Pray Without Ceasing

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING

I Thessalonians 5:17

The Apostle Paul, that learned disciple of Jesus Christ, tells us in this Scripture how to keep pace with God. Light is given for us to walk in, and when we fail to do so, darkness crowds our hearts. The light given here on the all-important subject of prayer, is very beneficial.

A train must have power to pull it down the track. Steam' is the power, but this power comes from water and fire. A Christian's vital force comes through the prevailing spirit of prayer; not a spell of praying today, and then a gap of ten days, but a continuance in prayer. We must be in the Spirit and have the spirit of prayer moment by moment. God never lavishes His power upon an unfaithful or an unwise servant.

This does not mean that we are to be upon our knees all the time; neither does it mean audible praying all the time; but a spirit of prayer, a spirit of devotion. A man may not be making manifestations of his love for his wife all the time, but he loves her nevertheless.
A man may be immersed in business, his shoulders bearing up great burdens; or a woman -may have her hands full in the nursery or elsewhere, but still a constant spirit of prayer may be going up from their hearts, like incense from the altar. Niagara flows day and night, winter and summer; so is the spirit of prayer from the heart of every true Christian.

Many rich blessings crowd into the heart during the busy hours of the day, because of this blessed spirit of prayer. Faces have lit up, eyes have brimmed full, lips been quivering, because of this blessed, constant, holy communion, and that, too, while the man or woman was engaged in daily toil.
This constant prayerfulness is why some people old in years never grow old in reality, and never lose their usefulness. A praying man always bears fruit, and the more he prays, the more earnestly he prays, the more fruit he will bear. Neglect of prayer means a loss of usefulness. Failure to pray grieves the Spirit, and a Christian can do nothing for God and lost humanity without the Spirit, for it is He who makes groanings through us that can not be made by lips of clay.

A sainted old woman, who had read and reread the Bible through more than a score of times, was laughing one day, with the open Bible lying on her lap, when a neighbor walked in. The neighbor said, "Grandmother, why are you so happy?" "Oh," said Grandmother, "I was just having my usual chat with my Father. I find such a joy, such a deep, abiding, constant, sweet peace in reading the Word, and in prayer, that I never get lonesome, and haven't been discouraged since the Holy Ghost came into my life in His fullness. My son and his wife go to the office early each morning, but I always have company, the best of company. I have good times all the time; haven't had a 'blue Monday' in twenty-five years. My God has never failed me. He has been so patient, so forbearing, so longsuffering with me, a poor frail woman. His thoughts toward me are good . He smiles upon me all the time. My room is filled with His sunshine, and my heart is crowded full of His perfect love. I am simply having a heaven on earth to go to Heaven in. I committed my way to God twenty-five years ago and I have not worried one moment since, not once. He is able to take care of me; He has promised to do it; and He is faithful.

"I only have this rich experience, this strong faith, this bright hope, because of the constant spirit of prayer, for I pray all the time, that is, I am in the spirit of prayer."

A person's love for God increases as the spirit of prayer grows.

Nehemiah went forth in great strength, and succeeded in what seemed to many an impossibility -- in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The workmen did faithful work, and everything went smoothly on, even though the devil tried hard to discourage, and to block Nehemiah's pathway. Why? Because Nehemiah was a man who had prayed and fasted much, and had the mind of God before he went forth.

The reason why so many of us fail is because we hurry into battle without the slightest preparation, and so lead our gifts and talents and usefulness to the slaughter-pen. Had the disciples rushed into the world's harvest-field from Beth-any, they would have made an awful failure. They needed and must have a ten-days prayer-meeting. Waiting develops one's patience, gives time for reflection, and an opportunity for confession and repentance; so these men must tarry.

Theirs was plenty of work to do; men were dying, jails were crowded, but Jesus said, "Wait." He knew that that ten-days prayer-meeting would put into their lives such a force, such a power, such liberty and freedom, that they would go forth destroying the works of the devil, and having constant, real victory all the time.

This waiting brought the purging into their lives, hence they were qualified to bring forth thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. That is why Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, preached a sermon that put three thousand souls on God's side. He could never have done this before that ten-days prayer-meeting; it could only follow the prayer-meeting.

Christ and His three disciples were on the Mount of Transfiguration, then, after that, He came down and cast a devil out of a boy. Christ prayed upon another mountain until the gray streaks of dawn could be seen in the east, then He came down, quieted a mad sea, a raging storm, saved his disciples from the horrors of a mad typhoon, and rescued Peter from a watery grave.
Peter prayed and saw a great vision, then went down to the house of Cornelius and preached with such freedom, such boldness, such sweetness of spirit, that a great revival broke out, and the entire household of Brother Cornelius was saved.

Paul and Silas held a midnight prayer-meeting in the Philippian jail; then the power of God fell so mightily, that there was such a concussion, such an earthquake, that the old jailer awoke and grabbed his sword, saying, "They have all fled, and I'll be accused of letting them escape, so I'll kill myself." But Paul shouted, "Do thyself no harm, for there isn't a 'Come-outer' among us; we are all here." The jailer and his household were all converted, so that prayer-meeting of Paul and Silas stirred things and woke them up.

God honors prayer that comes from the heart; let it be in a hovel, hut, jail or temple, He will answer true prayer.

Paul knew full well how to discuss, how to preach, how to write about praying, for he himself was a man of much prayer. Once, when seemingly all were going to destruction, to a watery grave, he prayed and the Spirit whispered, "Not one shall be lost." So he stood up and told them that, although they had gone contrary to light given, although they had misjudged him, yet not one of them should be lost. Paul got this message through earnest prayer.

Many today walk in golden sunlight, bathe their souls in crystal waters, live in God's flower gardens, walk hand in hand, as Enoch of old, with God, because they live in the spirit of prayer. We can split the clouds, thaw the ice, melt the snow, defeat the devil, span the chasm, climb the mountain, if we are in the spirit of prayer. We can crowd altars with weeping penitents, bring multitudes to God, break up dens of vice, destroy "King Alcohol," if we have the spirit of prayer.

God uses all who have this vital, this real, this earnest, this constant spirit of prayer. Let us quit trifling, and pray clear through.

Stopping Opposition Through Prayer

A MAN KNOCKED BLIND

It was a bitterly cold winter afternoon, deep snow covered the ground. The thermometer was hovering around 28 degrees below zero, the church was packed, a great revival was sweeping the town.

The people were so stirred and moved, so wrought upon by the Holy Spirit, that about three hundred came to one service held at three o'clock in the morning. Imagine folks leaving their warm beds and warm homes and trudging through a wintry night to that service, and some walking in about two miles from the country.

There were from forty to fifty seekers at the altar nightly. Scores were being saved and many sanctified wholly. The afternoon service we spoke of in the first paragraph was a most wonderful service. The manifestation of God's Spirit was great. Some of the Christians were so flooded with glory that they became quite noisy and a Mr. John Matthews sitting far back in the church began scoffing. We said to him, "Please do not do that," but he made a face at us. There was a large crowd of young folks near him, and we realized he was influencing them and they might consent to scoff with him, so we called the whole congregation to prayer. We prayed: "Our Father who art in heaven, this is Thy work, Thou art giving it Thy sanction, Thy Spirit is upon this meeting in marvelous power, now, we pray Thee, show this young man his sin by destroying the optic nerve for a few hours."

This prayer was breathed in us by the Holy Spirit, and we felt we must utter aloud that which was breathed into our innermost being. Right after praying this prayer, we felt that God would have us dismiss the congregation, and John with the others went his way, and we went to our room. We had not been there long, however, until Dr. Daugherty, the oculist, came running to our room, crying: "Oh, Brother Harney, John is blind, he is screaming out there in the street, the doctor is working with him. They are going to mob you." Instantly the Holy Spirit gave us the assurance and confidence that He was at work. He was answering prayer and we could rely on Him, He would see us through, so we calmly and quietly answered, "Tell the mob to come, but be sure you tell them that the first one who puts his hand on the yard gate will not only be struck blind, but paralyzed from head to foot as well." Did that mob come after such a statement as that? Never, they were afraid. They knew the Almighty God was working with John and they knew that He would protect His son,

The doctors worked eight or nine hours before John could see anything. God heard and answered the prayer of His children, As a result of this, great power fell upon the service and upon the people. They came from every direction, some of the Christians prayed all night, some fasting two or three days at a time. There was a tremendous spirit of soul agony upon the saints. One could hear the voice of prayer in almost every home, and no man dared to mock or scoff at the work of the Holy Ghost. The God of the Hebrew children, of Daniel, of the saints of all ages, was with His people. He was answering by fire.

Oh! do pause to obey the Holy Spirit, to live in such close touch with Him that He can whisper His thought into your soul and then you will dare to step out and proclaim His messages. Will you not do this? May God have the glory!

A True Thanksgiving Story

It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this old man, and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years before, in October, 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. But there was an unexpected detour which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most harrowing adventure of his life. 

Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean...For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark...ten feet long.  

But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie's own words, "Cherry," that was the B- 17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, "read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off." 

Now this is still Captian Rickenbacker talking..."Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food...if I could catch it." 

And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice. You know that Captain Eddie made it. 

And now you also know...that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset...on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast...you could see an old man walking...white-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls...to remember that one which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle...like manna in the wilderness. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Regardless of your circumstances today, if you are saved and sanctified, you have every reason to be thankful for the blood of Jesus Christ that made it possible for you to live the life you now have. Have a blessed and thankful day!

Answers to Prayer

A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE SAVED AND SALOONS PUT OUT OF BUSINESS THROUGH PRAYER

In the Southland, where flowers always bloom, the mocking-bird warbles its notes of melody all the day long, and the darkies hum their old-time melodies in the cotton patches, making merry the passer-by, in that land once lived a poor family. This family had an afflicted daughter, who was minus a left arm and a left limb and whose right hand had only two fingers and a thumb. Her right limb was so drawn and twisted that she was wholly unable to walk; she was bedridden in an upstairs room, the floor of which was carpetless and on the walls not a single picture; a rickety old bed and one stool were the furniture, Upon this bed lay this afflicted child for fifteen years.

One day a Salvation Army lassie found this humble home and in conversation with the mother, learned about the sadly afflicted child. She was taken by the mother to the child's bedside and there, in her Christlike manner, told the sweet story of Jesus in sweetest, simplest language. The child, who had been taught by her mother until she was a good reader, became much interested. This Salvation Army girl kept going to the home daily, taking good religious papers, books, and tracts. The child read and got hungry for Jesus.

One night she dreamed that, if she were to give her heart to Christ, He would make her a useful channel to lead multitudes to Him. She wondered how This could be true. She said, "Here I am with this horrible affliction, born this way, what can I do? I have but little education, unable to go to school, my father a day laborer and so poor that he cannot do anything for me, so the dream can never come true."

But one night when we were all soundly asleep, she began seeking God in earnest. She cried out, "Oh, Lord, I have but two fingers and a thumb, and if you will save me they shall work always for Thee. Forgive my sins. I am so sorry that I have so neglected Thee, I will, I can, I do believe that Jesus here and now saves me." The clock in the tower was striking twelve, the stars and moon now shone brightly, but the light that broke into that soul at that midnight hour was much brighter than the sun at noonday. She could not help it, in fact she did not try; the laughter, the hallelujahs and praises rang out upon the night air until the whole family were aroused from their slumbers and came into her room, and they soon saw that she had been with Jesus.

The Spirit there and then began a great work through her feeble instrumentality; her father was gloriously reclaimed by her bedside that night, and her brother and sister were saved; it was a great night for the family. The next morning, calling her father and mother into her room, she told them how the Spirit had been whispering that there was a work for her to do. The parents encouraged her, the mother took the girl in her arms, saying, "Papa and Mamma will do their best to help you."
The next day she said to her father, "Papa, bring me a lead pencil and a tablet for I am to preach my first sermon at one o'clock this afternoon." The pencil and tablet were purchased and brought to her room. She had spent the forenoon in quiet, earnest prayer, that Jesus would bless her first effort, and the Spirit gave her her first message. He had impressed her that she must write across one page, "Where will you spend Eternity?" She wrote this simple line, then cried from the depths of her heart, "O thou blessed Spirit, let this paper strike the right party squarely in the face." She prayed more earnestly, she got a real burden, she felt that God had heard and would answer her heart-cries. She watched the clock and prayed, resting her faith upon this promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive. She read and re-read this promise and again she would pour out her earnest soul to God in prayer, saying, "Now, Father, send the right party along, it is only five minutes until time to preach my first sermon. The sermon is ready, and so am I. hurry the right party, right under my window."

Just then the clock struck one, so, taking the slip of paper, she held her hand out of the window and cried, "O Lord, please let this strike the right man or the right woman squarely in the face. Use it to bring awful conviction; use it to show the right one his lost and undone condition use it to bring some one to Jesus. You shall have all the glory. You shall get all the praise. This poor deformed child does not want one bit."

The paper slipped out of her hand and was whisped by a kind zephyr into the face of a great banker. He grabbed the paper as it came across both eyes and behold, "Where will you spend Eternity?" struck him like a cannon ball. He staggered, he was dazed, he was alarmed, he was frightened, he looked up, he looked around, he said, "I am going to die soon, this is a warning. God sent this by some angel. I must get ready. I am an awful sinner. I have neglected God for business, I have made piles of money, but I am a lost man; I have laid up treasures on earth and I have not any bank stock in Heaven." Soon he was wringing his hands, crying aloud, "I am lost."

The girl's mother heard the pitiful cries of this rich man and hurried to him, saying, "What is the matter? Are you sick? Do you want me to call a doctor? Where do you live? Must I call the bus?" "Woman, read this." As soon a s the mother saw the slip of paper and the hand-writing, she knew what it meant, she saw that God had honored, blessed, and used her child to break the heart of this great business man. She said, "That slip of paper came from yonder window. My deformed child wrote that. She has been converted, and feels that God has called her to do a great work." This man, with tear-filled eyes and a bleeding heart, said, "Take me to her room."

On entering her room, the banker said, "Oh, child, how came you to throw that paper out just at that moment? How came you to write just that line? It has broken my heart. It has shown me my awful condition. I am rich in money, but a pauper in religion, I would rather have this old bed, this old stool, this carpetless room, and have what you now enjoy, than all my wealth. I am a miserable man, and with this poverty, you are a beautiful, happy Christian girl. You look so happy; now, as I kneel by your bedside, place that hand that wrote that line, upon my head and pray Him who carried that paper into my face, to have mercy on me and to save me, for I am willing to do anything possible to get what you have."

He knelt, the hand rested upon his head, and such a prayer could only come from a heart filled with the fullness of God. How tenderly she prayed, how sympathetic she was in her prayer. She simply poured out her whole soul in earnest prayer. Here was her first fruit, here was the result of her first message; she saw at a glance that her dream was coming true.
The Lord got a deeper grip upon that man's conscience. What confessions! what deep repentance! He began to pray, and the more he prayed, the louder he prayed. Soon, with streaming eyes, he had this girl in his arms shouting. "God has forgiven me. Oh, I am so happy! We are childless at our home, not because we plan or want to be childless, I want a child, I have been hungry for some child to call me father, and why can't I adopt you? Then I could get you a nice rubber-tired chair, hire a strong woman to roll your chair, and you could go about all day, preaching, working for the Master and come in home at night. Then I could fix a small box to your chair and you could carry tracts, papers. and Bibles." The child said, "That would be nice, my papa is too poor to buy me a chair. We will pray about it, and if our Lord leads, I am willing to be your child."

That night the whole story was told to her father, they prayed together, God led, and through this seemingly strange Providence, the child was adopted into the banker's family. Soon she was seen on the streets in her new rubber-tired chair. preaching the glad story of redemption. The banker and his wife were simply overjoyed. How grateful they were that God had given them a daughter.
This child saw for the first time in her life the awful destruction of the liquor traffic. She was amazed to see men staggering, falling, spending their money for that which brought misery, when their families at home needed bread and meat, clothes and fuel. A burden for the destruction of these murder mills (the saloons) came rushing upon her. That night her banker-father told her of the murderers, criminals, and thieves; how the penitentiaries are crowded, and over one hundred thousand going to a drunkard's grave and a drunkard's hell annually. The child sobbed and cried all night, she saw strong men, noble men, fathers and sons, husbands and brothers, by the thousands, being slaughtered by these hellish monsters. Soon she began to lecture upon the streets; she would go into the saloons and pray and beg men to not sell that which destroyed home, character, and honor.
One saloon-keeper got so miserable that he could not stay in the business; he seemingly saw himself at the Judgment, and behold women and children gnashed upon him, shaking their bony fingers in his face, saying, "You took the carpet from our home, you took the clothes from the wardrobe, you took the eatables from the pantry. you sold our house over our heads, you put us out on the cold streets, your business destroyed our husband and father, you made him kill his neighbor, and then the law that gave you the license to sell the damnable stuff, took our father and hanged him, Oh! such a law, such a constitution. to license a thing that destroys her citizenship. Citizens should be protected, but the law that should protect turns loose upon innocent people, and while many object, these destructive, heartless murder mills, these hellish saloons, care not for our boys, they must be fed. What is the raw material? Young men, noble sons, who would make honorable citizens, if it were not for these hell holes. Woolen-mills turns out cloths to protect us from the winter, wheatmills turns out flour to feed us and make us stronger. These mills are an honor to any community, to any citizenship; they are legitimate, they are necessary, but these mills of hell destroy, corrupt, debauch, degrade, disgrace, they sow harlotry, crime, vice, immorality, and wholly unfit man for his best interest."
The next morning at the breakfast table, this godly child told her father and mother how God had so burdened her that she had not slept a wink all night, and now, she had a new field of labor. She was called to put the saloons out of business and purposed, by God's grace and their assistance, to wage a relentless war upon these man-destroyers. Her parents promised their assistance. That day was spent in silent prayer all alone in her room, and she received this promise, Proverbs 2:10-12. She laughed, she cried, she shouted. Her mother, hearing her, ran upstairs saying, "Have you prayed through?" The child said, "Yes, glory to God! The saloons will go. I have the victory."
The next day she began her holy war, she bombarded nine saloons, she kept it up, she scattered good temperance literature. The saloonkeeper who had gotten under such awful con-viction, went to another saloon-keeper and said, "Bob, let's quit the dirty business. Our boys

will soon be old enough to drink." He had never thought of other mothers' sons. The two men agreed to quit, then joined the girl in her battle against this awful enemy of sobriety, virtue, truthfulness, upright character, and noble manhood and womanhood. She got one of the best temperance lecturers to come for a ten-days campaign. This drew great crowds, and soon three other saloons closed, By this time, the mayor and town council read clearly the handwriting on the wall and saw their doom, unless they refused to re-license these devilish, destructive murder mills, and so the others had to close.

This child one day read about an evangelist who was having a sweeping revival in another town. She urged her father and they went over to the meeting. They soon saw that this was the Lord's work, and made a date with the evangelist and his singer. The five churches joined in this great work. Old and young said they never had seen such interest manifested in religious work in that town. People came by the hundreds, by dark the great building was packed. A great religious awakening broke out and a tremendous soul-saving revival followed. Hundreds were led to Christ. One of the pastors said to the banker, "Your child, by her earnest prayers and faithful work, has brought about this great change. It is wonderful, simply marvelous to see men who once sold whiskey now working in this meeting, and the drunkards, the gamblers are being saved as well as the upper classes."

One night after going home from this great revival, while meditating, she saw how her dream was coming true, how God had worked, how God had multiplied her usefulness, what a marvelous fruitage He had given although she was poor and deformed. Christians, wake up, listen! give what you have to God, consecrate your all upon the altar, present your bodies a living sacrifice for life is using all who are at all useable. If you are not being used, whose fault is it? Jesus delights to use all, no matter what your deformity, your physical infirmities, your inabilities, just give Him a chance. He will put all the imps to flight who chuckle and whisper, "There is no use in trying." Let us today, let us this hour, let us this minute, consecrate our all to Him. "O Lord, help us, look down upon us in pity. Thou knowest us, our weakness is too great unless Thou help us. What can we do without Thee? It makes us hide our face in shame when we see how Thou didst so marvelously use this poor afflicted child. Help those of us who have strong bodies to consecrate our every power to Thee. We will do it, Thou mayest count on us. We thank Thee for thy goodness, for Thy patience, for Thy forgiveness, for Thy forgetfulness of our many sins, and we promise Thee a better service, We are Thine, soul, spirit and body, to go, to stay, or to send. Count on us, Lord. Amen!

PAUL AND SILAS PRAYING CLEAR THROUGH

PAUL AND SILAS PRAYING CLEAR THROUGH

These holy men of God were conducting a soul-saving, sin-killing, devil-driving revival in Philippi, On their way to the place of worship, Paul proposed a street service. They mounted a box and began to sing the sweet songs of Zion and the crowds thronged about them. Soon Silas led in prayer that melted many hearts and caused tears to flow freely, then Paul, the mighty preacher of the Word, opened the Gospel that pricked hearts, uncovering sin, showing men that restitution and confession must be made, before God would pardon.

By the time Paul closed this heart-rending message, a talented actress came screaming through the crowds, falling at the mourner s bench, crying, "Men and brethren, what must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas said, "Confess, repent, and keep on until you strike rock bottom." She cried, "I can't." Silas said, "This is the only way, no card-signing will bring a know-so, heartfelt case of religion. You must not only give up your sins, and go out of the sin business, but you must repent of what you have done. Suppose we should go in debt sixty dollars worth at the store, and then come again in a few weeks, purchasing another sixty dollars worth, and saying to the merchant, 'I purpose never to go in debt again, I will pay as I go from this on.' The merchant would say, 'That is good, but what about the sixty dollars you owe me?'"

The actress followed this godly instruction struck rock bottom, the fire flew, grace filled her heart, and the Holy Ghost witnessed that all her sins were forgiven. She, leaping up, stood and began shouting and praising God. Her face was wreathed in heavenly sunlight.

One who had seen all this ran to the theater men, saying, "There will be no theater tonight, no play." The manager said, "Yes indeed, we have one of the finest, one of the most talented women of the entire country, who will act tonight." "Yes, but," said the man, "I tell you she will not act tonight, I know what I am talking about." The manager looked at him and said, "Are you crazy?" "No, but I tell you, sir, as I was coming to the theater, I heard some sweet singing on a street corner, and went across and there on a goods box, two men, with bright, shining countenances, were preaching the Gospel; some were in tears, others wringing their hands, while your actress, who had elbowed her way through the crowd, was standing near the box shaking from head to foot. At the close of the sermon, she fell at the goods' box crying for mercy. Soon the preachers were down by her side, exhorting her to quit sin, and make her crooked paths straight. Soon she jumped to her feet, and I tell you we had some shouting." The manager says, "You don't say so. A talented woman, one who had signed a contract to play so many nights, an actress of her ability, attending a street service, and getting so excited that she would permit herself to make such demonstrations on the street? I can't believe it, it can't be so, you are wholly mistaken." "Well," said the man, "come with me."

The two hurried off up the street, and as they came near the box meeting, Silas was assisting the actress upon the goods' box, so she could give her experience. She began by saying, "As I came along the street, I heard the song that my darling mother often sang to us children. It brought up those happy by-gone days. Mother stood before me saying, 'My child, my child, stop at this service.' I found myself with others. listening to the songs and sermon; somewhere, I caught a glimpse of my poor lost soul and ah! such awful agony took hold upon me that I began to shake all over. I tried hard to control myself; I said, 'This will never do, am I losing my mind?' but shake I would. When Brother Paul gave the invitation, I was glad to go down there by other poor lost sinners, just like other poor lost sinners. I confessed all my sins. The devil said, "What about the contract?' I said, 'I am done now and forever hereafter with theaters, plays, all that is wrong.' I told the Lord if He would pardon my sins, I would be anything for Him. I had much to give up, to repent of, but when I did all they told me and all God showed me, the fire fell, the glory rolled into my soul and I tell you, I know from head to foot now that Jesus saves me. Glory! My soul is happy. Let me exhort you all to do likewise and let this day sweet knowledge of sins forgiven come to you."

The manager saw for himself that that night's play, so far as that actress was concerned, was done for. He went to the head men and said that something must be done here and now, to stop this religion. "It is spreading, it is breaking into our business," said he, "and causing folks to make fools of themselves, by confessing their sins, and restoring money that they had gotten by burning things to get the insurance, and in other fraudulent ways. You know if this strikes us, we are ruined, for some of us have never gotten an honest dollar. Such a religion would bankrupt us, and I fear some of us would land in the penitentiary. We should not allow such evangelists and such a Gospel to get into our church, and I am rejoicing that they are largely being kept out and crowded to brush

arbors and tent-meetings. We must call for a level-headed, brainy, safe, conservative man, who will preach us a sermonette twice on Sunday, while we attend theaters, have our card parties and dances, go to the circus and skating rinks, and drink our wines, but be it understood, we must pay big and bring up all the collections, we must organize different societies and work like Trojans."
This speech excited and influenced the minds of the leaders; they rushed off to the street meeting, and arrested Paul and Silas. Paul said, "Why arrest peaceful citizens? We are preaching the old-time Gospel that brings old-time results." But they hurried them to the court, had a mock trial, and sentenced them to a whipping and the dungeon cell. The dungeon was cold and damp, not one ray of light to be seen, With their ankles and wrists in stocks and bands, and with bleeding backs, they were left alone to suffer thirst and hunger.

Toward midnight, after meditation and secret prayer, Paul said, "Silas, lead us in prayer." Silas prayed, "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Teach us to pray. Thou seest our bleeding backs, Thou knowest our sufferings, hear us while we pray. We know that Thou art almighty. Thou didst open the Red Sea, Thou didst open up the Jordan, Thou didst tear down the walls of Jericho, Thou didst stop the moon and the sun, Thou didst lock lions' mouths, and quench fiery furnaces, Thou art God." Paul began to shout, and said, "Pray, Silas, I feel the power." Silas prayed, "Through one man's prayers Thou didst lock up the skies, through three hundred Thou didst give the devil a galling defeat, yea, Thou didst blow Thy breath in the mulberry-trees and put to flight all the devils upon a battlefield." By this time Paul was shaken by the power, he began to praise God, the stocks and bands fell from his ankles and wrists, and he leaped around the dungeon shouting, "Silas, my soul, is on fire." Then there was a tremendous concussion, such a shaking as they had never felt before. Silas, too, had been freed from his chains, and he was making the welkin ring. The old jail was shaking, reeling, staggering like a drunken man, jail doors and windows were crashing, and prisoners were leaping from their beds of slumber, thinking the world was coming to an end. The jailer, being thrown from his bed by this earthquake, screamed to his wife, "What is the matter? What has taken place?" Looking toward the prison, he saw things luminous as at midday, and tremblingly said, "I'll kill myself, all the prisoners have escaped." Grabbing his sword, he was about to commit suicide, when Paul cried out, "Mr. Jailer, kill not thyself, for we are all in here, there isn't a 'Come-outer' in the crowd." The jailer cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" He fell at the mourner's bench and, by daylight, he and his household were converted, a church organized, and he was pastor of the church at Philippi.

How to Have a Real Revival

GREAT REVIVAL IN ANSWER TO PRAYER

It was one of the best seasons in the whole year for a revival, late in the fall, yet warm and with a full moon. Pastor Baird called Will Selby and myself to hold a series of evangelistic meetings in his church at Tabor, Ky. At first the crowds were very small, but we began praying and calling on God and fasting every other morning. Some of the saints prayed also; many of them were to be

found on their knees in the early hours of the morning praying earnestly. In answer to our united prayers, conviction, deep, pungent conviction, settled upon the unsaved and they began coming out to the meetings.

There was a widow in that community who did not believe in the altar nor heart-felt religion. Her daughter, a girl of sixteen summers, got under deep conviction for sin and one day came to us and said, "Oh, Brother Harney, if mother were not in my way, I would rush to the altar, but mother says if I go there she will disown me." We asked publicly how many would join us in fasting the next morning and in praying thirty minutes to God to let deep conviction fall on the mother's heart; three responded. The next night we again called for volunteers and three more joined us. As I walked out of the church after service, I said to the mother, "God will make you so miserable that you cannot sleep or eat; the Holy Spirit is on your track, the saints are wrestling in prayer for you, and you had better yield to God. It is dangerous to resist the Holy Spirit, to refuse to walk in so much light." She left the church at once, replying, "God will never answer such prayers."

The next night we again called for those who would pray for this sister, and three or four more united with us, and the next morning as we walked into the church the daughter came running, saying, "Oh, Brother Harney, mother is the most miserable being on earth, slept but very little last night. After we went home she said, 'They think that God can keep me from eating, but I will show them.' She made some coffee and got several little cakes and sat down to the table to eat this lunch, when immediately she had a deep impression that should she touch a thing or drink a drop of coffee she would be paralyzed, and then she broke down and wept bitterly and confessed that God was answering prayer."
After the daughter had told me this, and as I went down the church aisle, I noticed the mother in one of the pews, but instead of the fine hat she had been wearing she had on a sunbonnet and her eyes were red with weeping. She looked at me and said, "You are responsible for this misery, you are responsible if I starve to death," and we looked into her face and saw that her heart was broken before God. I answered, "If you do not yield, if you refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit, His earnest pleadings with your heart, I fear you will soon die." She cried out in alarm, "Oh! don't pray God to kill me." We answered, "We will not do that, but you must yield to God."

She arose from where she was sitting, came forward and took one of the front seats, and at the close of the earnest message that God laid on our hearts, did not walk to the altar, she could not, but knelt right where she was and screamed out at the top of her voice, "My God, have mercy on me! My God, have mercy on me! Canst Thou forgive me? Is there any redemption for me? Has the Holy Ghost forsaken me? Have I sinned away my day of grace? Is there any hope?" She became desperate, she prayed, promised and confessed, and soon the regenerating power of God came flooding her soul and she leaped, and shouted the praises of God.

Taking us by the hand, she weepingly testified, "How I thank God for this Christian people! Had it not been for the prayers of the saints, I would have been lost. I thought that I was right, but I awakened to the sad fact that I was only a member of the church and not a child of Jesus Christ, but now, thank God! there is a clear, burning, definite witness in my soul that I am His and He is mine. I know it and feel it, my burden has rolled away. Jesus has come and there is heavenly sunlight in

my soul. Oh, everything looks so beautiful, so lovely, and I am so happy. This is what I have needed all these years. Now I can be a help and guide to my daughter. Thank God for the old-time revival, for a revival that has revived me, that has brought peace and light into our community, into our church, into our home! Now we can have family prayers, study the Word of God, say grace at the table, and have a little heaven here to go to Heaven from."

Christian worker, we have given this illustration of the power of God to answer prayer, that your faith may be encouraged. You go to a place to hold a meeting, the crowds are small and seemingly circumstances and surroundings are against you, but go quietly in earnest, secret prayer before God, get the saints to unite with you, and fast and pray until He answers, for He will answer. He can break down stubborn wills, He can break through indifference, He can bring deep, heart-burning conviction to the unsaved, He can make men and women to so feel the need of Jesus Christ as their Savior that they will be glad, they will plead for a chance, to find the mercy-seat. Let us not say a district is "burnt over." It may be that the lack of a revival is because we have not taken hold of the throne of God; we have not carried the burden of souls of the people for whom we are to labor. Mighty God, put on us our responsibility, help us to see that we shall meet again these men and women to whom we ministered, before the great white throne of the Judge of all the earth.

Can we then say that our skirts are clean from the blood of all men? I have never yet gone to God in agony of prayer for a soul; I have never felt a crushing, immutable burden over a soul's condition before God, but what God put on me such a prayer, a constant prayer, that I could only weep and hold on to Him until He gave the witness that the answer was coming. Oh, pray, pray on, pray clear through. The God of Heaven will answer. He has never failed. His promise is unbreakable. His Word is immutable. You can claim the victory, and the Captain of your salvation, in answer to believing prayer, will give it.

Eighth Bible Study: The Perfect Sacrifice

Today's lesson is from Hebrews 9:11-28. This study serves as a summary of the main truths which have been presented thus far in the book of Hebrews. Jesus, who has ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit upon us, is a living eternal Saviour and still cares for us every minute of every day. His mission has not ceased. We have an Active Saviour, Redeemer and Mediator between us and the Father. This lesson's subject is Jesus is our High Priest, our Mediator, removing those things that could separate the soul from God.

The first section is "The Jewish High Priest." It is important to understand the purpose and duties of the Jewish high priest to realize what Jesus means to us as our High Priest. Lesson five went into great detail teaching about Jesus' sufficiency as High Priest and His accomplishments. The Jewish high priest was appointed by God, was mediator between God and man, and the representative of the people before God. The high priest was to reveal God's will to men and offer sacrifices for the sines of the Jewish people. The Old Testament is a type and shadow of the New Testament dispensation. Jesus Christ as our High Priest is the only begotten Son of God, offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins and sin nature, and taught us how to know God's will and how to live our lives to make heaven.

The second section is "Christ, Our High Priest." Verse 11 states that Christ is "an high priest of good things to come." We have the capability through Jesus Christ to live an amazing life here on earth. He provides everything we need to live a godly life free from sin and the sin nature. Through the blood offered by our High Priest, we can have forgiveness of sins and be given a new and pure heart. The Jewish high priest only offered sacrifices for unintentional sins in the old dispensation. Intentional sins brought the consequences directly on the individual. You had to pay the price for your intentional acts. Under the new dispensation with Jesus Christ as our High Priest, we have forgiveness for all our sins, both intentional and unintentional. The Jewish high priest had no ability to provide anyone with a new and pure heart. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have forgiveness for sins and cleansing in entire sanctification.  The character of our High Priest was perfect. The Jewish high priest had to offer a sin offering for his sins also. Our High Priest did not need a sin offering, He was the sin offering. By His experience living on earth, Jesus was a perfect example of how we should live and follow God. Our High Priest Jesus Christ was perfect in every way, lived the perfect life, and is the perfect High Priest.

The third section is "A Mediator and His Sacrifice." I have been involved with many legal cases that a mediator was involved. The purpose of mediation was to avoid the judge having to make a decision. If the parties could work out their differences with the help of a third party, it would be better for everyone. If the judge had to make a decision, it would be to the harm of one of the parties. The mediator would build a bridge between the parties because the parties had a difficult time talking with each other. Jesus Christ is our perfect Mediator, our Intercessor, and our Advocate. He was the perfect sacrifice. The blood of goats and calves could not cleanse from sin. However, the precious blood of Jesus Christ can both cleanse and purify. The sacrifices of the Jews were types and symbols of spiritual truths to be found in Jesus Christ. Jesus serves to create the bridge between humanity and God the Father.  Just as Christ rose from the dead, so shall we if we are saved and sanctified. There is a heaven to be gained and a hell to be avoided.  Christ's high priestly work was complete and a perfect answer to the sin problem. Has Jesus become your Mediator? Do you have a real relationship with Him?

The Golden Text is: "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14) Provision for both salvation and entire sanctification are found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. "Christ has delivered and will perfectly deliver those that are brought over to Him from all guilt, power, and punishment of sin. He will put them into the sure possession of perfect holiness and felicity." (Matthew Henry)

My summary points:
1. Jesus Christ is our High Priest of good things to come.
2. Jesus Christ is the perfect Mediator and Sacrifice.
3. Jesus Christ's sacrifice provides for our salvation and entire sanctification.

Next week: "Holding Fast (Hebrews 10:19-25;31-39)."

Don't forget to read the Sunday school Beacon for encouragement and inspiration.

Prayer and Healing

HALLIE HEALED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER

The month of March was an ideal month. It was one of the finest we have ever seen. It was like May. The sun was warm; flowers had begun blooming; birds were singing. Mother Earth had begun to put on a carpet of green. Nature was all smiles. We were in that beautiful little town, Bertrand, Mo. God had just given us one among the best revivals of our ministry; scores had been saved; the Holy Ghost had fallen upon the saints; altars had been crowded; God had heard the midnight cries and groans of His children. The circuit had only paid $425.00. Bertrand being one of the churches, but at the close of this revival, Bertrand being a station, it paid $950.00 and had a good parsonage.

Toward the close of this revival the good people begged us to wire wife and babies to come to us. We did so, and they were with us the last week of the meeting at Bertrand, and wife sang some of her choice solos to the delight and inspiration of the great congregation.

We went from there to Parmar, Mo., and opened up a gracious meeting. The altar was full, the house was packed, and men and women were getting under tremendous conviction; confessions were being made, and the saints were getting down to earnest, wrestling prayer. On Monday morning wife woke me up at 1:30. saying, "Papa, little Hallie is very sick indeed." We called doctor, and he said, "She has an aggravated case of pneumonia." We called in two specialists and a trained nurse from Memphis, Tenn. She grew worse until one night the doctor said to us, "Brother Harney, it looks like your baby will have to die. She is growing worse, and getting weaker." They said, "We have done everything we can do. We have exhausted medical science, but this disease is so stubborn, it will not yield to medical treatment."

We threw ourselves at His feet in much fasting and heart agony; seemingly we never before got such a hold upon Him in prayer. For hours we lingered in His presence, pleading His promises, and crying, "Heal baby Hallie." Finally the doctors came to us and said, "Brother Harney, you might as well get ready and be submissive: your baby's going to die."

They had the pastor come and talk to us; they had wife come and talk to us; but we clung to God we would not let go; we would not let up; we prayed clear through. We never had such heart agony, such soul travail, such a crushing burden as for about four days and nights, seemingly our poor heart would break. But the child grew worse. It was whispered on all sides, "The baby can't

last but a few more hours." We stayed upon our knees; we clung to the promises; we cried, "Why have you thus burdened us? Why have you thus led us to agonize and wrestle for baby's healing?"
It was about four o'clock on Sunday morning. With an open Bible we were upon our face crying in heart agony, when the Holy Ghost whispered deep in our soul, "The baby is healed." We raised up and touched our wife who was in bed, and said, "Mamma, God has just given us the witness that baby Hallie is healed." Just then the nurse knocked on our door; wife said, "Come in." She opened the door, saying, "Rejoice. The fever's broken, and Hallie is much better." We said to her, "We knew that before you came, God had whispered that blessed news into our soul." The floodtides of Heaven swept into our soul, a regular Niagara overflowed our heart, and the joy-bells were ringing. Oh, what peace, what joy, filled our soul! We shouted, we cried, we laughed, and said, "It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away, It's just like Jesus to keep us day by day."

On Thursday we brought Hallie home, and today she's one of the brightest and sweetest baby girls to us in the whole world. She's God's: we put her on the altar then, and we never expect to take her off.
Reader, remember, always remember, and never forget this one thing, that God will always answer prayer. He is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answerIng God. When He places a burden upon your heart, be assured of the fact that He will answer. When He leads you out in prayer, and gives you inwrought prayer, be assured of the fact that He will answer. Let us have heart agony; let us wrestle: let us have soul travail; let us place our face between our knees; let us pray clear through. Knee work will clear the clouds away. Knee work will bring sunshine into the soul. Knee work will bring joy into our heart and strength into our soul. It will increase our faith, brighten our hope, and perfect us in His great love. Midnight wrestling will pull the fire out of Heaven, crowd the altar, put a blistering, burning conviction upon the sinner.

Prayer is not an easy something; it is easy to sing, preach, or testify, but one of the hardest things a Christian has ever done, is to pray clear through. If you want perfect joy, if you are after soul rest, if you want an artesian well in your heart, pray clear through. If you want to live on the mountain-top all the time, pray clear through. If you want to be on the victory side constantly, if you want to be more than conquerors, if you want all doubts destroyed, if you would have a richer experience, pray clear through. If you want to be a soul-winner, if you want God to honor His Word through you as an instrument, pray clear through. If you want to be a success in life, an honor to God and the community in which you live, to bring your own folks to Jesus Christ, pray clear through.
It will be a blessing to you to fast, to wait upon God, to commit your way to God, to rest in the Lord, and be filled with patience. God always listens to the heart-broken prayer. The crying need of this age is more who will really have soul agony, and soul travail in prayer. We are rejoicing tonight because of the glorious fact that the Holy Ghost has led us into this blessed, enjoyable prayer life. Prayer feeds the soul; prayer strengthens faith; prayer gives us power with God and man.

THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT REVIVAL

This is a true story about prayer and revival.

The church was cold, in a lukewarm state; most of the members were dead; seemingly all that was needed was a funeral. A small crowd greeted us for the first week. There was no enthusiasm and not enough religious force to send the hand around the dial plate. It was hard preaching and harder praying. There was ice in the pew, frost in the choir, and zero weather everywhere. The religious grass was frightfully short and the folks were so poor, so weak, that we could pull no load. The clouds were dark and hung very low, a dense fog hung all over the town.

Some said, "You might just as well quite, there isn't anything doing and there is no likelihood of there being a stir. First, because the enemy, hoof, hide, and horns, has had this city for a lifetime, and he is so entrenched, so fortified that it's impossible to man any heavy artillery against him, or to force him out of his fortified positions. Second, the folks who profess live like the folks who never did follow Jesus Nothing comes to town that you do not see a big bunch of church folks in the lead. You will find scores of them in a circus, dozens at progressive euchre parties, and Sunday baseball parks are filled with those whom you will see, on communion Sunday, acting like saints." So all seemed to prophesy that there could be nothing done that would as much as look like a revival.

One night there was a high "nor'-wester," whose bleak winds spelled out loudly twenty degrees below zero and an eight-inch snow. Our crowd was smaller than ever, and the enthusiasm, if we had had any, was frozen up. We could almost see and hear imps chuckling in every direction, and whispering, "You might just as well close. This hard preaching, this going out into zero weather, is more than likely to bring on pneumonia; you have been sneezing and coughing today, and your chest is getting tight. Aren't you aware of the fact that man is a free moral agent? Didn't God try to keep Adam and Eve from that bad, puckering fruit? But they went right on, across light, and people's mouths are still puckering because of their eating that fruit, their abuse of free moral agency. These people are free beings, have heads of their own, and you can never bring them over from their pre-conceived ideas. Bigger men, brighter men, greater men, greater preachers than you have been here by the week, and have shelled the woods with heavy artillery until it looked like the stars would melt from their golden sockets, the moon would weep herself to death, and the mighty king of day would hide his face in shame all because these giants, with their tremendous logic could not break through the strong walls of stubbornness."

Again they would say, "You are foolish. You are a young man, there is too bright a future before you for you to wear your life away, injure your body, and give yourself preacher's sore throat, trying to win these people who have sinned away their day of grace." And again, "You have been here one week; you have fasted almost every morning and prayed two and three hours each day, and there isn't one bit of interest. The pastor, although a good man, and a brilliant fellow, has not said one encouraging word to you, but, both by looks and acts, shows how hopeless the undertaking."
Then Satan came along and said, "If the church folks are so wholly indifferent, would rather go to a nickelodeon than come to a revival, would it not be best for you to go where you will be appreciated and where the folks will be interested? I feel sorry for you. This people does not want the Gospel, they will not receive it; you can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink. Russell has proven that there isn't any Hell, and that's a dead doctrine, therefore this people resent and reject such a backwoods, Dark Ages Gospel; now, if you were to lecture on 'A Trip from the North Star to the Moon,' you might attract the people. Or if on 'The Cyclones Sweeping Across the Face of the Sun,' you would have a packed house.

"Why not get the crowds? Why not use means to that end? There are men in mission halls, under small tents and brush arbors, preaching to a handful, who could just as easily be preaching in the centers of population to thousands, if they would only listen to me and change their tactics and preach a twentieth-century gospel. We are all aware of the fact that this Is a progressive age, and,

to keep pace, we must necessarily be a progressive people, hence, the things used a century ago can never be in use today. Washington rode in a stage coach to Washington, D. C.; President Wilson went in a flying palace car. Your forefathers plowed with wooden plows fastened to an ox; today you have great steam plows. So the Gospel which, a century ago, attracted the masses and turned the multitudes Gospelward, today, with the scientific investigation, the great libraries, the mighty brain girth of so many, will have to be made to suit the times.

"You will have to make a radical change in your manner and method of conducting these evangelistic campaigns, and you will have to change the matter of your sermons, for culture is the great demand of this day and time. The more science you can pack into your messages, the greater your sweeps of rhetoric, and the more powerful your logic and oratory, the greater preacher you will be considered and the larger will be your salary.

"I have had this little chat with you purposely, for I admire your zeal and pluck, and have thus advised that you may have great success in your efforts among this wealthy, up-to-date, wide-awake cultured people. If you ever win them you will always have them. They are not soft, easily moved by deathbed scenes and graveyard tales. They are a people not given to much weeping or emotionalism. Now, before leaving you, let me urge you to be a constant student of Hindu philosophy, and to use philosophical terms. By so doing, your crowds will think that they have a master in the pulpit. Preach more to the heads, for there is but little heart in anything these days. Let me further advise that you copy after great men, get their manners, cute phrases, pert sayings, and you will soon make a reputation. Let no old fogy instill into your head to be original, for there is no originality today.
"Again, do not be too hard on the people; do not expect too much of them, for they are weaklings. Remember that you can get hundreds to sign a card and the papers will blow you all over pressdom, and most people will think that you are having a sweeping revival. This way you will not have to wear your life out so soon, you will not have to preach so hard, and then you will not have to fast and go hungry, and wrestle and agonize hours in prayer. This card-signing way is so restful for you and easy for the people. They do not have to confess, dig down, repent, restore; then the rich will take to you; folks who have been a little crooked in business will flock to you like bees to a hive. The Gospel of repentance is a hard Gospel. For instance, here is a man with a fine business, a lovely home, a big auto; getting along nicely, until one of these cranks who everlastingly preaches on confession comes to town. This rich man gets under his sway, his hypnotic influence, and confesses that he got most of his money in a swindling way, so looses his fine home and flourishing business -- all because this crank hammered on the Gospel of repentance, It would have been much better for him, had he had a cultured mind, a classical education and preached a beautiful, soothing gospel. This rich man would have contributed $1,000.00, but he got only $140.00 and wrecked a good business. Many say he did not only ruin the business of this man but caused the man to turn preacher, and that spells for his family, a scant living and little hope of ever having a permanent dwelling-place, It is very discouraging, for look at this man six weeks ago -- great throngs of customers, a mansion, proud family, hundreds of friends, and today in a rented shack, conducting meetings in a mission hall. He tells folks that the Lord convicted him, gave him light, and by walking in that light, he had to make wrongs right, black white, and, in so doing, has plunged his family into poverty.

"Let me advise you once more, before leaving, rearrange all your sermons, make them more cultured, take up-to-date topics, follow such lights as the great Dr. Blank. He sneers at Hell and the Virgin birth of Christ, but my! he holds down the biggest thing in Christendom, and gets a big pile of gold to boot. He lectures between spells all over the country, is in great demand. The Chautauquas are crazy for him.

"You can climb, for I have given you enough counsel to take you to the top rung, to give you an international reputation, to pile thousands of gold into your coffers. You would be a fool to go on and preach to handfuls and get a meager compensation, keeping your family on scanty fare. Let me urge you, as your best friend, to climb, there is plenty of room at the top, but the bottom is always crowded. Your family can easily ride in fine autos, live in a mansion, go in the best walks of society, have a wardrobe packed with clothing, a pantry filled with plenty, all be in ease and comfort, and you a great leader, if you will only follow this friendly advice. There is no excuse for you, as you have had too good opportunities and too good scholastic training to go ahead in the same old rut and keep your family on starvation rations. Can't you see in the not distant future that glittering high steeple? can't you hear the great rolling pipe organ, and that high-sounding choir? Now, make your choice; be somebody, be a coming man, be in great demand, command a pile of gold, and ease and comfort will crown your old days and your stomach will never go empty."

The second week had come and everything was as bad as ever. We never saw things freeze tighter; there was no warmth at all. Some of our best people had become so discouraged that they advised pulling stakes, and it seemed to us, from the human viewpoint, that a revival was far, far away.
About this time God sent a Mordecai into the camp; he was a clerk in a drygoods store. He came to us saying, "I have to work hard all day, can t get here only of a night, and have but little time to pray through the day. I will do this, I'll meet you here in the church at 3 A. M. and we will pray until 6, and will keep this up until we see the cloud the size of a man's hand. God says where two or three pray, in His name, He will be with them. Now let us agree, and pray until He breaks up this stubborn indifference. Mordecai and Esther prayed three days and nights and God saved the Jewish people. Is He not still the same God? Will He not answer us as He did Mordecai and Esther, and as He answered Daniel?"

I said, "I will go into this covenant with you with this understanding, if you get to the church first, ring the bell until I get there, and if I beat you there, I will be pulling on the rope when you reach the church." At 2:30 A. M. I awoke, hurried my toilet and had reached the high-school building when Brother V began ringing the church bell. In a few minutes lights were in every home, and men running through the yards, dressing, and screaming, "Fire! fire! fire!" We yelled, "Yes, at the church." Soon that big church had 320 souls in it. Think of it, at three o'clock in the morning, and zero weather, too, and a zero congregation! How that good man did shout as he saw the people flocking into the church at that early morning hour.

God saw that we meant business, that we were determined, that our hearts were breaking under the tremendous, crushing burden; He saw that two of us had agreed, and answered before we

had time to pray. There was much excitement and people from various walks of life crowded into the church. We took our text and preached in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, and conviction deep and pungent fell on that crowd. People sobbed aloud; the State's attorney jumped from his seat and hurried to the altar. What confessions! how he cried to God for mercy, for forgiveness. He promised there at the altar to burn up an Ingersol library and there and then he and his wife found pardon.

There was a going in the mulberry-trees, and the meeting ran at high tide until Sunday morning. That morning while I was preaching the power fell and the head of the First National Bank, like a hoop came rolling by me down out of the choir into the aisle, screaming, "My God! I am a lost man." There seemingly was a shock, a great break, and eighty-three rushed to the altar. Such a scene as followed is indescribable; about fifty men were gloriously converted that morning. Such shouting, such rejoicing, could only follow such an altar service; children were in the arms of their parents, parents were in the arms of their children. One old sainted man attending this meeting from another town said to me, "I have never seen such a scene, this is simply out of the ordinary, God is here, God is with us. In this meeting over three hundred were saved, and scores joined the church.
It pays to be prayerful, and never listen to the whisperings of the devil. No matter what the hardness of the territory or the indifference of the people, if you will be true to God and stick to the old Gospel guns, you will rout the devil, stir Hell, and victory will come. It pays to dig.

This is a "surface age" and part of the people are doing nothing but surface work, That is easy, but not lasting; that is shallow, never deep; that is sowing on stony ground, no depth of soil; the hot sun will cook your seed; plow deep is God's way, and must be ours, if we follow Him. God knows your needs and not a few times will answer before you pray.

Let us be prayerful, for it is only through prayer that we can be victorious, more than conquerors upon every battlefield, A praying man has foresight, hence plans for the battle, and never gets the least discouraged when things do not break up, when things do not break loose the first two or three weeks, but keeps drilling, drilling. He is after a well, is not digging a cistern; an artesian well overflows winter and summer. wet or dry; no matter about the surface, it never depends upon the surface water.

We must take time to plant our artillery, dig trenches, man our heavy guns, prepare the fields for the battle. If the general gets discouraged, grows faint-hearted, it is contagious, it will spread throughout the army and a galling defeat is inevitable. The general must be level-headed, and have cool brains; but he must be hot-hearted, for he is to cheer, encourage, enthuse the army.

Once a young sergeant came trembling, with tears in his eyes, to Napoleon, saying, "General. we are hopelessly defeated, they are ten to one." Napoleon straightened himself in his stirrups, saying, "Put me down for twenty-five thousand. I am worth twenty-five thousand men; my skill, my ingenuity is worth twenty-five thousand men. We will be victorious." And when the smoke of battle had cleared away, Napoleon's army had won one of its greatest victories, This great warrior knew how to tune his men for their greatest strength and their best fighting. In the heat of battle he was cool-headed and deliberate, never suffered himself to become nervous or the least discouraged. He enthused his army by his courage.

Even so, Christians, we must plan for the battle and where all is not sunshine and victory, then it is ours to be victorious and to encourage our weaker brethren. Prayer enables one to be of the best service to his fellows and his God. A prayerless man is a powerless man, he has no connection with the power-house, hence he is easily disheartened and put out of commission. We must be in the spirit of prayer. God help us to pray clear through.

What is wrong with the Church?

GOD GOING BEFORE

Daniel 6:10

Daniel stands out in Christian history like the Rocky Mountains. He stands out a great Christian hero. He did mighty works for the Master. God crowned his life with much fruitfulness.
In answer to this earnest man's praying three times a day with his face toward Jerusalem, God did not answer by delivering this holy prophet from the den of lions. To have done this, God would have had to destroy the free moral agency of his enemies or place them in the casket. This He did not want to do, but God had a great lesson to teach Daniel's enemies. He wanted to show them that He not only had power to save this man from all sin and keep him from actual, willful sin; He not only had power to sanctify his soul, cleanse him from inbred sin, and empower him with the Holy Ghost; had not only power to free him from a man-fearing and a man-pleasing spirit, and make him bold, courageous and fearless; had not only power to make this man a great pray-er, a great wrestler in agonizing prayer; had not only power when this man's enemies placed the bloodhounds of Hell upon his track and meant to hound him down, to give him sweet contentment and blessed, quiet soul rest; had not only power to give this man power over his enemies and audience with the Triune God, and cause him, in the midst of the sorest afflictions and the hardest tests of his life to stand out quietly, serenely, and to have his anchor hold fast; but, God also had power to precede this man to the den of lions, lock their mouths, quench their thirst for human blood, and put a quietness over them, until when Daniel was lowered into the lions' den they walked about his limbs as kittens would play about the ankle-joints while you are building the fires of a winter morning.

God showed the world, and Daniel's greatest enemies, that a sanctified man can be as safe in the lions' den as in his room with his windows open and his face toward Jerusalem, in the sweet, blessed, enjoyable hour of prayer. Why? Because God meant to take care of Daniel in the lions' den. Daniel was as much God's in the lions' den as in his own home. God had as much power to work miracles in the lions' den as He had in Daniel's own home. God has all power.

No doubt Daniel had a blessed, sweet night's rest. He may have prayed, meditated and rejoiced most all the night. He may have commanded one of the shaggy beasts to stretch himself upon the floor of the lions' den, and pillowing his head upon the same, slept soundly all night. No doubt Daniel had one of the sweetest nights of all his life. Next morning he was refreshed in body, mind and spirit. God covers us up in the hollow of His hand, and keeps us, preserves us, yea, fortresses us, in the riven side of His own Son. The angels of the Lord were encamped thick about Daniel that night. Be it understood and never forgotten, that when you are going through deep waters, long tunnels, sad afflictions, sore trials and darkness, and clouds are pressing down upon you hard, it is then that God is near. The Fourth Man was seen with the Hebrew children after they had gotten into the fiery furnace, and they only lost one thing in that fiery trial, and that was the strings the enemies had tied about their ankles and wrists. Fire purifies, burns up the dross, and makes us twenty-four carats pure gold.

This man Daniel had standing grace. He stood still. He stood quietly before God. He did not murmur. The waves ran high. The clouds were like midnight. The awful gales were blowing. The guns of the enemy were cracking. The bloodhounds of Hell were baying upon his track. Yet he was quiet. Why? Because he had the victory. Victory over the world. Victory over his enemies. Victory over environments. He had gotten this victory through protracted seasons of prayer. He prayed under the enemies' fire as he had been praying aforetime. He never put on one extra; he never did one thing that he had not been doing aforetime.

When loved ones get sick, badly sick, the doctors tell us that death is near, we get desperately in earnest; we fly to God; we fast; we pray; we wrestle in prayer; we stay up all night; we make vows and promises, "Yea, Lord, Thou shalt have a tenth. We will be honest, truthful with Thee. Spare the baby, the wife, or the husband, and we will go through with Thee at any cost"; but too often, and too soon, after the afflicted one has got-ten well, some way, somehow, carelessness creeps in, and we are not as much in earnest six weeks afterwards as we were during the hours of severest pain.
Daniel prayed just as much when there were not sore afflictions and tests as he did when these things swept down upon his soul. He saw the hellish decree; he knew the devil had concocted this plan to defeat God's purposes: hence, he went to earnest prayer, and threw open his windows, and prayed with his face toward Jerusalem, as he had aforetime. Reader, will you mark the "aforetime"? Will you turn and read the sixth chapter of Daniel, and the tenth verse, carefully, upon your knees? Look at this man of God, and remember, what God did for Daniel He will do for you, if you live as Daniel lived; if you do what Daniel did; if you will follow God as this man followed Him. Daniel only stood the tests because of the fact that he had prayed clear through. His constant prayer life made him a conqueror, master of this devilish conspiracy, and Daniel was not only delivered, but God got glory through this man's soul travail.

Too many of us know too little about prayer, and sorry are we to confess that many do not want to be taught by the Holy Ghost how to pray. There is too much labor; too much self-denial. We do not like the idea of tearing ourselves away from our friends and staying with our face between our knees by the hour. The body does not enjoy this exercise. We know so little about prayer because we pray so little This old world, that is, the people in the world, would be 50 per cent. better if every Christian in Christendom had the real, vital spirit of prayer. We have the light. We talk about how God answered the prayers of the faithful patriarchs and prophets of by-gone days, but does not God need pray-ers today as much as He did in by-gone times? If He answered their prayers, and did such a tremendous work in the salvation of man and the defeating of the enemy, can He not do the same today, if we live upon our knees?

What is defeating God today, and robbing Jesus Christ of His glory? Prayerless lives. Oftentimes when preachers begin to get old, and have a barrel of sermons, they do not wrestle in prayer as they did when they were young and depended more upon God, seemingly. We mean this: old preachers should pray as much as young preachers; evangelists should pray as much in one meeting as in another, There is no such a thing as a burnt district. If we will pray clear through, God will work as long as there is one unsaved soul in a community. When Paul and Silas prayed clear through, the old jail took the Quaker shakes, and shook the shutters and doors from their hinges and the stocks and chains from Paul's and Silas' ankles and wrists, and they were liberated, and a great revival broke out, and a church was organized, with the Philippian jailer as first pastor. And if we will pray and wrestle as did Paul and Silas, things will quake and shake in our community. It was said that when the disciples prayed in a certain place, it was shaken. Oh, how the world, the flesh and the devil hate prayer, oppose prayer, and we are so negligent that we wait until almost bedtime, when the body is tired, nerve force running low, and the brain fagged -- then we go on our. knees and not a few times, go to sleep, and some of the family may have to wake us up.

The churches today are not the soul-saving stations they should be; they are more of a nursery, more of a hospital. Why? Because of prayerless lives. So many go to church on Sabbath morning, not from their knees, but from a Sunday newspaper. They have no spirit of prayer. They are not in a receptive attitude to be blessed or to bless. They cannot get interested. They never help the preacher. They go from the church as they came -- empty. But when men and Women get under the burden of prayer, get into the spirit of prayer, get the real heart agony, soul travail, then the six-foot-long icicle in the pulpit will melt, the frost in the choir will melt, the snow in the pew will melt, altars will be crowded, bazaars will be a thing of the past, the kitchen department will be turned into a prayer room, and souls will be leaping into the kingdom of God.

Not long since, we were conducting a revival in a city church. The thing broke loose in the early part of the meeting. Bankers, lawyers, doctors and merchants ran to the altar with streaming eyes and wringing hands; they repented, confessed, and were beautifully saved, We said to the pastor, "What is the matter? There is a tremendous power upon this meeting." He took us across the city into the home of an afflicted woman. She had a big tumor in her stomach; was almost helpless. She grasped our hand and said, "Brother Harney, we've been praying two hours every day ever since the pastor announced you were to hold our revival, and I knew full well before the meeting began that God would give this good pastor and church and people a great sin-killing, soul-saving revival." She said, "I had prayed clear through. I had the witness that it was coming."

Another meeting was hard. The tide was against us. For nine days and nights we preached on Hell; one could almost see the blue flames and smell the sulfur. A sanctified man and his wife came to us and said, "Does your preaching have this effect everywhere you go? We can't shout a bit. We don't feel like it. In fact, we think you should change your line of preaching." But we were led by the Holy Ghost to keep at it; that is, keep preaching on Hell and sin. We urged the saints to pray. For nine days and nights there was not a break, but on Sunday the spirit of prayer swept in upon three or four saints, and they went down in real, vital soul travail; they prayed clear through.

On Monday morning we arose and took our text. We had preached about five minutes, when a very large, portly lady on our right, arose and said, "Brother Harney, I am in the way of this revival. Sister Smith and myself do not speak. We had a falling out two years ago and I feel that I am in the way of this revival, in the way of my family, in the way of my neighbors; I want to get out of the way. I purpose to get out of the way. I will meet Sister Smith half way, and we will bury the hatchet, handle and all." She started toward Sister Smith, and was knocked down by the power of God. A merchant arose and said, "I feel that I am in the way of this meeting. Mr. Brown, the merchant who runs the large department store, and myself are not on good terms; we speak, but there is a coolness, there is not the best feeling between us. I will meet Mr. Brown half way." With tears running down their faces they started toward each other, but both were knocked down by the power of God. We counted eleven prostrations that morning, and twenty-three were shouting at one time all over the church, and seventeen were saved in one service. Why? Because a few saints had banded themselves together to fast and pray until the fire fell. Like Mordecai and Esther, they had prayed three days and nights, and the Holy Ghost came and a great revival broke out and almost two hundred souls were saved. Why? Because these saints denied themselves of sleep and food, and felt that they must pray this meeting through.

God will answer prayer. He has always answered prayer. He may not answer right at the time; He may delay for His glory and our good. or, as the case may be, like it was in Daniel, tenth chapter, where the devil kept the angel of God with an answer to Daniel's prayer from getting to Daniel for twenty-one long days. But you keep praying; never let up; never let go. God will answer, He has always answered, for He is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. Dare to trust Him anywhere. He will answer prayer. If you want to walk in the beautiful, victorious, shining pathway; if you want all the gates to fly open; if you want every block swept out of your way; if you want lions' mouths locked and fiery furnaces quenched, Red Seas to open up, Jordans to give you a dry pathway through, jails to shake off the doors and liberate you from prison -- pray clear through. If you want a rich experience, a strong faith, and to do exploits for the Master -- pray clear through. If you want to outride every storm of life, to go marching from ever battlefield with victory perched upon your banner -- pray clear through. If you want the will of God concerning some work, some call, some plan about some friend -- pray clear through. If you want the leadings of the Holy Ghost on any matter that pertains to His glory and your good -- pray clear through. If you want an Isaac for a husband, a Rebekah for a wife -- pray clear through. If you would have the Holy Ghost lubricate the wheels and belts of memory, unctionize your spirit for a fruitful service -- pray clear through. If you would be more like Christ and less like the world -- pray clear through. If you would be all like Christ, and none like the world -- tray clear through. If you want to suit God, please the Holy Ghost, and glorify Jesus Christ-pray clear through. If you want His Word to open up to you, and feed your soul, and make you fat in grace -- pray clear through. If you do not want to go to Heaven empty-handed, or be a barren fig-tree -- pray clear through.

You may not get the answer in an hour; you may not get the answer in one day; you may not get the answer in twenty days, but keep at it. Never let up. If you have the burden of prayer, and if the Spirit has led you out along any line in the spirit of prayer, He will answer. Keep at it. Pray clear through. God will never burden your heart for anything, anybody, any work, or any field, unless He will answer. God will not tease you, and have you agonize for something that cannot be

obtained, He has said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they SHALL be filled."

The reason why so many people have no burden of prayer is, they have no spiritual life. Where there is natural life there must be an appetite, and where there is spiritual life, necessarily, there must be a desire for prayer, a hunger to get alone with God. A dead man does not want anything to eat. He has no appetite. A sinner, a backslidden man, has no desire for prayer; there are no leadings to the prayer life. But every child of God who is living close to God, hungers for the prayer life. He enjoys praying. He lingers upon his knees long and often. The more we pray. the more we want to pray. The more we pray, the more we feel like praying. The more we pray, the longer we will pray, and the less we tire in prayer. The more we pray, the stronger will be the prayer life, for it is by earnest, protracted prayer that we grow in grace in the prayer life. The more we pray, the greater the appetite for prayer will be. The more we pray, the more we will plan to get to pray. The more we pray, the more we will see strength, courage, and growth in faith coming to us through much prayer.

If we want to win a Sunday-school class to God; if we want to win some neighbor to Jesus Christ; if we want access to carry a message of salvation, let us go from our knees. God will open the door when you get qualified. How sweet, how delightful, how restful, to linger in His presence by the hour in prayer. Oftentimes when we have been gone in revival work for six weeks, and reach our home, that sweet wife who has stood by the stuff and taken care of the babies while we have been gone those long weeks, is so glad to see us coming, and we are so glad to look into her gray eyes, that not a few times we sit and talk, talk, talk, until late, yea, deep into the night. We enjoy talking to our wife, for she is the mother of our sweet babies. We enjoy talking to our wife, for God gave her to us. Ah! you tell me when you get married to Jesus Christ that you cannot enjoy hours at His feet. Something is radically wrong when the wife does not enjoy the husband's company. There is something in the way. So it is with a Christian when he does not enjoy much prayer, protracted seasons of prayer, something must be radically wrong. Something is in the way. He must have been flirting with old Splitfoot.

If you want the burning witness in your heart, the fire to burn in your soul, the Blood to cleanse you -- pray clear through. Let us pray as never before for a great revival to rush in upon this generation. Let us earnestly pray Jesus Christ to send a withering, blistering conviction upon sinners, and salvation to earnest penitents. Let us live on our knees. God will answer.