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ART. VIII. THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER.

In the history of the late Revival which has so greatly blessed our land, no agency, in both its inception and progress, has been so remarkably owned of God as Prayer. In former years more reliance had been placed upon protracted and earnest presentations of the more pungent truths of the Bible, and that too by some peculiar and extraordinary gift. The evangelist, the discriminating anxious seat, the personal inquiry room were deemed, if not essential to the carrying forward of a work of general revival, at least as the most efficient and successful of means. And so they had been. But in the recent revival, Prayer-the "Union Prayer Meeting," stands forth as the most prominent human agency; indeed the revival was born of prayer; and a reliance upon this simple instrumentality, connected with. other appropriate means, is coming to be felt by our churches, which we hail as an earnest of yet more glorious things. It seems not unfitting the time, then, nor the hopes that have been raised, to turn attention to the subject of this article, especially since modern Skepticism has invested it with learned and ingenious difficulties, which in fact amount to a denial of its reality.

That God hears and answers prayer, is a Scripture doctrine, and a fact in personal experience which takes rank in the Christian scheme among the cardinal beliefs. It is as dear to the pious heart, and as vital to its hopes, as the doctrine of the Atonement, or the final perseverance of believers; and one upon which the Christian leans for support, against the trials of life, with more reposeful trust than perhaps any other. This belief, however, is not original in Christianity, though Christian faith adopts it, and rears it to a vigorous and manly stature. Prayer has its origin in a deep and universally-felt sense of dependence upon some higher power, is the child of man's religious na

ture, and is as really natural to him as the utterance of sound to express his desires, or as efforts to obtain food to satisfy hunger. Of this, a survey of the religious history of the race can leave no doubt. The ancient Pagans prayed to their gods; the modern heathen pray to theirs; the good in all ages have been men of prayer; and even the ungodlyAtheists who make Atheism their boast, when brought into circumstances of danger, beyond the reach of human succir, will often have recourse to prayer as a last resort. Any number of well-accredited instances on record might be referred to, which place the fact beyond cavil, that there is an instinctive belief in our nature, back of education, and in defiance of education, which at times bears down all counter beliefs, however strongly uttered or fortified, that God can, and that he sometimes does, when every human arm is weakness, bring help.

From this fact, Natural Theology would deduce an argument in proof of the efficacy of prayer; an argument, too, of irrefragable power; because its possible refutation involves. this absurdity: That God-the God of Truth, has enacted in our very constitution a falsehood, which he re-affirms with emphasis just in proportion as men seek after him, and become assimilated to his character. A conclusion so monstrous assumes, in the language of Sir William Hamilton, "That God is a deceiver, and the root of our nature a lie.”

Our faith, however, in the efficacy of prayer, rests upon a surer foundation than the teachings, direct or indirect, of Natural Theology. The question, whether prayer is or is not answered, is one of simple fact, which can be neither proved nor disproved by abstract reasonings; but like all questions of fact, must be established, if established at all, by testimony. If then we have testimony in the mouth of witnesses whose competence to testify is in all respects beyond doubt, we claim that the case is made out, and that to attempt to rule this testimony out, or to rebut it by metaphysical objections, betrays an unfair and captious spirit, which would not be tolerated in any court of justice, nor in any scientific investigation.

Now we have the testimony of experience,—and what

knowledge can be more absolute than this? Cumulative, culminating, it comes down from the earliest ages to the present day, under every variety of circumstance. We have in many instances a record of prayers, and a subsequent record of the answers given, side by side; just as we have recorded prophecies, and side by side, the historical record of their fulfilment. But we have "greater testimony" than that of men; the promises of God that he will, the assurances that he does, answer prayer, which lie all along the pages of his Word, too numerous and explicit to make reference necessary for those who are familiar with its pages, or believe in its inspiration-these, especially when taken in connection with the argument from experience, are decisive in the case; and nothing but the sheerest skepticism will take an appeal therefrom;—an appeal which in this case must be from our knowledge to our ignorance, from the Word of God to the quibbles of skepticism. The fact then, the only thing of real importance, stands altogether apart from inquiries concerning the mode in which prayer is answered; and altogether above the metaphysical difficulties with which it has been environed; and whether or not we be able to understand the mode, or remove these difficulties, the truth that “The effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much," rests upon an impregnable basis.

In common, however, with every doctrine of Scripture, this has suffered the assaults of Infidelity, and been attacked by every species of weapon, from the sallies of profane wit, to the earnest endeavors of sober reasoning. The objection which candid men (for such we will consider them) have urged against the doctrine, when fairly stated, is about this: The belief that prayer is in any true and proper sense answered, proceeds upon the assumption that God is moved by it to do something that he otherwise would not have done; and clearly involves this absurdity: That short-sighted, fallible man can turn aside from the course which He would otherwise pursue, the omnipotent, omniscient, unchangeable Jehovah; that the established order of the universe is thereby invaded, and rendered variable to the desires-not to say the caprices of men; and that, just so far as prayer is, prop

erly speaking, answered, Infinite Wisdom no longer holds sway, but virtually abdicates in favor of what may, at any time, be the blind folly and conflicting interests of mortals.

This is the objector's position, and he throws before this embankment of partial truth: That God is an independent Sovereign, whose purposes are eternally and unalterably fixed; whose wisdom, power and goodness-infinite in their measure, and incessant in their exercise-will secure to all creatures whatever is for their good: and furthermore, that so far as our knowledge extends, the government of God, at least in the material world, and presumptively therefore, in the moral world, is subject to exact and unalterable law. These objections, which we have endeavored to state in their most plausible form, and which, to say the least, are, in a philosophical point of view, difficulties, we propose, as well as we can, to examine; and in doing so, we shall aim to show that they are founded in erroneous views, alike of the nature of prayer, of the so-called order of the universe, and of the divine purposes themselves.

What then is Prayer? The Scriptures afford ample means of determining this question, both from example and precept. We have what is known as the Lord's Prayer,-a model for all time and for all men ;-the prayer of Christ, recorded in John xvii; many of the Psalms; and the earnest and importunate supplications found elsewhere, especially in the Book of Daniel. Taking these examples, we find that prayer, while it embraces adoration and confession, is essentially supplication;-petition at the throne of grace for things which lie beyond the range of our unaided powers. In all these examples there is an earnest and heart-felt desire underlying the petitions; in fact true prayer is born of desire,—a desire that borders upon agony, which, while it wrings the soul, lifts the eye and the expectation to God as the source of help; not indeed apart from the use of appropriate means, where means can be used; but to God as presiding over and giving efficacy to all means; and where no means can be employed,—as when Elijah prayed for rain, a simple and waiting reliance upon the Word of God. And beside this earnest desire, this waiting expect

ation, there is the spirit of submission diffused over the soul of the suppliant; nay, more; in the highest and truest exercise of prayer, the solicitudes of the suppliant are loosened from self, and absorbed in the honor and glory of God. Prayer then is the child of desire, the offspring of a heart that has been, or seeks to be, brought into unison with the divine will and purpose; so that its requests are in harmony with the mind of God.

To be somewhat more particular; for we have reached a vital point in the subject. Prayer has its conditions-its laws, if we may so speak; and unless these be complied with, the suppliant has no reason to expect an answer. The first great condition of prayer is faith. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek him." Faith respects primarily a divine promise, but finds support as well and as much in the revealed character of God. It is an implicit and a child-like trust in the wisdom, the goodness, the power and providence of God, which leads one to refer everything to him, confide everything in him. "Prayer," says Payson, "is not so much an act as a habit,”—the habit-the condition of soul which one acquires who "dwells in the secret place of the Most High," who walks with him. in close and confiding intercourse, as did Enoch. In offering a petition, then, one must find something upon which his faith can fasten, either in the revealed character of God, in the history of his dealings with men, or in specific promises, as the ground upon which to rest the assurance of being answered. To ask for things in regard to which faith can find no such basis, and therefore cannot be said properly to exist; to ask for things of doubtful utility,-as temporal prosperity, immunity from trials and afflictionsthings which God has nowhere expressly or implicitly promised, and which, if granted, might in the end be pernicious, may not indeed be wrong, (ignorant as we are, and not knowing "what we should pray for as we ought,'') if asked in the spirit of resignation, yet such things cannot be asked with any assurance that they will be granted; nor does the withholding of them militate in the least against the doctrine of the efficacy of prayer.

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