Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 November 1915 — A Patriot’s Prayer [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Patriot’s Prayer

By REV. JAMES M. CRAY

Dm* as Moody BU« I mm*m erf Oucaao

TEXT—I . . . prayed.—Nehemiah 1:4. Nehemiah was a great man, a great statesman, a great administrator, a

great leader of men. But he was great in the spiritual realm as well, he had great power with God. Although a Jew, yet he dwelt in Persia and occupied a position of peculiar influence at court; he was the king’s cupbearer. It was some time after the return of his countrymen from that land Of their cap-

tivity to their beloved Palestine, but they were not prospering very well since their return. Some of them on a visit to Persia had been telling him about it. They were in great affliction they said, and in great reproach from their enemies round about. The walls of Jerusalem had never been repaired since they had been burned down by Nebuchadnezzar 150 years before, and the result was they had no protection against assault. Man Deeply Affected. This deeply affected Nehemiah, so that he sat down and actually wept. When patriotism moves us to weep for our country it looks like the real thing, especially when it is followed by something else as it was here. The weeping was accompanied by, fasting also, so different from the modem way of showing patriotism, which not infrequently takes the form of a banquet with speeches. This fasting lasted for days, he must have been alone in it; but at length it came to a head in prayer. Oh, if our statesmen, and politicians and reformers only knew the secret! How much more they could accomplish at the Throne of Grace than by legislation, and conferences, and harangues, and newspaper articles. A Wonderful Prayer. It was a wonderful prayer this. First, it was so unselfish. He was not praying for himself but for people, who, for the most part, he did not know and had never seen. They were his countrymen, that was all, and they were in sore need. How much do we ever pray for our southern negroes, or the mountain whites, or the dejected Indians on our western plains, or our dependents in the Philippines? What real interest have we in either their material or spiritual condition? Second, it was such a humble prayer.. Somehow or other he felt a sense of personal responsibility for tho condition of his countrymen afar off though they were. He confessed to sin in the premises, and included his “father’s house” in his confession. If he and his ancestors had acted differently things would not have been as they were. What do we know of that? Third, the prayer was helpful nevertheless. Hopeful, because he had a strong promise of God to rest upon. “Remember thy word,” he said, and then he quoted that word. Can you do that? You must know the promises to be able to do it, and you know the promiser also. How much do you search God’s word to discover its treasures for yourself or others, and how much do you exercise yourself to bring them down from heaven for life on earth? Nehemiah just agreed with God about this matter. Ah! that is power. Read the chapter for yourself and see how he did it. Fourth, the prayer was very definite. He didn't go round Robin Hood’s bam as the saying is. He didn’t moutb out a lot of fine phrases or pious notnings. He told God just what he wanted and when he wanted it, if it would please him to give it. He was going to stand before the king on a certain day in his capacity as cup-bearer, and that would be a good time to ask a favor of.the king. He was going to ask him that he might be commissioned as governor of Jerusalem to go up there and build the walls and deliver his people out of their affliction. The king must be disposed to grant the request, and he asked God so to dispose him. Why do not the rest of us cultivate that simplicity and directness? How interesting it would make both our private and public devotions, and how it would enhanceGod’s glory as we thus came to look for answers to what we asked. Fifth, the prayer was successful, of course. “It pleased the king to send me,” says he, “and I set him a time.” The God of Nehemiah still lives and nothing is too hard for him. The promise in Philippians reads: "Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” Our national Thanksgiving day will soon be hero again, and if sincerely we count our national blessings during the past, year, it will be the best preparation, for that earnest prayer we so much seed. Afflictions are upon Us in certain quarters and perils are ahead and greatly do we as a nation need God^