{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37143/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37143","id":"gutenberg_37143","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37143","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Prayer"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Juliet Sutherland, Karina Aleksandrova and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n            Subconscious\n              Religion\n\n  Does God Answer Christians Only?\n        Conflicting Prayers\n       Subconscious Religion\n    Praying for Visions of Heaven\n           Great Prayers\n     Use of the Bible in Prayer\n            Conclusions\n\n\n                _By_\n         RUSSELL H. CONWELL\n\n            VOLUME 10\n\n             NATIONAL\n       EXTENSION UNIVERSITY\n\n    597 Fifth Avenue, New York\n\n\n         EFFECTIVE PRAYER\n\n  Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers\n  Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\nChapter I\n\nDoes God Answer Christians Only?\n\n\nWhat might be the consensus of opinion found in a digest of all the\ntestimonies of mankind cannot be surmised, but it did not appear that\nGod was \"a respecter of persons\" through those years of prayer at the\nBaptist Temple. The prevailing belief, however, was that God was more\nwilling to answer the sincere disciple than he was to heed the requests\nof a great sinner. But the fact was also evident that God does answer\nthe just and the unjust. The assertion of the blind man before the\nPharisees that \"God heareth not sinners\" was evidently a quotation from\nthe Pharisees' creed and not a gospel precept. As all have sinned and\ncome short of the glory of God, no one would be heard if God would not\nhear sinners. Jesus was more inclined to heed the requests of John and\nPeter than he was to listen to the requests of the sacrilegious\nSadducee. But a repentant Sadducee would not be neglected, and the fact\nis apparent that there is a clear distinction between the influence with\nGod of a righteous man and the influence of a wicked or a frightened\nsinner.\n\nHere are a few of the testimonies which have a bearing on this important\nsubject. One hardened sinner was so convicted of his completely lost\ncondition that he spent the night in agony, calling on God for\nforgiveness. He was determined to fight the battle alone, but his\nstrength failed and he was certain that he was condemned irrevocably to\neternal punishment. His prayer availed him nothing. When, at last, he\nopened his heart to a faithful Christian friend, that friend's prayer\nwas heard instantaneously, and the seeker knew by an instinct axiomatic\nthat he was received by the Lord.\n\nThere is a general belief that God does hear the pure Christian more\nreadily than he does the vile reprobate. That belief is founded in the\nmoral laws universally recognized in human relations. There may also be\na semiscientific reason. The soul which is in tune with the Infinite can\nmore effectively detect and understand the \"sound waves\" from the spirit\nworld than the soul which is out of tune with God. In the mass of the\ncorrespondence about which this book is written there are strong\ntestimonies to the necessity and attainableness of a practical harmony\nwith the Spirit of God. One man who has been long a teacher of\npsychology wrote that he had made a deliberate test of the matter, and a\ncondensed report of his experience is here given. He sought \"to place\nhis soul in communion with God.\" He desired that state of spiritual\nharmony with the divine character which would make him sensitive to\nevery spiritually divine impression. Hence, he prepared himself in this\nway: he locked himself in his room and gave himself up to the serious\nbusiness of getting into communication with God. He began to count his\nsins of commission and earnestly asking forgiveness; he promised the\nLord that he would guard himself against them evermore. He then tried to\ncomprehend the awful list of sins of omission which for a while made him\nhopeless of God's favor. But in deep and prayerful meditation, thinking\nlong on the great mercy of God and of the propitiation Christ had given,\nhe felt his soul slowly emerge from the slough of despond. Suddenly a\nstrange confidence took possession of his soul and a feeling of glad\ntriumph overcame all doubt of his forgiveness. The assurance that he was\ngetting into harmony with the Spirit of God became complete. He threw\nhimself across his bed and \"let go of himself,\" making an absolute\nsurrender to the spiritual impressions.\n\nInto such a state the apostles and prophets must have entered to feel\nthe spiritual impulses and see the visions which they recorded. It as an\nexaltation of the whole being--a temporarily superhuman experience\nwhich may be the state of the soul when released from the body. The joy\nof that hour of oneness with God cannot be described to one who has not\nknown it. It is higher, purer, more real than other feelings. It is so\nunlike any other experience on earth. \"The soul is lost in God.\" The\nworshiper is outside and above himself. Life gleams as a cloud glows in\nsome heavenly morning. Disease, pain, human limitations, care, or\nanxiety is nonexistent. A pure peace which passeth all understanding\npermeates the whole being. Underneath are the everlasting arms; over him\nis the spirit face of Christ. But why should he try to convey an idea of\nthat growing answer to his prayer? He knows he is with his Lord. But the\nless he tries to tell his experience the more confidence his unbelieving\nfriends will have in his sanity. That such harmony with the divine is\nsubject to certain laws is seen in the fact that such elevation of soul\nis gained only by a full compliance with certain conditions. Some of\nthese conditions are found by experience to be those which are laid down\nin the Scriptures. The seeker must force out of his heart all malice,\njealousy, hate, selfishness, covetousness, unbelief, and give himself up\nto the opposite feelings. We must go over wholly to pure intentions,\nholy aspirations, truth-living, kindness, forgiveness, love for all,\ninflexible adherence to the right, and all in all harmonizing with the\ndivine disposition. Pure holiness must be sought, without which no man\ncan please God. All those who give themselves over to such a state of\nsurrender to God have the full assurance of faith which is promised to\nthose who love God with all their hearts and with all their minds.\n\nSuch servants of God can offer prayer which avail much more than the\nfrightened call of the worldly minded, egotistic, and selfish enemy of\ngood people and good principles. God loves all men with an everlasting\naffection. But the kind of intensity of his affection for the saint and\nthe transgressor is quite different. Christ loved the priest and the\nLevite in a true sense, but he loved the Good Samaritan more. He can\nlove and care for his own without encouraging evil. He could not be just\nand show no partiality for those who obey him fully. He never fails to\nhear the cry of any contrite heart, but even among the disciples John\nwas especially beloved.\n\n\n\n\nChapter II\n\nConflicting Prayers\n\n\nThis chapter leads into the wilderness. Just beyond it is the insane\nasylum. The most bewildering, confusing, and dangerous region is the\nmorass of conflicting prayers. No human theory concerning them is even\nhelpful. The labyrinth is absolutely trackless to the human mind when\nonce the worshiper becomes entangled therein. So we will not attempt to\nexplain any of the even unthinkable intricacies of its strange region.\nNowhere in the Bible does the Lord answer the questions which millions\nhave asked about it. Two persons, equally sincere, pray for success in a\nmatter where the victory of one must be the defeat of the other. Nations\nat war pray hard and long for victory, and not even God can answer both.\nSomething must be taken from one to give to another, while the one in\npossession is praying that he may keep it. One's loss is another's gain.\nThe employer prays for a profit on his business, and the laborer prays\nfor higher wages. The white man and the colored man prays for his own\ntribe. The Samaritan and Jew, worshiping the same God and having the\nsame family inheritance, believe it is a duty to hate each other, and\neach calls for God's curses on the other. Many an honest investigator\nhas entered this region of doubt and mystery and managed to back out\nwhile still in his right mind. But he has returned the worse for the\nexperience. All sorts of foolish speculations have been given creedal\nexpression until men have declared, with strange assurance, that man\ncannot trust his reason or his conscience in any matter. They have tried\nto prove that the laws of nature are inflexible and that prayer cannot\nhave any influence whatever in current events. Gifted men and women of\nculture and high purpose have convinced themselves that there is no\nevil, that men never sin, that the Bible theories concerning prayer are\nfanciful and too miraculous to be possible. \"Too much study hath made\nthee mad,\" said the practical Roman to the Apostle Paul. The old Roman\nhad probably seen so many religions that he had no faith in any. The\nreligious maniacs are those men who have broken down their brains by\nlaborious study over these insoluble problems. Therefore, while no one\nshould discourage reasonable research anywhere, and while it is not\nsacrilegious or foolish to think on these things, it does seem best to\nadmit that to the most faithful Christian there are unsearchable things\nof God which he cannot sanely hope to understand in this life. \"My\nthoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the\nLord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways\nhigher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.\" We\ncannot expect to achieve a knowledge as great and extensive as that of\nthe Creator, and must be content with our reasonable limitations. \"What\nI do ye know not now, but ye shall know hereafter.\" Satisfied, then,\nwith the promise of that future full revelation we should study all that\nProvidence places before us for investigation and never let go of what\nwe are sure we do know. We will distinguish, as clearly as possible,\nbetween our imagination and our knowledge, and with a level head and our\nfeet on solid ground we will live by a faith that is reasonable and\nnever become blindly reckless.\n\nThe lightning struck a tree near a neighbor's residence last week. He\nknows that to be a hard fact. He does not know much about the electric\ncurrents in the atmosphere, neither does the most experienced scientist;\nbut the neighbor knows that the lightning did splinter that tree. From\nthat fact he entertains a faith in a possible return of that event and\nby faith he puts up a lightning rod on his barn.\n\nThe observer notices that sin brings its own punishment in many cases,\nand he has faith that such will be the universal experience of the\nfuture. So he keeps his soul insured by safe and sane investment in\nrighteousness. Every sane man knows that we must at all times walk\nlargely by faith. Faith is a constituent part of the natural human\nconstitution. The degree of faith determines the character of the\nindividual. Faith, like water, seeks its level. But the greater its safe\nelevation, the greater its power. Faith must grow reasonably, like a\ngrain of mustard seed. It also develops mysteriously by natural increase\nuntil the fowls of the air nest in its branches and its growing root\nwill cleave off the side of the mountain. The patriot, earnestly seeking\nvictory, lets no possible agency pass unused to overcome the enemy. When\nhe has prepared fully and laboriously for the battle he will then pray\nfor the help which God may give him. Even should he strongly doubt that\nthe Great Power moving on events beyond his knowledge can or will hear\nhim, yet he will not fail to pray. Any man who calls on the Christian's\nGod will not ask him to aid an unholy cause. A murderer seeking an\nopportunity to kill will not call on God for aid. The thief ever fears\nsome providential interference with his plans. The Christian ever hopes\nfor God's aid, and asks for it because his aim is a godly one.\n\nHerein is found the safe position for the believer to take. We can pray\nfor the heathen, although they do pray against their own good. We can\npray for victory in some holy war, because the enemy are praying really\nagainst their own good. Because their cause is unrighteous, their\nvictory would be a great loss to them. Hence, even the great prayers\nwhich sublimely petition for the nations, and which include the whole\nworld in their range of vision, are consistent only when man realizes\nhis weakness and his ignorance, and adds to every prayer the\nreservation, \"nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.\"\n\nHe is the wisest servant of God who can pray from the camp that he may\nconquer if his cause be really just. The preacher who enters his pulpit\nwith an almost agonizing prayer that God would aid him in his\npresentation of the Christ to men must ever ask that God will turn aside\nany arrow which would do harm to the cause. In his ignorance or weakness\nhe may mistake the Gospel message, or may not present the whole truth,\nand he must ever ask that, whether he gain or lose in the esteem of his\ncongregation, the truth shall always prevail. Christian nations are\noften wrong in their diplomacy or in their wars, as they discover after\na while. The Lord, therefore, gave them that for which they would have\nasked had their hearts been right with God and their intentions been\nChristlike toward men.\n\nSometime we shall understand. But now the seeming inconsistency of\nasking the Lord to aid his own cause, or praying that Christ may soon\ncome into his own kingdom, is ever a stumbling block to the doubtful\nones. If the Lord has all power and has a sincere desire to make the\nworld good, why does he not do it by one sweep of his hand or by one\nmagic word? What is the reason for his commandment to pray to him and to\nask him to do that which he wishes to do and can do himself? All these\nquestions lead into the wilderness. We do not know. We cannot suggest\nany hypothesis which would make the sovereignty of God and the free will\nof man reconcilable. Man's mind is so constructed that it is impossible\nto believe that the Creator controls all things and arranges the details\nof even our thoughts and yet leaves man free to choose to defeat the\nLord by his own thoughts and actions. It is impossible fully to believe\nthat man can voluntarily do evil without in some way interfering with\nthe designs and power of God. If God undertakes to save the world, and\n\"would not that any should perish,\" but that all should come unto him\nand live, and yet sinful man can defeat or hinder the accomplishment of\nhis purpose, then the thinker must conclude that God is not supreme. Yet\nwhen we keep our minds within their reasonable limits and fall back on\nour common sense we must believe that God is all-powerful and also that\nman is free to be sinful. The facts are actual facts, although we cannot\nreconcile them. There is but little we frail mortals can understand\nabout such matters. Let us, therefore, carefully hold to the facts which\nwe can comprehend, and never assume that things which are, surely are\nnot, or that things which are not, most surely are. There was a bowlder\nin the highway yesterday. We don't know how it came to be there. We know\nit should not be there. But there it is, and he would be idiotic who\ntried to go on as if the stone were not there. Behold! there is set\nbefore every man good and evil. \"Choose good that thou and thy seed may\nlive.\" We know that in a thousand matters we can choose the good or\nchoose the evil. We see also that liberty is limited by great laws and\nthere are a myriad of things a man cannot possibly do and about which\nhe has no choice. When a man reaches those limitations his\nresponsibility for choosing ceases.\n\nWith these simple facts the teaching of the Bible is fully in accord.\nThe necessity for sustenance and protection beyond our ability to supply\nis ever a great apparent fact. The recognition of that fact leads the\nthoughtful man to prayer. Let us, therefore, have a care not to venture\ntoo far into the wilderness of the seeming theological inconsistencies.\nThat God does answer men and women, thousands can testify. They have\ntried it fully. They cannot explain why God thus works out his\ncomplicated schemes, but they know that he does work in that way. It is\nestablished fact. The Great Teacher and Saviour also prayed. That is\nenough.\n\n\n\n\nChapter III\n\nSubconscious Religion\n\n\nIn Leipzig, Germany, in 1866 there stood an old three-story mansion,\nused as a manufactory of mechanical toys. An American student attending\nthe university was invited to visit the showrooms in the upper story and\nbecame intently interested in the surprising exhibition of inventive\ngenius. As the visitor descended to the second and first floors he\nvisited the rooms where machinery of many kinds was turning out various\nparts of the toys. But when he ventured to descend to the cellar to look\nat the power plant he found \"No admission\" on every door. But he was\nmore disappointed when he was told that the \"designing room,\" where the\ntoys were invented and the drawings made, was in the subcellar. In order\nto preserve their patents and their secret processes, even the workmen\non the upper floors were forbidden ever to look into the subcellar.\n\nThat illustrative fact came forcibly to mind when meditating long over a\nletter written by a praying student and author who said that he felt\nsure that the only direct passage between the human soul and the world\nspirits is through the subconscious mind. From that subcellar of the\nsoul come ideas, impulses, and suggestions which most largely influence\nour actions. But we are forbidden to enter that department to examine\nthe plans or listen to the wireless dispatches from the spirit world so\ncontinuously received there. \"No admission\" is posted on every door to\nthe subcellar designing room of the human soul. We get the blue prints\nof new plans, or read suggestions for new or improved work sent up to\nour brains. But who makes them we do not know. In the impenetrable\nregions of our mental and spiritual nature are formulated many ideas and\nmoral laws which we must blindly obey. A man is what he thinks, and the\nlarger portion of his thinking is originated or molded in his\nsubconscious self. That is evidently the meaning of the reference by\nPeter to the \"hidden man of the heart.\" It is amazing to the careful\nstudent of our mental constitution to find out how meager is the part of\nour thinking which originates in the suggestions of our five senses.\n\nFrom the Grecian and German philosophers some psychologists derived the\nhypothesis that the subconscious self is only the aggregation of all the\nfaint or half-formed ideas which are not strong enough to force\nthemselves up into full recognition by the brain. Consciousness includes\nonly those thoughts which the brain accepts and uses in positive action.\nThat theory seems to be in a measure, true. There are faint suggestions\nand half-formed motives of which we catch glimpses and which never seem\nto be fully developed. Also the natural instincts of our animal nature\nstill continue and persist in our higher station in the creative order.\nIt can be noted by anyone that perhaps not one in a thousand of our\nmuscular contractions or of our decided actions is consciously dictated\nby our will. The human race is seemingly, in a large measure, a\ncollection of automatons. We are generally moved about by powers and\nmechanisms beyond our comprehension and are unconsciously working out\ndesigns in the making of which we have no consciously important part.\n\nIt is difficult to write clearly on such a subtle theme or explain what\nis known concerning autosuggestion or explain the laws which, in a\nmeasure, control the unconscious part of human life without using\ntechnical terms or scientific formulas beyond the understanding of the\neveryday reader. But, plainly stated, a human being uses but a small\ninclosure in which he can move on his own conscious volition. We are\nfearfully and wonderfully made. \"What I would not that I do and what I\nwould that I do not\" was not the exclusive experience of the Apostle\nPaul. But it is the common experience of all mankind. A man's thoughts,\nhappiness, and usefulness are the products of his moral character. His\n\"subconscious self\" is his real character. What one does consciously may\nnot represent his real character, but that which he does without\nmeditation or conscious limitation represents the true disposition or\ntendency of his real nature. Inasmuch as ye are disposed by nature or by\nsecond nature to be a good Samaritan or to aid \"the least of these,\" ye\nhave lived a continual good deed for the Master. The redeemed soul is\none whose permanent disposition, called his \"subconscious\" or\n\"subliminal self,\" is controlled by the magnetic influence of the spirit\nof truth and goodness. The few matters on which the brain acts directly\nare the deeds of the conscious mind. They are controlled by the will and\nreasoning powers of the independent portion of man's being. They may or\nmay not accord with the heart's general impulses or they may be the\ndirect product of the heart's purposes. The will and the subconscious\nself interact, each influencing the other. This thought presents \"a\nlogical contradiction\" which has puzzled many great minds.\n\nBut our appeal here is to the everyday experience of sincere, truthful\nChristians concerning their communication with God through the\nsubconscious mind. One writer states that she has often received\ntrustworthy messages from the spirit world in dreams and in unusual\nimpressions during waking hours. This statement often arouses the\ngeneral prejudice which some of the extreme spiritualists or deceivers\nhave brought upon the theory of mental communication with the departed;\nbut it should be examined on its own merits without bias. The testimony\nof the millions who believe or hope that they have had messages from\ntheir beloved who have gone on before counts for much and is not a\ntestimony confined to professional mediums. The rejection of the theory\nthat it is possible for angel beings to communicate with mortals, and\nthat they are sent of God to do so, involves the rejection of the whole\nBible as a divinely truthful Book. If there is no open path through the\nsubconscious self to the spirit world, then the recorded visits of the\nHoly Spirit to the hearts of men are only idle tales. The disbelief in\nthe soul's ability to hear heavenly voices or receive spiritual\nsuggestions from other spirits would destroy all trust in supernatural\nreligions. God does speak to man in the events and laws of the material\nlife, and he also speaks to us in the \"quiet, small voice\" as he did to\nElijah at Sinai. There appears to be no alternative but to believe in\nthat declaration, for to reject it is to reject the whole body of\nChristian teaching. We will not entertain such a suicidal proposition.\nThe indestructible spirit body is the same being and possesses the same\ncharacteristics in the material body that it possesses when separated\nfrom this limiting framework of the earthly body. It is indestructible,\nbut it can be modified in disposition while in this body. That\nstatement, for the sake of brevity, is mentioned dogmatically, but it\nwill be illustrated by the following testimonials.\n\nOne writer who evidently has been reared to believe sincerely in\n\"emotional religion,\" who shouts and groans and wrings his hands at any\ndevotional meeting, but whose probity and strong good sense are the\nadmiration of his friends, states that he knows \"that his Redeemer\nliveth, by the direct assurance of the Spirit.\" He claims that when a\nman tells him a lie he feels the presence of evil. He testifies that in\nhis most exalted moments following a season of fervent prayer he knows\nwhat it is to realize the fact that he lives and moves and has his being\nin God.\n\nThere are thousands of men and women whose wild behavior in religious\nmeetings is only the natural evidence of a disordered mind. The negro\ncamp meeting and the whirling of the Egyptian dervishes seem to be much\nalike in their manner of working up a religious excitement. The\nunbalanced mental condition of some truly honest worshipers causes\ndistrust of others whose good sense in other matters is never\nquestioned.\n\nOther writers tell of their experience of some overpowering emotion\nwhich came so logically in answer to their prayer that they cannot doubt\nthat such was truly the fact. A man prayed that he might be protected\nthrough the night. He awakened from sleep, moved by an \"inward impulse\"\nirresistible, and went to the barn to find, as he opened the stable\ndoor, a little blaze creeping toward the haymow. It was easily\nextinguished then, but ten minutes later would have been entirely beyond\ncontrol. The fire was caused by a lighted cigar dropped carelessly on\nthe stable floor near the horses. Another writes that he is naturally\nemotional and dares not trust himself on any pinnacle, as he always\nfeels when on any high place a strange desire to leap off in suicide.\nHe states that the sensitiveness of his emotional nature becomes most\nacute in religious gatherings, and that he has never found himself\nmistaken when he has followed the leadings of that spirit. His wife\nwrites that he had, for years, planted the crops which he \"felt like\nplanting\" after attending a religious meeting. She adds that while, at\nfirst, she had regarded his \"moods\" as accidental emotions, she had\nlearned that his crops planted in those moods were always profitable\ninvestments. Another who had been trained in the Friends' meeting to\nwait for the Spirit to move him went so far as to wait for the same\nimpulse in all his undertakings. He tried to lay his business ventures\nbefore the Lord in silent prayer and then go in the direction the Spirit\nindicated. He related how, when once he was lost in a thick forest on a\ncloudy day, he prayed until his \"sense of direction\" became so clear\nthat he started with closed eyes to take the direction toward which his\ninward impression impelled him.\n\nAnother acted always on the impulse of the moment in speaking to a\nfriend or to a stranger upon religious matters. Another wrote that she\nhad observed for many years that the praying housekeepers were guided in\ntheir work by the most trustworthy intuitions. Few is the number of\nwomen who guide their domestic affairs by the rules of cold science, and\nthe larger part of a mother's movements in the care of her children are\nthe unconscious results of special intuition. She claims that in the\nintuitional nature of the human soul there is such nearness to the\ndivine nature that the especially sensitive soul \"feels impulses from\nacross the border.\"\n\nHere, again, after a day's study of the many accounts concerning the\nimpulses awakened by prayer, we lay down the correspondence with a sigh\nof regret that nothing absolutely conclusive for or against prayer is to\nbe found. We must still believe or disbelieve according to the measure\nof faith. In the courts of law attorneys often establish their cases by\nthe use of what is termed \"cumulative evidence,\" where they secure the\ntestimony of many witnesses to the same fact. If that custom be applied\nto the establishment of the fact that emotions and impulses are sent in\nanswer to prayer the number in its favor would be overwhelming. Down in\nthe subcellar of the mind there may be a tunnel leading through to the\npalace of God. Millions believe that is a fact. No one can prove it is\nnot so. Therefore, with the reasonable student, the testimony of the\nmany will still be considered trustworthy. The soul of God speaketh\noften to the soul of man. A great writer on secular subjects confirmed\nthe general impression when he forcibly wrote, \"You can get almost\nanything you want, if you only want it hard enough, and long enough, and\nwith faith enough.\"\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV\n\nPraying for Visions of Heaven\n\n\nA sturdy young farmer's boy who had inherited a strong body, a clear\nmind, and a good family name sat under a maple tree in the hayfield at\nthe hot noontide. He was eating a cold lunch and at the same time\nreading an article in the weekly paper. The editor had written an\neditorial on the romantic history of the poor country boys who had risen\nto world-wide fame and to enormous riches. When he had reread the\narticle he tossed the paper aside, lay back on the odorous new-mown\ngrass, looked up at the deep-blue sky, and watched the passing of a\npure-white cloud. A vision of what the world might be to him came in a\ndreamy way. Other boys as poor as he had graduated from college, had\nmade great scientific discoveries, had married rich and beautiful women,\nhad traveled in far countries, had feasted with kings, had held high\noffice, and had written great books. Why could not he follow their\nexample? It seemed impossible, and with a deep sigh he arose and seized\nhis scythe.\n\nBut the vision could not be obscured. As his strong muscles drove the\nsharp blade through the thick grass he kept muttering to himself,\ndebating pro and con the possibility of an ignorant farmer, living far\naway from city civilization, and too far from a railroad to hear the\nwhistle, to become powerful in national affairs. How did they start?\nWhat did they do first? When his return swath brought him again near the\nshade of the tree where he had eaten his lunch he caught up the weekly\npaper and read again the editorial. Then he left his scythe in the grass\nand went into the shade, leaned against the gnarled trunk of the old\ntree, and, wholly engrossed in earnest thought, forgot his work. He\nreviewed his own simple life and examined his own plans and ambitions.\nHe had expected to marry some one of the strong, sensible, country\ngirls and bring her home to live with the old folks, as his father had\ndone. He had a dim idea that he would inherit the old, stony farm some\nday. He had a latent ambition to raise more corn than his father had\nraised and to clear a large piece of woodland which for centuries had\nhidden the mountain side. He would build an addition to the stable and\nput in a new pair of bars near the brook where the cattle went to drink\nin winter. He had also a half-formed purpose to join the local church,\nand perhaps some day he would be an elder.\n\nAt last he aroused himself and, with a half-angry impulse, he began to\nstrike the grass with his scythe as if the grass were some sneaking\nenemy. He could not arouse again the sweet content of the forenoon. He\nhad caught a glimpse of that far-away land, and while he did not hope\never to enter it, yet the thought disturbed him.\n\nThe next Sunday the echo of the old church bell, along the narrow, but\nbeautiful, Berkshire valleys, called him to church. The cows were milked\nand fed, the old horse curried, and the chores hastily finished when he\nran down the road to overtake the old folks. But the grand forest, the\nsheening, cascading brook, and the brown fields were not the same to him\nthat they were the day before. The cows and horses in the pastures near\nthe road had lost their fascination and value. The hills seemed lower\nand the grain fields more narrow, the cottages seemed shrunken, and the\nold church was but an awkwardly built bungalow. All had changed. His\nclothing was coarser woven and the most attractive girls in their Sunday\nattire were rude specimens of country verdancy.\n\nAs if by a preconceived purpose to accelerate his sweeping mental\nchanges the preacher that morning took his text from the Proverbs of\nSolomon, wherein he stated that wisdom is more valuable than gold or\nrubies. The speaker illustrated his sermon by showing the value of an\neducation. He mentioned the happiness of the men and women who knew the\nstructure of vegetation, of animals, and the laws which control their\nlife. He mentioned cases of self-made men who had read good books and\nwhose minds could walk with God through his wonderful natural creations.\nHe spoke of the uselessness or curse of possessions which the owner\ncannot enjoy for lack of knowledge. He said that the discipline of\nobtaining wisdom was in itself of great value and that God promised\nriches, and honor to the man who would earn them. He also said that the\nLord started many of us into life with nothing for the loving purpose of\ndeveloping our capacity and inclination to know and enjoy more. The\nhappiest boy is the one who makes his own toys. The application of the\nsermon brought forth the exhortation to read instructive books, to\nexamine more closely the works of nature and the laws which control our\nbeing. \"Learn something every day,\" said the preacher, and he closed\nwith the quotation from Luther, \"Not a day without learning another\nverse\" (\"_Nulla dies sine versu_\").\n\nThe young farmer was an only son. But his parents had wisely kept him\nfrom selfishness and egotism. He had been taught to work and to be\ngrateful for the necessities of life. He had a loyal disposition and\nloved his parents with a half-worshipful devotion. He had been\ncontented, industrious, careful, and honest. His only pride seemed to be\nin the distance he could see and in the large burden he could shoulder\nor carry. He had left school because his father needed him on the farm\nand he had abandoned the expectation of further education. But on that\nSunday he held a long conference with his mother and father concerning\nhis ambition to be something more than a country farmer. He read to them\nthe editorial which had so moved him, and tearfully said: \"I want to be\ngreat like them! I must improve my mind. I must increase my skill. I\nmust have more influence and do more good. I must get more wisdom and\nmore understanding. This farm is too small a place for me. I will stay\nat home if I can, or as long as I can, but I must begin to study\nto-morrow, and never thereafter lose a day. God helping me, I will be\nsomething worth while.\" His parents, with sad hearts, saw the\nreasonableness of his ambition and gave their consent to his proposed\neducation. He began to read selected books at home, but he soon saw the\ngreat advantage of academic instruction in some well-equipped\ninstitution. He attended a high school in a near-by village and an\nacademy in another part of the country. He was the leader of his classes\nand a close student of languages and natural science. He had obtained a\nglimpse of the world of knowledge and was fascinated with the idea of a\nuniversity education. Beyond the university, he occasionally saw himself\na multimillionaire with a palace and a brilliant retinue of servants. He\nhad chosen for his life mate a brilliant young woman who was a teacher\nin a kindergarten school connected with the academy. They were to be\nmarried when he should graduate from the university. All seemed hopeful\nand promised a most noble and notable career.\n\nBut while he was spending his vacation at the old home in the Hampshire\nHighlands of the Berkshire Hills, helping his old father in gathering\nthe usual crops, he received an invitation from a rich uncle living near\nSan Francisco, inviting him to visit his estate. The uncle had not often\ncorresponded with the young man's parents and they had taken no interest\nin his history. They had heard that he was a wealthy manufacturer and a\nrailroad director. So the brother, and the sister who was the student's\nmother, had lost all acquaintance with each other in the fifty years of\ntheir separation. The young man gladly accepted his uncle's invitation\nto visit him, and the uncle sent on a railroad pass to bring him to\nCalifornia and return.\n\nThe estate of the uncle was on the shore of the Pacific, occupying a\ngentle slope with wide lawns, evergreen trees fancifully trimmed, and\ngushing fountains. Hedges of lilies, acres of poppies, roses of every\nperennial variety, and shade trees in long rows, decorated the great\nplateau. Orchards of luscious and rare fruits stretched away in great\nlanes from the back gardens. The house was a mansion built for show,\nwith a front largely Grecian in design, and a rear porch and veranda of\nthe Old Colony style. Carpets, paintings, mirrors, and a hundred curious\nand costly decorations made an exhibition of lavish wealth. Fine horses\nand extravagantly furnished carriages in great variety filled the\nstables. Servants' quarters were really fine cottages and the\ngatekeeper's lodge cost an extravagant sum. To this New England nephew\nwho had spent his youth in the simplicity and poverty of a back-country\nfarm, all this display of wealth was bewildering. The great library of\ncostly volumes, few of which had ever been opened, seemed to him a great\nopportunity for his uncle to learn almost everything. The food was so\nvarious and so delicious. The wines which he had never tasted were\nsweetly stimulating and had been made on the estate. His uncle\nentertained him royally and introduced him to a number of handsome young\nladies of fascinating manners, who volunteered to teach him to dance.\nEvery kind of musical invention seemed to be stored in the mansion, and\nquartets from the university near by came in often to entertain and to\nbe entertained at the uncle's evening socials. The uncle was a widower\nand childless, and seemed to be most pathetically lonely. He was pleased\nwith his nephew and was proud of his apparently sterling character and\nmanly appearance.\n\nThe evening before the nephew's departure on his return journey his\nuncle talked with him until late in the night and told him frankly that\nhe was going to make the young man his sole heir. But he made his nephew\npromise repeatedly not to tell any person, not even his parents, what\nthe uncle had decided to do.\n\nThe return of that young man, when viewed in the light of subsequent\nevents, must have been a startling experience to his dear, patient,\nplodding old parents. His manners, his thoughts, his estimation of\nvalues had undergone a violent change. The old farmhouse seemed to him\nto be smaller than ever, the furniture was rude and cheap, the food was\ncoarse and unpalatable, the horse was shamefully old, his father's\noveralls were disgracefully stained, and his mother's old apron was fit\nonly for rags! The home was lonesome and uncomfortable. He sat by the\nfire on the cool evenings, silently picturing in his wild imagination\nwhat he would do with his millions, and sometimes he admitted, for an\ninstant, the hope that his uncle would die very soon. He abandoned the\nidea of going on with his college education. He reasoned that money can\nbuy anything and assured himself that he could hire men to think for him\nif he should need them. Letters from his fiancee became a bore. She was\ntoo plain and too unsophisticated to adorn his future mansion. He could\nnot think of marrying a woman of whom he would be ashamed in that\nfashionable group to which he would be attached. He finally broke the\nengagement, telling her that he had discovered that he did not love her\nenough sincerely to marry her. The lady became ill and was suddenly\nkilled in an accident in the sanitarium. The young man would not work.\nHe refused to help his father on the old place and bluntly refused to\nhelp his mother when she was about her household tasks alone. All was\nchanged. He was no longer their son. The father felt the impression of\nmystery about the son's strange behavior and suggested to his wife that\nthe boy showed symptoms of insanity. Not many months passed before the\nson left his home to take an easy position as a clerk in Boston. But he\nsoon left that and went to sea in a steamer, where he acted as assistant\nto the steward. At Bordeaux, France, he made the acquaintance of two\nAmerican young men whose wealthy parents supplied them with funds to\ntravel, but evidently did so to keep the rascals away from home. Then\nhis downward course became a reckless race.\n\nA few years later the uncle heard or read that his nephew was sentenced\nto three months in the workhouse for drunkenness, and he changed his\nwill, leaving all his estate to benevolent institutions. From that time\nthe unrepentant prodigal disappeared from the knowledge or care of his\nold neighbors. Both his parents went down to the grave in bitter sorrow\nbefore his reform. The death of the mother was only a few weeks later\nthan the death of the father.\n\n    God pity them both, God pity us all\n    Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.\n    Of all sad words of tongue or pen\n    The saddest are these, \"It might have been.\"\n    Ah, well for us all some sweet hope lies\n    Deeply hidden from human eyes,\n    And in the hereafter the angels may\n    Roll the stone from the grave away.\n\nThe friend who reads this account of that young man's broken life may\nask what this biographical sketch has to do with the subject of\n\"unanswered prayer.\" It has much to do with it. Such experiences, which\nmust have been seen in millions of cases, show a reasonable explanation\nwhy so many prayers for a view of heaven are denied. At almost every\nfuneral the loved ones ask if the departed is still living and why God\ndoes not permit them to come back and tell us about their spirit life.\n\"What are they doing in heaven?\" is a question on the lips of millions.\n\nBut in the letters herein mentioned the records of unanswered prayers\nincluded many who prayed for visions of heaven or who wished to see the\nangels or the face of the Saviour. One brother prayed continually, \"Oh,\nfor one view of the holy city!\" and another seemed never to leave out of\nhis daily prayer, \"Lord, open my eyes to see the faces of the dear ones\nhovering about me!\" But our eyes are still holden. Our pleading hearts\nare unsatisfied. We are not permitted to see our future home nor catch\nmore than a glimpse of the angels' wings. When, however, we seek an\nexplanation of this divine arrangement, this separation of this life\nfrom the other, the faithful believer in God's wisdom and love can\neasily set up a reasonable theory concerning it. He will see that God\nhas placed us on this earth to grow in knowledge, to get necessary\nspiritual discipline for his heavenly service. To obtain that training\nwe must keep our attention on the duties of our daily tasks and do them\nwell. We cannot reap rye with heaven in actual view. It is not\nconsistent to think after the Apostle John saw the holy city at Patmos\nhe could devote himself as readily to catching fish. When that\nCalifornia uncle showed his nephew all that luxury, beauty, and wealth,\nand told him that he would some day own it all, it was a foolish\nact--almost criminal. The young man's mental and moral development was\nstopped then and there. The young man lost far more than the estate\ncould be worth. Suddenly acquired riches are ever harmful.\nDissatisfaction with this life is a fatal sin. God commands us to be\ncontent and toil. He, therefore, does not himself do so destructive and\ndiscouraging an act as to show us heaven's glories and fill us with a\nsuicidal anxiety to get out of this world at once and speedily to enter\nthe other where there is no more pain or sorrow or dying. A prayer for a\nview of heaven seems, therefore, to be an unreasonable request. This\nconclusion satisfies many who have been denied communication with the\ndeparted dear ones, and they take up their toil, content to labor and to\nwait. God does not interfere with the healthful exercise of our free\nwill by holding bribes before our eyes or by forcing our discipline by\nawful fears.\n\n\n\n\nChapter V\n\nGreat Prayers\n\n\nMen talk and write of \"great prayers\" as though such petitions could be\nweighed or measured. They appear to think that sacred feelings can find\na standard of comparison. But even the rightfully esteemed Lord's Prayer\npresents no universal standard by which to measure our varying appeals.\nOne old saint writes that he often gets out of patience when the Lord's\nPrayer is intoned or recited, as none of its paragraphs fitly or\nadequately expresses his \"soul's sincere desire.\"\n\nPrayer is necessarily as varying in its moods and objects as a\nkaleidoscope. Jesus said, \"after this manner pray ye.\" And we must pray\n\"after this manner.\" But person, time, place, hearers, sharers,\nemotions, ideas, desires, and needs all enter into the conditions of\nearnest prayer. To call on God in your own way, with your own motives\nand your own emotions and your own language, or without words, will be a\nclear fulfillment of the command to pray. The Lord understands every\nlanguage and knows all that the heart would express if it could find an\nadequate form of speech.\n\nThe books, except the Bible, most frequently quoted in these letters\ninclude volumes by St. Augustine, Luther, Wesley, Whitfield, Spurgeon,\nMoody, Fosdick, Nicoll, Campbell, Whittle, and Finney. In the quotations\nthe idea is ever present that there are _great_ prayers. That place is\ngiven most frequently to the printed petitions of Spurgeon. But it is\nmisleading to attempt to place a valuation on any of them. The most\neffective prayer recorded was the appeal of the Publican as he smote his\nbreast; and Christ's long prayer at the Last Supper was the most\ncomprehensive. But in the following circumstances, having trustworthy\nwitnesses, no two of the marvelously effective petitions were\nalike--_viz._, the English boy's prayer for his blind sister's\nrestoration to sight; Muller's prayer for a food supply for his\norphanage; Doctor Cullis's appeal to God for his Consumptive Home;\nDoctor Kincaid's petition for protection for the converts of Ava; the\nBrooklyn child's prayer for her shipwrecked father; the groans of John\nHall's praying, but starving, mother; the prayer of President Garfield's\nmother at the washtub when her boy was lost in the forest; the silent\nwish of Carey, the pioneer missionary; John Daniel Loest's prayer for\nmoney to pay his mortgage the next day; Spurgeon's prayer for his\npastors' college in dire need; Moody's prayer for the establishment of a\nBible school in Northfield; Luther's prayer for Melancthon; Halderman's\nprayer, in the Fulton Street daily prayer meeting, for the lost ship\n_Leviathan_; the petition of the mother of Doctor Talmage, asking that\nher son be made to decide at that moment to come home; Miss Lyon's\nprayer in the field for a seminary for women; and the prayer of the\nDock child of Stockton who claimed that God had told him \"in his heart\"\nthat his sister would immediately recover. To these may be added an\nalmost innumerable number of cases where the prayers brought direct\nresults, although there was no attempt to use any special form of words.\n\nThis principle or truth is probably accepted by all thinking worshipers,\nincluding most extreme ritualists. As, however, true prayer requires a\ndevotional state of mind there can be no denial of the statement that\nthe forms, ceremonials, scenic effects, and processions of the different\ncreeds and races have a most potent effect on the devotional natures of\ntheir supporters. Whatever awakens a spirit of devotion is more or less\nuseful; but when a strong desire for communion with God has been aroused\nby music, exhortation, processions, or scenery the most effective method\nappears to be to then leave each soul alone with God in silent prayer.\n\"Resting in Christ\" has a meaning to the devout which no other can\nunderstand. Love only can understand love. To be \"alone with the loved\none\" is ever a holy and soul-brightening experience. But to be \"alone\nwith God\" is, by far, the most holy of all emotions. The testimony of\nnearly all those at the Baptist Temple who report an answer to prayer,\nmention the fact that their prayers seemed to be the most productive of\nresults when offered in the silent moments at the close of some\ninspiring service.\n\nIt is clearly impossible for one finite mind to shape a petition which\nwill include and express all the desires of the multitude. Neither can\nan uninspired writer in one age fully appreciate and comprehend the\nconditions and needs of another age. Hence, while the petitions of\nfriends, priests, or pastors have a strong influence with the Creator,\nthe one vital necessity in making acceptable appeals to God is that each\npetitioner should ask for himself. No character can be changed from the\noutside. No wicked heart can be made pure without its own consent, and\nthe Lord seems to have limited himself so that he never crosses the\nthreshold of the soul unless he is sincerely invited by that individual\nhouseholder. God does not convert any soul by force. Therefore, all who\nwould be blessed by him must voluntarily and individually go to him.\nThere can be no substitute in that case. Even Christ, a mediator, may\ntake on himself our punishment, but he cannot do our praying for us. He\nmakes intercession for us, but that is of no use without our\nco-operation.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VI\n\nUse of the Bible in Prayer\n\n\nIt will be useful to any seeker after God to examine the agencies which\nhave helped those whose prayers have been conspicuously answered. Among\nthe many helps which, seemingly, have had especial potency in developing\nor awakening a devout spirit there is none so general in use as the\nBible. The petitions which have been preserved from the ancient Fathers\noften quote the Scriptures; and when they do not quote directly, the\nlanguage used shows a close familiarity with the Sacred Word. The Gospel\ntruth is wonderfully condensed in this prayer of Thomas a Kempis:\n\n     O, Most merciful Lord, grant me thy grace, that it may be with me,\n     and labor within me, and persevere with me, even to the end. Grant\n     that I may always desire and will that which is to thee most\n     acceptable, and most dear. Let thy will be mine, and my will ever\n     follow thine and agree perfectly with it. Grant to me, above all\n     things that can be desired, to rest in thee, and in thee to have my\n     heart at peace. Thou art the true peace of the heart, thou its only\n     rest; out of thee all things are hard and restless. In this very\n     peace, that is, in thee the one Chiefest Eternal Good, I will sleep\n     and rest.\n\n     Amen.\n\nThe following prayer by St. Augustine is a good example of the influence\nof the Bible on the trend of his thought:\n\n     O, thou full of compassion, I commit and commend myself unto thee,\n     in whom I am, and live, and know. Be thou the goal of my\n     pilgrimage, and my rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from\n     the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of thy\n     wings; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in\n     thee, O God. Thou bounteous giver of all good gifts, give to him\n     who is weary refreshing food; gather our distracted thoughts and\n     powers into harmony again; and set the prisoner free. See, he\n     stands at thy door and knocks; be it opened to him, that he may\n     enter with a free step, and be quickened by thee. For thou art the\n     wellspring of life, the light of eternal brightness, wherein the\n     just live who love thee. Be it unto me according to thy word. Amen.\n\nWhen looking outside of the local list of petitioners to which this\nvolume is so closely confined it can be seen clearly that those whose\npetitions were the most surely answered were familiar with the Bible. It\nis also interesting to notice the quotations which were used as mottoes\nor the favorite extracts from the Bible by the most saintly of the\nheroes, martyrs, and victors in the Christian Church. Out of many\nhundreds of Scripture quotations the following are selected with the\nhope that some one of them may be of especial helpfulness to some one\nwho desires to pray successfully:\n\n     Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; thou hast enlarged\n     me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer\n     (Psalm iv:1).\n\n     My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning\n     will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up (Psalm v:3).\n\n     The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my\n     prayer (Psalm vi:9).\n\n     Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my\n     supplication (Psalm lv:1).\n\n     Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting\n     up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm cxli:2).\n\n     I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,\n     intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men (Tim.\n     ii:1).\n\n     For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are\n     open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them\n     that do evil (I Peter iii:12).\n\n     And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that\n     Eli marked her mouth (I Sam. i:12).\n\n     Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his\n     supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the\n     prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day (I Kings\n     viii:28).\n\n     And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and\n     the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before\n     the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was\n     speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the\n     vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me\n     about the time of the evening oblation (Dan. ix:20-21).\n\n     And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any;\n     that your Father, also which is in heaven, may forgive you your\n     trespasses (Mark xi:25).\n\n     And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the\n     time of incense (Luke i:10).\n\n     Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus\n     also being baptized, and praying, the heaven opened (Luke iii:21).\n\n     And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were\n     with him (Luke ix:18).\n\n     I was in a city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a\n     certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from\n     heaven by four corners; and it came even to me (Acts xii:5).\n\n     I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding\n     also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the\n     understanding also (I Cor. xiv:15).\n\n     Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and\n     watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication (Eph.\n     vi:18).\n\n     Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and\n     might perfect that which is lacking in your faith (I Thes. iii:10).\n\n     And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy\n     people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear\n     thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive\n     (I Kings viii:30).\n\n     Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch\n     against them day and night, because of them (Neh. iv:9).\n\n     Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and\n     thou shalt pay thy vows (Job xxii:27).\n\n     He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their\n     prayer (Psalm cii:17).\n\n     The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the\n     prayer of the upright is his delight (Prov. xv:8).\n\n     And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and\n     supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.... (Dan.\n     ix:3).\n\n     ... and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind\n     goeth not out but by prayer and fasting (Matt. xvii:21).\n\n     But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the\n     ministry of the word (Acts vi:4).\n\n     And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where\n     prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the\n     women which resorted thither (Acts xvi:13).\n\n     Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and\n     supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto\n     God.\n\n     And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep\n     your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil. iv:6-7).\n\n     And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall\n     raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven\n     him (James v:15).\n\n     Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that\n     ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man\n     availeth much (James v:16).\n\n     ... be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer (I Peter iv:7).\n\n     Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any\n     man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own\n     sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this\n     house;\n\n     Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and\n     render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou\n     knowest (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of\n     men....) (II Chron. vi:29-30).\n\n     And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God;\n     and the prisoners heard them (Acts xvi:25).\n\n     And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain\n     apart to pray (Matt. xiv:23).\n\n     Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and\n     saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder\n     (Matt. xxvi:36).\n\n     Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit\n     indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. xxvi:41).\n\n     Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall\n     presently give me more than twelve legions of angels (Matt.\n     xxvi:53).\n\n     Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye\n     pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark\n     xi:24).\n\n     And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always\n     to pray, and not to faint (Luke xviii:1).\n\n     I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou\n     hast given me; for they are thine.\n\n     I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that\n     thou shouldest keep them from the evil.\n\n     Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall\n     believe on me through their word.... (St. John xvii:9, 15, 20).\n\n     Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not\n     what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh\n     intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom.\n     viii:26).\n\n     Pray without ceasing (I Thess. v:17).\n\n     And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your\n     whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the\n     coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Thess. v:23).\n\n     Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you\n     worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his\n     goodness, and the work of faith with power (II Thess. i:11).\n\n     That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being\n     rooted and grounded in love,\n\n     May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and\n     length, and depth, and height.... (Eph. iii:17-18).\n\n     And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his\n     commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight\n     (I John iii:22).\n\n     And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any\n     thing according to his will, he heareth us;\n\n     And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we\n     have the petitions that we desired of him (II John v:14-15).\n\n     But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God\n     will give it thee (St. John xi:22).\n\n     And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the\n     Father may be glorified in the Son (St. John xiv:13).\n\n     If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (St. John\n     xiv:14).\n\n     If ye love me, keep my commandments (St. John xiv:15).\n\n     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all\n     men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.\n\n     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (James i:5-6).\n\n     Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.... (James iv:3).\n\n     There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man: but\n     God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye\n     are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,\n     that ye may be able to bear it (I Cor. x:13).\n\n     Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present\n     you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy\n     (Jude i:24).\n\n     But when ye pray, use not vain repetition, as the heathen do: for\n     they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.\n\n     Be not ye therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what\n     things ye have need of, before ye ask him.\n\n     After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in\n     heaven, Hallowed be thy name.\n\n     Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.\n\n     Give us this day our daily bread.\n\n     And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.\n\n     And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For\n     thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen\n     (Matt. vi:7-13).\n\n     Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land,\n     and verily thou shalt be fed (Psalm xxxvii:3).\n\n     Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring\n     it to pass (Psalm xxxvii:5).\n\n     Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.... (Psalm xxxvii:7).\n\n     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want (Psalm xxiii:1).\n\n     Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I\n     will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they\n     comfort me (Psalm xxiii:4).\n\n\n\n\nChapter VII\n\nConclusions\n\n\nAs one lays aside the last letter of this collection and leans back in\nhis chair for meditation on all these heart revelations he asks, most\nanxiously, What is the conclusion of the whole matter?\n\nThanks be unto God who giveth us the victory, our faith remains unmoved.\nA general view of the field of prayer shows that the great fundamental\nfacts remain undisturbed. God is. God answers prayer. The Bible is the\ninspired work of the Spirit of God. Jesus is the Son of God. The Christ\nis the Saviour of a sinful world. \"I know that my Redeemer liveth!\"\nEntering upon this investigation with a firm determination to hold an\nunbiased mind and trying to examine the evidence as an impartial judge\nthere were moments of doubt as to the wisdom of setting one's mind so\nfree. It seemed sometimes as if it was wrong, even for a day, to stand\noutside of the circle of earnest believers and be a neutral critic of\nsacred things. But the risk was taken. A tremor came with the suggestion\nthat the lovely structure of our lifelong faith might be shattered, and\nonly dust be left of the religious building which we had so fondly\nbelieved was a building that had indestructible foundations, \"Eternal in\nthe heavens.\"\n\nBut not one pillar has moved, not a rent or seam in any of the old walls\nhas appeared. The fear that faith might be lost has increased our\nestimate of its everlasting value. The faith of our fathers stands\nsecure. The testimony of unbalanced minds to the Sonship of Christ did\nnot defeat the Saviour in his day, and they cannot do so now. The\nmistakes, errors, and superstitions of the extremists and deceivers have\nnot made more than a ripple in the current of Christian faith. The tide\ncomes back. The love for the Holy Bible revives. The prodigal will come\nto himself and come back. The spirit of the Christian religion is a\nnecessity to human progress and human happiness. The world needs it. It\nmay come slowly, but, nevertheless, it will come surely. The spirit will\nawaken. The winter cannot last forever. Prayer is as necessary to the\nspirit of man as breath is to his body. The soul's sincere desire will\never seek expression. The seeker after God will surely find him when he\nshall truly seek him with all his heart. Hundreds testified to the facts\nthat their prayers were answered where only a score or less asserted\nthat they did not know whether their requests were heard or not. The\nmillions who never tried to pray cannot be accepted as witnesses on\neither side. But the great majority of those who have tried the matter\ntestify to its effectiveness.\n\nThe doubters, who quibble and stumble over the parables and miracles,\nfind that whether the believer accepted them as literal history or as\nspiritual illustrations, they all teach the truth; and to believe in\nthem can do no harm. The consensus of religious opinion among the common\npeople is decidedly in favor of trusting more and, consequently,\ndoubting less. \"We will be no more children, tossed to and fro and\ncarried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and\ncunning craftiness.\" We have put away childish things and here we stand,\nmen and women, saved by grace, and \"Who can separate us from the love of\nChrist? Shall tribulation, or distress, or peril, or sword? I am\npersuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,\nnor powers, nor things present, not things to come, not height, not\ndepth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love\nof God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\"\n\n    Right is Right, since God is God,\n      And right the day will win;\n    To doubt would be disloyalty,\n      To falter would be sin.\n\nYe saints, with your faith of steel, pray on. Ye faltering sinners,\nsmite your breast and pray on. Ye doubtful critics, pray on. Ye\nsorrow-stricken ones, pray on. In due time every petitioner shall reap\nif he or she faints not.\n\nOh, the rest, the peace, the joy of this settled conviction, that the\nfaith in the Messiahship of Jesus Christ need be no more disturbed! \"Now\nunto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you\nfaultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the\nonly wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,\nboth now and forever. Amen.\"\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\n\n    1. This volume is continuation of the preceding two: Health, Healing\n    and Faith and Praying for Money.\n\n    2. The troublesome subject/verb agreement in chapter I has been\n    retained as in the original (\"Such servants of God can offer prayer\n    which avail much more than the frightened call of the worldly\n    minded...\").\n\n    3. Preposition \"in\" was added in chapter VI (\"...and in thee to have\n    my heart at peace\").","title":"Subconscious Religion","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":11580}