Part 5 (2/2)
”I was brought up religiously as a servant in a family in Connecticut, and from twelve years of age until twenty-three, knew no other home. The old couple died, and I lived with their children, but they were so different that I became very unhappy and hardly knew what to do or which way to turn. I had no relatives and knew nothing of any world save the little one in which I had all my life moved, and I was terribly afraid to try any other. I could only offer my constant prayer for help, and it was answered so much beyond my highest hope, and so kind were G.o.d's dealings with me that I was taken, almost without an effort of my own, into a warm, loving heart, and such a happy home, and all so easily and smoothly that to me it seems like a miracle; and never can I forget while I live, nor cease to believe that truly 'He is the hearer and answerer of prayer.'”
”BEFORE THEY CALL I WILL ANSWER.”--A PASTOR PRAYS FOR DECISION AS TO GOOD CHOICES.
”The writer was once in great trouble to know what was duty. Urged by ministers and laymen in high standing to undertake a work not exactly in the line of the ministry, he hesitated. G.o.d's displeasure was feared, lest in doing what was desired 'sin might lie at his door.' To refuse the wish of good and wise men might be resisting G.o.d's call. In this trial of conscience he sought in fasting and special prayer the guidance of his Heavenly Father. While so doing the above promise came very distinctly to his mind. He brought it to G.o.d as his own promise, and pleaded, if it could be graciously done, that He would literally fulfill it to the suppliant. In the very act of thus pleading, he heard a rap on the door. Opening it, there stood his mother-in-law. She said, 'Two gentlemen are in the parlor waiting for you.' I went down, and the interview revealed the exact fulfillment both of the promise and the prophecy. The Lord answered my prayer two days before I called on Him.
One of the two came from New York to my home in a Western city to inquire about _the very thing which was troubling me. He was to me an entire stranger_, never having heard of him until I saw him. Having consulted his friend, the Rev. M.W. Jacobus, D.D., they together came to call on me about the matter at the very moment I was pleading with G.o.d that He would mercifully, 'while yet speaking, hear me.' Now could Tyndall and his followers desire a more literal, a more exact fulfillment of this prophecy and promise as proof of its inspiration, and of prayer as G.o.d's ordinance than that prayer for such fulfillment of these words actually before the prayer was made, and while the pet.i.tioner was 'yet speaking?'”
It will be noticed that the best judgment of good men advise one course, but trust in G.o.d for superior wisdom brought the case to answer in a totally different manner, by means of an unknown person, a total stranger, who neither knew him nor his desire. The circ.u.mstance should convince the world.
A FAMILY PRAY FOR A GOOD SERVANT.
”About three years since my family comfort was very much disturbed by failure to obtain a good housemaid. And, having been accustomed to wait upon G.o.d for right direction in my _temporal_ as well as spiritual affairs, in simple faith I asked Him to direct me on reaching New York City to where I would find a girl of good character that would appreciate a Christian home. My steps were led to a boarding-house on Greenwich street, and on inquiring for a German or Swede girl I was told they had a nice Swede just landed. I talked to her through an interpreter and was satisfied from what she said, as well as from her countenance, that she was the one I was searching for. She came to my home and proved, in two years' service, almost faultless. In conversation one day, a short time after she came to our home, she said she had had several places offered her that morning before I came, but she did not like them; but as soon as she saw me, felt that she could go with me--she was a Christian, member of the Lutheran church and wanted a Christian home. Her desire was granted and my prayer was answered.”
A RECOVERY FROM A DEATH-BED.
”Some forty years ago, in a rural parish in New England, a young man lay apparently on his death-bed with a putrid fever. His aunt, in whose family he was staying, was a woman who had long lived in habitual intercourse with the unseen world through prayer. One afternoon, when it seemed to those around him that the sick one must die, she went away alone to speak with G.o.d. With intense earnestness she pleaded for the young man's life. And, being deeply interested in the portion of our country then beginning to be settled, she asked also that he might become a home missionary at the West. There were various circ.u.mstances which made this latter request, as well as the other, seem very unlikely to be fulfilled. And yet it was. The young man recovered, pursued a collegiate and theological course, and still lives and labors as a most devoted and useful Christian pioneer. More than once he has been a member of the General a.s.sembly of the Presbyterian Church, and his name is familiar to many.”
A POOR STUDENT PRAYS FOR MONEY.
”I was a poor student in a Manual Labor Inst.i.tute at the West. The month of February was our regular Winter vacation. We were privileged to keep our rooms and have board at one dollar a week. But I had absolutely no money. I was six hundred miles from my friends, and they were unable to furnish me with funds. I had no books for the new term, though these were a necessity if I went on with my cla.s.s, and there was no work about the Inst.i.tution, nor that I know of in the neighborhood at that season.
My case seemed an exceedingly bad one; and I had no idea from where any help could come. So I went to my room in the third story, locked my door and carried my case to the Lord. It was a long, earnest, tearful cry for help from Him who alone seemed able to give it. My prayer was answered.
When I had been there I do not know how long, I heard footsteps in the empty hall, and in a moment a knock at my door. I wiped my eyes, and put myself into presentable shape as soon as I could, and opened the door. A lad stood there who said: 'A man wants to see you at the front door.'
Down the stairs I went, wondering who could want me and what he could want me for. In the front yard was a man on a restless horse, who at once said: 'We want you to teach our school for a month. The boys have driven out the female teacher. We want you to take them in hand, and we'll give you fifteen dollars and your board.' I said, 'All right, I'll be down there to-morrow morning.' And then I went back to my room to thank G.o.d for hearing my prayer.”
”I CAN'T STOP TO PRAY.”
”A deacon living in a Berks.h.i.+re town was requested to give his prayers in behalf of a poor man with a large family who had broken his leg. 'I can't stop now to pray,' said the deacon (who was picking and barreling his early apples for the city market), 'but you can go down into the cellar and get some corned beef, salt pork, potatoes, and b.u.t.ter--that's the best I can do.'”
REMARKABLE HEALING OF A CHILD.
A clergyman writes that during the ministration of his labors at Battle Greek, Mich., there were several remarkable manifestations of divine power--especially in the case of a little girl, the daughter of a Mr.
Smith, a child of about six years.
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