Prayer and its remarkable answers: being a statement of facts in the light of reason and revalation

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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Preface

The sale of nineteen thousand copies of this work in the course of four years, and its republication abroad, would seem to indicate that it met a felt want in the popular mind. As this circulation has been obtained notwithstanding the financial embarrassments of the times, it has seemed proper with the return of prosperity to issue a new and enlarged edition. The general idea of the author was sufficiently expressed in the following language of the preface to the first edition, in which the plan of the work was described. "An attempt is made in this volume to give, in a popular form, the facts and the philosophy of the subject. It is written for the people ; yet it assumes that they are neither children nor fools, and will welcome an intelligent discussion of a fundamental question. The first seven chapters aim, therefore, to elucidate the nature, characteristics, methods and conditions of Prayer ; to show its true place in the system of the universe; and to answer the specious objections of the skeptics. The argument is designed to be thorough, without being dry and abstruse.

But the chief aim of the book is to furnish authentic facts, so grouped and explained, in the light of the principles set forth in the early chapters, as to dispel doubt, and encourage a rational and Scriptural faith. The answers to prayer have been drawn from a wide region of investigation. A few from the olden time have been inserted, but, for obvious

PREFACE.

reasons, preference has been given to those of recent dato. These have been furnished by Christian brethren to an extent which compelled the author to use only a selection; but his hearty thanks are equally returned to all who have thus aided his researches, whether he has had space to insert their communications, or not. A few Chiistians, who deny the practical value of such testimony to the power of Prayer, will find their ideas curiously represented, and, it is trusted, satisfactorily discussed, in the concluding chapter.

These answers to prayer are styled " Eemarkable," not because it is at all strange in itself, that such things should take place, under the divine government, but only that they appear so to the incredulity of the world, and to the weak faith of the church. If there were more real prayer, the striking answers would be everyday occurrences. The facts cited are made the subject of discriminating comment, to preserve the reader from unwarrantable inferences, and the embrace of theories which work delusion instead of faith. The desire of the author has been to produce a volume which should be welcomed by every pastor, as helpful to the progress of piety in his church, and which should encourage the Christian to ask and expect great blessings for himself and for others."

Two supplementary chapters are added in this new edition, which many will welcome in this skeptical age. The first, on "The Credulity of Skepticism," shows what small occasion the infidel has to taunt the believer in prayer and in the Bible with a too ready credence of absurdity. The second, on ' ' The Relations of Science and Revealed Religion," may serve to relieve the perplexities of some who have not known how to harmonize the doctrines of Scripture with the teachings of nature,

Howard Uniyersity, WAsnrnGTON, D, C, March 8, 1880.

Chapter I. Prayer Characteristic Of Piety

fhe cloud of incense ever rising — Thoughtful heathen and Mohammedans pray — A proof of conversion — The history of piety, the history of prayer — The Old Testament worthies — Also New Testament saints — Jesus and his disciples — Later history of the church — Martin Luther, quotations and anecdotes — John Calvin — J ohn Knox — Anecdotes — Melanchthon — Gustavus Adolphus — Philip Henry — Samuel Rutherford — Jonathan Edwards — David Brainerd — R. M. McCheyne — Thomas Arnold — Henry Martyn — James B. Taylor — Harlan Page — Normand Smith, Jr. — Montgomery's "Call to Prayer." 17-83

Chapter II. What True Prayer Is

Importance of definite ideas — Christians who explain away Prayer — Accept God's explanation — Bible treats largely of this topic — F. W. Robertson's view; prayer is simply an act of submission to the Divine will — Prayer more than religious meditation — Is a direct address to God — Includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving and petition — Adoration, its idea and use — Illustrated by Daniel and Jesus — Confession, its necessity and effect — Cases of Abraham and Daniel — Thanksgiving, its propriety — Language of the Psalms, of Jesus, and of Paul — Petition, the object and heart of prayer (5)

CONTENTS.

— Robertson's theory further stated — Similar views of a Western minister — Also of an Eastern minister — The Instincts of nature, and the words of Scripture contradict , it — Ludicrous absurdity — The commands opposed to it — Also the promises — Also the form of reported prayers, of Jesus, David, Hannah, Daniel, the Church of Jerusalem, and a host of others — Also the specific answers recorded for instruction and encouragement — Lines of Trench on value of prayer .33-48

CHAPTER III. WHY PRAYEH PREVArLS

Inquiry for the principle that underlies prayer — Does God need human permission ; or an increase of knowledge ; or an improvement of disposition; or an amendment of plan? — The inquiries natural and proper — Crude ideas to be disowned — Bible condemns them — Priests of Baal and Elijah — Vain repetitions of the Heathen — Also of the Romanists — Doctrine of Jesus — God's moral government; its ends and means

— Parental government, and its methods — Its wise use of prayer — Transfer of the conception to the Divine government — Prayer a simple but potent device to secure the chief thing at which God aims — Prayer prevails because it fulfills the necessary moral condition — Prayer deliberately inserted by God in the plan of his universe ; as truly so as any natural law recognized by the physicists — God will adhere to his plan — Tennyson's tribute to prayer 49-56

CHAPTER ly.

THE METHOD OF THE ANSWER.

Are answers to prayer natural or supernatural ? — Is the supposition of a miracle necessary? — F. W. Robertson's theory — Mental reaction — Quotations — Physical philosophers admit a liturgical value— Their theory stated — The theory fails to cover the facts — Erroneously limits the effect to the petitioner and to spiritual results -Robertson's assertion incorrect —

CONTENTS.

Contradicted by the case of Jacob ; of David ; of Hezekiah ; of Daniel; of Peter — These effects not reflex, nor spiritual — Spiritual answers also involve a supernatural power— The promised Comforter — The reflex theory suicidal — Men will not resort to prayer as a mere self-magnetism — Revert to the original inquiry, after the method — The fact alone important — God not shut up to one method — May answer directly, or mediately— Through natural causes; by men; or by angelic agency — Examples of each of these methods — Letter from a Massachusetts minister — Reasons for ordinarily using human agency — Stiiking fact in the experience of Dr. Judson — Professor Stowe's illustration and supposition — Lines by Adelaide A. Proctor , 57-73

Chapter V. Conditions Of Success In Prayeh

Importance of the subject — The conditions to be learned from the nature of the case, and from express assertions of Scripture — 1. A sense of want — Need of God and the value of prayer realized — 2. Reverence — God must guard his own honor — 3. Filial spirit — God responds to his children — 4. Gratitude — Future blessings not to be expected, if ungrateful for past good — 5. Humility — Prayer to be based on the truth — Our demerits to be recognized — 6. Faith — Implied in the idea of Prayer — Positively required in Scripture — 7 Obedience — Only the loyal may petition — Only those in sympathy with God can prevail in prayer — 8. Forgiveness of injuries — Those who ask to be forgiven, must forgive — 9. Approved objects — God does not abdicate — Exercises his perfect wisdom — By his Spirit teaches us true wants and the meaning of his promises — 10. Importunate perseverance — Is much insisted on in the Bible — 11. Ask in the name of Christ — He the appointed Mediator — 12. Appropriate effort — Prayer no substitute for work, but its aid — 13. Union with others — Each prayer a power — United prayer an augmented power — All the conditions reducible to one — A right state of

CONTENTS.

heart — The conditions real, and must be observed — Lines by Kobert Southwell 73-88

CHAPTER yi.

THE PRAYER OP FAITH.

The subject misunderstood — The deluded misjudge and distress others — Fall into difficulties themselves — A reported instance — Material for skepticism — The erroneous theory ; anything to be had, by believing that it will be given — Supposed proof texts — Objections to the theory — 1. Makes God abdicate his throne — 2. Badly adapted to moral training — 3. Would ruin us and those for whom we pray — 4. Involves self-contradiction — 6. Fails to furnish evidence — Singular letter from "Father Nash " — His death from over-excitement, and a false sense of responsibility — Testimony of Rev. Asa Mahan, D D. — 6. Bible lends no support to the theory — Interpretation of the texts referred to — The correct theory ; that in prayer one must believe that God will be true to all he has promised — What ground has faith to stand on? — 1. The general pledge that prayer shall be answered, in some way — 2. Specific promises, numerous and minute — Not to be interpreted imaginatively — The Bible not a conjuring-book — Unhappy delusions and mistakes from such a use — Facts in proof — Yet Holy Spirit may suggest and use particular passages — Case of Augustine — 3. Indications of Divine providence, revealing God's will — 4. Leadings of the Holy Spirit — These promised as aid in prayer — These show us our true wants — These explain Scripture — These interpret providences — Mr. Finney's anecdote — Professor Upham's view — Catherine Adorna — Lines by John Newton 89-111

Chapter VII. Skeptical Assaults On Prayer

Opposition of skeptics to prayer — This natural, and ancient — Physical philosophers take the lead — The dilemma they pro-

CONTENTS.

pose — A brief counter-view — Explanation of the skepticism — Logical necessities — Prayer implies the whole of supernatm-al religion — Shyness of skeptics — Quotation from Rousseau — Comment — Prayer founded on reason — 1. A universal instinct — Guizot's beautiful tribute — Instinct pre-supposes a want and a supply — The parental analogy — Acknowledged by Professor Tyndall, as plausible — 2. Historic evidence of prayer as answered — In all ages men have so believed — Those who pray most, most certain — Prayer to be tested ; but as a moral force — Not on merely physical conditions — The famous Hospital-test of Sir William Thompson and Professor Tyndall — Proposes to test the prayer-theory, yet violates the conditions — Makes an impossible demand — Encounters a moral diflaculty — Ignores submission — Furnishes no assurance of good result — 3. Prayer based on moral necessity — In iio other way can man be educated — Why skeptics object — From total misapprehension — Professor Tyndall's admission ds to spiritual effect of prayer — Its greater difficulties — How prayer uses natural law — Illustration from man's use of it — Evolution furnishes an illustration of a possible explanation of prayer — The position of the mathematician Euler — A. A. Waring's lines 112-136

Chapter VIII. Bible-answers To Prayer — Old Testament

The Bible teaches by example, as well as precept — Biography and History illustrate Doctrine — Numerous declarations of David — Select instances only given, to mark classes of cases — 1. Prayers for personal deliverance from danger — Jacob's prayer at Peniel — Charles Wesley's famous hymn — 2. Prayers for others — Moses as an intercessor — A type of Christ — Another poem of Charles Wesley — 3. Parental prayers — Hannah's petition — Samuel's character — 4. Prayer for reviving of religion — Elijah — Contest with the priests of Baal — 5. Prayer tested by its enemies — Daniel and the Persian Princes — Triumphant result — 6. Patriotic prayers —

CONTENTS.

The invasion of Judea — Danger of Jerusalem — Insulting letter — Hezekiah's prayer — Isaiah's prophecy — The overwhelming result — Byron's tribute to the sublime fact. 137-154

Chapter IX. Bible-answers To Prayer — New Testament

A still clearer light with the advent of Christ — He the connecting link of earth and heaven — His ministry a series of answers to prayer — The i^ew Testament motto is, "Pray without ceasing" — Facts selected, to illustrate four states of mind essential to success — 1. The prayer of Faith — The Roman Centurion and his sick servant — Confidence in the power of Jesus — Humility aids faith — 2. The prayer of importunity — The Syro-Phenician mother and her daughter — Another Gentile — Discouraging action of Jesus — The mother's perseverance and victory — 3. The prayer of union — Peter in prison, under sentence of death — A whole church prays for him — The last night comes, and the deliverance also — 4. The prayer of fervent spiritual desire — This for the gift of the Holy Spirit — A specific promise laid a foundation for faith — The ten days of prayer — The day of Pentecost — The incidental and the permanent — Review of the cases cited from the Bible — The facts confirm the theory — George Herbert's poem on Prayer.. ^ 155-167

CHAPTER X. PRAYER FOR THE SUPPLY OF TEMPORAL WANTS — (Commenced.)

Manna in the desert — Elijah's ravens — Is there such experience now? — Let facts answer — Mother of Dorothea Trudel — Her faith and its reward — Case of Henry Young Stilling — How he went to the University — How he was supported — A CaL ifornia experience related by Dr. Horace Bushnell — Deliverance at sea; the only survivor of fhe Albion — Direction in an emergency; Mr. Blair's experience — A result in Parliament ; Sir Fowell Buxton's pra;^ ers — How the policy of Ober-

CONTENTS.

lin College was decided; Mrs. Shipherd's letter — Prayer for rain — Dr. E. Pond's account — Professor Cowle's statement — Mr. Finney's narrative — William Huntington's "Bank of Faith " — A college student supported — Mrs. Jane C. Pithey 's daily life of faith — Poor Caleb ; prayer brings supply from an unknown source — John Logan's application of Jacob's prayer at Bethel 168-189

CHAPTER XI. PRAYER FOR THE SUPPLY OF TEMPORAL WANTS — (Concludcd.)

•Miss Lucy R. Drake's experience — Desire to be a foreign missionary — The hindrance — Engagement at the Consumptive's Home — Faith increased — Relinquishes salary — Gives away savings — Relies on God only — Money comes as needed — About to go to India — No society pledged for her support — Remarks of the author on this narrative — Miss Drake's practice not a law for others — Billy Bray's pulpit — Newport Gardener ; a slave prays himself into freedom — Escape from a bear — A lady missionary testifies — A Will ; an anticipative answer to prayer — Another case — Prayer a part of God's plan — Delivery from unjust wrath — Reconciliation — Another prayer for rain — Anna Shipton and the blind boy — Prayer in sundry exigencies — The smaller events of life — Lines by Paul Gerhardt--- 190-211

CHAPTER XII. PRAYER FOR PHYSICAL HEALING — (Commenced.)

Truth and error on this subject — James not to be misinterpreted — Various meanings suggested — Universal healing not intended — Healing may always be prayed for, with submission — Is often granted — Dorothea Trudel's experience — Her institution and methods — Classification of the facts — 1. Thorough consecration the basis — 2. The principal aim, spiritual results — 3. Natural auxiliaries not neglected — 4. No cures promised — Instantaneous relief not usually ex-

CONTENTS.

pected — 5. Like-minded helpers — Prayer availed at a distance — Case of Mrs. Jane C. Miller, the wife of a Congregational minister — Instantly healed of chronic rheumatism — Attestation by her husband and others — Case of Rev. A. Connett's daughter — Sciatic rheumatism, shrunken and shortened, limb — Reads of Mrs. Miller's experience — Prayer of mother and daughter — The sudden cure — Healing of a Methodist minister's wife; case of Mrs. Ellen Clark Sherman — Numerous injuries — Bed-ridden condition — Spiritual exercises — A seeming vision or felt presence of Christ — Faith to be healed — Instant result — Permanent relief — A home missionary saved to the work — Testimony of Charles Cullis, M. D. — Cure of a tumor ; of consumption ; of cancer in cheek ; of neuralgia — All cases not healed — Remarks by author — A visit to Mannedorf — Further report of cases — Lines by Whittier 212-243

CHAPTER XIII. PRAYER FOR PHYSICAL HEALING — (Concluded.)

Luther's prayer for dying Melanchthon — Case of Rev. S. H. Piatt, a Methodist minister — Statements by Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D. — An English gentleman — Comment — Insanity cured — Another case — A young lady healed — Her letter — Bishop Simpson's life saved — Deafness of twenty years cured

— Miss Lucy R. Drake's account; cured of consumption — Testimony of Mrs. C. S. Whitney — Two cases of children — A freedman cured of consumption — A girl cured — A case in New York city — Cure of Bright's disease and paralysis — Remarks upon cases cited — 1. Large proportion of cures gradual — 2. Vary as to use of medicine — 3. Many of the cures naturally explicable — 4. Connection of physical and spiritual

— 5. The law of a specific faith — Views of Rev. C. B. Boynton, D. D. — Medical explanation of H. M. Lyman, M. D. — Lines in sickness, by Heinrich Puchta 243-275

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV. PHAYER FOR SANCTIFyiNQ- GRACE

The connection of inward and outward bestowments — Instances in the New Testament — Christ's double ministry — Spiritual victory possible — Only half-believed in — Power of prayer — How Paul obtained grace — His "thorn in the flesh" — An English lady's experience; transition-case from last chapter to this — Delivered from all fear and anxiety — Another lady; Victory over irritability; " Jesus, help me! " — Prayer the key to "Higher Life" experience — Remarks by the author — A student's victory — Fall salvation by faith — "My richer experience," by Mrs. Whitne}^ — The process — Desire, prayer, trials, and faith — Narratives of R. Pearsall Smith — Testis mony of a physician — Of a Presbyterian minister — Lines of Horatius Bonar 376-393

Chapter XV. Prater To Overcome Physical Habit

Certain cases of sin call for special grace — Effect of sin on the body and mind — Failure of philosophy — Legal efforts unsuccessful — A gospel needed — Augustine's defeat and victory — Extract from his "Confessions" — Victory over tobacco and opium — Rev. W. H. Boole's facts — A church officer — Thirty years of bondage — An aged lady — A carpenter in Brooklyn, K. Y. — Cases reported by Mrs. C. S. Whitney — Triumph over tobacco — Prayer subdues the alcohol-appetite — The saved man now a minister — Testimonies collected by Rev. S. H. Piatt — Victory over tobacco and alcohol — Lines by Charles Wesley 394-306

Chapter XVI. Prater For Individual Conversions

Startling language of the Bible — Can one man convert another ? — Prayer a power — A Bible-class teacher's experience; im-

CONTENTS.

mediate results; a late result — Illustration from pen of Prof. Austin Phelps, D. D. — A very difficult case at a distance — A circle of prayer — Power of united petition — Experience of Catlierine Adorna — Prayer for soul of a sick man — The conversion of an infidel — A prompt answer — Conversion of a husband; a touching narrative — Effect of habitual prayer — Experience of jSTormand Smith, Jr. — Success in an unpromising case of a pupil — A prajdug acquaintance of Rev. C. G-. Finney — A fact communicated by Rev. Enoch Pond, D. D. — Testimony of Rev. P. Hagler — Conversion of an infidel major and his family — A triple success to prayer — A father converted, at a distance — A case on missionary ground — A Brahman saved — A female skeptic converted — D. L. Moody and the Scotch infidel — Prayer opens a house and saves souls — A sister's prayers — How an Emperor of Russia was converted — Several children brought to Christ — A dreaded duty performed; the blessed results — Extract from "The Two Dreams." .307-337

CHAPTER XYII.

PAKENTAL PRAYERS.

Parental prayer noted through the ages — Has a basis in the divine institution of the family — Also in special covenants and promises — Augustine and Monica — Her anxiety and perpetual supplication — Long delay, but final success — His own account — Source of parental faith in prayer — Mr. Finney's remarks and illustration — Yiews of Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D., LL. D. — Hlustrative cases — Two praying mothers — A son's account; Rev. C. B. Crane, D. D. — His father's petition — Narrative of Rev. A. S. Kedzie — A mother's faith and its reward — Two mothers — A praying father in Scotland; what came of it — A mother's confidence — A North American Indian mother — A burden rolled off — Heard at last — A son at school — Unsubmissive prayers; Warnings — Lines by Mrs. Hyde 338-357

CONTENTS.

Chapter XVIII. Prayer For Ministers, Churches And Revivals

Prayer sweeps a wide circle — Praying to obtain a pastor — Dr. Wo.lcott's experience — Spiritual baptism of a pastor — How a clinrch can better itself — Another case — The meeting at the red school house — Dr. Wisner's account of a revival — Revivals under Rev. Charles G-. Finney — His revival lectures

— A praying soul and a succession of revivals — A Scotcii revival, two and a half centuries since — Recent revivals — In America — In Ireland — In Scotland — In Wales — The " week of prayer " as a sign of the times — Day of prayer for colleges

— D. L. Moody's work — Prof Upham's conception — Bonar's version of Psalm cxxvi 358-384

Chapter XIX. Prayer For Charitable Institutions

These spring from the very heart of Christianity — Prayer naturally connects itself with them — Franke and the Orphan House at Halle — Succession of deliverances — Louis Harms and his missions — George Miiller and his Orphan Houses — The Boston Consumptives' Home and Dr. Cullis — Chicago Foundling's Home and Dr. Shipman — Remarks of the author on the theory of non-solicitation — Its claim to be the faithmethod — Three objections — No support from the reason of the case — None from Scripture — None from history — What its seeming success really means and teaches — Lines by Charlotte Elliot 385-400

Chapter XX Review Of Facts In Conclusion

Is such a book properly helpful to Christian faith — Letter of a minister, in the negative — His argument — His agricultural illustration — His disgust with the constant citing of Muller's

CONTENTS.

success — His idea of tlie use of prayer — Eeply — His mistakes as to facts and principles — How cited facts on this subject may be appropriate — Right and wrong farming — Right and wrong praying — Why Daniel was tested, and the fact recorded — Why prayers seem to be unanswered explained by James — Lines by Greorge Herbert , 401-408

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER NO. L

THE CREDULITY OP SKEPTICISM.

The tables turned on the skeptics — 1. Initial credulity in believing that to reject Christianity is to get rid of religious difficulties — Sir Yfm. Hamilton's remark — 2. Credulity in superstitious practices — Anecdotes of Lord Herbert, Goethe, Marquis D'Argens, Thomas Hobbes, Montaigne, Rousseau, and Lord Byron — 3. Credulity in adopting absurd metaphysical theories — John Stuart Mill's rejection of first truths — 4. Credulity in hasty adoption of new physical theories. Anecdotes of Mills, Hobbes, and Yoltaire. The Guadaloupe skeleton — Reasoning of Strauss — 5. Credulity as to ancient history — Alphabetic writing — Zodiac of Denderah — Horner's brick — Opinion of Sir G. C. Lewis — 6. Credulity in adopting religious theories — As to possibility of harmony — As to Materialism — As to Humanitarianism — As to Spiritualism — Faith in Christ leads to the truth, 409-438

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER NO. II.

THE BELATIONS OP SCIENCE TO REVEALED RELIGION.

1. Scientific and religious truth equally legitimate studies — 2. Investigations in each department to be independently conducted — Anecdote of Dr. L. Woods and Prof. M. Stuart— No dictation on either side — Yiew of Dr. W. B. Carpenter — 3. Bible given to teach religious and not scientific truth — How far the Bible is committed to physical facts — What to be done in case of apparent discrepancy with science — No justice in sneer of Biichner — Former misinterpretations of Scripture on physical points — Rule of interpretation now used — Application to subject of prayer, 4oy-4o6

PRAYER,

AND ITS

Remarkable Answers.