Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1875 — “Belief in Prayer.” [ARTICLE]

“Belief in Prayer.”

The promises of relief by prayer are exceeding great and precious; and they are very many, such as the following: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee; arid show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall'lind; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” These are but specimens of the promises to prayer that we find in the holy Scriptures. And the witnesses to their faithfulness are many. Multitudes have sought relief in prayer, and have found it. So was it with Jacob when lie was about to meet his enraged brother Esau. He resorted to the Lord, and called upon him, saying: “ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau ; for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother and the chi 1.dren.” The Lord heard and answered. The heart of Esau was kindly turned toward Jacob. On the next day, as they came near to each other, Esau ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him. So it Vas with Jonah. H6w seemingly hopeless was his condition. But even in the fish’s belly besought relief in prayer, and found it. The Lord heard him from His holy temple, and he spoke unto the fish and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land. And so was it in the case of Peter in prison. To human view, he, too, seemed a hopeless case. He was strongly and vigilantly guarded within the walls of a prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him. Nor in vain: Wrestling prayer can wonders do, j Bring relief in deepest, stripts: Prayer can force a passage through Iron bars and brazen gates. It did so in this instance. An angel was sent by whom Peter was released from his chains, led forth through the opened, massy doors, and delivered out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. The time would fail to speak of Abraham, and Moses, and Samuel, and Elijah, and David, and Daniel and a multitude of others, both of ancient and modern times, all of whom could bear witness and say: “I called upon the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me, and set me in a large placer” Such experiences should afford encouragement to the people of God in all their difficulties and troubles. Because He hath so often inclined His ear unto them in their necessities, therefore should they be re- ’ solved to call upon Him as long as they live. God is faithful and changes not. And therefore should His people be encouraged to trust in Him, and to say: In every joy that crowns my (lays, In every paiu I bear. My heart shall flud delight in praise, Or seek relief in prayer. —“ H. <S.,” in'AT. Y. Observer. Sib Isaac Newton, a very wise and godly man, was once examining a new and very fine globe, when a gentleman came into his study who did not believe in a God, but declared the world we live in came by chance. He was much pleased with the handsome globe, and asked: “Who made it?” “Nobody,”, answered Sir Isaac; “it happened here.” The gentleman looked up in amazement at the answer, but he soon understood what it meant. Heaven will be A world of peace and rest—for the “ "tatary and heaven-laden” will be there. “He giveth His beloved sleep.” They shall rest at last in the beautiful and tranquil world they thirsted for so long, where the spirit shall be always willing and the flesh never weak.— Greg.