frightened at the child having bad dreams.'\n\n\"His wife replied, 'For the sake of your unbelief, I hope that the child\nwill have another attack whilst you are at home, so that you may witness\nit yourself, then you will believe; I pray God, however, that this may\nbe the last time.'\n\n\"It came to pass about a week after, that another most dreadful fit came\non; the boy foamed violently, and threw himself about in fearful\nconvulsions; on this occasion the father was present, and he was\nconvinced of the nature of the attack, and alarmed at what he saw. _But\nthe mother's prayer was heard, for the disease never showed itself again\nfor thirty-four years, while both parents lived_.\"\n\n\nBUYING A COW.\n\n\n\"Our father going away abroad, he sold one of our two cows, and took the\nproceeds with him. (He, the father, was a reckless spendthrift, idle,\nand fond of the public inn.) A rich neighbor directly offered to loan us\nmoney enough to buy another; this kind proposal we gratefully accepted.\nAlthough we did not understand much about bargains of this kind, yet the\ncow we purchased served us so remarkably, that we were obliged to\nacknowledge whence the blessing came. In Summer we could sell fourteen\nmeasures of milk; in Winter, twelve to the dairyman, so that the\nborrowed money was speedily paid.\n\n\"At the same time the cow performed the farm work required of it, with\nsuch strength and quickness, we were astonished. When our father, on his\nreturn, heard us speaking with pleasure of this animal, he became so\nenraged with the poor thing, that he was determined to sell it, and\nactually _offered it at half its value_.\n\n\"The faithless children were in a continual fright. When any one came\nnear the house, we thought that we were assuredly going to lose our cow.\nBut mother exhorted us not to be so fearful; for, said she, 'If your\nfather could do always as he likes, none of you would be alive now; but\nGod will never let him go any farther than he sees to be for our good.\nBelieve me, God, who has given us this cow, will keep it for us as long\nas we need it.'\n\n\"And so it turned out, for the cow never left us whilst our mother was\nalive; and when we were all provided for, a purchaser came, who paid a\nhigh price for the creature, having heard of its wonderful powers from\nthe man to whom we sold the milk for so many years; but no sooner was\nthe animal taken to its new home, than the wonder ceased, and _this cow\nbecame no better than any other_.\"\n\n\nA LADY CURED, WHO HAD BEEN REJECTED FROM AN ASYLUM.\n\n\n\"Madam M----, the mother of twelve children, had been quite shattered in\nmind by the death of her husband, and had been actually sent away\nuncured from an asylum. She came to Dorothea's home, was blessed in\nremembrance in her prayers, _and after seven weeks went away perfectly\ncured_. She acknowledged the Lord was indeed her helper, and she has\nremained well to this day.\"\n\n\nTHE SOUL CURED AS WELL AS THE BODY.\n\n\nOn many occasions she experienced wonderful help from God, who, while\nperforming marvels for the body, which is the least important part,\naccomplishes what is far greater, even the salvation of souls.\n\n\"Among others, one named B. T----, went to her, who had been suffering\nfor six months from a disease of his bones, and had been for a\nlengthened period in a Swiss hospital, under medical treatment. At\nlength he, by the advice of Christian friends, sought for relief from\nhis malady at Dorothea's house. His care began in the first week of his\nvisit, and in a few weeks he was completely recovered.\"\n\nOn one occasion a young artisan came, in whom cancer had made such\nprogress as to render any approach to him almost unbearable.\n\n\"At the Bible lessons, this once frivolous man, now an earnest inquirer,\nlearned where the improvement must begin; and from the day that he\nconfessed his sins against God and man, the disease abated. Some time\nafterwards he acknowledged one sin he had hitherto concealed, and then\nhe speedily recovered his bodily health, and returned to his home cured\nin spirit also.\"\n\n\"A lady in S---- had so injured her knee by a fall, that for weeks she\nlay in the greatest agony. The doctors declared that dropsy would\nsupervene; but the Heavenly Physician fulfilled those promises which\nwill abide until the end of the world; and by prayer, and the laying on\nof Dorothea's hand, the knee was cured in twenty-four hours, and the\nswelling vanished.\"\n\n\nPRAYER, NOT MESMERISM.\n\n\n\"Several people have maintained that her work was one of mesmerism; and\nwhen once she was asked to visit an out patient, she earnestly implored\nthe Lord _not_ to heal this invalid through her means if she employed\nmesmerism; but if not, to permit recovery. The woman was cured in a\nshort time, though Dorothea had never entered her house, and had,\ntherefore, no opportunity of placing herself in a mesmeric relation to\nthis patient.\"\n\n\nHELP IN PECUNIARY AFFAIRS.\n\n\n\"In pecuniary affairs, also, the Lord was their helper. Many times\nsomething had to be paid, and they had no means wherewith to meet the\nclaims. Once, God actually sent aid by means of an enemy, who offered\nmoney; another time, _three thousand francs_ came from Holland, just as\nthey were needed, and also unexpected on a third occasion they were\nabout to borrow money to pay for bread, when two hundred and fifty\nfrancs arrived.\"\n\n\nTHE FAITH LIFE OF MR. ZELLER.\n\n\nAfter the death of Dorothea Trudel, the work at M\u00e4nnedorf, instituted by\nher, has been furthered and carried on by Mr. Samuel Zeller, who had\nbeen her associate. He has published two reports, which contain many\ninstances of answers to prayer, showing that the Lord still gave blessed\nresults, and rewarded their faithful trust.\n\n\"No disease is found to be more obstinate than epilepsy, yet several\ninstances are recorded of patients being restored to perfect health.\nPersons afflicted with mental disorder and convulsions are frequently\nbrought to M\u00e4nnedorf, and many return cured or benefited.\n\n\"On one occasion, a lady who had been afflicted with constant headache\nfor five years, found her disorder removed speedily under the influence\nof prayer. In other cases the passion for strong drink was taken away;\nfever more or less disappeared; and the subjects of various kinds of\nchronic diseases, even some apparently far gone in consumption, have\nfound their strength return to them under the same influence.\n\n\"Unhappy victims of spiritualist delusions have found deliverance at the\nmercy-seat; and there, too, many in the bondage of sin have rejoiced in\na present Saviour.\n\n\"One patient afflicted with convulsions, who came several years\nsuccessively without being cured, at last confessed that she possessed a\nbook of 'charms' in which she put some degree of, faith, and she had\nrecommended them to others. She was led to see the folly and sin of such\nthings, and soon after the book was burned she was restored to health.\"\n\nMany cases have occurred where the suffering patient was utterly unable\nto come to M\u00e4nnedorf, but prayer has been offered there in their behalf,\nand the answers have been as frequent as with the cases which have come\nunder the same roof.\n\n\"A brother living at R---- was seized with a violent fever, and appeared\nto be at death's door. Intelligence having been sent to M\u00e4nnedorf,\nunited prayer was made in his behalf; and very soon afterwards a\ntelegraphic message announced that he was recovering. On this occasion\nthe promise was remembered with joy,' Before they call I will answer.'\"\n\n\"Perhaps one of the most striking cases of blessing recorded is that of\na lady, who was subject to fits of insanity so violent that they\nthreatened her life, and who was so far conscious of her miserable\ncondition, that happening to go into a meeting where she heard God's\nword, she requested to be prayed for. A friend wrote to M\u00e4nnedorf,\ndescribing the case, and asking prayer on her behalf; and only a\nfortnight later, the same friend communicated the happy news of her\nrecovery. After a fit of unusual severity, she fell into a deep sleep,\nfrom which she awoke in her right mind; more than that, she learned to\nbelieve in the _Lord Jesus_, and rejoiced in His love.\"\n\n\"A patient in this institution, who arrived unconverted, and was thought\nto be in a dying state, heard the good news of Salvation, and was\nenabled to rejoice in the Lord, through simple trust in Him; and from\nthat moment she began to rapidly recover from her disorder, and soon\nbecame strong enough to nurse another patient.\"\n\nAnother remarkable case was that of a young girl who, in consequence of\nthe breaking off of a marriage engagement, manifested decided symptoms\nof insanity. She not only recovered from her malady, but found the\nSaviour.\n\n\nTHE BLIND RESTORED TO SIGHT.\n\n\nPrayer was asked for a young lady who was wholly blind. A letter\nreceived soon after brought this joyful news:\n\n\"In answer to your prayer for our niece, I must thankfully tell you, her\neyes are so much better that the Doctor this morning told her to thank\nGod for having saved her from the most dangerous kind of cataract.\n\n\"While examining her eyes, the Doctor, who is a Jew, took up a book\nlying near, and opening it told her to try and read, which she was able\nto do with ease. It was a hymn book, and the first words on which her\neyes fell were these:\n\n    'Christ Jesus, glorious King of Light,\n      Great Conqueror, David's heir,\n    Come now and give my blind eyes sight,\n      O Saviour, hear my prayer!'\n\n\"'That will do,' said the Doctor, 'you are much better.'\n\n\"I for my part hastened to my chamber, and shutting the door fell on my\nknees with a cry of joyful praise.\"\n\nThreats were made by many of the villagers that they would burn up the\nhouse for this institution, saying all manner of unreasonable things.\n\"You can not prevent this by prayer,\" said one writer, \"we have taken an\noath to do it.\" Mr. Zeller remained quiet, taking no notice of these\nthreats, but quietly trusted in the Lord. Though other anonymous letters\ncame frequently, yet the threats were never carried out.\n\nIt will he seen from this that, blessed as was the work of faith, still\nthe spirit of persecution was permitted by the Lord only to make his own\nchildren rely more confidently on Him, and that he might fulfill more\npositively his promise, \"_No evil shall befall thee, no harm come nigh\nthy dwelling_.\"\n\n\nTHE BANK OF FAITH. GOD THE GUARDIAN OF THE POOR.\n\n\nPerhaps the providence of God in supplying the wants of the poor never\nwas more closely watched and better described than has been done by the\nlate William Huntington, formerly a minister in London, England, who, in\na book with the quaint title of the \"Bank of Faith,\" tells how, in his\ncourse of life, day by day the Lord guarded him, helped him, and\nprovided for every need, even the most trifling. It is a precious record\nof faith and full of true encouragement. He answers as follows this\nquestion: \"_Should we fray for temporal blessings?_\"\n\n\"Some have affirmed that we have no warrant to pray for temporal\nblessings, but, blessed be God, he has given us '_the promise of the\nlife that now is, and of that which is to come_.' Yea, the promise of\nall things pertaining to life and Godliness, and whatever God has\npromised we may warrantably pray for.\n\n\"Those that came to our Saviour in the days of his flesh, prayed chiefly\nfor temporal mercies. The blind prayed for sight, the lepers for a cure,\nthe lame far the use of their limbs, and the deaf for the use of their\nears, and surely had they prayed unwarrantably, their prayers would not\nhave been so miraculously answered.\n\n\"Elijah prayed for a temporal mercy when he prayed for rain, and it is\nclear that God answered him. Elisha works a miracle to produce a\ntemporal mercy when he healed the barren plains of Jericho.\"\n\nIs my reader a poor Christian? Take it patiently. God maketh the poor as\nwell as the rich. Envy not the rich. Riches are often seen to be a\ncanker-worm at the root of a good man's comfort, a snare in his life, an\niron pillar at the back of his pride. A gar prayed to be fed with food\nconvenient for him, and you may pray for the same, and what God gives\nyou in answer to your prayer you will be thankful for.\n\nThat state is surely best which keeps you dependent on God and thankful\nto Him, and so you shall find it to the end. _Go on, poor Christian,\ntrusting in the providence of God_.\n\n\nTHE LIFE OF HIS CHILD SAVED.\n\n\n\"My eldest daughter now living fell sick at about five or six months\nold, and was wasted to a skeleton. She had a doctor to attend her, but\nshe got worse and worse. It seemed as if God intended to bereave us of\nher, for he brought her even to death's door.\n\n\"My wife and I have sat up with her night after night, watching the\ncradle, expecting every breath to be her last, for two or three weeks\ntogether. At last I asked the Doctor if he thought there was any hope of\nher life. He answered, no, he would not flatter me. _She would surely\ndie_.\n\n\"This distressed me beyond measure, and as he told me to do no more for\nher, I left my room, went to my garden in the evening, and, in my little\ntool house, wrestled hard with God in prayer for the life of the child.\n\n\"I went home satisfied that God had heard me; _and in three days the\nchild was as well as she is now_, and ate as heartily. This effectually\nconvinced me that all things were possible with God.\"\n\n\nGOD SENT SUPPLIES.\n\n\n\"When I had been three weeks out of employment, I found a new place, and\nafter pawning all my best clothes to pay expenses, when the cart set us\ndown at the new home on Monday morning, I had the total sum of _ten\npence half-penny left,_ to provide for myself, my wife and child, till\nthe ensuing Saturday night.\n\n\"Though I was thus poor, yet I knew God had made me rich in faith. We\nwent on our knees beseeching the Almighty to send relief, as he in his\nwisdom thought proper.\n\n\"The next evening my landlord's daughter, and son-in-law, came up to see\ntheir mother, and brought some baked meat, which they had just taken out\nof their oven, and brought for me and my wife to sup along with them.\n\n\"These poor people knew nothing of us, nor of our God. The next day in\nthe evening they did the same, and kept sending victuals and garden\nstuff to us all the week long.\"\n\n\nTHE GOD WHO SUPPLIED ELIJAH BY A RAVEN SUPPLIED ME WITH FISH.\n\n\nOne of the most beautiful instances ever known, which almost identically\nrepeats the Bible over again, especially in the instance of Elijah as he\nwas fed in an unseen way by the hand of God, is given in the life of Mr.\nHuntington. He was wholly unable to provide for his family, and could\ndepend only on God.\n\n\"As I went over a bridge, I cast my eye on the right-hand side, and\nthere lay a _very large eel_ on the mud by the river side, apparently\ndead. I caught hold of it and soon found it was only asleep. With\ndifficulty I got it safe out of the mud upon the grass, and then carried\nit home. My little one was very fond of it, and it richly supplied all\nher wants that day. But at night I was informed the eel was all gone, so\nthe next day afforded me the same distress and trouble as the preceding\nday had done.\n\n\"The next morning, as I entered the garden gate, I saw a _partridge_ lie\ndead on the walk. I took it up and found it warm; so I carried it home,\nand it richly supplied the table of our little one that day.\n\n\"Again the next day still found me unprovided, and brought forth fresh\nwork for faith and prayer. However, the morrow took thought for the\nthings of itself, for when I came to take the scythe in my hand to mow\nthe short grass, I looked into the pond, and there I saw three very\nlarge carp lying on the water apparently sick. When the master came I\ntold him of it. He went and looked and said they were dead, and told me\nI might have them if I would, for they were not in season. However, they\ncame in due season to me. _And I found, morning after morning, there lay\ntwo or three of these fish at a time, dead, just as I wanted them, till\nI believe there was not one live fish remaining, six inches long, in the\npond, which was near three hundred feet in length._\n\n\"I could not help weeping, admiring the goodness of God. As I studied\nthe Bible, I clearly perceived that the most eminent saints of the Bible\nwere brought into _low_ circumstances, as Jacob, David, Moses, Joseph,\nJob and Jeremiah, and all the apostles, in order that the hand of\nprovidence might be watched.\"\n\n\nGOD TAKES AWAY THE SNOW.\n\n\n\"In the Winter the Lord sent a very deep snow, which lay a considerable\ntime on the ground. We were brought into great straits, as our wheat was\nnow of no use to us, and we could obtain no wood, the landlady saying\nthat as the snow was likely to last some time, she must keep what little\nshe had left, and could sell us no more.\n\n\"There was before us the fear of great suffering with the cold. I begged\nof God that he might _that night take away the snow_, and send us\nsomething to burn, that our little one might not perish with the cold,\n_and the next morning the snow was all gone_.\"\n\n\nSIGHT RESTORED.\n\n\n\"A violent humor came into my eyes, and for some months I was in danger\nof losing my sight. Both myself and my second daughter had it more or\nless for several years.\n\n\"In answer to prayer, God healed her eyes and mine too, so that our\nsight was perfectly recovered.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR TEA.\n\n\n\"As the life of faith consists in bearing the cross of Christ, we must\nnot expect to be long without trials. Providence soon frowned on me\nagain, and I got behindhand, as usual.\n\n\"This happened at a time when my wife was about delivery of child, and\nwe were destitute of those necessaries of life which are needful at such\ntimes. The nurse came: we told her there was no tea in the house. My\nwife replied, '_Set the kettle on, even if there is not_.'\n\n\"The nurse said, '_You have no tea, nor can you get any_.' My wife\nreplied, '_Set on the kettle_.' She did so, and before it boiled, a\nwoman (with whom at that time we had no acquaintance) came to the door,\nand told the nurse that she had brought some tea as a present for my\nwife.\"\n\n\nTHE LORD PAID HIS DEBT.\n\n\n\"It was the time of my returning from the north country. I observed that\nthere were some small debts to be discharged. But the hand of God was\nfast closed; this continued for some time: and for all that time, I\nwatched and observed narrowly.\n\n\"At this time there was a special debt due of twenty pounds. This sum\nhung long. I looked different ways, and chalked out different roads for\nthe Almighty to walk in; but his paths were in the deep waters, and his\nfootsteps were not known; no raven came, neither in the morning, nor in\nthe evening.\n\n\"There was a gentlewoman at my house on a visit, and I asked her if she\nhad got the sum of twenty pounds in her pocket, telling her at the same\ntime how much I wanted it. She told me she had not; if she had, I should\nhave it. A few hours after, the same woman was coming into my study, but\nshe found it locked, and knocked at the door; I let her in, and she\nsaid, 'I am sorry I disturbed you.' I replied, 'You do not disturb me; I\nhave been begging a favor of God, and I had just done when you knocked;\nand that favor I have now got in faith, and shall shortly have in hand,\nand you will see it.'\"\n\n\"The afternoon of the same day, two gentlemen out of the city came to\nsee me; and after a few hours of conversation, they left me, and to my\ngreat surprise, each of them at parting put a letter into my hand,\nwhich, when they were gone, _I opened, and found a ten pound note in\neach_. I immediately sent for the woman up-stairs, and let her read the\nletters, and then sent the money to pay the debt.\"\n\nIt is impossible to give in this page any large portion of the life of\nMr. Huntington, who was rich in faith, and upon whom God showered\nabundant answers to prayer. But, like all of us, he, too, suffered\nextremely in all the necessities of life, yet ever looked to God above\nfor help. Of his experience, he says in his own words, after having for\nyears thoroughly tested the promises and faithfulness of God:\n\n\"_A succession of crosses was always followed with perpetual blessings,\nfor as sure as adversity led the van, so sure prosperity brought up the\nrear_.\n\n\"_Never, no never, did the Holy Spirit withhold his prevalent\nintercession from, me in times of trouble, nor did my God ever turn a\ndeaf ear to my prayer, or fail to deliver me_.\"\n\n\"_Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him\nout of them all_.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAITH OF LITTLE CHILDREN.\n\n\nHOW GOD HONORS THEIR TRUST, AND ANSWERS THEIR PRAYERS.\n\n\nGOD KEEPS HOLD OF THE OTHER HAND.\n\n\nA little boy with his mother was returning from a visit; the night was\nvery dark, and little could be seen ahead. She led her little boy, by\nthe hand, who trustingly walked by her side. He had only just begun to\nlearn and remember the stories of the Bible, and he believed and trusted\neverything he heard. After walking for sometime in the darkness, very\nsilently, he burst out with,\n\n\"Mamma, I'm not afraid.\"\n\n\"Why, what makes you feel so.\"\n\n\"_Because, mamma, God keeps hold of the other hand_.\"\n\nThis is the beautiful lesson older ones, too, must learn, the simple,\nchildlike confidence in God, which gives no fear, no alarm.\n\nThe skeptic can never accuse little children of the same theories,\nphilosophies, imaginations and beliefs which are characteristic of older\nheads. The child knows nothing of such books of reason, science or\nreligion. Many a child who could not read has asked of God and his\nprayer has been answered; and when the whole world witnesses a little\nchild, who in its innocence has been told that God lives, that God loves\nhim, that God can do everything and will surely hear his prayer, and\nthen in its care and grief, kneels before the God it trusts, offers its\nlittle prayer, _and the prayer is answered_, let none of maturer minds\never presume to doubt. The faith of little children is typical of the\nvery simplest faith wherewith any human being must approach its Creator.\nThe child never questions, never doubts; but in its simplicity asks, and\nGod honors the trust. The following incident illustrates the point,\n_that not one thing is ere too small for God to consider, or a soul to\nbring to him in prayer_.\n\n\nA CHILD WHOSE LIFE WAS SAVED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER--BY HIS OWN PRAYER THE\nLIFE OF HIS SISTER IS SAVED.\n\n\nOne of the most beautiful incidents ever known relating to the faith of\nchildren, and the reward of their trust, is contained in the following\ncircumstance, personally known to the editor of this book, who was a\nparticipant in the facts.\n\nThe only child of a young married couple, living in this city, their\npride, their hope and joy, and the darling of the whole family, was\nseized with severe sickness, grew rapidly worse. The grandfather, who\nwas a skilled physician, was constantly present, ministering in every\nway, by every means, but nothing was of any avail. No medicine could\ncure, and the child seemed ready to die. No one could think of relief or\nknew where to find it. The grandfather, at last, proposed to lay the\ncase before God, and ask the prayers of His people in the child's\nbehalf. The mother was only too glad to ask other prayers with her own,\nto bring relief. The father, who had hitherto never seriously thought of\nreligion, was in intense anxiety and despair. Here was his first, his\nonly child about to be taken away from him, and then came the thought,\nis it possible his family life was not to be blessed; his child was in\ndistress, no human effort was available. At last, he too joined in the\nprayer of his wife and father, and bowing before the Great Unknown,\nunseen God, he poured out his heart in prayer, saying, \"_Lord, if thou\nwilt spare my child, wilt give him life, and thus show to me thy power\nand will to save, I will never doubt again, and will give thee my\nheart\"_\n\nA request for prayer was written and sent to the pastor, Dr. William\nAdams, of the Madison Square Church. It arrived after church service had\nbegun; the sexton was unwilling to carry it to the pulpit, as it was\nagainst the rule, but when told he _must, as a life was in great\ndanger_, he consented, and delivered it to the pastor.\n\nThe messenger waited breathlessly, and when in silence the doctor\nspecifically mentioned the case before him, and asked the Lord to heal\nand spare the little one, and comfort the hearts of all, and make it a\nwitness of his love and power, the messenger accidentally looked at the\nclock, and it marked just _quarter to eleven_, A.M.\n\nWhen prayer was finished he returned home. Arriving at home, he was\nastonished to find the child better, its whole condition had changed,\nthe medicine had taken hold, and the doctor now said everything was so\nhopeful the child would surely recover, and it did. But mark the\nunparalleled singularity of the scene. The father asked the messenger\nthe _time_ when the prayer was offered. He replied, \"At a _quarter to\neleven.\"_ The father in astonishment said, \"_At that very moment_ the\ndisease changed, and the doctor said he was better.\"\n\nThe father, who had thus been proving the Lord with this test of prayer\nand its identity of time in his answer, was so overwhelmingly convinced\nof the real power of prayer, and thereby of the real existence of God,\nand that a Christian life was one of facts as well as beliefs, now\nfinding that the Lord had indeed kept His own promise, he, too, kept his\npromise and gave his heart to the Lord, and became henceforth, a\nprofessing Christian.\n\nBut there were more wonderful things yet to happen--a period of five\nyears passed. Other children were added to the family, and one day, the\nyoungest, a sweet, beautiful girl, was taken suddenly ill with\nconvulsions. The sickness for days tasked the strength of the mother,\nand the skill of the doctor, but no care, ingenuity, or knowledge could\novercome the disease or subdue the pain. The little girl's fits were\nsevere and distressing, and there were but short intervals between, just\ntime to come out of one and with a gasp, pass into another still more\nterrible. In its occasional moments of reason, it would look piteously\nas if mutely appealing, and then the next convulsion would take it and\nseem to leave it just at death's door.\n\nAll attendants were worn with care, the doctor fairly lived in the house\nand forsook all his other business. The clergyman came and comforted the\nanxious hearts with words of sympathy and prayer; but her _little\nbrother Merrill_, (whose own life we have just related,) tender-hearted,\na mere child, scarce seven years of age, who had known of the Lord, and\nwho believed that He was everywhere and could do everything, was\nintensely grieved at \"Mamie's\" distress, and came at last to his mother\nand asked if he could go and \"_make a prayer to God for Sissy_.\" The\nmother said, \"Go.\" The little boy went back into his room, and kneeling\nhumbly by the side of his bed, as he did at his night and morning\nprayers, uttered this request:\n\n_\"O God, please to bless little sister, she is very sick. Please stop\nher fits so she won't have any more. For Jesus' sake, amen.\"_\n\nHe came back, told his mamma what he said, and added: \"_Mamma, I don't\nthink she will have any more_.\"\n\nNow mark how the Lord honored this simple faith of the little child.\n_From that very moment the fits left her. They never returned; and the\nchild soon entirely recovered_.\n\nNotice the full beauty and instruction of these two incidents: _Little\nMerrill's life was saved in answer to prayer; was the means of his\nfather's salvation, and when he in turn had grown to an age when he\ncould learn of God, his own prayer was the means of saving his own\nsister's life_.\n\nNotice, too, that all earthly available means were used to save each\nchild, but to no effect. Physicians and parents considered the case\nhopeless, and then committed it to the decision of God.\n\nNotice, too, that when little Merrill was so sick, that the mother and\ndoctor both prayed, yet it was not until his father had also prayed that\nthe answer came. God meant to honor the faith of the first two, but was\n_waiting for the prayer of the third_ ere he granted the request. That\nchild's sickness was one of the purposes of God. Notice in the second\ncase, that while father, mother, doctor, the clergyman, and others of\nthe house were all trusting in prayer, yet the Lord _was waiting for the\nprayer of the little brother_, ere he sent the blessing of relief. Such\nan incident draws its own conclusion. _Never cease in prayer for\nanything which is to God's honor and glory. Use all the possible means\nto help God. Where human means are of no avail, commit it to God and\nwait in humble resignation. Ask others to pray, too, for the same\nobject_, that when the answer comes, God may be glorified before the\nsight of others as well as your own. When so many are waiting to see if\n_God_ will honor his promises, depend upon it, _God will be found\nfaithful to all his word_.\n\n\nTRUSTING IN GOD'S PROMISES.\n\n\n\"It was a fierce, wild night in March, and the blustering wind was\nblowing, accompanied by the sharp, sleety snow. It was very desolate\nwithout, but still more desolate within the home I am going to describe\nto you. The room was large and almost bare, and the wind whistled\nthrough the cracks in the most dismal manner. In one corner of the room\nstood an old-fashioned bedstead upon which a woman lay, her emaciated\nform showing her to be in the last stage of consumption. A low fire\nburned in the large fire-place, and before it a little girl was\nkneeling. She had a small testament, and was trying by the dim\nfire-light to read a chapter, as was her custom, before going to bed. A\nfaint voice called to her from the bed, 'Nellie, my daughter, read the\n14th chapter of St. John for your Mother.' 'Yes, Mother,' was the reply,\nand after turning the leaves a few moments, the child began. All that\nlong Winter day that poor mother had been tortured with pain and\nremorse. She was poor, very poor, and she knew she must die and leave\nher child to the mercies of the world. Her husband had died several\nyears before. Since then she had struggled on, as best she could, till\nnow she had almost grown to doubt God's promises to the helpless. 'In my\nFather's house are many mansions.' 'I go to prepare a place for you.'\nHere the little reader paused, and crept to her mother's side. She lay\nmotionless, with closed eyes, while great hot tears were stealing down\nher wasted cheeks. 'Mother, He has a place almost ready for you, hasn't\nHe.' 'Yes, my child, and I am going very soon, but _He_ will watch over\nyou, Nellie, when Mother has gone to her last home.'\n\n\"The weeks went slowly by to the suffering invalid; but when the violets\nwere blooming, they made a grave upon the hillside, and laid the weary\nbody down to rest, but the spirit had gone to the home which Christ\nhimself had gone to prepare.\n\n\"Years passed away. It was sunny May. The little church of Grenville was\ncrowded. I noticed in one of the seats a lady plainly but neatly\nattired. There was nothing remarkable in the face with its mournful\nbrown eyes, and decided looking mouth and chin. I ransacked my memory to\nfind who the lady was. Suddenly a vision of the poor widow came. This,\nthen, was the little girl, little Nellie Mason. 'We will read a part of\nthe 14th chapter of St. John,' the minister said. 'In my Father's house\nare many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you.' The slow,\ndeliberate tones recalled me from my reverie, and I looked at Nellie.\nHer head was bowed, but I could see the tears flowing like rain.\"\n\n\nTHE FAITH OF A LITTLE CHILD.\n\n\nAn incident most beautiful was told in the Fulton Street prayer meeting\nby a converted Jew.\n\n\"Journeying in the cars, I was attracted by two little girls, Jewesses.\nI asked them if they loved Jesus. To my surprise, they said they did. I\nfound that their mother was in a seat near by. She had attended some of\nthe gospel meetings for Jews, and was interested in them. She said her\nhusband had not been to church or synagogue for eleven years, and she\ndid not know his views on religion. Her two little girls had attended a\nMethodist Sunday school, and there learned of Jesus. A day or so after,\nthe mother was taken very sick, and remedies failing, the eldest child,\na little over eight years old, said: 'O Mamma, if you will let me pray\nto Jesus for you, He can take away your pains and give you sleep.' She\nknelt with her sister and prayed in simple words to Jesus to heal her\nmother, telling Him that He had so promised to hear prayer. Shortly\nafter, the mother, after long hours of restlessness and suffering, fell\ninto a deep sleep and awoke relieved of pain and much refreshed. She\nheard from her daughter's lips the story of her faith in Jesus and love\nfor Him, and then sent for me, begging me to pray for her. I am glad to\ntell you that she is now a converted woman, a believer in the Lord Jesus\nChrist.\"\n\n\nTHE WANDERER FOUND.\n\n\nA mother sent a request for prayer to the Fulton Street prayer-meeting,\nthat she might hear from him who had long ago left home, and wandered\nfar away. She had been praying very earnestly for him, and soon she\nwrote that she had just heard from him, and heard too that he had become\na Christian and learned to trust in Him.\n\n\nARE YOU THERE.\n\n\nA mother, one morning, gave her two little ones books and toys to amuse\nthem while she went up-stairs to attend to something. A half hour passed\nquietly away, and then one of the little ones went to the foot of the\nstairs, and in a timid voice called out, \"Mamma, are you there?\"\n\n\"Yes, darling.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the little one, and-went on with her play. By-and-by\nthe question was repeated, \"Mamma, are you there?\"\n\n\"Yes, darling.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the child again, and once more went on with her play.\nAnd this is just the way we should feel towards Jesus. He has gone\nup-stairs, to the right hand of God, to attend to some things for us. He\nhas left us down in this lower room of this world to be occupied here\nfor a while. But to keep us from being worried by fear or care, He\nspeaks to us from His word, as that mother spoke to her little ones. He\nsays to us, \"Fear not; I am with thee. I will never leave thee, nor\nforsake thee.\" \"The Lord will provide.\"\n\nAnd so we see how certain it is that God does provide relief in trouble\nfor those who love and serve Him.\n\n\nGOD KNOWS THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL.\n\n\n\"Mother, I think God always hears when we scrape the bottom of the\nbarrel,\" said a little boy to his mother one day. His mother was poor.\nThey often used up their last stick of wood and their last bit of bread\nbefore they could tell where the next supply was to come from. But they\nhad so often been provided for in unexpected ways, just when they were\nmost in need, that the little boy thought _God always heard when they\nscraped the bottom of the barrel_. This was only that little fellow's\nway of saying what Abraham said when he called the name of the place\nwhere God had delivered him, \"Jehovah-Jireh.\"\n\n\nGOD'S CARE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN IN LITTLE WANTS.\n\n\n\"I was early taught that God cares for His children, even to regard\ntheir _little_ daily wants. An illustration of my implicit confidence,\nwhich I do not remember ever to have been betrayed, occurred when I was\nabout ten years of age. I was accustomed to give five cents each Sabbath\nat the Sunday School collection for foreign missions. This money was not\ngiven me directly by my parents; but I was allowed to go on an errand,\nor to do some little piece of work for a neighbor and thus earn it,\noutside of the performance of the duties that naturally fell to my lot\nat home. At one time, when I was attending school about a mile from\nhome, my time out of school was taken up by my walk to and from it and\nthe chores which necessarily fall to a farmer's boy, so that for some\nmonths I had no opportunity of earning anything. One Sabbath morning, I\ndropped my last silver piece into the collection, with a prayer--which I\nalways offered at such a time--that God would bless it to the heathen,\nthat some one might be led to Him by it.\n\n\"I went home that day with a child's anxiety, feeling that I could not\nbear the thought of giving nothing for the heathen on next Sabbath, and\nyet not seeing how I could possibly obtain it. That night I asked my\nHeavenly Father to provide the money for me. The anxiety was all gone;\nfor I felt that God would answer. Next morning, when almost at the\nschool-house, I found a handkerchief in the road, in the corner of which\nwas securely tied a silver quarter and a silver dime. Instantly my\nthoughts flew to the next Sabbath, and to the prayer I had offered. O,\nyes! I thought, God has more than answered my prayer; instead of giving\nme just enough for next Sabbath, He has given me enough, for seven\nSabbaths.\n\nThen the thought came, somebody lost it; yes, it was my duty to find the\nowner, which I did not expect would be difficult, although it was in\ntown. So I cheerfully gave it up, thinking that 'the Lord will provide'\nin some other way. I took it directly to my teacher, and asked her to\nfind the owner. She made faithful inquiry, but no one was found to claim\nit. Who can question this being an answer to prayer, when we think of\nthe numerous _chances_ against its occurring just as it did.\"\n\n\nA CHILD'S PRAYER FOR PAPA.\n\n\nA drunkard, who had run through his property, returned one night to his\nunfurnished house. He entered his empty hall. Anguish was gnawing at his\nheart-strings, and language was inadequate to express his agony as he\nentered his wife's apartment, and there beheld the victims of his\nappetite, his loving wife and a darling child. Morose and sullen, he\nseated himself without saying a word; he could not speak; he could not\nlook up then. The mother said to the little angel at her side, \"Come, my\nchild, it is time to go to bed;\" and that little baby, as she was wont,\nknelt by her mother's lap and gazing wistfully into the face of her\nsuffering parent, like a piece of chiseled statuary, slowly repeated her\nnightly orison. When she had finished, the child (but four years of age)\nsaid to her mother, \"Dear Mother, may I not offer up one more prayer?\"\n\"Yes, yes, my sweet pet, pray;\" and she lifted up her tiny hands, closed\nher eyes, and prayed: \"O God! spare, oh! spare my dear papa!\" That\nprayer was lifted with electric rapidity to the throne of God. It was\nheard on high--it was heard on earth. The responsive \"Amen!\" burst from\nthe father's lips, and his heart of stone became a heart of flesh. Wife\nand child were both clasped to his bosom, and in penitence he said: \"My\nchild, you have saved your father from the grave of a drunkard. I'll\nsign the pledge!\"\n\n\nA LITTLE QUAKER BOY'S PRAYER RIGHT OUT IN MEETING.\n\n\nA little Quaker boy, about six years old, after sitting, like the rest\nof the congregation, in silence, all being afraid to speak first, as he\nthought, got up on the seat, and, folding his arms over his breast,\nmurmured in a clear, sweet voice, just loud enough to be distinctly\nheard on the front seat, \"I do wish the Lord would make us all gooder,\nand gooder, and gooder, till there is no bad left.\"\n\n\nWHAT THE LITTLE CHILDREN MAY DO.\n\n\nAt family prayer, little Mary, one evening when all was silent, looked\nanxiously in the face of her back-sliding father, who had ceased to pray\nin his family, and said to him with quivering lips, \"Pa, is God dead?\"\n\n\"No, my child--why do you ask that?\"\n\n\"Why, Pa, you never talk to him now as you used to do,\" she replied.\n\nThese words haunted the father until he was mercifully reclaimed.\n\n\nTHE UNBELIEVING FATHER LED TO GO TO CHURCH.\n\n\nAn unbelieving father came home one evening and asked where his little\ngirl was. \"She has gone to bed,\" said his wife. \"I'll just go and give\nher one kiss,\" said the father, for he loved his little daughter dearly.\nAs he stood at the door of her bedroom, he heard some one praying. It\nwas his little Jane, and he heard her say, \"Do, God Almighty, please\nlead daddy to hear Mr. Stowell preach.\"\n\nShe had often asked him to go, and he had always said, \"No, no, my\nchild.\" After listening to her prayer, he determined, the next time she\nasked him, to accompany her, which he did, and heard a sermon which took\nhis attention and pricked his conscience. On leaving the church, he\nclasped the hand of his little girl in his, and said, \"Jane, thy God\nshall be my God, and thy minister shall be my minister.\" And the man\nbecame a true follower of the Lord.\n\n\nA CHILD'S PRAYER FOR RELIEF\n\n\nAn interesting little daughter of a professor in Danville, Kentucky, in\nthe Summer of 1876, in eating a watermelon, got one of the seeds lodged\nin her windpipe. The effort was made to remove it, but proved\nineffectual, and it was thought that the child would have to be taken to\none of the large cities to have an operation performed by a skillful\nsurgeon. To this she was decidedly opposed, and pleaded with her mamma\nto tell her if there was no other way of relief. Finally, in order to\nquiet her childish fears, her Christian mother told her to ask God to\nhelp her.\n\nThe little one went into an adjoining room and offered her prayer to God\nto help her. Shortly thereafter she came running to her mamma with the\nseed in her hand, and her beautiful and intelligent face lighted up with\njoy. In response to the eager inquiry of the mother, the little one said\nthat she had asked God to help her, and while she was praying she was\ntaken with a severe cough, in which she threw up the seed.\n\n\nGOD'S CARE OVER HIS PEOPLE--THE PRAYING WIDOW\n\n\nA young widow with two children was living in the city of Berlin. She\nwas a Christian woman, and trusted in Jehovah-Jireh to take care of her.\nOne evening she had to be away for a while. During her absence a man\nentered her house for the purpose of robbing her. But \"the Lord who\nprovides\" protected her from this danger in a very singular way. On\nreturning to her home she found a note lying on her table, which read as\nfollows:\n\n\"Madam, I came here with the intention of robbing you, but the sight of\nthis little room, with the religious pictures hanging around in it, and\nthose two sweet-looking children quietly sleeping in their little bed,\nhave touched my heart. I cannot take anything of yours. The small amount\nof money lying on your desk I leave untouched, and I take the liberty of\nadding fifty dollars besides.\" The Bible tells us that \"the hearts of\nmen are in the hands of God. and he turneth them as the rivers of waters\nare turned.\" He turned the heart of this robber from his wicked purpose,\nand in this way he protected the widow who trusted in him.\n\n\nGOD SAVED A FAMILY MERCIFULLY.\n\n\nOne morning a Christian farmer, in Rhode Island, put two bushels of rye\nin his wagon and started to the mill to get it ground. On his way to the\nmill he had to drive over a bridge that had no railings to the sides of\nit. When he reached the middle of this bridge his horse, a quiet, gentle\ncreature, began all at once to back. In spite of all the farmer could\ndo, he kept on backing till the hinder wheels went over the side of the\nbridge, and the bag of grain was tipped out and fell into the stream.\nThen the horse stood still. Some men came to help the farmer. The wagon\nwas lifted back and the bag of grain was fished up from the water. Of\ncourse it could not be taken to the mill in that state. So the farmer\nhad to take it home and dry it. He had prayed that morning that God\nwould protect and help him through the day, and he wondered what this\naccident had happened for. He found out, however, before long. On\nspreading out the grain to dry he noticed a great many small pieces of\nglass mixed up with it. If this had been ground up with the grain into\nthe flour it would have caused the death of himself and his family. But\nJehovah-Jireh was on that bridge. He made the horse back and throw the\ngrain into the water to save the family from the danger that threatened\nthem.\n\n\nA CHILD'S FAITH IN THE LORD'S PRAYER.\n\n\nAbout the 30th of July, 1864, the beautiful village of Chambersburgh was\ninvaded and pillaged by the Confederate army. A superintendent of a\nSabbath school, formerly resident in the South, but who had been obliged\nto flee to the North because of his known faithfulness to the national\ngovernment, was residing there, knowing that if discovered by the\nConfederate soldiers, he would be in great peril of life, property and\nevery indignity,--in the gray dawn of that memorable day, with his wife\nand two little girls, again on foot, he fled to the chain of mountains\nlying north-west of the doomed village.\n\nAfter remaining out for some days and nights, with no shelter but such\nas was afforded by the friendly boughs of large forest trees, and\nwithout food, they became nearly famished. At last, the head of the\nfamily, unable to endure the agony of beholding his wife and children\nstarving to death before his face, and he not able to render the needed\nrelief, withdrew to a place by himself, that he might not witness the\nsad death of his loved ones. With his back against a large oak, he had\nbeen seated only a short time, when his eldest little daughter, not\nquite ten years old, came to him and exclaimed:\n\n\"_Father, father, I have found such a precious text in my little\nTestament, which I brought to the mountain with me, for very joy I could\nnot stop to read it to mother, but hastened to you with it. Please\nlisten while I read_.\" To which he said:\n\n\"Yes, my child, read it. There is comfort to be found in the Scriptures.\nWe will not long be together on earth, and there could be no better way\nof spending our last mortal hours.\" To which she replied:\n\n\"O, father, I believe that we will not die at this time; that we will\nnot be permitted to starve; that God will surely send us relief; but do\nlet me read.\" Then opening her dear little volume, at the ninth verse of\nthe sixth chapter of Matthew, she read as follows:\n\n\"'_Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom\ncome; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our\ndaily bread.' O, father, to think that our dear Saviour Himself taught\nHis disciples to pray for their daily bread. These are His own words. It\nis not possible, therefore, that He will allow any person to starve,\nwho, in His own appointed language, asks Him for food. Will He not, dear\nfather, hear our prayers for bread_?\"\n\nAt once and forever the scales fell from the eyes of that parent. With\ntears streaming down his cheeks, he clasped his child to his bosom, and\nearnestly repeated the Lord's Prayer. _He had scarcely finished it when\na small dog ran to where he and his daughter were upon their knees, and\nbarked so fiercely as to attract to the spot its owner, a wealthy\nPennsylvania farmer,_ who was upon the mountain in search of cattle that\nhe had lost for several days. The kind-hearted tiller of the soil\nimmediately piloted the suffering family to his own comfortable home,\nand properly provided for their wants.\n\n\nA CHILD PRESERVED FROM WOLVES.\n\n\nA little girl only nine years old, named Sutherland, living at\nPlatteville, Col., was recently saved from death by ferocious forest\nwolves as follows: The child went with her father on a cold afternoon to\nthe woods to find the cattle, and was told to follow the calves home,\nwhile the father continued his search for the cows. She did so, but the\ncalves misled her, and very soon she became conscious that she was lost.\nNight came on, and with it the cold of November and the dreaded wolves.\nWith a strange calmness she continued on her uncertain way. The next\nday, Sunday, at 10 A.M., she reached, in her wanderings, the house of\nJohn Beebe, near a place called Evans, having traveled constantly\neighteen hours, and a distance of not less than twenty-five miles. _All\nnight the wolves growled around her, but harmed her not_; neither was\nshe in the least frightened by them. All know that in ordinary cases\nfierce packs of blood-thirsty wolves would devour a man, and even a\nhorse. But this little one was invincible in her trusting, simple faith.\nThe narrative states: \"She said that the wolves kept close to her heels\nand snapped at her feet; but her mother told her that if she was _good_\nthe Lord would _always_ take care of her; so she asked the Lord to take\ncare of her, and she knew the wolves would not hurt her, _because God\nwouldn't let them_!\" The child was hunted for by a great number of\npeople, and being found was restored shortly to her parents in perfect\nhealth and soundness.\n\n\nJESUS CURED ME.\n\n\nIn the family of a missionary pastor in Kansas, was a daughter of twelve\nyears of age, seriously afflicted with chronic rheumatism. For three\nyears she suffered, until the leg was shrunken, stiff at the knee,\nshorter by some two inches than, the other, and the hip joint was being\ngradually drawn from its socket. The child read of Mrs. Miller's cure by\nprayer, originally published in _The Advance_, and wondered why she\ncould not also be cured by the same means. She repeated to her mother\nsome of the promised answers to prayer, and asked: \"Don't Jesus mean\nwhat he says, and isn't it just as true now as then?\" The mother\nendeavored to divert her attention by representing the affliction as a\nblessing. The physician also called and left another prescription, and\nencouraged the child to hope for benefit from it. The child could not,\nhowever, be diverted from the thought that Jesus could and would heal\nher. After the doctor's departure she said: \"_Mamma, I cannot have that\nplaster put on.\"_\n\n\"Why, dear.\"\n\n\"_Because, mother, Jesus is going to cure me, and he must have all the\nglory. Dr. ---- doesn't believe in God; if we put the plaster on, he\nwill say it was that which helped me; and it must be all Jesus_.\" So\nearnest was she, that her mother at length placed the package, just as\nshe had received it, on a shelf, and said no more about it.\n\nThe little girl and her mother were alone that day, the father being\nabsent from home. When the household duties were done she called her\nmother to her.\n\n\"Mother, will you pray now to Jesus to cure me_? I have got the faith; I\nknow he will if you will ask him_.\" The mother, overcome, yielded to her\ndaughter's request, and commenced praying. She was blest with unusual\nconsciousness of the presence of God, and became insensible of all\noutward surroundings, pleading for the child. She remained in this state\nof intercession for more than an hour, when she was aroused by her\ndaughter, who with her hand on the mother's shoulder was joyfully\nexclaiming, \"_Mother, dear mother, wake up! Don't you see Jesus has\ncured me? O, I am well! I am all well!\" and she danced about the room,\nliterally healed._\n\nOne week from that day, the girl was seen by the writer in the\n\"_Advance,\"_ who says she was _out sliding on the ice with her\ncompanions_. From that day to this she has had no further trouble; _the\nlimb is full, round and perfect_; there is _no difference between it and\nthe other_.\n\nTo every question asked she replies, with the overflowing gratitude of a\nloving heart, \"Jesus cured me!\"\n\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY WHO WANTED HIS SISTER TO READ THE BIBLE.\n\n\nRev. Mr. Spurgeon, of London, tells of the excellent faith of a little\nboy in one of the schools of Edinburgh, who had attended a\nprayer-meeting, and at the last said to his teacher who conducted it:\n\n\"Teacher, I wish my sister could be got to read the Bible; she never\nreads it.\"\n\n\"Why, Johnny, should your sister read the Bible?\"\n\n\"Because if she once read it I am sure it would do her good, and she\nwould he converted and saved.\"\n\n\"Do you think so, Johnny?\"\n\n\"Yes, I do, sir; and I wish the next time there was a prayer-meeting you\nwould ask the people to pray for my sister, that she may begin to read\nthe Bible.\"\n\n\"Well, well, it shall be done, John.\"\n\nSo the teacher gave out that a little boy was anxious that prayer should\nbe offered that his sister might read the Bible. John was observed to\nget up and go out. The teacher thought it very rude of the boy to\ndisturb the people in a crowded room, and so the next day, when the lad\ncame, he said:\n\n\"John, I thought it very rude of you to get up in the prayer-meeting and\ngo out. You ought not to have done so.\"\n\n\"O, sir,\" said the boy, \"I did not mean to be rude; _but I thought I\nshould like to go home and see my sister reading her Bible for the first\ntime_.\"\n\n_True to his faith, when he reached his home, he found the little girl\nreading her Bible_.\n\n\nNETTIE'S DAILY BREAD.\n\n\nA little girl in a wretched attic, whose sick mother had no bread, knelt\ndown by the bedside, and said slowly: \"Give us this day our daily\nbread.\" Then she went into the street and began to wonder where God kept\nhis bread. She turned around the corner and saw a large, well-filled\nbaker's shop.\n\n\"This,\" thought Nettie, \"is the place.\" So she entered confidently, and\nsaid to the big baker, \"I've come for it.\"\n\n\"Come for what?\"\n\n\"My daily bread,\" she said, pointing to the tempting loaves. \"I'll take\ntwo, if you please--one for mother and one for me.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the baker, putting them into a bag, and giving them to\nhis little customer, who started at once into the street.\n\n\"Stop, you little rogue!\" he said, roughly; \"where is your money?\"\n\n\"I haven't any,\" she said simply.\n\n\"Haven't any!\" he repeated, angrily; \"you little thief, what brought you\nhere, then?\"\n\nThe hard words frightened the little girl, who, bursting into tears,\nsaid: \"Mother is sick, and I am so hungry. In my prayers I said, 'Give\nus this day our daily bread,' and then I thought _God meant me to fetch\nit, and so I came_.\"\n\nThe rough, but kind-hearted baker was softened by the child's simple\ntale, and instead of chiding her or visiting threats of punishment, as\nis usually the case, he said: \"_You poor, dear girl; here, take this to\nyour mother_,\" and he filled a large basketful and gave it to her.\n\n\nTHE BROTHER'S PRAYER.\n\n\nA physician, who for many years practiced his profession in the State of\nCalifornia, was called once to see the child of Mr. Doak, of Calveras\nCounty, living on the road between San Andreas and Stockton, and not far\nfrom the mining town of Campo Seco, or Dry Camp. He says: The patient\nwas a little girl about ten years of age, bright and intelligent and one\nof twins, the other being a boy, equally bright and well-disposed. The\nprimary symptoms had indicated inflammation of the stomach, which the\nattending physician had hopelessly combated, and finally, when by\nmetastasis it attacked the brain, with other unfavorable symptoms, he\nwas inclined to abandon the case in despair.\n\nIt was at this juncture I was called in. The symptoms were exceedingly\nunfavorable, and my own opinion coincided with my professional\nbrother's. However, we determined to go to work. A day and night of\nincessant watching, and the state of the patient caused us both to feel\nthe case hopeless, and we only continued our attendance at the earnest\nsolicitation of the child's mother. The anxious, care-worn and restless\nsorrow of the little brother, his deep grief as he saw his sister given\nover to the power of the King of Terrors, had attracted our attention.\nHe would creep up to the bedside of his sister silently, with pale and\ntearful face, controlling his emotion with great effort, and then steal\naway again and weep bitterly. With a vague, indefinite idea of\ncomforting the little fellow, I took him to my knee, and was about to\nutter some platitude, when the little fellow, looking me in the face,\nhis own the very picture of grief, burst out with--\n\n\"Oh, Doctor, must sister die?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I replied, \"but,\"--\n\nBefore I could go farther he again interrupted me: \"Oh, Doctor, is there\nnothing, nothing that will save her? Can nobody, nobody save my sister?\"\n\nFor an instant the teachings of a tender and pious mother flashed over\nmy mind. They had been long neglected, were almost forgotten.\nCalifornia, in those days, was not well calculated to fasten more deeply\non the mind home teachings. There were very few whose religious training\nsurvived the ordeal, and for a long time I had hardly thought of prayer.\nBut the question brought out with the vividness of a flash of lightning,\nand as suddenly, all that had been obscured by my course of life, and,\nhardly knowing what I did, I spoke to him of the power that might reside\nin prayer. I said, God had promised to answer prayer. I dared not allow\nthe skeptical doubt, that came to my own mind, meet the ear of that\ninnocent boy, and told him, more as my mother had often told me than\nwith any thought of impressing a serious subject on his mind, \"_That the\nprayers of little boys, even, God would hear_.\" I left that night with\nsome simple directions, that were given more to satisfy the mother than\nfrom having the slightest hope of eventual recovery, promising to return\nnext day.\n\nIn the morning, as I rode to the door, the little boy was playing round\nwith a bright and cheerful countenance, and looked so happy that\ninvoluntarily I asked:\n\n\"Is your sister better?\"\n\n\"Oh, no, Doctor,\" he replied, \"but she is going to get well.\"\n\n\"How do you know,\" I asked.\n\n\"_Because I prayed to God_\" said he, \"and _he told me she would.\"_\n\n\"How did he tell you?\"\n\nThe little fellow looked at me for an instant, and reverently placing\nhis hand on the region of his heart, said:\n\n\"_He told me in my heart_.\"\n\nGoing to the room where my patient was lying, I found no change\nwhatever, but in spite of my own convictions there had sprung up a hope\nwithin me. The medical gentleman with whom I was in consultation came to\nthe room, and as he did, _a thought of a very simple remedy_ I had seen\nused by an old negro woman, in a very dissimilar case, _occurred to my\nmind._ It became so _persistently present_ that I mentioned it to my\nbrother practitioner. He looked surprised, but merely remarked. \"It can\ndo no harm.\" I applied it. In two hours we both felt the case was out of\ndanger.\n\nThe second day after that, as we rode from the house, my friend asked me\nhow I came to think, of so simple a remedy.\n\n\"_I think it was that boy's prayer_,\" I replied.\n\n\"Why, Doctor! you are not so superstitious as to connect that boy's\nprayers with his sister's recovery,\" said he.\n\n\"Yes, I do,\" I replied; \"for the life of me I cannot help thinking his\nprayers were more powerful than our remedies.\"\n\n\nLIGHT GIVEN TO A BLIND CHILD.\n\n\n\"A missionary visiting one of the mission schools of Brooklyn, was\nintroduced to a remarkable child. He was brought into the school from\nthe highways and hedges, and young as he was, he had been taught of God.\nOne day he was playing with powder, and putting his mouth to the match\nto blow it, it exploded, and the whole charge went into his face and\neyes. He became totally blind, and the physician gave but little hope of\nrecovery. But the little sufferer was patient and calm, and even\nhopeful; sitting through the dark days meditating on what he had learned\nat the mission Sabbath-school, and repeating passages of Scripture and\nmany a beautiful hymn.\n\n\"One evening after the physician had spoken discouragingly, and his\nparents, as he perceived, were in deep distress, he was absorbed on his\nknees in a corner of the room in earnest prayer. His voice, though\nsubdued almost to a whisper, was indicative of intense feeling. His\nparents inquired what he had been praying so earnestly for. Why, said\nhe, that _Jesus Christ would open my eyes. The doctor says he can't, and\nso I thought I would ask the Savior to do it for me. God honored his\nfaith. In a few days his sight came to him; and the prayer was answered.\nHe can now see clearly_.\"\n\n\nASKING THE LORD TO HELP HIM IN HIS LESSONS.\n\n\n\"A little boy was at school, he was diligent, and determined to succeed,\nbut found that parsing was rather hard.\n\n\"One day he went to his mamma for a little help in analyzing some\nsentences. She told him the proper manner of doing it, and he followed\nher directions; but he was much troubled that he could not understand\nthe whys and wherefores himself.\n\n\"His mamma told him it was rather hard for him then, but that after he\nhad studied a little longer, it would be quite easy.\n\n\"Johnnie went into another room to study alone, but after a little came\nback, his face perfectly radiant with joy. He said: 'O mamma, I want to\nbegin again. I asked Jesus to help me, and now I think I see just how it\nis. He always helps us when we ask him;' and with unspeakable delight he\nwith his mamma went over his lesson again.\"\n\n\nGIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.\n\n\n\"The _American Messenger_ tells the story of Johnny Hall, a poor boy.\nHis mother worked hard for their daily bread. 'Please give me something\nto eat; I am very hungry,' he said one evening. His mother let the work\nupon which she was sewing fall from her knee, and drew Johnny toward\nher. Her tears fell fast as she said: 'Mamma is very poor, and cannot\ngive you any supper to-night.' 'Never mind, mamma; I shall soon be\nasleep, and then I sha'n't feel hungry. But you will sit and sew, and be\nso hungry and cold. Poor mamma,' he said, and kissed her many times to\ncomfort her.\n\n\"'Now, Johnny, you may say your prayers;' for dearly as his mother loved\nhim, she could ill afford to lose a moment from her work. He repeated\n'Our Father' with her until they came to the petition, 'Give us this day\nour daily bread.' The earnestness, almost agony, with which the mother\nuttered these words, impressed Johnny strongly. He said them over again:\n'_Give us this day our daily bread_.' Then opening his blue eyes, he\nfixed them on his mother, and said: 'We shall never be hungry any more.\nGod is _our Father_, and he _will_ hear us.' The prayer was finished and\nJohnny laid to rest. The mother sewed with renewed energy. Her heart was\nsustained by the simple faith of her child. Many were the gracious\npromises which came to her remembrance. Although tired and hungry, still\nit was with a light heart she sank to rest.\n\n\"Early in the morning a gentleman called on his way to business. He\nwished Johnny's mother to come to his home to take charge of his two\nmotherless boys. She immediately accepted the offer. They were thus\nprovided with all the comforts of a good home. Johnny is a man now, but\nhe has never forgotten the time when he prayed so earnestly for his\ndaily bread.\n\n\"_God will hear prayer_ is his firm belief. In many ways has he had the\nfaith of his childhood confirmed. He looks to God as his Father with the\nsame trust now as then.\n\n\nGOD WILL TAKE CARE OF ME.\n\n\n\"When the yellow fever raged in New Orleans, the pestilence visited a\nChristian household, and the father died. Then the mother was suddenly\nseized, and knowing that she must die, she gathered the four children\naround her bed, the oldest being only about ten years of age, and said\nto them that God was about to take her home to heaven. She urged them to\nhave no fears, and assured them that the kind, heavenly Father who had\nso long provided for them would surely come and take care of them. The\nchildren, with almost breaking hearts, believed what the dying mother\nhad told them.\n\n\"She was buried. The three youngest soon followed her, although they\nreceived every necessary attention from friends during their sickness.\nThe oldest, a boy, was also seized by the pestilence, and in an\nunguarded moment, under the influence of delirium, wandered from his\nsick-bed out into the suburbs of the city, and lying down in the tall\ngrass by the roadside, looked steadfastly up, murmuring, incoherently at\ntimes, 'Mother said God would come and take care of me--would come and\ntake care of me!' A gentleman happening to pass at the time, and hearing\nthe unusual sounds, went where the lad was lying, and rousing him, asked\nhim what he was doing there. Said the little fellow in reply: '_Father\ndied; mother died; little brother and sisters died. But just before\nmother went away into heaven, she told us to have no fear, for God would\ncome and take care of us, and I am now waiting for him to come down and\ntake me. I know he will come, for mother said so, and she always told us\nthe truth_.'\n\n\"'Well,' said the gentleman, whose kindliest sympathies were stirred by\nthe little fellow's sad condition and his implicit confidence in his\nsainted mother's pious instructions, '_God has sent me, my son, to take\ncare of you_.' So he had him carried to his home, and kindly nursed and\ncared for by his own family. He recovered, and to-day is one of the most\nuseful Christian young men in the far West, where he has fixed his\nhome.\"\n\n\nLAURA HEALED.\n\n\n\"A Christian teacher, connected with a Southern Orphan Asylum, writes\n_The Christian_, that often when the children were sick, and most of\nthem came to me more or less diseased, I cried to the Lord for help, and\nHe who 'bore our infirmities, and carried our sicknesses,' healed them.\nOh it is so good to trust in the Lord! How much better to rely on Him\n'in whom we live, and move, and have our being,' than to put confidence\nin man, even in the most skillful physician. To confirm and strengthen\nthe faith of the doubting, I send you the following account of the\nhealing of one of our orphans.\n\n\"Laura was one of a large orphan family, living on Port Royal Island,\nS.C. When her mother died, she went to live with a colored woman who\nmade her work very hard, 'tote' wood and water, hoe cotton and corn, do\nall manner of drudgery, rise at daybreak, and live on scanty food. Laura\nsuffered from want, exposure and abuse. The freed-women of the\nplantation looked with pity into her eyes, and desired her to run away.\nBut she replied, 'Aunt Dora will run after me, and when she done cotch\nme, she'll stripe me well with the lash; she done tell so already.'\n\n\"One morning, however, when Laura went to the creek for crabs, a good\naunty followed her, and throwing a shawl over the poor child's rags,\nsaid, 'Now, Laura, put foot for Beaufort fast as ever you can, and when\nyou get there, inquire where Mrs. Mather lives: go straight to her; she\nhas a good home for jes sich poor creeters as you be.' Laura obeyed,\nhastened to Beaufort, seven miles distant, found my home, was made\nwelcome, and her miserable rags exchanged for good clean clothes. In the\nmorning, I said, 'Laura, did you sleep well last night?' She replied,\n'O, missis, my heart too full of joy to sleep. Me lay awake all night,\nthinking how happy me is in dis nice, clean bed, all to myself. Me never\nsleep in a bed before, missis.'\n\n\"Laura, then about thirteen years old, came to me with a hard cough, and\npain in her side. I put on flannels, gave her a generous diet, and\nhoped, that with rest and cheerful surroundings, she would soon rally as\nother children had, who came to me in a similar broken-down condition.\nStill the cough and pain continued. I dosed her with various\nrestoratives, such as flax-seed, and slippery elm, etc., but all were of\nno avail. She steadily grew worse. Every week I could see she declined.\nHer appetite failed; night sweats came on; and she was so weak that most\nof the day she lay in bed. The children, all of whom loved Laura, she\nwas so patient and gentle, whispered one to another, 'Laura is gwine to\ndie; dere is def in her eye.\"\n\n\"One evening in mid-winter, the poor child's short breath, fluttering\npulse, and cold, clammy sweat alarmed me, and I felt sure that unless\nthe dear Lord interposed in her behalf, her time with us was very short.\nI lingered by her bed till near midnight in prayer for her recovery. I\ncould not give her up. Again in my own room I poured out my soul in\nprayer for the child, and then slept. About two o'clock, I suddenly\nawoke, and heard what seemed a voice saying to me, '_Go to Laura; I can\nheal her now; the conditions are right; you are both calm and\ntrustful_.'\n\n\"I arose quickly, hastened to her room and said to her, 'Laura, do you\nwant to get well?' 'O, yes, missis, me wants to get well.' 'Do you\nbelieve Jesus can cure you?' She replied, 'I know he can if he will.'\n'Well, Laura,' I said, 'Jesus has just waked me out of a sound sleep,\nand told me to go and tell you that he _will cure you now_. Do you\nbelieve he will, Laura?' 'Yes, missis, me _do believe_,' she replied\nearnestly. She then repeated this prayer. 'O, Jesus, do please to make\nme well; let me live a long time, and be a good and useful woman.'\n\n\"The burden had rolled off my heart; I returned to my room and slept\nsweetly. In the morning, Tamar, Laura's attendant, met me at the door,\nexclaiming joyfully, 'O, I'se so glad! Laura is a heap better, Missis.\nShe wake me up long time before day and begged me to get her something\nto eat, she so hungry.'\n\n\"From that night Laura rapidly recovered. Her cough abated, her appetite\nwas restored, her night sweats ceased, and in less than a month she was\nstrong and well.\"\n\n\nA LITTLE SLAVE'S FAITH.\n\n\nA missionary in India, passing one day through the school room, observed\na little boy engaged in prayer, and overheard him say, \"O, Lord Jesus, I\nthank thee for sending big ship into my country and wicked men to steal\nme and bring me here, that I might hear about Thee and love Thee. And\nnow, Lord Jesus, I have one great favor to ask Thee. Please to send\nwicked men with another big ship, and let them catch my father and my\nmother, and bring them to this country, that they may hear the\nmissionaries preach and love Thee.\"\n\nThe missionary in a few days after saw him standing on the sea-shore,\nlooking very intently as the ships came in. \"What are you looking at,\nTom?\" \"I am looking to see if Jesus Christ answers prayer.\"\n\nFor two years he was to be seen day after day watching the arrival of\nevery ship. One day, as the missionary was viewing him, he observed him\ncapering about and exhibiting the liveliest joy.\n\n\"Well, Tom, what gives you so much joy?\" \"_O, Jesus Christ answer\nprayer. Father and mother come in that ship_,\" which was actually the\ncase.\n\n\nA GOOD REASON FOR PRAYING.\n\n\nA little girl about four years of age being asked, \"Why do you pray to\nGod?\" replied: \"Because I know He hears me, and I love to pray to Him.\"\n\n\"But how do you know He hears you?\"\n\nPutting her little hand to her heart, she said, \"I know He does, because\nthere is something _here_ that tells me so.\"\n\n\nMY HEART TALKED.\n\n\nA child six years old, in a Sunday school, said: \"When we kneel down in\nthe school-room to pray, it seems as if my heart talked.\"\n\n\nWHY, SIR, I BEGGED.\n\n\nA little boy, one of the Sunday school children in Jamaica, called upon\nthe missionary and stated that he had lately been very ill, and in his\nsickness often wished his minister had been present to pray with him.\n\n\"But, Thomas,\" said the missionary, \"I hope you prayed.\" \"Oh, yes, sir.\"\n\"Did you repeat the collect I taught you?\" \"I prayed.\" \"Well, but how\ndid you pray?\" \"Why, sir, I begged.\"\n\n\nA LITTLE CHILD'S PRAYER FOR HEALING.\n\n\nA very little child, who had but recently learned to talk, and the\ndaughter of a Home missionary, had been for weeks troubled with a severe\ncough, which was very severe in its weakness upon her. At last her\nfather said to her, \"Daughter, ask Jesus, the good Lord, to heal you.\"\n\nPutting up her little hands as she lay in bed, she said, \"_Dear Jesus,\nwill oo please to cure me, and do please tell papa what to give me_.\"\n\nThe father, who was listening, thought several times of \"_syrup of\nipecac_\" but did not connect it immediately with the prayer. At last the\nthought came so often before him, that he felt, \"Well, it will do no\nharm, perhaps this is what the Lord wants me to give her.\" He procured\nit, administered it, and in three hours the little child's cough had\nwholly ceased, and she was playing on the floor with the other children.\nA most singular feature is the fact that the same medicine was\nadministered at other times and had no effect in relief.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE BLESSEDNESS OF GIVING\n\n\n\"_Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in\ntime of trouble_.\"\n\n\"_Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all\nthine increase, so shalt thy barns be filled with plenty_.\"\n\n\"_There is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is that\nwithholdeth more than is meet, but it lendeth to poverty_.\"\n\n\"_The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be\nwatered also himself_.\"\n\n\"_He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which\nhe hath given will He pay him again.\"_\n\n\"_Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry\nhimself, but shall not be heard_.\"\n\n\"_He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his\nbread to the poor_.\"\n\n\"_He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat_.\"\n\n\"_He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack; but he that hideth his\neye shall have many a curse_.\"\n\n\"_Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shall find it after many\ndays_.\"\n\n\"_If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted\nsoul, the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in\ndrought, and make fat thy bones. And thou shall be like a watered\ngarden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not_.\"\n\n\"_He which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully_.\"\n\n\"_Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not\ngrudgingly, nor of necessity, for_\n\nGOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nHOW THE LORD BLESSES THOSE \"WHO GIVE LIBERALLY TO HIS CAUSE.\n\n\nA disciple of the Lord Jesus, poor in this world's goods, but rich in\nfaith, became greatly perplexed in regard to the meaning of the\nforty-second verse of the fifth chapter of Matthew. The words are: \"Give\nto him that asketh thee; and from him that would borrow of thee turn not\nthou away.\" After a season of prolonged mental inquiry, as to whether\nthe language was to be regarded as literal or not, she suddenly paused\nand exclaimed: \"It is easy enough to find out; test it and see.\"\n\nIt was Saturday. Her money, all but two dollars, had been expended in\nproviding for the Sabbath. The amount left, which was absolutely needed\nfor the following Monday, she put in her pocket, and went out.\n\nOn the street, a friend, whose husband had been for some time out of\nbusiness, met her and stated their distresses, and asked if she could\nlend them _two dollars to last over the Sabbath_.\n\nShe was surprised. The test had come sooner than she expected, but,\nwithout hesitation, the money was \"_lent to the Lord,\"_ and the now\npenniless believer went home to wait and see.\n\nNow mark the result. Monday came, and with it the needs to be supplied.\nWhile pondering what course to pursue, a knock was heard, and, on\nopening the door, a lady, with a bundle in her hand, inquired if she\ncould do a little work for her. Replying in the affirmative, and naming\nthe price, the lady took from her pocket-book two dollars, and handed it\nto her, saying: \"It is more than you ask, but you might as well have\nit.\" \"I was never more astonished,\" said this true disciple, \"and\nliterally shouted for joy. I had tested and proved that the promises of\nGod are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Glory to God. I have never doubted\nsince; and though often in straits, I have always been delivered.\"\n\nWould it not be well for Christians to \"test\" where they cannot\nunderstand? \"Ye are my friends,\" said the blessed Lord, \"if ye do\nwhatsoever I command you.\" Obedience will solve difficulties that\nreasoning cannot unravel. Try and see.\n\n\nDIVIDING WITH GOD.\n\n\nA merchant, in answer to inquiries, refers back to a period when, he\nsays, \"In consecrating my life anew to God, aware of the ensnaring\ninfluences of riches, and the necessity of deciding on a plan of charity\nbefore wealth should bias my judgment, I adopted the following system:\n\n\"I decided to balance my accounts as nearly as I could, every month; and\nreserving such a portion of profits as might appear adequate to cover\nprobable losses, to lay aside, by entry on a benevolent account,\none-tenth of the remaining profits, great or small, as a fund for\nbenevolent expenditure, supporting myself and family on the remaining\nnine-tenths. I further determined, that when at any time my net profits,\nthat is, profits from which clerk-hire and store expenses had been\ndeducted, should exceed $500 in a month, I would give twelve and a half\nper cent.; if over $700, fifteen per cent.; if over $900, seventeen and\na half per cent.; if over $1,100, twenty per cent.; if over $1,300,\ntwenty-two and a half per cent.; thus increasing the proportion of the\nwhole as God should prosper, until at $1,500, I should give twenty-five\nper cent., or $375 a month. As capital was of the utmost importance to\nmy success in business, I decided not to increase the foregoing scale\nuntil I had acquired a certain capital, after which I would give\none-quarter of all net profits, great or small; and on the acquisition\nof another certain amount of capital, I decided to give half; and on\nacquiring what I determined would be a full sufficiency of capital, then\nto give the whole of my net profits.\n\n\"It is now several years since I adopted this plan, and under it I have\nacquired a handsome capital, and have been prospered beyond my most\nsanguine expectations. Although constantly giving, I have never yet\ntouched the bottom of my fund, and have been repeatedly astonished to\nfind what large drafts it would bear. True, during some months I have\nencountered a salutary trial of faith, when this rule has led me to lay\nby the tenth, while the remainder proved inadequate to my support; but\nthe tide has soon turned, and with gratitude I have recognized a\nheavenly hand more than making good all past deficiencies.\"\n\n\nPROSPERITY AND LIBERALITY.\n\n\nA London correspondent of the _Western Christian Advocate_, writing some\nyears ago of raising a fund for the extinction of debts on chapels,\ngives the following incident:\n\n\"A gentleman named Wilkes, who was promised a subscription of one\nthousand guineas to this fund, has a history so remarkable as to be\nworth relating across the Atlantic. Seven years ago he was a journeyman\nmechanic. Having invented and patented some kind of a crank or spindle\nused in the cotton manufacture, and needing capital to start himself in\nthe business of making them, he made it a matter of earnest prayer that\nhe might be directed to some one able and willing to assist him. In a\nsingular and unexpected manner he fell in with an elderly Quaker, a\nperfect stranger, who accosted him with the strange inquiry: 'Friend, I\nshould like to know if a little money would be of any service to thee.'\nHaving satisfied himself as to Wilkes' genius and honesty, the Quaker at\nonce advanced him the required amount. The praying mechanic started in\nbusiness on his own account, and everything he has touched of late\nappeared to prosper.\n\n\"Hearing of a field in Ireland offered for sale, in which was a deserted\nmine, he went over to see it; bought the field for a small sum,\nrecommenced working the mine, and it now turns out to yield abundance of\nexcellent copper. For the year 1852, he promised to give the Missionary\nSociety a _guinea a day_; but such abundance has poured in upon him\nduring the year, that he felt that to be below his duty, and has,\ntherefore, enlarged his subscription for the present year seven-fold. He\nis actually giving to that noble cause seven guineas daily, or upwards\nof $10,500 a year, during this year, 1853; in addition to which he has\njust given one thousand guineas to the fund above referred to.\" \"It is\npleasing to add,\" says the writer, \"that this remarkable man retains the\nutmost simplicity.\"\n\nWould that liberality and prosperity might ever go hand in hand. Often,\nas wealth increases liberality is starved out, and the rich give far\nless than the poor in proportion to their means and ability.\n\n\nTHE DEACON'S SINGING SCHOOL.\n\n\n\"I am going out to see if I can start a singing school,\" said a good\nman, as he stood buttoning up his overcoat, and muffling up his ears,\none bitterly cold Winter night.\n\n\"A singing school,\" said his wife, \"how will you do that?\"\n\n\"I have heard of a widow around the corner a block or two who is in\nsuffering circumstances. She has five little children, and two of them\ndown sick, and has neither fire nor food. So Bennie Hope, the office boy\ntells me. I thought I would just step around and look into the case.\"\n\n\"Go, by all means,\" said his wife, \"and lose no time. If they are in\nsuch need we can give some relief. But I cannot see what all this has to\ndo with starting a singing school. But never mind, you need not stop to\ntell me now; go quickly and do all you can for the poor woman.\"\n\nSo out into the piercing cold of the wintry night went the husband,\nwhile the wife turned to the fireside and her sleeping babes, who, in\ntheir warm cribs, with the glow of health upon their cheeks, showed that\nthey knew nothing of cold or pinching want. With a thankful spirit she\nthought of her blessings, as she sat down to her little pile of mending.\nVery busily and quietly she worked, puzzling all the time over what her\nhusband could have meant by starting a singing school. A singing school\nand the widow--how queer! What possible connection could they have?\n\nAt last she grew tired of the puzzling thought, and said to herself, \"I\nwon't bother myself thinking about it any more. He will tell me all\nabout it when he comes home. I only hope we may be able to help the poor\nwidow and make her 'poor heart sing for joy.' There,\" she exclaimed,\n\"can that be what he meant? The widow's heart singing for joy! Wouldn't\nthat be a singing school? It must be; it is just like John. How funny\nthat I should find it out!\" and she laughed merrily at her lucky guess.\nTaking up her work again, she stitched away with a happy smile on her\nface, as she thought over again her husband's words, and followed him in\nimagination in his kind ministrations. By-and-by two shining tears\ndropped down, tears of pure joy, drawn from the deep wells of her love\nfor her husband, of whom she thought she never felt so fond before. At\nthe first sound of footsteps she sprang to open the door.\n\n\"Oh, John! did you start the singing school?\"\n\n\"I reckon I did,\" said the husband, as soon as he could loose his\nwrappings; \"but I want you to hunt up some flannels and things to help\nto keep it up.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes! I will; I know now what you mean. I have thought it all out.\nMaking the widow's 'heart sing for joy' is your singing school. (Job.\nxxix:13.) What a precious work, John! 'Pure religion and undefiled is to\nvisit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.' My own heart has\nbeen singing for joy all the evening because of your work, and I do not\nmean to let you do it alone. I want to draw out some of this wonderful\nmusic.\"\n\n\nIT PAYS TO GIVE TO THE LORD.\n\n\n\"A clergyman states, that soon after he dedicated himself to the service\nof Christ, he resolved, as Jacob did, 'Of all that thou shalt give me, I\nwill surely give a tenth unto thee.' Of the first $500 he earned, he\ngave $130, and in such a way that it incited a wealthy friend to give\nseveral hundreds more, including a donation of $100 to this clergyman\nhimself. For four years, the clergyman says, 'My expenses were small, my\nhabits economical, and the only _luxury_ in which I indulged was the\nluxury of giving. In the two first of these years I was permitted to\ngive $500.' 'On a review of my ministry of about sixteen years,' he\nadds, 'I find God has graciously permitted me to give to the cause of my\nRedeemer nearly $1,200, by which amount about forty life memberships\nhave been created in various evangelical societies. During all these\nyears God has prospered me; has given me almost uninterrupted health;\nhas surrounded me with sweet domestic ties; and my congregation, by\nmeans in part perhaps of a steady example, have given _more in these\nsixteen years_ than in all their long previous history.\"\n\n\nANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BENEFICENCE.\n\n\n\"A liberal donor, in enclosing $100 to a sister institution, but\nstrictly withholding his name, says, 'When I began business, it was with\nthe intention and hope to become rich. A year afterward I became, as I\ntrust, a Christian, and about the same time met with 'Cobb's\nResolutions,' which I adopted. Some four or five years later, I read\n'Normand Smith's Memoir,' and also Wesley's 'Sermon on the use of\nMoney,' which led me to devote all my gains to benevolent uses,\nreserving to myself $5,000 while I remained unmarried, part of which I\nhave bequeathed to relatives, and the remainder to benevolent societies.\nUp to this time--about sixteen years--by the grace of God--nothing\nelse--I have given about $24,500 to benevolent purposes, and lent about\n$500 to those in need, which has not been returned; making in all about\n$25,000.\"\n\n\nCOMMENDABLE EXAMPLES.\n\n\nThe Methodist Missionary Society mention one of their donors who, for\ntwenty years, has used the power given him of getting wealth, for his\nLord, in which time he has been enabled to appropriate to benevolent\npurposes _more than thirty thousand dollars_, while operating with a\ncapital of but five thousand dollars. Another business man of that\ndenomination in Boston, during fifteen years, has appropriated\n_thirty-nine thousand dollars_.\n\n\nSYSTEM IN GIVING.\n\n\nA correspondent of the American Tract Society says, \"It was their\npublications which induced me to appropriate statedly one-tenth of my\nincome to the cause of the Lord. After acting upon that scale nearly two\nyears, and finding that although _my donations greatly exceeded those of\nformer years_, my affairs were not thereby involved in any\nembarrassment; but that, on the contrary, with increasing contributions\nto the leading objects of Christian benevolence and to general charity,\ncame an _increased store and enlarging resources_, I concluded, with a\nheart throbbing with grateful emotions to my Creator, in view of his\ngreat love and kindness toward me, that I would increase the\nproportion.\"\n\n\nLENDING TO THE LORD.\n\n\n\"A poor man, some of whose family were sick, lived near Deacon Murray,\n(referred to in the tract, 'Worth of a Dollar,') and occasionally called\nat his house for a supply of milk. One morning he came while the family\nwere at breakfast. Mrs. Murray rose to wait upon him, but the deacon\nsaid to her, 'Wait till after breakfast.' She did so, and meanwhile the\ndeacon made some inquiries of the man about his family and\ncircumstances.\n\n\"After family worship the deacon invited him to go out to the barn with\nhim. When they got into the yard, the deacon, pointing to one of the\ncows, exclaimed, 'There, take that cow, and drive her home.' The man\nthanked him heartily for the cow, and started for home; but the deacon\nwas observed to stand in the attitude of deep thought until the man had\ngone some rods. He then looked up, and called out, 'Hey, bring that cow\nback.' The man looked around, and the deacon added, 'Let that cow come\nback, and you come back too.' He did so; and when he came into the yard\nagain, the deacon said, 'There, now, take your pick out of the cows; _I\na'n't going to lend to the Lord the poorest cow I've got_.'\"\n\n\nA STEWARD OF HIS LORD'S BOUNTY.\n\n\nAn aged benevolent friend in a western city, states some interesting\nfacts respecting his own experience in giving systematically as the Lord\nprospered him. He says, \"Our country and professors of religion in it\nhave become 'rich and increased in goods,' but I fear that a due\nproportion is not returned to the Giver of every good.\n\n\"I commenced business in 1809 with $600, and united with the 'Northern\nMissionary Society No. 2,' which met monthly for prayer, and required\nthe payment of two dollars a year from each member. That year I married,\nand the next united with the Christian church. No definite system of\ngiving 'as the Lord had prospered' me, was fully made until the close of\nthe year 1841. The previous fourteen years had been assiduously devoted\nto the interests of Sabbath-schools and the temperance enterprise, when\nI found both my physical and pecuniary energies diminished, the latter\nbeing less than $30,000.\n\n\"After days and nights of close examination into my affairs, with\nmeditation and prayer, I promised the Lord of all, I would try at the\nclose of every year to see what was the value of my property, and the\none-quarter of the increase I would return to him in such way as my\njudgment, aided by his word and providence, might direct.\n\n\"For more than fifteen years I have lived up to this resolve, and though\nmost of the time I have been unable to attend to active business, the\ninvestments I have made have more than quadrupled the value of my\nproperty, and in that time enabled me to return to Him 'from whom all\nblessings flow,' $11,739.61.\"\n\n\nTHE FIVE-DOLLAR GOLD PIECE.\n\n\n\"'A friend,' says a venerable clergyman, Rev. Mr. H----, 'at a time when\ngold was scarce, made me a present of a five-dollar gold piece. I\nresolved not to spend it, and for a long time carried it in my pocket as\na token of friendship. In riding about the country, I one day fell in\nwith an acquaintance, who presented a subscription-book for the erection\nof a church in a destitute place.\n\n\"'I can do nothing for you, Mr. B----,' said I; 'my heart is in this\ngood undertaking, but my pocket is entirely empty; having no money, you\nmust excuse me.'\n\n\"'Oh, certainly,' said he; 'all right, sir. We know you always give when\nit is in your power.'\n\n\"We parted; and after I had proceeded some distance, I bethought me of\nthe piece of gold in my vest pocket. 'What,' said I to myself, 'I told\nthat man I had no money, when I had by me all the time this gold\npocket-piece. This was an untruth, and I have done wrong.' I kept\nreproaching myself in this way until I stopped, and took from my pocket\nthe five-dollar piece.\n\n\"'Of what use,' said I, 'is this piece of money, stowed away so nicely\nin my pocket?' I made up my mind to turn back, and rode as fast as I\ncould until I overtook Mr. B----, to whom I gave the coin, and resumed\nmy journey.\n\n\"A few days after, I stopped at the house of a lady, who treated me very\nhospitably, for which I could make no return, except in thanks and\nChristian counsel. When I took leave, she slipped into my vest pocket a\nlittle folded paper, which she told me to give to my wife. I supposed it\nwas some trifle for the children, and thought no more of it until I\nreached home. I handed it to my wife, who opened it, and to my\nastonishment _it was a five-dollar gold piece, the identical\npocket-piece I had parted with but a few days before_. I knew it was the\nsame, for I had made a mark upon it; how this had been brought about was\na mystery, but that the hand of the Lord was in it I could not doubt.\n'See,' said I to my wife; 'I thought I _gave_ that money, but I only\n_lent_ it; how soon has the Lord returned it! Never again will I doubt\nhis word.'\n\n\"I afterward learned that Mr. B---- had paid over the coin to the\nhusband of the lady at whose house I staid, along with some other money,\nin payment for lumber, and he had given it to his wife.\n\n\"Take my advice, and when appealed to for aid, fear not to give of your\npoverty; depend upon it the Lord will not let you lose by it, if you\nwish to do good. If you wish to prosper, 'Give, and it shall be given\nunto you; for with the same measure that ye mete, it shall be measured\nto you again.' 'Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in\nthe land, and verily thou shalt be fed.'\"\n\n\nA NEW YEAR'S INCIDENT.\n\n\n\"One New Year's day I was going out to visit some of my poorer\nneighbors, and thought I would take a sovereign to a certain widow who\nhad seen days of competence and comfort. I went to look in my drawer,\nand was so sorry to find I had but one sovereign left in my bank for the\npoor, and my allowance would not be due for two or three weeks. I had\nnearly closed the drawer upon the solitary sovereign, when this passage\nof Scripture flashed so vividly into my mind, 'The Lord is able to give\nthee much more than this,' (2 Chron. xxv: 9.) that I again opened the\ndrawer, took the money, and entered the carriage which was waiting for\nme. When I arrived at Mrs. A.'s, and with many good wishes for the New\nYear, offered her the sovereign, I shall never forget her face of\nsurprised joy. The tears ran down her cheeks while she took my hands and\nsaid, 'May the God of the widow and fatherless bless you; we had not one\npenny in the house, nor a morsel of bread; it is he who has heard my\nprayers, and sent you again and again to supply my need.' You who pray\nfor and visit the poor, and enjoy the blessedness of relieving their\ntemporal wants and of speaking to them of Jesus, you will understand the\ngladness of heart with which I returned home.\n\n\"In the country we had only one post daily; so when evening came on, and\nit was nearly ten o'clock, I was not a little surprised at receiving a\nletter. When I opened it, how my heart beat for joy when I read these\nwords from a comparative stranger: 'You will have many poor just now to\nclaim your pity and your help, may I beg you to dispense the enclosed\nfive pounds as you see fit? and I have ordered a box of soap to be sent\nto you for the same purpose.' These boxes of soap are worth four pounds.\nThus did our gracious God send nine times as much as I gave for his\nsake, before that day had closed.\"\n\n\nFENEBERG'S LOAN TO THE LORD.\n\n\n\"A poor man with an empty purse came one day to Michael Feneberg, the\ngodly pastor of Seeg, in Bavaria, and begged three crowns, that he might\nfinish his journey. It was all the money Feneberg had, but as he\nbesought him so earnestly in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus he\ngave it. Immediately after, he found himself in great outward need, and\nseeing no way of relief he prayed, saying, 'Lord, I lent Thee three\ncrowns; Thou hast not yet returned them, and Thou knowest how I need\nthem. Lord, I pray Thee, give them back.' The same day a messenger\nbrought a money-letter, which Gossner, his assistant, reached over to\nFeneberg, saying, 'Here, father, is what you expended.' The letter\ncontained two hundred thalers, or about one hundred and fifty dollars,\nwhich the poor traveler had begged from a rich man for the vicar; and\nthe childlike old man, in joyful amazement, cried out, 'Ah, dear Lord,\none dare ask nothing of Thee, for straightway Thou makest one feel so\nmuch ashamed!'\"\n\n\nCOMPOUND INTEREST.\n\n\n_The Christian_ tells of a minister in Ohio, who in 1860 was engaged to\nstatedly supply a congregation who were in arrears for a whole year's\nsalary to their former pastor, and were only able to promise their\n'supply' five dollars a Sunday till the old debt should be paid. At the\nclose of the year, only about two-thirds of this amount had been paid.\nSo it was not strange that their 'supply' soon found himself in arrears\nfor many things. That year the cost of his periodicals alone had\namounted to sixteen dollars. This he could not pay, and as none of them\ncould be stopped without payment of arrearages; the debt must continue\nto increase.\n\nOn New Year's day the minister was called to marry a couple, and gave\nthe fee, five dollars, to his wife saying, \"I want you to get yourself a\ndress with this.\" There was a kind of material much worn then, which she\nhad very much admired, a dress of which would cost four dollars. So she\nwent to the Mission periodical to find the address of the Mission\nSecretary, thinking to send the extra dollar there. But as she glanced\nover its pages and noticed the trials and straits of the missionaries,\nand the embarrassment of the Board that year, her heart was touched and\nshe felt that they needed the money more than she did the dress, and\ninstead of the one she concluded to send the five dollars.\n\nShe went to her husband and read her letter to him. \"O,\" said he, \"I'm\nafraid we are too poor to give so much.\" With a little feeling of\ndisappointment she said, \"Well, give me the change and I will send what\nI had intended at first.\" \"No,\" said he, \"you have given it, and I dare\nnot take it back.\"\n\nAnd so with a prayer that God would accept and bless the gift she signed\nher letter, \"A Friend of Missions,\" thinking, as no one would know the\nauthor, that was the last she would hear about it in this world.\n\nThe ladies of that congregation were accustomed to meet weekly at the\nparsonage to sew for those in need. The next week a lady who was\nvisiting in the place came with her friends, and as she entered the\nparlor she tossed a bundle into the lap of the minister's wife, saying,\n\"Mrs. ----, here is a present for you.\"\n\nThe present was a dress pattern of the same kind of material she had\nintended to purchase. And as she thought to herself, \"God has given me\nthis in place of what I have given,\" she was reminded of the words,\n\"Give, and it shall be given to you.\" But that was not the end.\n\nA short time afterwards she received a letter from the Secretary of the\nBoard of Missions, enclosing a printed copy of her own letter, and\nasking if she were the author of it; and added, \"If so, a large-hearted\nman in New York has authorized me to send you twenty-five dollars, with\na special request that you purchase a dress worth five dollars, and give\nthe rest to your husband and children.\" There was her five dollars back,\nwith four times as much more added to it.\n\n\nTHE BROWN TOWEL.\n\n\nThe editor of _The Christian Woman_ tells the story of a poor woman who,\nin her anxiety to give to the Lord, could find nothing but a poor brown\ntowel.\n\n\"They must be very poor who have _nothing_ to give,\" said Mrs. Jarvis,\nas she deposited a pair of beautiful English blankets in a box that was\nbeing filled by the ladies of the church to be sent to the poor.\n\n\"And now, ladies, as you are nearly through, I would like to tell you an\nincident in my history; I was once very poor.\"\n\n\"You once very poor?\" said a lady.\n\n\"Yes; I was once _very poor_. There came to our village a missionary to\ndeliver a lecture. I felt very desirous to go; but having no decent\napparel to wear, I was often deprived of going to church, although I was\na member.\n\n\"I waited until it was late, and then slipped in and took a seat behind\nthe door.\n\n\"I listened with streaming eyes to the missionary's account of the\ndestitution and darkness in heathen lands. Poor as I was, I felt it to\nbe a great privilege to live in a Christian land and to be able to read\nmy Bible.\n\n\"It was proposed by our pastor that the congregation should fill a box\nand send it out with the missionary on his return.\n\n\"O,\" thought I, \"how I would like to send something.\" \"When I returned\nhome my poor children were still sleeping soundly, and my disconsolate\nhusband waiting my return, for he had been out of employment some time.\nAfter he had gone to bed I went to looking over my clothes, but I could\nfind nothing that was suitable that I could possibly spare; then I began\nlooking over the children's things, but could find nothing that the poor\ndears could be deprived of; so I went to bed with a heavy heart, and lay\na long time thinking of the destitution of the poor heathen, and how\nmuch better off I was.\n\n\"I got to thinking over my little stock again. There was nothing I could\nput into the box except two brown towels.\n\n\"Next day I got my towels, pieced out the best one, and when it was\nalmost dark, put on my bonnet, went to the church, slipped my towel into\nthe box, and came away thinking that the Lord knew I had done what I\ncould.\n\n\"And now, ladies, let me tell you it was not long after that till my\nhusband got into a good situation; and prosperity has followed us ever\nsince. So I date back my prosperity to this incident of the brown\ntowel.\"\n\nHer story was done, and, as her carriage was waiting at the door, she\ntook her departure, leaving us all mute with surprise that one so rich\nand generous had been trained to give amid poverty.\n\n\nGIVING BLESSED.\n\n\nA merchant of St. Petersburg, at his own cost, supported several native\nmissionaries in India, and gave liberally to the cause of Christ at\nhome. On being asked how he could afford to do it, he replied:\n\n\"Before my conversion, when I served the world and self, I did it on a\ngrand scale, and at the most lavish expense. And when God by his grace\ncalled me out of darkness, I resolved that Christ and his cause should\nhave more than I had ever spent for the world. And as to giving _so\nmuch_, it is God who enables me to do it; for, at my conversion, I\nsolemnly promised that I would give to his cause a fixed proportion of\nall that my business brought in to me; and every year since I made that\npromise, it has brought me in about double what it did the year before,\nso that I easily can, as I do, double my gifts for his service.\"\n\nAnd so good old John Bunyan tells us,\n\n    \"A man there was, some called him mad,\n     The more he gave, the more he had.\"\n\nAnd there are truth and instruction in the inscription on the Italian\ntombstone, \"What I gave away, I saved; what I spent, I used; what I\nkept, I lost.\" \"Giving to the Lord,\" says another, \"is but transporting\nour goods to a higher floor.\" And, says Dr. Barrow, \"In defiance of all\nthe torture and malice and might of the world, the _liberal_ man will\never be rich; for God's providence is his estate; God's wisdom and\npower, his defense; God's love and favor, his reward; and God's word,\nhis security.\"\n\nRichard Baxter says, \"I never prospered more in my small estate than\nwhen I gave most. My rule has been, _first_, to contrive to need,\nmyself, as little as may be, to lay out none on _need-nots,_ but to live\nfrugally on a little; _second_, to serve God in any place, upon that\ncompetency which he allowed me: to myself, that what I had myself might\nbe as good a work for common good, as that which I gave to others; and\n_third_, to do all the good I could with all the rest, preferring the:\nmost public and durable object, and the nearest. And the more I have\npracticed this, the more I have had to do it with; and when I gave\nalmost all, more came in, I scarce knew how, at least unexpected. But\nwhen by improvidence I have cast myself into necessities of using more\nupon myself or upon things in themselves of less importance, I have\nprospered much less than when I did otherwise. And when I had contented\nmyself to devote a stock I had gotten to charitable uses _after my\ndeath_, instead of laying it out at present, in all probability, _that_\nis like to be lost; whereas, when I took the present opportunity, and\ntrusted God for the time to come, I wanted nothing and lost nothing.\"\n\nThese are a few of many evidences, that where we give from right\nmotives, we are never the poorer, but the richer for doing it. \"The\nliberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered\nalso, himself.\"\n\n\nLENDING TO THE LORD.\n\n\nAs a series of religious meetings was held in a Baptist church in ----,\nand the hearts of God's people were greatly encouraged, the church was\nconsumed by fire. It was proposed to continue the meetings in the\nCongregational church, but the workmen were coming the next morning to\ndemolish and rebuild it. It was then proposed to hire the workmen to\ndelay, that the people might assemble for three days more, but nothing\nwas done; when the Congregational pastor walking his study, and thinking\nthat some souls might be gathered in, went to the workmen, and handed\nthem $10 from his own pocket, which he could ill afford; the meetings\nwere continued, and a number of souls hopefully converted to God. The\nday following, as he passed the house, the man to whom he paid the $10\ncalled to him, and constrained him to receive back the whole amount,\nsaying it was of no value compared with the saving of a soul.\n\n\nTHE LIBERAL FARMER.\n\n\nA farmer in one of the retired mountain towns of Massachusetts, began\nbusiness in 1818, with six hundred dollars in debt. He began with the\ndetermination to pay the debt in six years, in equal installments, and\nto give all his net income if any remained above those installments. The\nincome of the first year, however, was expended in purchasing stock and\nother necessaries for his farm.\n\nIn the six next years he paid off the debt, and having abandoned the\nintention of ever being any richer, he has ever since given his entire\nincome, after supporting his family and thoroughly educating his six\nchildren.\n\nDuring all this period he has lived with the strictest economy, and\neverything pertaining to his house, table, dress and equipage has been\nin the most simple style; and though he has twice been a member of the\nState Senate, he conscientiously retains this simplicity in his mode of\nlife. The farm is rocky and remote from the village, and his whole\nproperty, real and personal, would not exceed in value three thousand\ndollars. Yet sometimes he has been enabled to give from $200 to $300 a\nyear.\n\n\nEXPERIENCE OF A SADDLER.\n\n\nNormand Smith, a saddler of Hartford, Conn., after practicing for years\nan elevated system of benevolence, bequeathed in charity the sum of\n$30,000.\n\nAn anonymous writer says of himself, that he commenced business and\nprosecuted it in the usual way till he lost $900, which was all he was\nworth, and found himself in debt $1,100.\n\nBeing led by his trials to take God's word as his guide in business as\nwell as in heart and religion, he determined to give his earnings\nliberally unto the Lord.\n\nThe first year he gave $12. For eighteen years the amount increased by\nabout 25 per cent., and the last year he gave $850, and he says he did\nit easier than during the first year he paid the $12. Besides, though\nwith nothing but his hands to depend on when he began this course, he\npaid the whole debt of $1,100 with interest, though it took him nine\nyears to do it.\n\n\nJACOB NOT BLESSED UNTIL HE BECAME A LIBERAL GIVER.\n\n\nJacob went out from his father's house \"with his staff,\" a poor man. But\nat Bethel he vowed to give to God the _tenth_ of all that God should\nbestow on him. Commencing thus, God blessed him, and in twenty years he\nreturned with great riches.\n\n\nTHE LORD'S INSURANCE MONEY.\n\n\nA tradesman in New York had pledged to give to the Lord a certain\nportion of his business receipts as fast as they were collected. He\ncalled this _The Lord's insurance money_, for, said he, \"so long as I\ngive so long will the Lord help me and bless me, and in some way he will\ngive me the means to give, so it is no money lost. Rather it is a\nblessing to my heart to keep it open in gratitude, a blessing to dispose\nof it to gladden other hearts, and the surest way to keep the Lord's\nfavor with me.\"\n\nThe results of his experience were blessed indeed, as he said, \"I never\nrealized before how closely the Lord is connected with all my interests,\nand how he helps me in all my business plans. Things happen constantly\nwhich show me constantly that some one who knows more than I is\nbenefiting me--protecting me. Bad debts have been paid which I did not\nexpect. Errand boys, just getting into sly and bad habits, have been\ndiscovered ere their thefts had proceeded far. As I needed competent\nhelp in my business, it has come just as it was wanted. When customers\nwere failing, somehow their debts to me were paid, although they failed\nto pay others. A severe fire came to my office and apparently seemed to\nhave swept all my valuables away. But it was stopped at just the right\nmoment, and not one thing valuable was lost. The insurance companies\npaid me enough to replace every damage, and the office was renewed\nbetter than before. The Lord sends me business enough to pay for my\ndebts, yet others are dull. _I cannot tell why it is, except that I\nalways pray for my business, and ask the Lord to bless it for the good\nof others_, and that the means which come from it may be used for his\ncause. When I stop giving, business stops coming. When I stop praying\nspecially for it, perplexities arise. As long as I pray for it, it all\nmoves easily, and I have no care or trouble. The Lord is my Banker, my\nHelper, my Insurer, my Deliverer, my Patron, and my Blessed Savior of\ntemporal things as well as spiritual.\"\n\n\nGIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN.\n\n\n\"'Cheerful giving,' writes an aged minister, 'is what enriches the giver\nand brings down a blessing from above. A poor clergyman attended one of\nZion's festivals in a distant city. The railroad company supplied him\nwith a return ticket, and though many of his brethren would secure\ntreasures from the book-stores, but a solitary twenty-five cent scrip\nwas in his possession, and he would need that to pay for refreshment on\nhis way home. It was the last day of the feast. Mention, again and\nagain, was made of the widow's mite, or poor men's gifts, and, as the\nboxes were passed, he felt sad that, in his deep poverty, he could not\ncast in a single penny. As the assembly was dismissed, it was announced\nthat collectors would stand at the door to gather up the _fragments_\nwhich ought to be in the Lord's treasury. With slow steps this good man\npassed down and put that last money he possessed into the waiting box.\n\n\"In a few moments, a gentleman of the city invited him to his, table to\ndine, with quite a number of the dignitaries of the church. During the\nrepast, the host was called from the table for a little time. At the\nconclusion of a pleasant entertainment, the poor minister was taken one\nside and an envelope put into his hands, with this remark: 'I was called\nfrom the table by a man who has long owed me a small debt, which I\nthought was lost a long time since, and I cannot think what it was paid\nto-day for, except that I might give it to you.' The envelope contained\ntwenty-five dollars. When the books are opened, that rich steward will\nsee how his money was used, and thank God, who put it into his heart to\ndispose of it thus.\"\n\n\n\"LENDING TO THE LORD.\"\n\n\n\"A physician who is not a professor of religion, in a neighboring city,\nhas for many years exhibited an unshaken faith in that declaration. He\ntold me that he has made many experiments on it, and the Lord has\nfulfilled his words, 'That which he hath given will He pay him again,'\nin every case. One of his 'experiments' came under my observation.\n\n\"It was a bleak and chilling day in the Winter of 1847-8. The doctor was\ngoing his rounds and met a poor colored boy in the street. He was nearly\nfrozen to death. He accosted the doctor, and asked him most piteously\nfor a little money, stating, at the same time, that his master, an old\nQuaker, had excluded him from the house, and compelled him to remain in\nthe barn; he could stand it no longer, and desired to go home--twenty\nmiles up the river. The doctor now had the materials for another test of\nthe promise. 'You shall not suffer if I can help you,' was his cheering\nreply to the boy. He requested him to call at his office, and went to a\nneighboring hotel and told the landlord to keep the boy until farther\norders. Late in the evening the boy again appeared at the office, and\nstated that the landlord had said, 'We don't keep darkies over night.'\nThe doctor immediately started out in search of new quarters, and, after\nsome difficulty, found a colored woman who was willing to keep the boy\nfor a few days. In a short time the river, which had been closed with\nice, was open. The doctor paid the bills, gave the boy a dollar, and\nbade him God speed. That is what he calls lending to the Lord. Now for\nthe payment. When he called at the house of the colored person to pay\nthe bill, he 'accidentally' met an old lady, who scrutinized him\nclosely, and at length said, 'A'n't you Doctor B----?' 'Yes,' was the\nreply; 'but who are you?' 'No matter about my name; I owe you four\ndollars, which you have long since forgotten, and which I did not intend\nto pay you till I saw what you have done to that poor boy. The Lord\nbless you for your kindness. Next week you shall have your money.' She\ncame according to her promise and offered the money, but the doctor was\nunwilling to take it, as he had no charge on his books. She forced it on\nhim. He afterwards simply remarked, 'My meeting that woman was not a\nmere _accident_; the Lord always fulfills his promise. I generally get\nmy capital back, with compound interest.'\"\n\n\nTHE PRAYING SHOE-MAKER.\n\n\nA shoe-maker being asked how he contrived to give so much, replied that\nit was easily done by obeying St. Paul's precept in I Cor. 16: 2: \"Upon\nthe first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as\nGod hath prospered him.\" \"I earn,\" said he, \"one day with another, about\na dollar a day, and I can without inconvenience to myself or family lay\nby five cents of this sum for charitable purposes; the amount is thirty\ncents a week. My wife takes in sewing and washing, and earns something\nlike two dollars a week, and she lays by ten cents of that. My children\neach of them earn a shilling or two, and are glad to contribute their\npenny; so that altogether we _lay by us in store_ forty cents a week.\nAnd if we have been unusually prospered, we contribute something more.\nThe weekly amount is deposited every Sunday morning in a box kept for\nthat purpose, and reserved for future use. Thus, by these small\nearnings, we have learned that it is more blessed to give than to\nreceive. The yearly amount saved in this way is about _twenty-five\ndollars_; and I distribute this among the various benevolent societies,\naccording to the best of my judgment.\"\n\n\nTHE HISTORY AND BUSINESS SUCCESSES OF LIBERAL GIVERS.\n\n\nMr. Nathaniel R. Cobb, a merchant connected with the Baptist church in\nBoston, in 1821, at the age of twenty-three, drew up and subscribed the\nfollowing covenant, to which he faithfully adhered till on his death-bed\nhe praised God that by acting according to it he had given in charity\nmore than $40,000.\n\n\"By the grace of God, I will never be worth more than $50,000.\n\n\"By the grace of God, I will give one fourth of the net profits of my\nbusiness to charitable and religious uses.\n\n\"If I am ever worth $20,000, I will give one-half of my net profits; and\nif I am ever worth $30,000, I will give three-fourths; and the whole,\nafter $50,000. So help me God, or give to a more faithful steward, and\nset me aside.\n\n                                                          \"N.R. COBB.\"\n\n\nFAITH IN GOD'S LIBERALITY.\n\n\nA clergyman, himself an exponent of God's bountiful dealings with men,\nwas called upon in test of his own principles of giving to the Lord.\n\nPreaching, in the morning, a sermon on Foreign Missions, an unusually\nlarge contribution was taken up. In the afternoon, he listened to\nanother sermon, by a brother, on Home Missions, and the subject became\nso important that he was led closely to agitate the question how much he\nshould himself give to the cause. \"I was, indeed, in a great strait\nbetween charity and necessity. I felt desirous to contribute; but, there\nI was, on a journey, and I had given so much in the morning that I\nreally feared I had no more money than would bear my expenses.\n\n\"The collection was taken; I gave my last dollar, and trusted in the\nLord to provide. I proceeded on my journey, stopping to see a friend for\nwhom I had collected forty dollars. I was now one hundred and forty\nmiles from home, and how my expenses were to be met, I could not\nimagine. But, judge my surprise, when, on presenting the money to my\nfriend, he took a hundred dollars, and, adding it to the forty, placed\nthe whole of it in my hand, saying he would make me a present of it.\n\n\"Gratitude and joy swelled my bosom; my mind at once remembered my\nsacrifice of the day before, and now I had realized the literal\nfulfillment of the promise, 'Give, and it shall be given unto you; good\nmeasure, pressed down and running over, shall men give into your\nbosom.'\"\n\n\nHE GAVE HIS LAST $5 TO THE LORD.\n\n\nA missionary agent thus relates this incident in the life of a poor\nphysician:\n\n\"I preached a missionary sermon in the town of -----, and a physician\nsubscribed and paid five dollars. A gentleman standing by told me that\nthe five dollars was all he had, or was worth; that he had lost his\nproperty and paid up his debts, and moved into town to commence\npracticing, with no other resources than that five-dollar bill. He and\nhis wife were obliged to board out, as he was not able to keep house.\n\n\"I resolved, at once, that I would keep watch of that man, and see what\nthe Lord would do with him. About a year after this interview, I visited\nthe place again, and found the physician keeping house in good style.\n\n\"During the Summer, while the cholera raged in the country, by a series\nof events, guided, as he believes, by the providence of God, most of the\npractice was thrown into his hands, and he had taken more than $2,500.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nBELIEVE NOTHING OF YOUR GOD BUT WHAT IS MOST NOBLE AND GENEROUS.--PRES.\nEDWARDS.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMORE THINGS ARE WROUGHT BY PRAYER THAN THE WORLD DREAMS OF.--TENNYSON.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\nPRAYERS ANSWERED\n\n\nIN BUSINESS AND SOCIAL ANXIETIES.\n\n\nHELP IN PAYING A MORTGAGE.\n\n\nA business man in New York had several large amounts due for payment. An\nunprecedented series of calls from tradesmen wishing their bills paid\nsooner than customary, drained his means, and he was satisfied from the\nsituation that his means would not be sufficient to pay them all. His\nbusiness receipts, at this juncture, fell to one-half what they had\nusually been. A loan was due at the bank; a mortgage on his property, as\nwell as large notes. He could do no more than ask the Lord constantly in\nprayer, to either send supplies of business, or open ways of relief.\nCommitting his cares all to the Lord, he endeavored to throw off his\nburden and with diligence in trade do what was possible for protection.\n\nHe was greatly surprised when the bank loan fell due to learn that a\ntrifling payment would be acceptable, and the rest extended at his\nconvenience. This was remarkable, as the security had depreciated\nsomewhat, and the loan had been then extended longer than usual.\n\nThe holder of the mortgage did not call as usual for his interest. In\ngreat surprise the tradesman dropped a note, saying he would meet his\ndemand, but if not all the mortgage was needed, its extension would\nbenefit the use of the capital in his business. To his surprise, he\nreceived a reply that the mortgage would be extended one-half until the\nnext interest day, and the rest might be paid now if it could be spared.\n_This was just the money which the tradesman could spare_, and was\nintending to propose, but refrained from mentioning it.\n\nA sudden opportunity in business arose which enabled him to see how to\nuse the rest of the money he had on hand, as capital, whereby he could\nclear within three months the remainder of the mortgage before it became\ndue.\n\nThus the Lord in answer to prayer, relieved his necessities, eased his\ncreditors, gave him knowledge and intelligence of profitable ways of\ntrade, and helped him freely according to his faith.\n\nThus business needs prayer, as well as the interests of the home, the\nchurch and the soul. When the means derived in business is used to bless\nthe Lord's poor, \"_The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble_.\"\n\n\nA REMARKABLE PRAYER AND ITS ANSWER.\n\n\nA lady, who had led for many years a life of faith, caring for orphans\nand invalids, was led one day in thought to wish that she might devote\nall her money to the work of the Lord, and use it specially for one\nbranch of his service which few had ever entered. She possessed only a\nthousand dollars; and not knowing whether the thought was her own and\ntherefore rash, or whether it came from the Lord, she asked the Lord in\nprayer, that if the thought was from _Him_ \"it might be continually\nbefore me; if it were not, that I might cease to think of the matter.\"\n\n\"It was kept before me as a privilege, to help me realize a greater\npersonal nearness to God as my Father. It was a very important matter,\nand fearing a mistake, I requested a sign. I asked God, if he wished me\nto give the money, (which we held at His disposal,) that _He_ would send\nme _one dollar,_ (no more, no less,) from some individual with whom I\nhad no acquaintance. About three weeks after my request, I attended a\nprayer-meeting, where about a dozen ladies were gathered. After the\nmeeting, an elderly lady I had never seen before, put something in my\nhand saying, '_You will not be offended, dear, will you?_' When I looked\nat the money, I found that it _was just one dollar_, my token. I\nexclaimed, mentally, dear Lord, do not let me ever doubt thee again. I\nafterwards asked the lady why she gave me the dollar. She said, 'Before\nI went to the prayer-meeting, I felt that I ought to take a dollar with\nme, and when I saw you, I felt that you were the one I should give it\nto.'\"\n\n\"Nearly five years have passed since then, when I gave all, and my purse\nhas never been empty. I have been constantly occupied in work of love,\nand my Father has sweetly cared for me in every respect.\"\n\nThis lady in her faith work has had under her constant care as many as\ntwenty-two helpless invalids, of utter poverty, yet prayer has always\nbrought them needed supplies, and the Lord has kept them.\n\n\nRECOVERY FROM INSANITY.\n\n\nA most remarkable case of recovery from insanity is given by President\nWilliam M. Brooks, of Tabor College, Iowa.\n\n\"A young lady of my acquaintance, of a finished education, lost her\nreason in the Winter of 1871-2, and in August, 1872, was placed in the\ninstitution for the insane, at Mt. Pleasant, Ia. No encouragement was\ngiven of her recovery, and a year later, when her father visited her, in\nJune, 1873, she appeared so badly, that he said it would be a relief to\nknow that she was dead. Soon after, Mrs. H., the wife of a Baptist\nminister, who had long known and loved her, being shut up for days in a\ndark room, because of inflamed eyes, felt drawn out in special prayer in\nher behalf, and finally sent for the father and told him of her\nexercises, and of the assurance gained that his daughter would be fully\nrestored.\n\n\"In a few days, came news of a sudden change for the better, and in a\nlittle over two months she returned home well, and is now teaching with\nall her powers in full vigor.\n\n\"The acting superintendent of the hospital, who is not a professed\nChristian, and who knew nothing of the prayers referred to, said that\nwhen the change occurred there was not a case among the five hundred\ninmates of which he had less hope, and that it was the most remarkable\ncase of recovery which he had known during the eight years of his\nconnection with the hospital.\"\n\n\nSEEKING DIRECTION IN BUSINESS.\n\n\nA lady clerk employed in an apparently successful business was offered\nan opportunity in a new business, which, though much smaller and less\nsuccessful than the first, yet had rich promise in it for the future.\nThe salary promised was the same in either case. In doubt, she often\nwaited upon the Lord, and asked to be guided,--a whisper in her heart\nkept saying, \"Go,\" \"Go.\" Constant praying kept it growing stronger and\nstronger,--at last she decided to go, feeling it was the decision of the\nLord. She accepted the new position, was pleased, and often declared she\nnever desired to return. The old business in less than three years\ndecreased so that half of the employees were discharged; the rest had\ntheir salaries reduced. The new business doubled in its extent, and her\nsalary was increased one-fifth.\n\n\nSEEKING GUIDANCE OF THE LORD.\n\n\nA school teacher, without family or a special home, in New York City,\nasked the Lord for direction in finding a home, and prayed often that\nthe way might be made so plain, she might acknowledge His hand, and\nunderstand His direction.\n\nSoon it transpired, in taking lunch at a restaurant kept by a man and\nhis wife, that they advised her to choose a certain family hotel. She\ndid so, and found in time more friends and acquaintances, and a\npleasanter home than she ever possessed before.\n\nShe also gained new scholars to her school. Sufficient to pay for her\nliving.\n\nWas she not fully answered? \"_They that seek the Lord shall not want any\ngood thing_.\"\n\n\nSAVED FROM CHOLERA.\n\n\nThe Rev. J.B. Waterbury relates several incidents which prove the power\nof Prayer.\n\n\"In the year 1832 he was compelled by pulmonary symptoms, to leave his\nfield of ministerial labor in one of the eastern cities, and travel\nsouth, hoping that a milder climate might be favorable.\n\n\"He had not proceeded far, before the cholera, that fearful scourge,\nmade its appearance in the States, and obliged him to rejoin his family\nin the city of Brooklyn.\n\n\"Whilst many were dying around him, _his health_ continued to improve;\nso that with the disappearance of the epidemic he found himself\nsufficiently restored to venture, if Providence should open the door, to\nresume his ministerial work.\n\n\"But where should he go? The future, to human view, was shrouded in\nuncertainty. In so important a matter, affecting his usefulness and\nhappiness, there was nothing left, but to give himself to prayer. His\nfaith in that promise, 'In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will\ndirect thy Paths,' led him to pray without ceasing, 'Lord, what wilt\nthou have me to do.'\"\n\nOn a certain day, when the burden lay heavily upon his heart, he retired\nas usual, to implore light and guidance. He read on that occasion, the\nchapter of Acts where, by divine direction, Cornelius the Centurion sent\nmessengers to Peter at Joppa, to come to him with the Gospel. The\napostle, meanwhile; is instructed by a vision to go to Cornelius.\n\nThe case was so applicable to the circumstances that the writer was led\nto cry mightily to God for light to be shed also upon _his_ path.\n\nWhile thus praying the door-bell rang, and the servant announced two men\nwho wished to see me.\n\nThis was somewhat startling. After introducing themselves, they remarked\nthat they had come on a very important errand, viz: to ask my services\nfor a vacant church in which they were officers.\n\n\"But how is this,\" I inquired, \"How did you know of _me_?\"\n\nThey did not until that very day. But inquiring at the Bible House in\nNassau street if any of the officers of that Society knew of a minister\nwho could be recommended to fill their pulpit, now vacant for some\nmonths.\n\nDr. B., the Secretary, answered, \"Yes, I know a young minister in\nBrooklyn, whom I can recommend, provided his health, which has been\ndelicate, is adequate.\"\n\nSo the messenger came inadvertently over to B----, and I was called from\nmy knees to receive their invitation. I promptly responded, \"Yes, I will\ngo?\" for what was I that I could withstand God. A successful and happy\nministry of fourteen years, attests the good results of that decision.\n\n\nTHE AID OF THE LORD IN BUSINESS AND SOCIAL PROSPERITY. THE WONDERFUL\nDELIVERANCE OF DANIEL LOEST.\n\n\nJohn Daniel Loest, a celebrated German tradesman of Berlin, Germany,\nwas, by the aid of the Lord, so prospered in his worldly circumstances,\nthat by steady industry, he raised himself to rank with the most\nrespectable tradesmen of Berlin, where he kept a well-frequented fringe\nand trimming shop.\n\nHe was always benevolent, willing to help others, and both fervent in\nspirit and constant in prayer, asking the help of the Lord in the\nminutest details of his business.\n\nYet there once occurred in his experience a season of severest trial,\nwhich demanded his utmost trust and unflinching confidence in God. He\nseemed almost forsaken, and circumstances almost impossible to overcome.\nBut his deliverance so astonished him that he was lost in wonder at the\nmysterious way in which the Lord helped his business and sent him all\nthat he needed.\n\nBy means of acquaintances of high social character, whom he fully\ntrusted as good Christians, never supposing there could be any degree of\nhypocrisy, he became security for a Christian lady of good property to\nthe amount of _six hundred thalers_. The attorney assured him that there\nwas not a shadow of a risk in going security for her, as her property\nwould be more than ample to cover any claim.\n\nMonths elapsed, and the circumstance forgotten, when Mr. Loest was most\nunpleasantly reminded by receiving an order from the Court to pay in on\nthe following Tuesday the _six hundred thalers_ for which he had become\nsecurity, under the penalty of execution.\n\nHe now discovered that he had been designedly mystified, and there was\nno escape. The six hundred thalers must be paid before the next Tuesday.\nHe had just accepted a bill for _three hundred thalers_, to be paid for\non the ensuing Saturday. And in his first thoughts of his perplexity, he\nhoped to get out of his dilemma by hurrying to a rich friend to obtain a\nloan. On his way to his friend's home, he stumbled on another\nacquaintance who had lent him _four hundred_ thalers on a mere note of\nhand, and he saluted him with the news that he must try for repayment of\nthat sum on the following Friday, as he required it to pay for a parcel\nof goods which would arrive that day.\n\n\"You shall have it,\" said Loest, as he hurried on to his friend. The\nfriend was at home, but before Loest could speak his errand, he is\naddressed thus: \"It is lucky you came, my friend, for I was just going\nto send for you, to request you to make provision to pay me back the\n_five hundred thalers you owe me_, for I must needs have it on Wednesday\nto pay off a mortgage on my house, which has just been called up.\" \"_You\nshall have it_,\" replied Loest, calmly, yet his heart became heavier\nevery moment.\n\nSuddenly it occurred to him that the widow of a friend just dead was\npossessed of large means, and she might be inclined to help him. But\nalas, disappointment thickened fast upon him. Loest owed the deceased\nfriend five hundred thalers for note, and three hundred thalers for\ngoods just delivered. As he entered the room of the widow, she handed\nhim an order from the court of trustees, under which he was bound to pay\nup _the five hundred thalers on Thursday_, and, continued the lady,\nbefore the poor man had time to utter a word, \"I would earnestly entreat\nyou to pay the other three hundred thalers early on Saturday to me, for\nthere are accounts constantly pouring in on me, and the funeral\nexpenses,\" here her voice faltered. \"It shall be cared for,\" said Loest,\nand he withdrew, not having had opportunity to utter one word as to the\nbusiness that took him thither. He had failed at every turn; not one\nthing was for him, all seemed against him. But though the waves surged,\nand rose, and oppressed, yet they did not overwhelm his hope; the more\nthe discouragements, the greater became his faith that all things were\nappointed for his good, and thought he could not guess, yet even the\ntrial would result by God's own working hand, to the honor and glory of\nhis great name.\n\nYet here was his situation. _Six hundred thalers to be paid on Tuesday,\nfive hundred on Wednesday, five hundred on Thursday, four hundred on\nFriday, three hundred Saturday morning, and three hundred on Saturday\nafternoon; in all, two thousand six hundred thalers_. It was already the\nSaturday just previous, and his purse contained _only four thalers_.\nThere was only one prospect left, and he went to a rich money lender,\nand in response to his request for relief in money difficulties, was met\nwith this reply of irony and sarcasm from one who loved to indulge his\nenmity to the Christian faith. \"_You in money difficulties, or any\ndifficulties, Mr. Loest! I cannot believe it; it is altogether\nimpossible! you are at all times and in all places boasting that you\nhave such a rich and loving Master! Why don't you apply to him now_.\"\nAnd the unseen face could not conceal his pleasure at this opportunity\nof testing a Christian.\n\nLoest turned away; hard as the random taunt and remark of his opponent\nwas, yet it recalled him to a sense of his duty, and his forgetfulness\nof the fact that he had not hitherto asked of God for special help in\nthis circumstance. With cheerful steps he hurried home, and in long and\nimploring prayer, asked for help and forgiveness in this, his neglect of\ntrust in one so rich and generous. He was refreshed and comforted, and\nthe Sunday was one of peace and sweetness. He knew and felt assured,\n\"_That the Lord would provide_.\"\n\nThe eventful week opened, and on Monday he arose with a cheerful thought\nin his heart; ere he had had full time to dress, he noticed with great\nsurprise, that both his sister and the assistant in the store, seemed,\nnotwithstanding the earliness of the hour, to have full as much as they\ncould do in serving customers and making up parcels, and he at once\nhastened into the shop to give them assistance, and thus it continued\nall day. _Never, in all his experience_, could Loest remember such a\nceaseless stream of customers as poured, on that memorable Monday, into\nhis rather out-of-the-way shop. Cooking dinner was out of the question;\nneither masters nor maid had time for that; coffee and bread, taken by\neach in turn, served instead of the accustomed meal, and still the\ncustomers came and went; still three pairs of hands were in requisition\nto satisfy their wants.\n\nNor was it for new purchasers alone, that money came in. More than one\nlong outstanding account, accompanied by excuses for delayed payment,\nand assurances that it had not been possible to settle it sooner,\nenlarged the contents of the till; and the honest-hearted debtor, on\nwhom this unwonted stream of money flowed in, was tempted every minute\nto call out, \"_It is the Lord_.\"\n\nAt length night came, when Loest and his literally worn out assistants,\nafter having poured out their hearts in thankful adoration in family\nprayer, sat down to the first meal they had that day enjoyed in common.\nWhen it was over, the brother and sister set themselves to count over\nthe money which had that day been taken. Each hundred thalers was set by\nitself, and the result showed _six hundred and three thalers, fourteen\nsilver groschen_.\n\nThis was sufficient to pay the first debt due the next day, and leave\nbut ten shillings and eight pence over, a trifle less than they\ncommenced the day with. Loest was lost in wonder and grateful emotion at\nthis gracious testimony of how faithfully his Lord could minister to him\nin his earthly necessities.\n\n\"How countless must be the host of his ministering servants, seen or\nunseen, since He can employ some hundreds of them, and send them to buy\nof Daniel Loest to-day, or pay him that bill which thou owest. What a\nwondrous God is ours, who in the government of this great universe, does\nnot overlook my mean affairs, nor forget His gracious promise, 'Call\nupon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee.'\"\n\nTuesday was a repetition of Monday's splendid business, and brought in\nthe five hundred thalers which he needed the next morning to pay off the\nmortgage of his friend's house, due that day.\n\nWednesday's sales gave him five hundred more thalers, which he was\nobliged to have ready to pay on Thursday morning into the court of\ntrustees.\n\nThursday's sales brought him four hundred thalers, just the amount he\nhad given promise to pay the next day for goods delivered.\n\nAnd Friday's sales gave him just three hundred thalers with which to\nhonor the widow's demand on Saturday, to pay funeral and contingent\nexpenses.\n\nDuring these days of wonderful business and deliverances, after each\nindebtedness was discharged, there still was not left cash in hand a sum\nexceeding three to five dollars.\n\nOn Saturday morning, after he had sent the three hundred thalers to the\nwidow, he had left precisely two thalers and twenty silver groschen (six\nshillings eight pence sterling), the smallest balance he had yet had;\nand what seemed most alarming, the rush to the shop seemed to be\nentirely over; for while during the five days past, he had had scarcely\ntime to draw his breath from hurry and bustle, he was now left in\nundisturbed possession of his place. Not a single customer appeared. The\nwants of the vicinity seemed to have come to an end, for not a child\neven entered to fetch a pennyworth of thread, or a few ells of tape.\nThis utter cessation of trade was as unusual and out of the accustomed\nshop business, as the extra rush had been.\n\nAt five o'clock on Saturday, was due the debt of three hundred thalers\nto his scoffing and tantalizing money lender. Three o'clock came, and\nstill there was but six shillings eight pence in the till. Where was his\nmoney to come from? But Loest sat still, and \"_possessed his soul in\npatience_\" for he knew the Lord would choose the best time, and he\ndesired to be found waiting and watching for the Lord's coming. The\ntrial was severe. It seemed hopeless, and if it should happen that, the\ncreditor came and went away unsatisfied, his commercial character would\nbe injured, his credit shaken, and his reputation severely suffer. That\nlast hour ran slowly on. At a _quarter to four_, almost the last few\nmoments of painful suspense, a little old woman came in, and asking for\nMr. Loest, said to him half in a whisper, \"I live here close by, quite\nalone, in a cellar, and I have had a few thalers paid me, and now I want\nto beg of you to be so good as to keep them for me. I have not slept\nover night since I had them; it is a great charge for a lone woman like\nme.\"\n\nLoest was only too glad to accept the money, and offered interest, which\nshe declined. She hurried back, brought in her money, counted it out on\nhis table, and there _were just three hundred thalers_, six rouleaux of\nfifty thalers each.\n\n_She had scarcely left the house, with her receipt in her pocket, ere\nthe clerk of the creditor with his demand in his hand, rushed into\nLoest's presence. He received his three hundred thalers, and both parted\nspeechless with amazement_.\n\nLoest was lost in wonder at the marvelous way and exactness of time in\nwhich the Lord delivered him, while the creditor was astonished thus to\nfind Loest's Mighty Friend had not failed him in his hour of need.\n\nThus in one short week, from a beginning of less than five thalers, God\nhad so exactly supplied his business needs that he had paid all his\nobligations of two thousand six hundred thalers, saved him from failure,\nsaved his honor and good name, and now all was peace.\n\nThe history of Loest and other providences which helped him in his\nbusiness, are still further given more at length in a little book, \"_The\nBelieving Tradesman_,\" from the records of the Religious Tract Society\nof Berlin.\n\nThis sketch illustrates the necessity of looking to God daily for help,\nand strength, and success, and deliverance in our business occupations\nas well as the concerns of our soul, and must effectively prove that\nthose who use their business and the means from it to honor the good\nworks of the Lord on earth, will be blessed on earth with the favor of\nthe Lord. It teaches the sublime lesson that _money and prosperity are\ngifts from the Lord_, and must be considered as such, acknowledged with\nthankfulness, and used to please the Giver.\n\nWhenever the Christian learns to love the gift more than the Giver, the\nLord takes it often away to remind him of his need of dependence upon\n_Him_. But whenever the Christian loves the _Giver_ because of His\ngifts, and spends his means again to please his Heavenly Father, he\nbecomes the Father's steward, and his lap is filled with bountiful\nblessings, such as one finds by true experience, \"_The Lord is my\nShepherd, I shall not want_.\"\n\n\nSPURGEON'S PRAYER FOR MONEY.\n\n\nCharles Spurgeon relates this incident connected with his ministry:\n\"When the college, of which I am President, had been commenced, for a\nyear or so all my means stayed; my purse was dried up, and I had no\nother means of carrying it on. In this very house, one Sunday evening, I\nhad paid away all I had for the support of my young men for the\nministry. There is a dear friend now sitting behind me who knows the\ntruth of what I am saying. I said to him, '_There is nothing left,\nwhatever_.' He said, 'You _have a good banker, sir_.' 'Yes,' I said,\n'and I should like to draw upon him now, for I have nothing.' 'Well,'\nsaid he, 'how do you know, have you prayed about it?' 'Yes, I have.'\n'Well, then leave it with Him; have you opened your letters?' 'No, I do\nnot open my letters on Sundays.' 'Well,' said he, 'open them for once.'\nI did so, and in the first one I opened there was a banker's letter to\nthis effect: 'Dear Sir, we beg to inform you that a lady, totally\nunknown to us, has left with us two hundred pounds for you to use in the\neducation of young men.' Such a sum has never come since, and it never\ncame before; and I have no more idea than the dead in their graves how\nit came then, nor from whom it came, but to me it seemed that it came\ndirectly from God.\"\n\n\nTHE PRAYER OF LATIMER.\n\n\nThe prayers of the martyr, Latimer, were very remarkable for their\nfaith. There were three principal matters for which he prayed:\n\n1. That God would give him grace to stand to his doctrine until death.\n\n2. That God would of His mercy restore His gospel to England once again,\nrepeating and insisting on these words \"once again,\" as though he had\nseen God before him, and spoken to Him face to face.\n\n3. That God would preserve Elizabeth; with many tears, desiring God to\nmake her a comfort to this comfortless realm of England. All these\nrequests were most fully and graciously answered.\n\n\nA MOTHER'S PRAYERS ANSWERED.\n\n\nA Christian evangelist, whose work has been most singularly blessed,\nrelated this incident, how once in the days of his folly and sin, while\nas yet his course of life ran counter to the fondest wishes and prayers\nof his mother's heart, he one day asked her the strange question,\nwhether she really believed that he ever would be converted to God. And\nher answer, inexpressibly touching and instructive, as being the answer\nof _assured faith_, which could see as yet no signs of the coming of\nwhat it so anxiously sought, was,\n\n\"Yes, I believe that you will one day be as eminent as a Christian, and\nan instrument for good, as you have been eminent in sin, and an\ninstrument for evil.\"\n\nIn later years the evangelist looked back with admiration to the faith\nof his mother, and thanked the Lord for His gracious answer to her\nprayers.\n\n\nHOW THE LORD RESCUED HIM.\n\n\nA wonderful incident is told by Dr. S.I. Prime among his many facts\nrelating to prayer, as published in _The Observer_ and \"_The Power of\nPrayer_.\"\n\n\"A young man held a good position in a large publishing house in this\ncity. He was about thirty years old, a married man, and happy in all the\nrelations of life. The missionary of the church knew him through years\nof comfort and prosperity. Years passed away, and there came a dark\nplace in his life. Intemperance, of the most depraved kind, made his\ncareer most dreadful. He disappeared, and was not heard from for some\ntime. He separated himself from his family, and from all good.\n\n\"He was met in Boston one day by an old friend, after long years, who\nnoticed a marked difference in his appearance. He approached him,\ngrasped him by the hand and said:\n\n\"'I am a changed man. I one day got up in the morning, after a night of\nwakefulness, and thinking over what a wretch I had become, and how\nwretched I had made my poor wife and children, I resolved to go to the\nbarn, and there all alone, to pray that God would take away utterly\nforever my accursed thirst for rum, and to pray till I felt answered\nthat my prayer was heard. I went down on my knees, and on them I stayed\nuntil I had asked God many times to take away all my appetite for rum\nand tobacco, and everything else which was displeasing to Him, and make\nme a new creature in Christ Jesus--a holy, devoted Christian man, for\nthe sake of Him who died for sinners. I told God that I could not be\ndenied; I could not get up from my knees till I was forgiven and the\ncurse was forever removed. I was in earnest in my prayer.\n\n\"'I was on my knees two hours, short hours, as they seemed to me; two\nblessed hours, for I arose from my knees assured that all of the\ndreadful past was forgiven, and my sins blotted out forever. Oh! I tell\nyou, God hears prayer. God has made me a happy man. I left all my\nappetite in the old barn. In that old barn, I was born again. Not one\ntwinge of the old appetite has ever been felt since then.'\"\n\n\nJESUS KEEPS ME FROM DRINKING.\n\n\nA young man arose in the Fulton Street prayer-meeting one day, and\ndetailed his struggles and triumphs with his appetites. He was a perfect\ndrunkard, helpless, poor; his friends' best efforts to reclaim' him were\nof no avail. The most solemn vows that he had ever taken, still were\nunable to hold him up. At last he gave himself up for lost. There seemed\nno hope for him, and in his despair he wandered away to the ocean shore.\nHe met a young man who showed him a good many favors, and to whom he\noffered a drink from his flask of liquor.\n\n\"'No,' said he, 'I never drink intoxicating drink, and I ask the Lord\nJesus to help me never to touch it.'\n\n\"I looked at him with surprise, and inquired, 'Are you a Christian?'\n\n\"'Yes, I trust I am,' he answered.\n\n\"'_And does Jesus keep you from drinking intoxicating liquor?'_\n\n\"'_He does, and I never wish to touch it_.'\n\n\"That short answer set me to thinking. In it was revealed a new power. I\nwent home that night and said to myself, as I went, '_How do I know but\nChrist would keep one from drinking if I would ask him_?'\n\n\"When I got to my room, I thought over my whole case, and then I knelt\ndown and told Jesus what a poor, miserable wretch I was; how I had\nstruggled against my appetite, and had always been overcome by it. I\ntold Him if he would take the appetite away I would give myself up to\nHim to be his forever, and I would forever love and serve Him. I told\nHim that I felt assured that He could help me, and that He would.\n\n\"Now I stand here, and I tell you all most solemnly, _that Jesus took me\nat my word_. He did take away my appetite then and there, so that, from\nthat sacred moment of casting myself on his help, I have not tasted a\ndrop of liquor, nor _desired_ to taste it. _The old appetite is gone_.\n\n\"The last two weeks have been rich experience of Divine goodness and\ngrace.\"\n\n\nMR. MOODY'S FAITH, IN PRAYER. A REMARKABLE ANSWER.\n\n\nMr. Moody, on his return from England, while conducting a prayer-meeting\nin Northfield, Mass., gave this illustration of the power of prayer to\nsubdue the most unlikely cases of sin and unbelief:\n\n\"There is not a heart so hard that God cannot touch it. While in\nEdinburgh, a man was pointed out to me by a friend who said, 'Moody,\nthat man is chairman of the Edinburgh infidel club.' So I went and sat\ndown beside him, and said, 'Well, my friend, I am glad to see you at\nthis meeting. Are you not concerned about your welfare?' He said that he\ndid not believe in a hereafter. I said, 'Well, you just get down on your\nknees and let me pray for you.'\n\n\"'_I don't believe in prayer_.'\n\n\"I tried unsuccessfully to get the man down on his knees, and finally\nknelt down beside him and prayed for him. Well, he made a good deal of\nsport over it, and I met him again many times in Edinburgh after that. A\nyear ago last month, while in the north of Scotland, I met the man\nagain. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I asked, '_Hasn't God answered\nthe prayer_?'\n\n\"He replied, 'There is no God. I am just the same as I always have been.\nIf you believe in a God, and in answer to prayer, do as I told you. Try\nyour hand on me.'\n\n\"'Well,' I said, 'God's time will come; there are a great many praying\nfor you; and I have faith to believe you are going to be blessed.'\n\n\"Six months ago I was in Liverpool; and there I got a letter from the\nleading barrister of Edinburgh, telling me that my friend, the infidel,\nhad come to Christ, and that of his club of thirty men _seventeen_ had\nfollowed his example.\n\n\"How it happened he could not say, but whereas he was once blind, now he\ncould see. God has answered the prayer. '_I didn't know how it was to be\nanswered_,' said Mr. Moody, '_but I believed it would be and it was\ndone. What we want to do is to come boldly to God_.'\"\n\n\nTHE WONDERS OF A SINGLE PRAYER.\n\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Edwin F. Hatfield, of New York City, well known and eminent\namong the clergymen of the Presbyterian church, is personally acquainted\nwith the following instance of a remarkable case in answer to prayer.\nFrom the mother of the daughter he obtained this statement, which has\nbeen published by Dr. Patton, of Chicago, in his volume, \"On Prayer.\"\n\n\"My daughter was for fourteen months afflicted with hip disease. It was\nbrought on by a fall, and a consequent dislocation, when she was eight\nyears of age.\n\n\"Her right side was paralyzed, and she had an abscess. I placed her in a\nhospital, under the care of good nurses, and the very best medical\nadvice.\n\n\"Everything possible was done for her, but all to no avail; she grew\nworse instead of better, and the doctors directed me, as there was no\nhope for her, to take her home to die.\n\n\"But I did not cease to hope. I did as the doctors directed, but\ncontinued to pray the prayer of faith for her recovery for two weeks.\nOne morning, at the end of this period, we were conversing together\nabout the wonderful cures wrought by the Savior, when on earth, and\nparticularly that of the man at the pool of Bethesda.\n\n\"In the midst of our conversation, my daughter rose to obtain a drink of\nwater, when she exclaimed, '_Mother, I can walk.'_ 'Thanks be to God!'\nsaid I, 'Come, and let me see you!'\n\n\"Her crutches, the only means by which she could move about, before,\nwere now useless. Upon examination, I found that the abscess had\nentirely disappeared, and that the paralyzed limb was restored whole,\nlike the other.\n\n\"She was again dangerously ill, five months afterward. I prayed for her\nrecovery one night, before retiring, and the next morning she arose,\nperfectly cured.\"\n\nShe is now twenty-one years of age, and during all this intervening time\nhas been free from any trouble of this kind. To-day she is as well as\nany one, working and running about without the slightest trouble.\"\n\n\nTHE TAVERN KEEPER OVERCOME.\n\n\nRev. Charles G. Finney relates, in his \"Spirit of Prayer,\" of an\nacquaintance of his whose faith and importunity in prayer and the answer\nwere very remarkable:\n\n\"In a town in the northern part of the State of New York, where there\nwas a revival, there was a certain individual, who was a most violent\nand outrageous opposer. He kept a tavern, and used to delight in\nswearing at a desperate rate, whenever there were Christians within\nhearing, on purpose to hurt their feelings. He was so bad, that one man\nsaid he believed he should have to sell his place or give it away, and\nmove out of town, for he could not live near a man that swore so.\n\n\"This good man of faith and prayer that I have spoken of, was passing\nthrough the town and heard the case, and was very much grieved and\ndistressed for the individual. He took him on his praying list. The case\nweighed on his mind when he was asleep, and when he was awake. He kept\nthinking about him, and praying for him, for days; and the first we knew\nof it, this ungodly man came into a meeting, and got up and confessed\nhis sins, and poured out his soul. His barroom immediately became the\nplace where they held prayer-meetings.\"\n\n\nVICTORIES OVER BAD HABITS, TOBACCO, OPIUM, ETC.\n\n\nThe Rev. W.H. Boole, a city missionary in New York City, has been\nwitness in his ministries, of many cases of complete deliverance from\nbad habits, and appetites, solely by believing prayer. Many are\ncontained in a little tract written by him, \"The Wonder of Grace.\" He\ngives a few of these incidents:\n\n\"One is an officer in a church in New York, who had used tobacco for\nforty years, making during that time many efforts to abandon the\npractice, but always failing because of the resultant inward growing.\nBut he was brought to an act of specific faith in Jesus, to save him\nfrom the appetite, and now, after several years, he testifies, 'From\nthat hour all desire left me, and I have ever since hated, what I once\nso fondly loved.'\"\n\n\"Another is of a prominent church member in Brooklyn, N.Y., who had used\ntobacco for thirty years, and could not endure to be without a cigar in\nhis mouth, and sometimes even rose and smoked in the night; after many\nfailures to overcome the habit, one night when alone, he cast himself on\nhis Savior for just this victory; and from that hour was delivered from\nthe desire as well as from the outward act, and now wonders that he ever\nloved the filthy practice.\"\n\n\"A certain old lady, who lived near Westbrook, Conn., aged seventy, was\na confirmed opium eater, and used daily, an amount sufficient to kill\ntwenty persons. She was led to see that the habit was a _sin_; and as\nsuch, she abandoned it, with specific application to Christ to save her\nfrom it. She was heard, and lived for two years afterward, free from any\ndesire for that drug.\"\n\n\"A similar case was that of a carpenter, in Brooklyn, N.Y., who, from\ntaking morphine to allay the pain of a fractured leg, fell into its\nhabitual use, till he almost lived upon it for several years after his\nrecovery. He once swallowed, in the presence of several physicians, a\ndose which it was calculated would destroy the lives of two hundred\nordinary men. Not long since, he was made to look at this as a sin, and\ntried to break off the habit, abstaining, with an alarming reaction,\ntill five physicians declared that death would ensue, if he did not\nresume it. This he did for a year; but then on a certain Sunday evening,\nbroke off again, casting himself by faith on Christ, from which moment\nthe desire left him, and has never returned, and he has experienced no\nreaction or other ill effect, but has greatly improved in health.\"\n\n\nMRS. WHITNEY'S CURE IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\nMrs. C.S. Whitney of Hartford, Conn., a lady well known for her\nChristian work among the poor, thus gives in a letter to Dr. Patton, her\npersonal testimony of the efficacy of prayer:\n\n\"Three years ago, I was healed of a bodily disease. I had been troubled\nfrom my birth with canker, and at times suffered greatly. I had\nconsulted some of the best physicians in the land, and had been treated\nby the most skillful. My case was said to be incurable. When I learned\nto trust Christ for everything, I applied to Him for healing. My husband\njoined with me in this prayer for three weeks; but all the time I was\ngrowing worse. I then prayed for entire submission. About the first of\nOctober, 1872, my stomach, throat and mouth were so cankered, I could\nscarcely eat anything. One day, I took up the little book entitled,\n'Dorothea Trudel;' and while reading, I seemed to hear a voice saying\nunto me, _'All things are possible unto him that believeth.' 'According\nto thy faith be it unto thee.'_ I claimed the faith, and immediately\nasked God to heal me, and in His own way. While yet on my knees, it\nseemed very clear to me that I should go to Boston, and ask Doctor\nCullis to pray with me. I obeyed that leading, and made preparations to\ngo the day following. Just as I was ready to start for the depot, I\nrealized that I was cured. An entire change was wrought in my system,\nand my soul was filled with joy and gratitude.\"\n\n\nPRESIDENT FINNEY'S PRAYER FOR RAIN.\n\n\nThe following incident of the prayer of President Finney for rain, and\nits immediate answer, is furnished by Professor Cowles, the intimate\nfriend of President Finney:\n\n\"Somewhat more than twenty years ago, the village of Oberlin and its\nadjacent country along the lake shore, suffered severely through the hot\nseason from a total failure of rain, for nearly three months. Clouds\nthat seemed to promise rain were repelled from the heated dry atmosphere\nover the land, and attracted by the more moist atmosphere over the lake,\nto pour out their waters there. On one such occasion, the clouds had\ngathered dark, low, and heavy over the lakes, and lay there with no\nparticular indication of rising. President Finney walked out with his\neye on these clouds. I give the sequel in his own words, as they fell\nfrom his lips, less than three months since:\n\n\"'In this walk I met Ralph, who turned sharply upon me. 'Mr. Finney, I\nshould like to know what you mean in preaching that God is always wise\nand always good, when you see him pouring out that great rain upon the\nlake, where it can do no good, and leaving us to suffer so terribly for\nthe want of that wasted water?'\n\n\"'His words cut me to the heart; I turned, and ran home to my closet,\nfell on my knees, and told the Lord what Ralph had been saying about\nHim; and besought Him, for the honor of His great name, to confound this\ncaviler, and show forth the glory of His power and the greatness of His\nlove. I pleaded with Him that He had encouraged His people to pray for\nrain, and that now the time seemed to have come for Him to show His\npower in this thing, and His faithfulness as a hearer of prayer.\n\n\"'Before I rose from my knees, there was a sound of a rushing, mighty\nwind. I looked out, and lo! the heavens were black; that cloud was\nrolling up, and soon the rain fell in torrents, two full hours.'\n\n\"The writer, (Professor Cowles,) himself remembers how that cloud lay\nover the lake; how it drove him, also, to his closet; and that soon and\nsignally the prayers of that hour came back to us in mighty rain.\"\n\n\nLUTHER'S MIGHTY PRAYER AND PROPHECY.\n\n\nAt one time in the life of Luther, there was a critical moment in the\naffairs of the Reformation. Bitter persecution prevailed with\nextraordinary power, and threatened every one. They were the dark days\nwhen faith could only cling. There were but few friends to the\nreformers, and these were of little strength. Their enemies were every\nwhere strong, proud, arrogant. But Luther relied on his God, and at this\nmoment, with his favorite hymn in his heart, \"_A strong fortress is our\nGod,_\" he went to the Lord in prayer, and prayed that omnipotence would\ncome to the help of their weakness. Long he wrestled alone with God in\nhis closet, till like Jacob he prevailed. Then he went into the room,\nwhere his family had assembled, with joyous heart and shining face, and\nraising both hands, and lifting his eyes heavenward, exclaimed, \"_We\nhave overcome, we have overcome_.\"\n\nThis was astonishing, as there was not the slightest of news which had\nyet been heard to give them hope of relief. But immediately after that,\nthe welcome tidings came that _the Emperor, Charles V., had issued his\nProclamation of \"Religious Toleration in Germany_.\" In Luther's prayer\nwas fulfilled the remarkable promise of Proverbs, 21: I. \"_The king's\nheart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it\nwhithersoever he will_.\"\n\n\nJOHN KNOX AND HIS PROPHETICAL PRAYER.\n\n\n\"John Knox was famous for his earnest prayers. Queen Mary said that she\nfeared his prayers more than she did all the armies of Europe. One\nnight, in the days of his bitterest persecution, while he and his\nfriends were praying together, Knox spoke out, and declared _that\ndeliverance has come_. He could not tell how. _Immediately the_ news\ncame that _Queen Mary was dead_.\"\n\n\nMELANCTHON'S LIFE SAVED FROM DEATH IN ANSWER TO LUTHER'S PRAYER.\n\n\nThe most powerful tribute to the efficacy of prayer, was the answer to\nLuther's prayer which the Lord sent. A messenger was sent to Luther that\nMelancthon was dying. He found him presenting the usual premonitory\nsymptoms of death. Melancthon roused, looked in the face of Luther, and\nsaid, \"O Luther, is this you? Why don't you let me depart in peace.\"\n\"_We can't spare you yet, Philip_,\" was the reply, and turning around,\nhe threw himself upon his knees, and wrestled with God for his recovery\nfor upwards of an hour. He went from his knees to the bed, and took his\nfriend by the hand; again he said, \"Dear Luther, why don't you let me\ndepart in peace?\" \"No, no, Philip; we can not spare you yet,\" was the\nreply. He then ordered some soup, and when pressed to take it,\nMelancthon declined, again saying, \"Dear Luther, why will you not let me\ngo home and be at rest.\" \"We can not spare you yet, Philip,\" was the\nreply. He then added, \"Philip, take this soup, or I will excommunicate\nyou.\" He took the soup, regained his wonted health, and labored for\nyears afterwards in the cause of the Reformation; and when Luther\nreturned home he said to his wife with joy, \"God gave me my brother\nMelancthon back in direct answer to prayer.\"\n\nIn this incident is given this extraordinary statement that while death\nhas really seized a man, who too wished to die, and did not want to live\nlonger on the earth, yet his life was given back to him again in answer\nto the prayer of faith of another.\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL POWER OF FAITH AND TRUST IN THE LORD TO DELIVER WHOLLY\nFROM BAD HABITS.\n\n\nA victim of licentiousness and sensuousness, who often, amid his sinful\npleasures, had the memory of Christian parents before him, felt his was\nindeed a life of shame. But the downward steps had destroyed his will,\nhis self-control, his manliness, his virtue. He had no power to resist,\nall was wickedness, irresolution, constant yielding. In vain he hung\nback, and tried to save himself from the cursed appetite; at last he\nrealized that in a few weeks' time he must go to the grave; strength\ncould not stand such a waste of life. \"What a miserable life. What\nwicked ways, what wicked thoughts; how I wish I was pure; O, that I\nmight get free; I do not love this sin any more, I don't want it, but I\ncan't stop it. O, I wish I could be a Christian, and wholly free.\"\n\nSuch were his constant thoughts. In mercy, the Lord who had been reading\nhis thoughts, sent him a great reverse in business, and in agony of\nheart, he knew not where to turn but to the Lord, and pray for relief.\nHis prayer, too, asked to be emancipated from his wickedness, and his\nstrength and health restored. \"_Lord, save me and I will_ be thine\nforever. I am lost unless thou wilt come and save.\"\n\nBy gradual degrees, in the absorption of his thoughts over other\ndistresses, his mind was diverted from his usual ways and thoughts of\nsinful living; gradually the habits of lust grew less and less strong,\nand finally ceased altogether. But the body still remained under\nexcessive weakness. But faith that the Lord who had saved others, could\nsave him too, led him to pray, not only for the destruction of the\nhabit, but entire recovery from its evil effects. His perseverance was\npersistent, and met with a _triumphant reward_. After a long; time, he\nfelt himself wholly healed. New strength, new life, came back to him.\n\"It seems as if my life had been put back again ten years, and I was\nyoung again.\" \"I never have any more wicked thoughts or imaginations,\nwhile I was once full of them. Since I learned to seek the Lord and love\nhis Bible, I have never had such peace, or purity. I love the name and\ntender mercies of my God.\" If in a few months, prayer saved that man's\nlife, and so wholly changed it from a foul blot to a thing of purity,\nwhat can it not do again. _No sin can ever be conquered until in\nhumility either saint or sinner_ gets down upon his knees, and implores\nthe love and power of the Lord in _never ceasing prayer_, to wholly\nemancipate him from the control of the evil habit. _The Lord will surely\nhear it_. He can as truly deliver the body from the most persistent and\nenchaining habit, as he can wholly convert the mind and heart. The\nresult is not always instantaneous; more often gradual, but _always\nsure_ if the sufferer _always prays_.\n\nIt is simple enough for the sinning one to believe that the _Lord can_,\nand seeking the Bible _for the Lord's own promise that he, will; to\ncling to it and never surrender_.\n\nThe sin may be repeated when you can not resist it, and do not desire\nfor it, but take all pains to avoid; still pray though you often fail;\nstill try, still trust the Lord to loose your chains and remove your\ndesire, and deliverance is sure to come at last.\n\n\nRECOVERY FROM PARALYSIS.\n\n\n\"Between two and three years ago, the writer was struck down by\nparalysis, disabling entirely the limbs of the left side. In this\napparently helpless state, I employed a man to take care of me, and felt\nthat unless God should interpose, I must be a continuous burden on my\nfriends. My kind physician gave me no hope of _entire recovery_.\n\n\"In this state I made my prayer to God continually, that he would so far\nrestore my strength as to enable me to take care of myself.\n\n\"This prayer he was pleased to answer, for in eight weeks I dismissed my\nattendant, finding myself able to take care of myself. I now walk more\nthan half a mile each day, and attend to all the associations of home\nlife. I record with thankfulness this restoration of my disabled frame\nin answer to prayer.\"\n\n\nTHE STOLEN BONDS RETURNED.\n\n\nThe _New York Observer_ relates a remarkable instance of the return of\nstolen property, which in its extraordinary way can be accounted for\nonly by the control of a Supreme Will, and all in answer to prayer.\n\n\"On February 16, 1877, United States and railroad bonds and mortgages to\nthe amount of $160,000, belonging to Edgar H. Richards, were stolen from\nthe banking house of James G. King's Sons, of this city. No clue\nwhatever to the robbers could be obtained. Several parties were arrested\non suspicion, but nothing could be proved, and the mystery remained\nunsolved.\n\n\"Mr. Richards, being a member of one of our most prominent churches,\nmade it a subject of constant prayer, that the Lord would wholly prevent\nthe thieves from any use of the property and cause it to be returned to\nhim. When asked if he was ever incredulous, he said, 'No, I have never\nlost my faith in recovering this property. I believe in prayer, and I\nhave made it from the first a subject of prayer, and it will be\nanswered.'\n\n\"Meanwhile some curious influences must have been at work among the\nthieves, for they acted in an extraordinary manner as follows:\n\n\"One day last week a stranger, well dressed, modest looking,\ngentlemanly, walked into the office of Elliott F. Shepard, Esq., one of\nMessrs. King's counsel, and tendered his services for the recovery of\nthe property, asserting he knew nothing about the robbery, nor the\nthieves, but that he could get the treasure. He was told that a reward\nwould be paid for the capture of the thieves, but he earnestly protested\nthat it was entirely out of his power to obtain any clue to the person\nor whereabouts of the thief; and no inquiries ever disclosed that this\nwas not a perfectly true statement. Indeed, it proved that he had been\nselected as an agent to do this work, and that there were at least five\nor six connecting intermediaries between him and the robbers, each\nexercising that virtue which is called honor among thieves, and which on\nthis occasion proved a wall of adamant to every attempt to pierce it or\nbreak it down.\n\n\"True to his word the stranger caused the delivery at Mr. Shepard's\noffice, at the appointed hour to a second, of an ordinary pasteboard\nbandbox, wrapped in newspaper, by the hands of a little boy. He had come\nin a pelting rain-storm, and part of the newspaper had become torn, and\ndisclosed the blue, unsuspected hat box. The boy knew nothing about it,\nexcept that a gentleman had given him a dime in the street to bring the\nbox.\n\n\"Mr. Richards being present, opened the bandbox, examined and checked\noff the contents with one of Messrs. King's head clerks, and found every\nsingle item of his missing securities, stocks, bonds, mortgages,\naccounts, bank books, wills, everything. A most remarkable thing! The\nparties could hardly believe their eyes.\"\n\n\nMR. MOODY'S ANSWERS TO PRAYERS.\n\n\nMr. D.L. Moody, the Evangelist, when a boy, was possessed of an unusual\namount of muscular strength and animal spirits, and a strong will that\nknew little of impossibility or submission. When only six years old,\nbeing wistful to do something to help his mother, he was set to drive\nthe cows of a neighboring farmer to and from their mountain pasture. On\none occasion, a heavy fence fell upon him from which he could not\nextricate himself. After trying his utmost and crying as loud as he\ncould for help, but in vain, the thought struck him that God would help\nhim if he asked him. In his own simple language he prayed to his\nmother's God for help, and made another effort, and succeeded in getting\nfree. This, his first answer to prayer, made a vivid impression on his\nheart, which gave a decided turn to his opening life.\n\n\nNO FLOUR IN THE HOUSE--IN THE DAYS OF FAMINE, HIS SOUL SHALL BE\nSATISFIED.\n\n\nMr. Moody's domestic life has always been a happy one, but in the early\ndays of his marriage, he was very poor, and his faith was often put to\nthe severest tests.\n\nOne day, on leaving home in his missionary work and labors of love, he\nremarked to his wife, \"I have no money, and the house is without\nsupplies. It looks dark; is it possible that the Lord has had enough of\nme in this mission work, and is going to send me back again to sell\nboots and shoes.\" But he prayed. In a day or two, a Stranger sent him\ntwo checks of $50 each--one for himself, and one for his school.\n\nOn another occasion his wife informed him that they had no flour for the\nday's use, and asked him to order some on his way. Having no money in\nhis possession, he was perplexed how to proceed to raise the required\namount; but meeting a person in whose spiritual welfare he was\nconcerned, he forgot all about such sublunary considerations as money\nand flour, and went heart and soul into the Lord's work before him.\n\nOn his return home at night, he felt somewhat nervous about his\nreception on account of his not having sent the flour, but to his joyful\nsurprise, he found that on his arrival the table was spread with a\nbountiful repast.\n\nIt seems that a friend of his was powerfully impressed that morning, and\nwithout seeing the family or knowing anything about their need, had\npacked up a barrel of flour and sent it.\n\nOthers of his friends, who were interested in his work, and felt\nconfidence in his work, _unknown to him_, selected a new house, and\nfurnished it throughout with every facility for convenience and comfort,\nand when all was completed invited him and his family to it, and made\nhim a present of the loan of his house, and all its contents.\n\nThus the _Great Helper_ remembered him and answered his daily prayer,\n\"Give us this day our daily bread.\"\n\n\nPERSEVERING PRAYER.\n\n\nAt one of the prayer-meetings at the Brooklyn tabernacle, Mr. Moody\nclosed by narrating an instance of persevering prayer by a Christian\nwife for an infidel husband. She resolved to pray for him at noon for\neighteen months, and at the expiration of that time, her knocking not\nhaving been responded to, she exclaimed, \"_Lord, I will pray for him,\nevery day, and at all hours, as long as life lasts_.\"\n\nThat day the Lord heard her knock, and gave her the desire of her heart,\nin the conversion of her husband. When the Lord saw her faith would not\ngive up, he sent the answer immediately.\n\n\nNOAH'S PRAYER.--HE DID NOT GET DISCOURAGED.\n\n\nThe life of faith and the necessity of uncompromising hold on the\npromise's, expecting their fulfillment, is admirably explained in the\nillustration of Noah's prayer. One day Mr. Moody was much discouraged,\nand it was as dark a Sabbath as ever he had, and a friend suggested to\nhim to study the life of Noah.\n\n\"I got out my Bible, and the thought came over me, 'Here is a man who\nlabored and talked a hundred years, and didn't succeed; didn't get a\nconvert notwithstanding all his efforts, all his prayers, but he didn't\nget discouraged.'\n\n\"But he took God at his word; he worked right on; he prayed right on;\nand he waited God's time. And, my friends, from that time, I have never\nbeen discouraged. Whenever I think of him, it lifts me up out of the\ndarkness into the light. Don't get discouraged.\"\n\nThe lesson of Noah's life is briefly this: He never converted a soul\noutside of his own family. That was the work God gave him to do, and he\nprayed and waited and worked, and never gave up, and he was saved and\nall his family with him.\n\nSo every Christian must recognize that his field is not far off, but\nright around him, in his house, among his friends, working, praying,\nwaiting, but never getting discouraged. The Lord will never fail those\nwho \"_abide in Him_.\"\n\n\nSAMUEL HICK'S PRAYER FOR RAIN.\n\n\nSamuel Hick was one of the men of \"_mighty faith_\" in the Lord, and as a\npreacher among the Methodists of England. He was of great eminence for\nhis happy spirit, remarkable trust, powerful and practical preaching,\nand unbounded liberality. Among the many incidents connected with his\nlife of faith, we quote a few to illustrate with what simplicity he\nexpected always an answer to his prayer, and was not satisfied until he\ngot it:\n\nIn the course of a Summer of excessive drought a few years back, when\nthe grain suffered greatly, and many of the cattle, especially in\nLincolnshire, died. Samuel Hick was much affected. He visited\nKnaresborough, at which place he preached on the Lord's day.\n\nRemaining in the town and neighborhood over the Sabbath, he appeared\nextremely restless in the house in which he resided, during the whole of\nMonday. He spoke but little--was full of thought, now praying, now\nwalking about the room, next sitting in a crouching posture--then\nsuddenly starting up and going to the door, turning his eyes toward\nheaven, as if looking for some celestial phenomenon, when he would\nreturn again, groan in spirit, and resume his seat. The family, being\nimpressed with his movements, asked him whether there was anything the\nmatter with him or whether he expected any person, as the occasion of\nhis going to the door so frequently.\n\n\"Bless you Bairns,\" was his reply, \"do you not recollect that I was\npraying for rain last night in the pulpit, and what will the infidel at\nKnaresborough think if it do not come; if my Lord should fail me, and\nnot stand by me.\" But it must have time; it can not be here yet; it has\nto come from the sea. Neither can it be seen at first. The prophet only\nsaw a bit of cloud like a man's hand. By and by it spread along the sky.\nI am looking for an answer to my prayer, but it must have time.\n\nHe continued in the same unsettled state, occasionally going out, and\nlooking with intensity on the pure azure over his head; for _a more\nunclouded sky was rarely ever seen_. Contrary to all external signs of\nrain, and contrary to the expectations of all, except himself, the sky\nbecame overcast toward evening, and the clouds dropped the fullness of a\nshower upon the earth. His very soul seemed to drink in the falling\ndrops. The family grouped around him, like children around their father,\nwhile he gave out his favorite hymn, \"_I'll praise my Maker while I've\nbreath_;\" \"and after singing it with a countenance all a-glow, through\nthe sunshine of heaven upon his soul, he knelt down and prayed. All were\noverpowered; it was a season of refreshing from the presence of the\nLord.\n\nHis biographer says of him: \"Samuel had no weather glass upon which to\nlook except the Bible, in which he was taught to believe, and expect\n_that_ for which he prayed; nothing on which he could depend but God,\nand _his faith_ was set in God for _rain_.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR THE WIND TO COME.\n\n\nA remarkable incident, showing how God makes the winds to obey him in\nobedience to the prayer of his righteous ones, and the expectations of\ntheir faith, occurred also in Samuel Hick's life, which is really an\nastonishing proof of God's supernatural power.\n\nA church gathering was to take place at Micklefleld, and Samuel had\npromised two loads of corn for their use. The day fixed drew near, but\nthere was no flour in the house, and the wind-mills, in consequence of a\nlong calm, stretched out their arms in vain to catch the rising breezes.\nIn the midst of this death-like quiet, Samuel carried his corn to the\nmill nearest his own residence, and requested the miller to unfurl his\nsails. The miller objected, stating that there was \"no wind.\" Samuel, on\nthe other hand, continued to urge his request, saying, \"_I will go and\npray while you spread the cloth._\" More with a view of gratifying the\napplicant than of any faith he had, the man stretched his canvas. _No\nsooner had he done this than, to his utter astonishment, a fine breeze\nsprung up, the fans whirled around, the corn was converted into meal,\nand Samuel returned with his burden rejoicing,_ and had everything in\nreadiness for the festival.\n\nIn the mean time, a neighbor who had seen the fan in vigorous motion,\ntook also some corn to be ground; but the wind had dropped, and the\nmiller remarked to him, \"You must send for Sammy Hick to pray for the\nwind to blow again.\"\n\n\nSNAILS IN THE ARK.\n\n\nTo many who with despondency protest that they have not faith enough,\nget along so slow, are too weak, &c, the following sharp retort of Hick\nwill prove a bright lining to their dark cloud of failing, and lead them\nto plod on in prayer.\n\n\"To a gentleman laboring under great nervous depression, whom he had\nvisited, and who was moving along the streets as though he was\napprehensive that every step would shake his system in pieces, he was\nrendered singularly useful. They met, and Samuel, having a deeper\ninterest in the soul than the body, asked: 'Well, how are you getting on\nyour way to Heaven.'\"\n\nThe poor invalid, in a dejected, half desponding tone, replied, \"But\nslowly I fear,\" intimating that he was creeping along only at a poor\npace.\n\n\"Why bless you Bairn,\" returned Samuel, \"_there were snails in the\nark_.\"\n\nThe reply was so earnest, so unexpected, and met the dispirited man so\nimmediately on his own ground, that the temptation broke away, and he\nwas out of his depression.\n\nIt was a resurrection to his feelings, inferring that if the snail\nreached the ark and was saved, he too, \"faint yet pursuing,\" might gain\nadmission into heaven.\n\n\nHE GAVE ALL THE MONEY HE HAD.\n\n\nAt one time he attended a missionary meeting near Harrowgate. \"We had a\nblessed meeting,\" said Samuel, \"I was very happy and gave all the money\nI had in my pocket.\" After the meeting was concluded, he mounted his\nhorse to return home. No one had offered to pay his expenses--he had not\na farthing in his pocket. Advanced in life--a slow rider, and not a very\nsprightly horse--in the night--alone--twenty miles from home. Think of\nthe lonesomeness; the time for the tempter to come and lead him to\ndistrust in his Lord. But he struggled; the trial was short and the\nvictory complete, for, said he, \"Devil, I never stuck fast yet.\"\n\nJust as he entered Harewood, a gentleman took his horse by the bridle,\nasked him where he had been, talked with him long, and to whom Samuel's\ntalk was a wonderful consolation. Said Sammy:\n\n\"I have not wanted for any good thing, and could always pray with Job,\n'The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the\nLord.'\"\n\nThe gentleman asked, \"Can you read?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" returned Samuel.\n\n\"Then,\" replied the gentleman, holding a piece of paper in his hand,\nwhich was rendered visible by the glimmering light of the stars,\n\n\"There is a five pound note for you. You love God and his cause, and I\nbelieve you will never want.\"\n\nAnd Sammy said, \"I cried for joy. This was a fair salvation from the\nLord. When I got home, I told my wife. She burst into tears, and we\npraised the Lord together,\" and he added: \"You see, we never give to the\nLord but He gives in return.\"\n\n\n\"THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.\"\n\n\nA poor but pious widow in Boston, in her eighty-seventh year, said to a\nfriend, \"When I was left a widow with three little children, I was\nbrought into such extremity that they were crying for bread, and I had\nnothing for them to eat. As I arose on a Sabbath morning, I knew not\nwhat to do but to ask my heavenly Father to feed my little ones, and\ncommit myself and them to his care.\n\n\"I then went out to the well to get a pail of water, and saw on the\nground a six cent piece, which I took up; and learning that it did not\nbelong to any of those who lived in the same house with me, I thought I\nmight take it to feed my famishing children. Though it was a Sabbath\nmorning, I felt that it would be right to go to a baker who lived in the\nneighborhood, tell him our circumstances, and buy bread with the money\nProvidence had thus cast in my way. The baker not only did this, but the\nLord opened his heart to add a bountiful supply; and from that hour to\nthe present, which is nearly fifty years, I have never doubted that _God\nwould take care of his children_.\"\n\n\nABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAITH IN PRAYER.\n\n\nWhen President Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Ill., February 11,\n1861, on his way to Washington, he made the following farewell address\nto his friends and neighbors: \"My friends, no one not in my position can\nappreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all\nI am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century; here my\nchildren were born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how\nsoon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me which is perhaps\ngreater than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days\nof Washington. He would never have succeeded except for the aid of\nDivine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I\ncannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and on\nthe same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support; and I hope you,\nmy friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance,\nwithout which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain.\nAgain, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.\" That simple but earnest\nrequest sent an electric thrill through every Christian heart, and\nwithout doubt, in response to it, more prayer was offered for him\nthroughout his administration, than for any one who ever before occupied\nthe Presidential chair.\n\nAt a Sabbath-school convention in Massachusetts, a speaker stated that a\nfriend of his, during an interview with Mr. Lincoln, asked him if he\nloved Jesus. The President buried his face in his handkerchief and wept.\nHe then said, \"When I left home to take this chair of state, I requested\nmy countrymen to pray for me. I was not then a Christian. When my son\ndied--the severest trial of my life--I was not a Christian. But when I\nwent to Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes who\nhad fallen in defense, of their country, I then and there consecrated\nmyself to Christ. _I do love Jesus.\"_ Rev. Mr. Adams, of Philadelphia,\nstated in his Thanksgiving sermon that, having an appointment to meet\nthe President at 5 o'clock in the morning, he went a quarter of an hour\nbefore the time. While waiting for the hour, he heard a voice in the\nnext room as if in grave conversation, and asked the servant, \"Who is\ntalking in the next room?\" \"It is the President, sir.\" \"Is anybody with\nhim?\" \"No, sir; he is reading the Bible.\" \"Is that his habit so early in\nthe morning?\" \"Yes, sir. He spends every morning, from 4 o'clock to 5,\nin reading the Scriptures and praying.\"\n\n_It was the Lord who Guided the mind of Mr. Lincoln in his extraordinary\nact of the Emancipation of the Slaves of America._ The Lord had prepared\nit, and chose him as the means whereby to accomplish it.\n\n_Were not his Prayers and efforts specially blessed by the Lord in\nwisdom, for the guidance of our Nation_?\n\n\nEXTRAORDINARY CARE OF THE LORD IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\n\n\"The scenes of the riots in New York, at the time of our civil war, are\nof national celebrity; but few, however, know that one of the most\natrocious acts of cruelty attempted to be perpetrated by the\nmalefactors, and which utterly failed of its purpose, _came solely in\nanswer to prayer_. On the first day of the mob, however, several\nthousand men, _women and children_, armed with clubs and brickbats,\nsuddenly appeared at the door of the Colored Orphan Asylum, and effected\nan entrance by breaking down the front door with an axe. The building\nwas soon fired in ten or fifteen places, and the work of destruction was\naccomplished in twenty minutes.\n\n\"There were at the time two hundred and twenty-three children in the\nbuilding with their attendants and teachers. The matron having assembled\nall the children after the first alarm, one of the teachers thus\naddressed them: 'Children, do you believe that Almighty God can deliver\nyou from a mob?' The reply was promptly made in the affirmative. 'Then,'\nsaid she, 'I wish you now to pray silently to God to protect you from\nthis mob. I believe that he is able and will do it. Pray earnestly to\nhim, and when I give the signal, go in order, without noise, to the\ndining-room.' At this every head was instantly bowed in prayer, such\nprayer as is not frequently offered, the silent, earnest supplication of\nterrified and persecuted little children. When, at the sound of the\nbell, their heads were raised, the teacher said the tears were\nstreaming, but not a sound, not even a sob, was to be heard. They then\nquietly went down stairs and through the halls, and she remarked that\n'to her dying day she should never forget the scene;' the few moments of\neloquent silence, the streaming noiseless tears, the funereal march\nthrough the halls, the yells and the horrible sounds which were nearer\nand nearer approaching. _Not one of these helpless innocents was injured\nin the least_; but in spite of the threats and the blood-thirstiness of\nthe rioters, through whom they were obliged to pass, all were removed\nunmolested to a place of safety.\"\n\n\nA REMARKABLE DECISION BY A JURY.\n\n\n\"In one of our northern cities, a trial at law took place between a\nChristian and an infidel. The latter had sued the former for a heavy\nsum, falsely alleging his promise to pay it for some stocks which he\nclaimed to have sold him. The Christian admitted AN OFFER of the stock,\nbut protested that so far from promising the sum demanded, he had\nsteadily refused to make any trade whatever with the plaintiff. Each of\nthe parties to the suit had a friend who fully corroborated their\nassertions. Thus the case went before the jury for decision.\n\n\"The charge of the judge was stern and significant. 'It was a grave and\nmost painful task which devolved upon him to instruct the jurors that\none of the parties before them must be guilty of deliberate and willful\nperjury. Their statements were wholly irreconcilable with each other;\nnay more, were diametrically opposite; and that either were innocently\nmistaken in their assertions was impossible.\n\n\"'Your verdict, gentlemen,' he said in conclusion, 'must decide upon\nwhich side this awful and heaven-daring iniquity belongs. The God of\ntruth help you to find the truth, that the innocent suffer not.'\n\n\"It was late in the day when the judge's charge was given, and the\nfinding of the jury was to be rendered in the morning. The plaintiff\nwent carelessly from the court arm in arm with the wicked associate whom\nhe had bribed to swear falsely on his behalf. The defendant and his\nfriend walked away together in painful silence. When the Christian\nreached his home, he told his family of the judge's solemn charge and of\nthe grave responsibility which rested upon the jurors. 'They are to\ndecide which of us has perjured ourselves on this trial,' he said; 'and\nhow terrible a thing for me if they should be mistaken in their\njudgment. There is so little of any thing tangible for their decision to\nrest upon, that it seems to me as if a breath might blow it either way.\nThey cannot see our hearts, and I feel as if, only God could enable them\nto discern the truth. Let us spend the evening in prayer that he may\ngive them a clear vision.'\"\n\nThe twelve jurymen ate their supper in perplexed silence, and were shut\nin their room for deliberation and consultation. \"I never sat in such a\ncase before,\" said the foreman. \"The plaintiff and defendant have sworn\npoint-blank against each other; and how we are to tell which speaks the\ntruth, I can not see. I should not like to make a mistake in the matter;\nit would be a sad affair to convict an innocent man of perjury.\" Again\nthere was silence among them, as if each were weighing the case in his\nown mind. \"_For myself_ I feel as if the truth must be with the\ndefendant; I am constrained to think that he is an honest man. What say\nyou, gentlemen?\" _Every hand was raised in affirmation of this opinion_.\nThey were fully persuaded of its truth, and _gave a unanimous verdict\naccordingly._\n\nThus the Christian man was rightfully acquitted, and gave thanks to God,\nwith a new and stronger confidence in the power of prayer. \"Call upon me\nin the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me,\"\nsaith the Lord.\n\n\nTHAT WONDERFUL $25. ANOTHER EVIDENCE OF THE EVER-PRESENT SPIRIT OF GOD.\n\n\nThe following incident is marvelous, as at the time of its occurrence\nneither party had ever been known to each other:\n\nIn _New Haven, Conn._, lives a little invalid widow, almost helpless,\nwith no one upon whom to rely for support, and only indebted to friendly\nacquaintances for a temporary home. With no money, no acquaintances, she\nhad nowhere else to turn to but to the Father of all good. She had\nprayed often, and often had answers, but this time, though needing\nmoney, still she received none. The answer was long delayed; she was\nalmost discouraged. \"_Was God at last to fail and forget her? No, it\ncould not be. Let God be true even if I perish, I shall still cling to\nHim. I can not give Him up.\"_\n\nJust at that time a business man in New York, who had been absent on a\nlong journey for the Summer and had just returned, happened to pick up a\nnote among many hundred lying on his desk, and noticed that the writer\nasked for some trifling favor, saying she was poor, had no means.\n\nHer circumstances were unknown: he knew nothing but her name. He was\neager to _minister to the little ones of the Lord,_ and felt deeply\nimpressed in prayer that morning, in asking a blessing on his day's\nlabors, that he might be able to help the need of some of \"his children\"\nwho might then be in want. In his business hours the thought came over\nhim with the depth of emotion, \"WHAT CAN I DO? LORD, THY SERVANT IS\nREADY.\" Just at that moment he picked up this note of the little\ninvalid, who asked the trivial favor, saying it would be such a comfort.\n_(No money whatever was asked for in this note_.)\n\nSuddenly the thought came to him, \"_Perhaps this is my very opportunity.\nThis may be the Lord's little one in need_.\" But there was nothing in\nthe letter to indicate she was a Christian. She solicited no money or\npecuniary help.\n\nImmediately there came to his mind, amid floods of tears, \"_Inasmuch as\nye have done it unto the least of these, my children, ye have done it\nunto me_.\" Instantly he understood it as a message from the Lord, and\nthe intimation of the Holy Spirit. He immediately sat down and wrote a\ncheck for $25, and enclosed it to her, saying, \"_I know not your need;\nyou have not asked me for help, but I send you something which may be\nuseful. I trust you are a Christian. I shall be happy to learn if it has\ndone good, and made you happy. Give me no thanks. The Lord's blessing is\nenough for me_.\"\n\nThe letter was sent and forgotten, but a strange presentiment came over\nthe mind of the writer. \"_I am afraid I did not direct that letter\nright_.\" He sent a second postal card, asking if a letter had been\nreceived at her home; if not, to go to her post office and inquire.\n\nNow notice the wonderful singularity of incident. Here is a man sending\nmoney, _never asked for, to an unknown person, about whom he knew\nnothing; then misdirecting his letter_, and then remembering and\n_sending another message to go and find where the first had gone to. But\nnotice the marvelous result_. The little invalid received the postal\ncard, but not the letter. She sent to the post office, and sure enough\nthere was the first letter with its misdirection. She was _just in time_\nto save it from being sent to _another woman of the same name living in\nanother part of the same city_.\n\nShe opened her letter, and with tears of thankfulness perused this\nwonderful reply, a marvelous witness to the power of an overruling\nSpirit, who had directed everything.\n\n\"My heart is full, that God should so answer my simple prayer. I first\nasked him for $10, then $15, _and then for_ $25. I asked him for $25\nseveral times, and was astonished at my boldness, but the amount was so\nfixed in my mind, _I could not ask for anything else_, and then I humbly\ntrusted it to Him, and from that time I thought, I will not name any\nsum; let it be as He knows my need. And how He has honored my simple\nfaith and trust in these dark days. _Your letter contained exactly the\n$25 I prayed for_. I have not had $1.50 to spend this Summer. I have\nsuffered for everything. But through it all I have felt such perfect\nfaith in the Lord, that his hand was leading me, even when I could not\nsee a step before me; and that He should move your heart to help me\nseems so wonderful, so good. I am so glad I can thank you now, but ah,\nso much \"_over there_\" where words will express so much more in the\nbeautiful atmosphere of heaven. Your letter and kind gift was mailed\n_the very same day_ that I was praying in great distress and trial. I\nknew not but that I should be without even a home. My verse was Psalms\n50: 15. O, how I had to pray that day. So day by day I was comforted,\nand now to-day the answer has come.\"\n\nHere, then, is a portion of the story of a sweet life who trusted God,\nnot as a God of the past, nor far off, but ever living, ever present,\never faithful, and believed Him _able, willing_, and that He _would\nhelp_ her in her daily life. She tried her Lord, to prove if his\npromises were indeed true, and she clung to them to the very last. No\none knew her need. No one knew what she was praying for. The stranger\ndid not know anything of her. She had asked money of no one but the\nLord. Hesitant ever, she dared not name any amount of the Lord, but that\never present Spirit of God guided her heart, made her _fix the amount_,\nand then touched the heart of the stranger and fixed the amount also in\nhis mind, and then, by his own guidance saved the letter from being\nlost, and behold! when opened the _prayer of the one and the gift of the\nother was the same_.\n\nWhat a comfort, what a privilege, then, it is for the true-hearted\nChristian thus to feel, \"_There is one who careth for us_.\"\n\n\nWHY HE FAILED.\n\n\nA prominent business man failed in the Spring of 1877. He had been for\nyears a prominent and consistent member of a Christian church. He had\neven supported a church once almost entirely. Nothing was known against\nhis character, _but he failed; he failed in business_. No one knew the\nreason why, but there it was, _failure_.\n\nAt last, in moments of bitter repentance before God, he unbosomed\nhimself to his pastor, and said, \"_Long ago I promised to give the Lord\none-tenth of all the profits I gained from my business, and while I did\nso, I was immensely prosperous and successful; never did any one have\nany such splendid success,--but I forgot my promise, stopped giving,\nthought that I did not need to spend so much, and I began to invest my\nmeans in real estate. When I stopped giving I stopped getting. Now all\nis gone. I lost my all because I did not keep my promise to the Lord_.\"\n\nThis incident is a practical one, telling how utter is the impossibility\nof true success, without the aid of the Lord, and how absolutely\nnecessary it is to our own peace and comfort of mind to religiously\nobserve one's promises made to God. The Bible only too truly tells of\nthe end of those who forget Him.\n\n\"_But Jeshurun waxed fat, then he forsook God which made him; and when\nthe Lord saw it, he abhorred them, and said, 'I will hide my face from\nthem_.'\"\n\n\"_Ye can not prosper; because ye have forsaken the Lord_, He _hath also\nforsaken you.\" \"There shall be desolation; because thou hast forgotten\nthe God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy\nstrength_.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       * HOW THE LORD\n\n\nCONTROLS THE WINDS AND THE WAVES\n\n\nJOHN EASTER'S PRAYER.\n\n\nIn his \"Memorials of Methodism in Virginia,\" Dr. W.W. Bennet relates the\nfollowing incidents in the life of John Easter, one of the pioneer\nministers who labored there nearly one hundred years ago: He is\nrepresented as being the most powerful exhortatory preacher of his day.\nHis faith was transcendent, his appeals irresistible, his prayers like\ntalking with God face to face. Perhaps no man has ever been more\nsignally honored of God as an instrument in the conversion of souls. On\none of his circuits eighteen hundred members were added to the church in\na single year.\n\nMany thrilling scenes under his preaching yet linger among the people in\nthose counties where he principally labored. A most extraordinary\ndisplay of his faith was witnessed in Brunswick. At Merritt's meeting-\nhouse a quarterly meeting was in progress, and so vast was the concourse\nof people from many miles around, that the services were conducted in a\nbeautiful grove near the church. In the midst of the exercises, a heavy\ncloud arose, and swept rapidly towards the place of worship. From the\nskirts of the grove the rain could be seen coming on across the fields.\nThe people were in consternation; no house could hold one-third of the\nmultitude, and they were about to scatter in all directions. Easter rose\nin the midst of the confusion--\"Brethren,\" cried he at the top of his\nvoice, \"be still while I call upon God to stay the clouds, till His word\ncan be preached to perishing sinners.\" Arrested by his voice and manner,\nthey stood between hope and fear. He kneeled down and offered a fervent\nprayer that God would then stay the rain, that the preaching of His word\nmight go on, and afterwards send refreshing showers. _While he was\npraying, the angry cloud, as it swiftly rolled up to them, was seen to\npart asunder in the midst, pass on either side of them, and close again\nbeyond, leaving a space several hundred yards in circumference perfectly\ndry. The next morning a copious rain fell again, and the fields that had\nbeen left dry were well watered_.\"\n\n\nTHE HUSHED TEMPEST.\n\n\nThe following circumstance is communicated to _The Christian_ by a\nminister of the editor's acquaintance, as a memorial of God's care for\nthe poor and needy who trust in him:\n\nIt was about the year 1853, and near the middle of a Canadian Winter, we\nhad a succession of snowfalls, followed by high winds and severe cold. I\nwas getting ready to haul my Winter's stock of wood, for which I had to\ngo two miles over a road running north and south, entirely unprotected\nfrom the keen cold west winds that prevail the most of the time in that\npart of Canada during the Winter months.\n\nThe procuring of my Winter's supply of wood was no small task for me,\nfor I had very little to do with, and was unable to endure much fatigue,\nor bear the severe cold. I had, however, succeeded in securing the\nservices of an excellent hand to chop, and help me load, and had also\nengaged a horse of one neighbor, and a horse and sled of another, and\nwas ready on Monday morning to commence my job. Monday morning the roads\nwere fair, the day promised well, and my man was off at daybreak to the\nwoods to, have a load ready for me. There had been quite a fall of snow\nduring the night; not enough to do any harm if it only lay still, but\nshould the wind rise, as it had after every snow-fall before, it would\nmake it dreadful for me. Soon as possible I harnessed my team, and\nstarted. I had not gone a quarter of a mile before it became painfully\nevident that a repetition of our previous \"blows\" was impending. The sky\nwas dark and stormy, the wind rose rapidly, and in every direction\nclouds of the newly fallen snow were beginning to ride on the \"wings of\nthe wind,\" pouring over the fences, and filling the road full! My heart\nsank within me. What could I do? At this rate, by next morning the roads\nwould be impassable, and it was so cold! Besides, if I failed to go on\nnow, it would be very difficult to get my borrowed team together again,\nand impossible to get my man again; and we could as well live without\nbread as without wood in a Canadian Winter.\n\nEvery moment the wind increased. In deep distress, I looked upon the\nthreatening elements, exclaiming over and over, \"What shall I do?\" I\nfelt then that there was but one thing that I could do, and that was\njust what poor sinking Peter did; and with feelings I imagine something\nlike his, I looked up to God, and cried out, \"O, my God, this is more\nthan I am able to bear. Lord, help me! The elements are subject to thee;\nthou boldest the winds in thy fist. If thou wilt speak the word, there\nwill be a great calm. O, for Jesus' sake, and for the sake of my little\nhelpless family, let this snow lie still and give me an opportunity of\naccomplishing this necessary labor comfortably!\" I do not think it was\nabove fifteen minutes after I began to call upon the Lord before there\nwas a visible change. The wind began to subside, the sky grew calm, and\nin less than half an hour all was still, and a more pleasant time for\nwood-hauling than I had that day, I never saw nor desire to see. Many\nothers beside me enjoyed the benefit of that \"sudden change\" of weather,\nbut to them it was only a \"nice spell of weather,\" a \"lucky thing;\"\nwhile to me it was full of sweet and encouraging tokens of the\n\"loving-kindness of the Lord.\" And now, after so many years, I feel\nimpelled to give this imperfect narrative, to encourage others in the\nday of trouble to call upon the Lord; and also, as a tribute of\ngratitude to Him who has \"never said to the house of Jacob, seek ye my\nface in vain.\"\n\n\nPRAYING IN FAIR WEATHER.\n\n\nThe ways in which God saves those whom he wishes to deliver from death,\nare sometimes too wonderful for our understanding. A certain ship was\novertaken in a severe and prolonged storm at sea. She had a noble\nChristian man for a captain, and as good a sailor as ever trod the\nquarter-deck, and he had under him a good and obedient crew. But they\ncould not save the ship; she was too badly strained, her leaks were too\ngreat for the pumps, she must go to the bottom. The captain committed\nthem all to the care of the God in whom he put his trust, and made ready\nto take to their boats. Just then a sail was descried, and, by signals\nof distress, drawn to their relief. All on board were taken off safely\nand put on the ship, soon after which they saw their own ship go down.\n\nNow comes the peculiar part. The ship was soon overtaken in a dreadful\nstorm, was cast on her beam ends, and everything seemed to be lost. The\npassengers were praying, and many of the old seamen were calling on God\nto save them from the great deep. The captain of the ship had done his\nbest, but could not right the vessel, and all was given up to go down.\nThe captain, whose ship was lost, then asked if he might take his crew\nand try to right the vessel.\n\n\"Take them, and do what you can,\" was the reply. He called to his men\nand told them they must save that ship; he inspired them with\nconfidence, for they knew he was a true man of God. They executed his\norders with alacrity and care. They cut away the masts, and cleared away\nthe rigging, and brought all the force they could to right the vessel.\nGod prospered the efforts--the ship righted; they got the pumps at work,\nrigged a sail, and were finally all saved. It seemed as if it was\nnecessary to put the captain of the first ship and his crew on the\nsecond ship, that they might save it and those on board when the\nterrible storm came.\n\nNow it was particularly noticed in connection with this deliverance,\nthat the captain of the lost vessel did not make any ado in prayer, or\nin calling on God, while the storm was raging; and knowing that he was a\nChristian man, they asked him the reason of this. He answered them,\n_that he did his praying in fair weather; \"and then_\" said he, _\"when\nthe storm comes, I work_.\" He did not distrust God then, any more than\nin fair weather; but he knew that God requires man to do all he can to\nsave himself, and praying might lose him his ship, when his own efforts\nmust save it.\n\n\nTHE RESCUE FROM THE VILLE DU HAVRE, AND THE LOCH EARN.\n\n\nA remarkable illustration of God's mysterious way is found in connection\nwith the rescue of some of the passengers of the ill-fated French\nsteamship, Ville du Havre, which was sunk by a collision with the Loch\nEarn, November 22, 1873, on her voyage from New York to France. After\nthe sinking of the Ville du Havre, with some two hundred of her\npassengers, the rest were taken up by the Loch Earn, from which most of\nthem were afterwards transferred to the Trimountain. Others remained on\nboard the Loch Earn, where in consequence of its disabled condition they\nseemed again in imminent danger of being lost.\n\nOn the 11th of December, while Mr. D.L. Moody was conducting a noonday\nprayer-meeting in the city of Edinburgh, Rev. Dr. Andrew Thompson read a\nletter from a Christian lady, the mother of one of these imperiled\npassengers, which contained the following account:\n\n\"After the Trimountain left them, and they had examined their ship, many\na heart failed, and they feared they would never see land again. They\ncould not navigate the vessel, and were left to the mercy of the winds\nand waves, or rather to the care of Him who ruleth wind and waves. Vain\nwas the help of man. The wind drove them out of the course of ships,\nnorthward. You are aware that two ministers were left on board the Loch\nEarn. One, Mr. Cook, a truly godly man, did all he could to encourage\ntheir hearts. Every day, at noon, he gathered them together, and\nearnestly, by prayer, strove to lead them to the Savior; and this he\ncontinued to do till they reached England. The day before they were\nrescued they knew that very shortly the ship must go down. The wind had\nchanged, bringing them nearer the track of ships, but they had little\nhope of being saved. Mr. Cook told them of his own hope, that death to\nhim would be eternal life, and he urgently entreated them to put their\ntrust in 'Him who was mighty to save.' At the same time he told them he\nhad no doubt they would be rescued, that even then a vessel was speeding\nto save them, that God had answered their prayers, that next day as\nmorning dawned they would see her. That night was one of great anxiety.\n\n\"As morning dawned every eye was strained to see the promised ship.\nThere truly she was, and the British Queen bore down upon them. You may\nthink that with thankful hearts they left the Loch Earn. One thing is\nremarkable--_the officer in charge on board the British Queen had a most\nunaccountable feeling that there was something for him to do,_ and\n_three times during the night he changed the course of the vessel,\nbearing northward_. He told the watch to keep a sharp lookout for a\nship, and immediately on sighting the Loch Earn bore down upon her. At\nfirst he thought she had been abandoned, as she lay helpless in the\ntrough of the sea, but soon they saw her signal of distress. It seems to\nme a remarkable instance of faith on the one side and a guiding\nProvidence on the other. After they were taken on board the pilot-boat\nthat brought them into Plymouth, at noon, when they for the last time\njoined together in prayer, Mr. Cook read to them the account of Paul's\nshipwreck, showing the similarity of their experience. _'What made that\ncaptain change his course against his will?' but the ever present Spirit\nof God\"_.\n\n\nTHE STORM MADE CALM.\n\n\nAt a Sunday morning meeting at Repository Hall, January 25, 1874, a\nChristian brother, in illustration of the power and faithfulness of God,\nand his willingness to hear and answer prayer, related these facts in\nhis own experience. An account of them was subsequently published in the\n_Christian_:\n\n\"In 1839 I was a sailor on board the brig Pandora, Captain G----, bound\nfrom Savannah to Boston, with a cargo of cotton. When off the coast of\nVirginia, some twenty-five miles distant from Chesapeake Bay, we\nencountered a heavy gale. Saturday evening, December 21st, the wind blew\ngently from the south. On sounding, we found ourselves in thirty fathoms\nof water. At midnight the wind veered to the eastward, gradually\nincreasing until four o'clock Sunday morning, by which time the brig was\nunder close-reefed topsails and foresail. The wind still increasing,\nevery stitch of canvas was taken in, and now the vessel lay helpless and\nunmanageable in the trough of the sea, not minding her helm at all,\nwhile the wind blew a perfect hurricane. The vessel being very light,\nloaded with cotton, made much leeway, and though we had worn ship four\ntimes during the preceding night, hoping, if possible, to weather some\nshoals which the captain judged were near, and to make Chesapeake Bay,\nwhere we might have a clear beach before us in case the vessel should\nstrand, yet at eight o'clock Sunday morning we were in but seventeen\nfathoms of water.\n\n\"The gale now increased with fearful violence, waves rising like\nmountains, and rain and sleet pouring from the dismal clouds. At ten,\nA.M., being then in fifteen fathoms of water, and drifting rapidly\ntowards the shore, the captain summoned all hands into the cabin to\nconsult about throwing our deck-load overboard, in order to leave us a\nbetter chance to secure ourselves to the rigging, and thus save our\nlives when the vessel should strike, which he judged would be in about\nhalf an hour. Not a gleam of hope appeared, and here our distress was\nincreased by observing that the captain seemed under the influence of\nliquor, to which he had probably resorted in order to stifle his fears\nof approaching death.\n\n\"The order was given, and we went to work to throw the cotton over,\nwhile the captain, frightened and despairing, went into the cabin to\ndrown his fears in drink. Seeing the state of things, and believing that\nshipwreck was imminent, I found two of my shipmates who were Christians,\nand who had prayed daily with me in the forecastle, and I asked them if\nthey had any faith in God now, that he would hear our prayers and\ndeliver us? They both said they had; and I told them to pray, then, that\nthe Lord might rebuke the winds and calm the waves.\n\n\"With an unspeakable mingling of fear and hope we applied ourselves to\nthe task of casting the cotton into the sea, at the same time lifting up\nearnest and united prayers to God for deliverance from the threatened\ndestruction, occasionally gliding in close contact with each other, and\nspeaking words of hope in each other's ears, and feeling, as we toiled,\na blessed confidence that our prayers were not in vain.\n\n\"It did not seem more than five minutes from the time we commenced to\nthrow the cotton overboard, for we had scarcely tumbled twenty bales\ninto the sea, when we heard a shout from the quarter deck:\n\n\"'Avast heaving cotton overboard! _The wind is coming out from our lee!_\nAvast there!'\n\n\"It was the captain's voice, bidding us stay our hands; we obeyed, and\nlooking up we saw him clinging to the rigging, apparently so drunk that\nhe could hardly stand, _while away over our lee-bow we could see blue\nsky and fair weather_, and _it seemed that in less than ten minutes from\nthe time the hurricane was at its height, the wind had chopped around in\nshore, and was gently wafting us away from danger, and out into deep\nwater again_.\n\n\"There were glad souls on board the Pandora that day, as she swung\naround in obedience to the helm, and we laid her course again for our\ndestined port. And some who before had mocked at prayers and blasphemed\nthe God we loved, admitted then that God had answered prayer, and that\nhe had delivered us from death.\n\n\"And I love to repeat the story to the praise of the Lord, who yet lives\nto hear, and bless, and save his trusting children.\"\n\n\nNO FEAR OF THUNDER.\n\n\nSome years ago a camp-meeting was held in Southern Indiana. It rained\nnearly all the time of the meeting. Father Haven, a man mighty in\nprayer, rose to preach. Just as he announced his text it thundered, and\nthe congregation seemed to be restless and alarmed. The old hero\ninstantly said, \"Let us engage a moment in prayer.\" He prayed that God\nwould allow the storm to pass by and not disturb them.\n\nAfter having plead for a few moments he said, \"Friends, keep your seats;\nit will not rain one drop here to-day.\" He commenced to preach, and it\nthundered again. He repeated his assurance, and thus it continued until\nthe storm-cloud was almost over the encampment. It divided north and\nsouth, and passed about a quarter of a mile on either side of them,\nreunited again and passed on, and not one solitary drop of rain fell on\nthat encampment.\n\n\nTHE PRAYER OF THE PILGRIMS FOR RAIN ANSWERED.\n\n\nIt is well known that many of the good men who were driven from England\nto America by persecution in the seventeenth century, had to endure\ngreat privations. In the Spring of 1623 they planted more corn than ever\nbefore; but by the time they had done planting, their food was spent.\nThey daily prayed, \"Give us this day our daily bread;\" and in some way\nor other the prayer was always answered. With a single boat and a net\nthey caught some fish, and when these failed, they dug in the sand for\nshell-fish. In the month of June their hopes of a harvest were nearly\nblasted by a drought which withered up their corn and made the grass\nlook like hay. All expected to perish with hunger.\n\nIn their distress the pilgrims set apart a day of humiliation and\nprayer, and continued their worship for eight or nine hours. God heard\ntheir prayers, and answered them in a way which excited universal\nadmiration. Although the morning of that day was clear, and the weather\nvery hot and dry during the whole forenoon, yet before night it began to\nrain, and gentle showers continued to fall for many days, so that the\nground became thoroughly soaked, and the drooping corn revived.\n\n\nTHE ENEMIES OF A GOD FEARING NATION.\n\n\n\"An answer to prayer,\" says Le Clerc, \"may be seen by what happened on\nthe coast of Holland in the year 1672. The Dutch expected an attack from\ntheir enemies by sea, and public prayers were ordered for their\ndeliverance. It came to pass that when their enemies waited only for the\ntide, in order to land, _the tide was retarded, contrary to its usual\ncourse, for twelve hours_, so their enemies were obliged to defer the\nattempt to another opportunity; which they never found, _because a\nstorm, arose afterwards_, and drove them from the coast.\"\n\n\nCHANGING THE COURSE ONE POINT.\n\n\nWalking across Palace Square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with an American\nship-master, (says a correspondent of the _Watchman_) he invited me to\naccompany him to his hotel. While there he showed me a very large gold\nmedal he had received from the British government for saving a ship's\ncompany at sea. The circumstances were these: One night at sea, when it\nwas the captain's \"mid-watch,\"--the watch from twelve, midnight, till\nfour o'clock in the morning--just before turning in, he gave the officer\nof the watch the ship's course; the direction in which she was to be\nsteered. While undressing, it was impressed on his mind that he ought to\nchange the course a point; but he could see no reason for the change, as\nthe ship was on the right course for the port of her destination. He\nturned in and tried to fall asleep, as it was only four hours to his\nwatch; but the impression that he ought to change the ship's course kept\nhim awake. In vain he tried to throw off that impression; and yielding\nto it, he went on deck and gave the order for the change. On returning\nto his berth, he was asleep as soon as his head was on the pillow. The\nnext day he sighted a ship in distress, and made sail for her. The ship\nwas in a sinking condition, and he rescued the whole ship's company.\nShortly after, a gale of wind arose and carried the sinking ship to\ncomplete destruction. Had not the American captain changed the course of\nhis ship that evening, he would not have come in sight of the ship in\ndistress, and all of the company would have perished.\n\n_Query_--_What made that Captain arise in the middle of the night and,\ncontrary to all science, reason and his own will, change the course of\nhis vessel_, but a _Supreme Being, whose power he could not resist_, and\nwhat made him _exactly_ reach that sinking _ship just in time_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\nTHE FULTON ST. PRAYER MEETING.\n\n\nANSWERS TO PRAYER FROM ITS HISTORY, RECORDS AND CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n\nThe following Incidents of Prayer and the remarkable Answers, have been\nobtained from the records of the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting in New\nYork City. They include both facts which have been related by speakers\nin their daily meetings, or furnished from the letters of those who have\nsolicited Prayer and received the Answer to their Faith.\n\nThey are of the utmost diversity of subjects, literally including the\n\"all things\" of the Bible, and temporal as well as spiritual interests.\n\nNumerous as the incidents are, which we here give, still they cover only\n_one-sixtieth_ part of the whole Record of the Blessed Meeting.\n\nHistory can never tell of the wonders done in Answer to the Prayers of\nthese trusting ones; but Faith can rejoice, for here is fulfilled daily\nthose cheerful Promises of the Lord: \"_If ye abide in me and my words\nabide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.\"\n\"Ask and receive, that your joy may be full_.\"\n\n\nSAVED FROM A LIFE OF DEGRADATION.\n\n\n\"Your prayers for my husband have been answered; _on the very day_ I\nwished your prayers for him, and _before the hour of prayer had\nexpired_\" he came into the house, and said, '_I am going to do better_.'\nHe had not been home before for _several weeks_. He was a profane,\nhard-drinking man. He has since joined the church. 'All hail the power\nof Jesus' name.'\"\n\n\nRECOVERY OF AN INVALID.\n\n\n\"One year ago, the prayers of this meeting were asked for an invalid who\nhad years of intense suffering before her, unless soon relieved. Prayers\nwere offered for her. Now we would like to acknowledge the\nloving-kindness and tender mercy of our God, for, since that time, she\nhas slowly but steadily improved, even under most trying and unfavorable\ncircumstances, and-has now recovered comparative strength.\"\n\n\nRELIEF IN BUSINESS.\n\n\n\"_None of those who trust in Him shall be made desolate_.\"\n\n\"Some three weeks ago, I wrote you, stating that _my business had been a\nfailure_, and asked your prayers that God, in His mercy, would point out\na way for me to _provide for my family._ The clouds grew thicker and\nblacker, but the more earnest were my prayers. _Last Saturday the Lord\ncame to my rescue_, and provided me with the necessities of life, and\nto-day I wish you to join with me in thanksgiving to Almighty God for\nthese favors;--'For He is good; His mercy endureth forever.'\"\n\n\nA DAUGHTER SAVED FROM MARRIAGE WITH A CORRUPT MAN.\n\n\n\"I pray you give God praise and thanks for His merciful deliverance of\nmy dear daughter from the _evil influence_ of the man to whom she had\ngiven her love and promise of marriage. THE LORD gave her strength and\ncourage to break her engagement, in answer to our earnest prayers. Oh,\nimplore _Him_ to keep that man out of her path, for he is constantly\nlying in wait to meet her when she goes out. He wanted her to read bad\nbooks, but told her that they were not wrong. He constantly laid\ntemptation in alluring forms before her. To HIM alone be the thanks for\nthis step she has taken.\"\n\n\nA SKEPTIC OVERPOWERED.\n\n\n\"More and more God is pouring out His Spirit, gloriously answering your\nprayers and ours. I have been constantly asking your prayers, and\nthough, for a while, the vision tarried, _yet it has come. The young\nman_, from a neighborhood where there was _not one Christian_, and _he\nhimself scarcely less than a skeptic, is now sitting, in his right mind,\nat Jesus' feet.\"_\n\n\nSAVED FROM DEATH.\n\n\n\"My brother, that lay apparently at the point of death, has been\nrestored to comparative health.\"\n\n\nAN INTEMPERATE YOUNG MAN RECLAIMED.\n\n\n\"Rejoice with me, and thank God for his gracious answer to prayer. The\nintemperate young man for whom I requested prayer some months ago, has\nturned away from his cups, and is earnestly striving to overcome his\nappetite for strong drink. He is competent to be the means of doing so\nmuch good.\"\n\n\nTHE CONVERSION OF INTIMATE FRIENDS.\n\n\n\"Some time since, I sent request for prayer for the conversion of\nfriends. Since then _three_ have united with the church.\"\n\n\nRAISED UP FROM DEATH'S DOOR.\n\n\n\"Our former pastor was raised up from death's door, in answer to your\nprayer. _The doctor gave him up_. He says the Lord alone saved him, in\nanswer to prayer. Praise His name.\"\n\n\nTHE DESIRE OF THE HEART FULFILLED.\n\n\n\"A few weeks since I sent a request for prayer in my behalf, asking you\nto pray God very earnestly that He would grant me the desire of my\nheart, for which I was praying almost unceasingly. _On the evening of\nthe same day_ on which I supposed you would receive my request, _the\nanswer came,_ lifting a great burden from my heart. I send this in\nacknowledgment of God's loving-kindness to me, and to encourage' every\nburdened, praying one, to _trust Him more_.\"\n\n\nA POOR OLD SICK LADY RESTORED.\n\n\n\"The poor, sick old lady for whom I requested your prayers some time\nsince, wishes to return thanks to Almighty God, for _restoring her\nhealth_, and _sending friends_. It is wonderful how your and our\nrequests are answered.\"\n\n\nA NEW BIRTH.\n\n\n\"Give thanks with me. Since I wrote you last, our son has given himself\nto Jesus.\"\n\n\nA CHURCH SAVED FROM STRIFE.\n\n\n\"It is with heartfelt gratitude to God that I write you of answer to\nyour prayer. Last Spring, I asked your prayers in behalf of our church.\nIt was almost destroyed by a man trying to get into our Conference\nwithout proper papers, and could not. He then broke up a Presbyterian\nchurch, and formed another. He gathered a number of our members with\nhim, and tried hard to take our parsonage, but did not succeed. Thank\nGod! though we are few, and have had a hard struggle, we still hold our\nproperty, our circuit has doubled, God is reviving His work, and is now\nanswering your prayers\"\n\n\nREASON RESTORED.\n\n\n\"Last March, I requested you to pray for a dear friend in Massachusetts,\nwho was deprived of her reason through sickness and great trouble. _Give\nthanks unto God, she is fully restored.\"_\n\n\n\"Arise And Walk.\"\n\n\n\"It will be just one year since Jesus came and took me by the hand, and\n_I arose from what was supposed to be my death-bed_, and _walked to the\nastonishment of all_. I have not claimed the fullness of the promise,\nbut feel that I may. I prayed God not to heal my body wholly, until I\nwas more patient under my cross.\"\n\n\nTHE APPETITE FOR STRONG DRINK TAKEN AWAY.\n\n\n\"Sometime ago I wrote to you for my husband. He was _a victim to strong\ndrink_ at that time, but _blessed be God, he has not drank one drop for\nfive months_.\"\n\n\nSPIRITUAL STRENGTH.\n\n\n\"I feel your prayers; I think I know the day and the hour, for I felt\nstrengthened with strength in my soul.\"\n\n\nHEALING OF SOUL AND BODY.\n\n\n\"I have reason to rejoice that I have been greatly blessed in answer to\nyour prayers. Two young lady friends of mine have been enabled to claim\nthe blessed promise of full salvation, not only to the healing of the\nsoul, _but the body also_.\n\nMy own experience helped them: On the 16th of January, last, in answer\nto constant prayer offered by myself and friends, I arose from what all\nthought to be my death-bed, and walked all over the house; also many\nmiles on the streets during the next few months. I did not claim the\nfull extent of the promise as I craved only relief from such terrible\npain, as was then my portion to bear. I think God in his goodness would\nhave granted full restoration to health, as I was so anxious to work for\nHim, but I pleaded with Him _not to heal my body_ until my mind had had\nthe discipline I felt it needed.\"\n\n\nAN INTEMPERATE HUSBAND SAVED BY PRAYER.\n\n\n\"Some three weeks since, I asked you for my intemperate husband, that\nyou would pray that he might be _willing to be saved. He has been made\nwilling to give up the intoxicating cup,_ and says he has _not any\ndesire_ for it. To God be all the praise.\"\n\n\nRELIGION LOST, RELIGION REGAINED.\n\n\n\"I wrote you two months since, asking an interest in your prayers for a\nyoung man that experienced religion a year ago, but failed to confess\nChrist by uniting with the church. Your prayers have been answered. Last\nnight my heart was made to rejoice by seeing him confess Christ, before\nthe world. He is now happy in the love of Jesus, and will he useful and\nactive in the church.\"\n\n\nDRUNKARDS REFORMED.\n\n\n\"Return thanks to God for two men signing the pledge, about one month\nago, who have been enabled to keep it through great temptation. _They\nwere drunkards for over twenty years_. Their reformation was in answer\nto a praying mother's prayers, and to the prayers for them at your\nmeeting.\"\n\n\nA HOPELESS CASE.\n\n\n\"A little less than a year ago, prayers were desired at the Fulton\nstreet prayer-meeting for a man whose case seemed wholly hopeless.\nShortly after he gave up drink, and became a Christian; is now a happy\nman, and has a happy family.\n\n\"Please carry this thank offering to God, that he has given us such a\nSavior, and such a way to escape from temptation.\"\n\n\nA HARVEST OF CONVERSIONS.\n\n\n\"Last Fall, I wrote you to pray for us. You did pray. The result was a\nwonderful increase of spiritual life--_fifty conversions.\"_\n\n\nA FAMILY MADE HAPPY.\n\n\n\"Two years ago, I wrote asking your prayers for a dear sister, brothers\nand nieces. Since then, one brother, about sixty, and my two nieces have\nbeen converted, and are now rejoicing in a Savior's love.\"\n\n\nTHE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\n\n\"About two years ago we requested your prayers for the Holy Spirit upon\na revival work then in progress in our church.\" _The Lord answered us_\nby giving us _over four score souls.\"_\n\n\nHEARTS MADE GLAD.\n\n\n\"We return most hearty thanks for the answer to prayer given. I wrote\nmore than a year ago last August of our low state. Last Winter twenty\nyoung persons were converted, and continue to work faithfully.\"\n\n\nGIVEN UP BY MAN, BUT RESCUED BY THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.\n\n\n\"The writer was himself raised up by prayer, from the gates of death,\noffered by the heart and lips of one who is now a sufferer. _Two of the\nmost skillful physicians in the land had given me up_.\"\n\n\nTHE STORY OF A WAYWARD LIFE, SAVED BY PRAYER.\n\n\n\"In the last fourteen years I have stood beside the deathbeds of eight\nwho were near and dear to me, and the last words that each spoke to me\nas they were leaving the world were, \"_Will you not meet me in Heaven_?\"\nI have been a wayward child. Eight years ago I became addicted to strong\ndrink. I became a drunkard, which brought my dear old father down to an\nuntimely grave. I made a promise on his death-bed that I would not drink\nany more, and for six long years I kept that promise, but at last I\nbroke it. I again became a drunkard, which began to tell on my wife. I\npromised her that I would not drink, but that promise was broken time\nafter time. Within this year, in the week of prayer, I attended the\nprayer-meetings, asked prayers for me, and on the night following, I\nerected the family altar, which had for four years been neglected, and,\nthank God, it is there yet. I am now trusting in the promise that _He\nwill not let his children be tempted beyond what they are able to\nendure_.\"\n\n\nA WONDERFUL CURE.\n\n\nAn earnest Christian woman who believed the Lord greater than any\nearthly physician, cries, \"_O, praise the Lord. He hath delivered me in\nsix troubles, and in the seventh he hath not forsaken me_.\" \"And the\nseventh was the worst. By the help of _eight physicians_, and in answer\nto prayer, partly of this meeting, a fearful tumor has been taken from\nme weighing twelve pounds, with three gallons of water in the sack. O,\npraise the Lord, for He is good, and his mercy endureth forever.\"\n\nThis case was one of extraordinary risk and apparently impossible\nachievement; but the Lord gave faith to try, and skill to win the\nvictory. No earthly power could have dared the venture.\n\n\nGIVEN UP.\n\n\n\"Our pastor, after four months' sickness, preached to us last evening\nthe most solemn sermon I ever heard, and says he was raised up in answer\nto prayer. The physicians gave him up several times, and say they have\nnever known such an instance of recovery.\"\n\n\nCHAINS BROKEN AT LAST.\n\n\n\"Long months, week by week, I have asked you to pray that my husband\nmight be saved from the eternal doom of a drunkard. God has mercifully\ngiven him strength to break the fetters that bound him fast.\"\n\n\nBETTER THAN WE EXPECTED.\n\n\n\"We asked your prayers; they have been answered. They were answered more\nand better than we had hoped or dreamed they could be.\"\n\n\nPRAYER ANSWERED FOR EMPLOYMENT.\n\n\n\"A foreigner without means and friendless tried in vain for ten months\nto succeed in finding some employment. He requested your prayers to God,\nand _God answered_. In less than eighteen hours a splendid position was\noffered to him. He and his wife give thanks, and pray that they may\ndevote their lives usefully to the cause of God who has been so good to\nthem.\"\n\n\nFOUND EMPLOYMENT.\n\n\n\"God has answered our united prayers, and given employment to his\nchild.\"\n\n\nAN OLD LADY SAVED FROM LITTLE ANNOYANCES.\n\n\n\"Your prayers have been heard and answered in mercy. The old lady has\nnot been quite so much annoyed. Thank God for some peace for the aged\none, not able to bear what younger people can, that go out into the\nworld and can find relief. I thank my heavenly Father for his loving-\nkindness and tender mercy for those that cry to him in trouble.\"\n\n\nINSANITY DISPELLED.\n\n\n\"I sent a petition months ago, for prayers for an insane husband. Your\nprayers have been answered. He has rapidly recovered.\"\n\n\nRECLAIMED.\n\n\n\"I must ask you to return thanks with me that your prayers have been\nanswered. An intemperate brother has been reclaimed.\"\n\n\nRESTORED TO HEALTH.\n\n\n\"One month since, I requested prayer specially for my own family. My\noldest son, who was then sick, has been restored to his usual health.\n'_The prayer of faith hath indeed saved the sick_.'\"\n\n\nTEMPTATIONS REMOVED.\n\n\n\"Some months ago I asked your prayers for a son in college, amid great\ntemptations. I desire to give thanks that those temptations have been\nremoved.\"\n\nTHE HEART OF A CLERGYMAN TURNED FROM THOUGHTS OF AMBITION.\n\n\n\"I sent a request to you for a young man, who was called, and eminently\nfitted for the ministry, but was tempted, by ambition, not to listen to\nthe divine call, and obstacles had hedged his way somewhat. After I\nrequested your prayers in his behalf, this temptation was removed, and\nnearly one hundred persons were converted in the church which was under\nhis care.\"\n\n\nA GRATEFUL TRIBUTE.\n\n\n\"For a long time I have been the subject of personal affliction, caused\nby _two internal tumors_ of the _worst type_. Speedy death seemed\ninevitable; yet there was a little hope that a surgical operation might\npossibly remove the difficulty and prolong my day. To this hope I clung,\nsubmitted to the operation, and it was a success. To the earnest prayers\nof Christian people is due this grateful acknowledgment.\"\n\n\nWAS A PERFECT SLAVE TO LIQUOR.\n\n\n\"Please return _thanks_ to our kind Heavenly Father for this answer to\nprayer. All last Winter requests were sent in for a gentleman, a perfect\nslave to liquor. Those prayers were answered, and he is attending church\nregularly, striving to do what is right to please his Heavenly Master.\"\n\n\nALWAYS ANSWERED.\n\n\n\"Several times in years past I have asked for the prayers of this\nmeeting, and always found them answered.\"\n\n\nCURED OF EPILEPSY.\n\n\n\"I wrote you to aid me by your prayers, that my afflicted son, who was\ntroubled with epilepsy, might be cured. Thanks be to the Heavenly\nFather, he is better.\"\n\n\nALMOST LOST.\n\n\n\"Your prayers and mine for my son have been answered. He was almost\nlost, on the downward road of intemperance. He has now reformed.\"\n\n\nA SITUATION OBTAINED BY PRAYER.\n\n\n\"Yesterday I sent a request that God would give me sustaining grace and\nabiding faith, and in his own good time give me a situation where I\nmight be able to support my family. In that very afternoon, I made a\ncontract of $1,200 a year. Praise the Lord.\"\n\n\nA BOUNTIFUL BLESSING.\n\n\n\"Some time ago I solicited your prayers for a blessing on my services,\nand _never, in all my life_ before have I been blessed as since that\ntime. 'Tis truly wonderful; it has seemed as if I must have become some\none else, and that it could not longer be me speaking with such\nboldness, and apparent success. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that\nis within me, bless his holy name.\"\n\n\nSAVED FROM THE COMPANY OF A BAD LOVER.\n\n\n\"A week ago I begged you to pray for my daughter, who had given her\nheart to an unworthy man, praying that God might guide her to see him as\nhe is, and turn her love from him. She is a child of God. In answer, God\nhas caused a rupture between them.\"\n\n\nAWAY FROM HOME, BUT NOT AWAY FROM GOD.\n\n\n\"Some weeks since I sent in a request for prayer for my sons who had\nfallen victims to intemperance and vice. My heart rejoices to-day in the\nhope that it has.\n\n\n\"Two who left home, and had gone to distant cities to seek employment,\nhave written me to pray that they may be able to forsake sin in all its\nforms, and come to Christ and be Christians. One of them was skeptical\nwhen he left home. The one remaining at home has resolved to quit\ndrinking.\"\n\n\nGOD ALWAYS ANSWERS BELIEVING PRAYER.\n\n\n\"Your prayers asked on several occasions have all been graciously\nanswered. Return thanks unto the Lord that sendeth mercy.\"\n\n\nTHE HARDEST HEART YIELDS AT LAST.\n\n\n\"Several years since your prayers were solicited in behalf of one who\nseemed given over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind. Since that\ntime there has been some reform in his life. God only knows how far\nthose prayers have been answered in restraining grace. Last week he said\nto the friend who had solicited your prayers for him, 'I wish you would\nask Fulton Street prayer-meeting to pray again for me. _I believe it did\nme good._'\"\n\n\nUP FROM THE LOWEST DEPTHS.\n\n\n\"One year ago I wrote you respecting prayer for my husband. He has since\nbeen reclaimed from the lowest depths of a drunkard's life, and is now a\nmember of the Christian church. Thanks be to God, the giver of all\ngood.\"\n\n\nSAVED AND HONORED.\n\n\n\"Almost three years ago I asked you to pray for a young man that was\nwandering from God. Thank God, your and my prayers were answered. He is\nnow an active Christian, a superintendent of the Sabbath school, and a\nmost zealous member of the Young Men's Christian Association of this\nplace.\"\n\n\nALMOST PERSUADED.\n\n\n\"Some weeks since I requested prayer for a member of this Institution\nwho was 'almost persuaded' to be a Christian. Thanks to our Father, and\nto those who have offered prayer in her behalf, she has been _altogether\npersuaded_, and has united with the Lord's people.\"\n\n\nANSWERED THE SAME DAY.\n\n\n\"You received a letter yesterday. My husband rose for prayers the same\nnight.\"\n\n\nOH, HOW PRECIOUS.\n\n\n\"I wrote five months since for prayers for myself, and I now write to\nsay that I have found my Savior very precious to my soul.\"\n\n\nPRAYING FOR A PASTOR.\n\n\n\"Several months ago I wrote asking you to pray for a feeble church in\nneed of a pastor. Since then I am happy to say that this church has been\nblessed and we now have a pastor.\"\n\n\nA TELEGRAM OF PRAYER.\n\n\nAn incident was related at one of the meetings by a clergyman who had\nwritten a telegram asking for prayers. God heard it before it was sent.\n\n\"When we were in Switzerland, my daughter was taken very ill, so that\nthe doctor despaired of her life. I felt the need of sympathy and help\nand prayer, and I made up my mind that I would send a telegraphic\ndispatch to this meeting, where I had so often united with you in\nprayer. I wrote the dispatch and was prepared to send it, when all at\nonce there was poured out such a joyful faith and confidence in God on\nme as I never felt before in all my life, and I fell on my knees in\ndevout thanksgiving for the assurance that God gave me that he had heard\nand answered our prayers, for we had prayed for that dear daughter's\nlife. There lay the telegram ready to be sent. There I was waiting and\npraying. In less than half an hour my wife came into the room and said,\n'There is a change for the better in our daughter,' and the telegram was\nnever sent, though I believe the writing of it was the prayer that God\nanswered.\"\n\n\nHE DID NOT KEEP HIS PROMISE, BUT GOD DID.\n\n\nA remarkable instance of how God keeps his promises and is faithful, and\nhow man often forgets to keep his, and at last receives deserved\npunishment for his thanklessness to God, was recently related in the\nFulton Street prayer-meeting.\n\nA very urgent case was presented by a friend. He said: \"A friend of mine\nis seeking Jesus. A little while ago his only child lay near death. He\nprayed God to restore her to health, promising to serve the Lord for the\nrest of his life if the child's life was spared. His daughter recovered,\nbut _the man forgot the promise he had made and sought not after God._\nIn a very little while the child was suddenly taken sick again, and\nalmost as suddenly died. The father remembered his vows, and feels that\nthis is God's solemn warning to him to seek the Savior.\"\n\n\nA DOUBLE PRAYER ANSWERED.\n\n\nAt the Fulton Street prayer-meeting a number of remarkable cases were\nrelated of real answers to prayer for recovery to health, and obtaining\nof positions.\n\n\"I must tell you how God has been answering prayer, for his glory and\nfor your encouragement. Your prayers were asked for a sick wife. She was\nthought by the doctors to be beyond recovery, but in response to prayer\nGod spared her life, and she and her husband returned their heartfelt\nthanks to Him. But there was another trouble. The husband had long\nneeded employment, and was in great pecuniary distress. He had been\npraying for help, beseeching the Lord to open up a way for him. But help\ndid not come, and the cloud seemed darker, and the poor man got\ndiscouraged. Friends begged him to hope on, and not to give up his trust\nin that God who, in answer to prayer, had raised his sick wife to\nhealth. He continued to pray, and on the long, dark night, morning at\nlast dawned. He is now in a good position, and sends a request to\nfriends to thank God with him for this two-fold goodness of the Lord.\n\n\nHOW THE LORD BLESSED AN OLD ADVERTISEMENT.\n\n\n\"I had another acquaintance who was also greatly distressed. With a wife\nand family to care for, and all his means gone, and no prospect of\nemployment, he was in trouble indeed. We induced him to present his case\nfor prayer here, as it would encourage him to have others pray for him.\nThen we inserted an advertisement in one of the daily papers, offering\nhis services, hoping the Lord would bless the means used and answer\nprayer. Day by day passed, but no response came. Some two weeks after\nthe advertisement was inserted, a merchant picked up _an old paper_, and\nnoticing the advertisement, showed it to his partner, remarking, 'Why,\nthis is just the man we need.' Observing the _old date_ on the paper,\nhis partner said he thought it would be too late to respond; but the\ntrial was made. The man was requested to call, and proved to be just\nwhat these merchants had been wishing for, and was very quickly engaged.\nHe feels that the Heavenly Father who cares for the sparrows,\nundoubtedly met his need, and that all the circumstances connected with\nthe case were providential.\"\n\n\nHATING THE ACCURSED DRINK.\n\n\nA brother rose in the meeting and said, \"I believe it is God's will that\nI should tell you how He saved me, about two years since. I came into\nthe meeting when it was held in the old church, and was at the time\nunder the influence of liquor. The missionary took me into the gallery\nand talked with me, and prayed with me, and God heard prayer and saved\nme. I became a new man in Christ, and have lost all appetite for drink;\nI hate the accursed stuff.\"\n\n\nA DRUNKARD FOR THIRTY YEARS.\n\n\nAnother told a remarkable story of his life: \"I was a drunkard for\nthirty years, and I tried all kinds of means to get free, but all\nfailed. I pledged myself over and over again, and swore off many a time.\nAt last, Jesus met me at the mission meeting, and he saved me. He took\naway the appetite for drink from me. I am a different man; I am tempted\nin various ways at times, but when tempted I think of Jesus and look to\nHim, and He saves me.\"\n\n\nTHE HOPELESS ONE BROUGHT HOME.\n\n\n\"A pastor related the incident of the conversion of a man who had\ndisgraced his family, and all through drink. All the people in the\nvillage where he lived regarded him as a hopeless case. But he was\nprayed for, and one night in answer to an appeal to those desiring\nChrist to rise, he rose. He soon became a new man, and a steadfast\nsoldier of the Cross, completely delivered from his hopeless situation,\nand all his appetites taken away.\"\n\n\n\"NO MAN CAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY FATHER'S HAND.\"\n\n\nA brother says, \"Jesus says this, and I rest just there.\" \"A year ago I\nwas in Philadelphia. I had resolved not to drink any liquor that day,\nbut my resolution was soon broken. In the evening as I wandered the\nstreets, that voice of God, '_Turn ye, turn ye_,' gave me great\nuneasiness. Although I tried hard not to go, yet the Spirit was at work\nwithin me, and against my will led me to the meetings of the Young Men's\nChristian Association. When the call came for those desiring prayers, I\nfelt that it was my last call, and I pushed forward and rose. Friends\nprayed with me, and that night, as I pleaded for mercy, the burden of my\nsin was lifted and I was free. Christ took the appetite for drink away,\nand He has kept me ever since, and will keep me to the end, for He says,\n'_Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name;\nthou art mine_.' Oh! I know He won't let me go.\"\n\n\nANSWER TO PRAYER IN TEMPORAL MATTERS.\n\n\nA speaker said at one meeting, \"God answers prayer in temporal matters.\nIn a Western college, at a time when the last morsels of food had been\neaten, and some had to go away from the table empty, four of the number\nretired to pray, and before they had ceased praying relief came.\nProvisions in large quantities were received, thus verifying the old\npromise, 'Before they call I will answer.'\"\n\n\nTHE LORD PROVED TRUE.\n\n\n\"The Lord reigns,\" another exclaimed, \"I have proved that during my long\nlife! It has looked dark very often, and I have been in difficult\nplaces, but again and again the Lord has brought me through\ntriumphantly. I have found the promise true.\" \"Trust in the Lord, and do\ngood, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.\"\n\n\nA LITTLE BOY'S QUESTION.\n\n\nA brother related a touching incident which occurred in Brooklyn. \"A\nlittle boy asked his father at the dinner table, '_Papa, why don't you\nread the Bible_?' The father was a passionate man, and was about driving\nthe boy out of his presence, but his anger made the little fellow weep.\nThat brought tears to the mother's eyes, and then the father followed\nsuit. The boy's tears moved him, and the question struck his heart; and\nfather and mother, up to that hour unconverted, were soon on their way\nto the prayer-meeting, where they found Jesus.\"\n\n\nA LITTLE GIRL'S QUESTION.\n\n\nA touching little story, with eternal results in it, was told at one of\nthe meetings, illustrating that word of God's book, \"A little child\nshall lead them.\" \"A dress-maker called on a very wealthy lady in a city\nnot far from New York, and took with her her little girl, five years\nold. The lady took a fancy to the child, and showed her over the house.\nShe expressed great admiration at all she saw, and, particularly\nattracted by the carpet, said to the lady: 'Why, I should think Jesus\nmust come here very often, it is such a nice house, and such a beautiful\ncarpet--He must come here very often. He comes to our house, and we have\nno carpet; I am sure He must come here very often, doesn't He?' The lady\nnot answering, the child repeated the question, when the reply came,\nwith deep emotion, \"I am afraid not.\" The child left, but God's message\nwas delivered. The lady related the incident to her husband in the\nevening, and both were led to seek the Savior.\n\n\nGOD CARED FOR ME.\n\n\nAt a meeting a young man in broken English, said: \"If any man ought to\nbelieve in prayer, I ought to. My friends turned me out of my home,\nbecause I was seeking for Christ. I was too much Christian my landlady\nsaid. I told her I wished I was all Christian. It was seven o'clock in\nthe evening when she refused to let me come into the house. I went then\nto the prayer-meeting in Water Street; we had such a good meeting, that\nI quite forgot that I had no place to sleep. The services over, I found\nit was raining fast, and I had no place to which to go. I went back into\nthe room, and kneeling at one of the benches, I begged God to give me a\nplace to rest. I did not go home my usual way that night, but on the way\nI took I met an old friend, and walking with him to his house he begged\nme to stay the night, as he did not like to be alone. I staid there that\nnight, though I had never told him of my condition. What was it but an\nanswer to prayer. Many a time since has God thus provided for my wants.\nO friends, let your heart go out, for Him, then He will never let you\nwant.\"\n\n\nTHE BLIND CAN SEE.\n\n\nSaid another, \"I came here yesterday to ask you to pray for my sister.\nShe has been sick some time, and then she lost her _sight_. I did not\nget an opportunity to present my request because so many took part; but\nI thought I would just take my sister's case to Jesus, remembering that\n'the prayer of faith shall save the sick.' In the afternoon I found her\nin sad need of sleep. I told her just to look to Jesus, because it was\nwritten of Him, 'So He giveth His beloved sleep.' We prayed together,\nand I left her in a _profound slumber_, 'This morning when I called on\nher she could _see me.' Friends, the Lord does answer prayer.\"","title":"The wonders of prayer : $b A record of well authenticated and wonderful answers to prayer","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":123428}