Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by

J. H. AGNEW

in ths Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of

New-York.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]
[graphic]

SECOND SERIES. NO. XV.--WHOLE NO. XLVII. racitgoitier aft

evealheram ARTICLE I.

REMARKS ON PRAYER.

By Calvin E. Stowe, D. D., Prof. of Biblical Literature in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio.

In respect to prayer the scriptures plainly teach us two things. I. That it is our duty and privilege to pray for the things which we need with the expectation of receiving them.

This truth is taught in such texts as the following: He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. Ps. 72: 12. And it shall come to pass before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. Isa. 65: 24. If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth liberally to all and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1: 5. Open the New Testament and read attentively our Saviour's declarations as recorded in Matt. 7: 7-11. Luke 11: 5-13, 18: 1-8.

II. The scriptures also clearly teach us that the general promises above quoted, have actually been realized by those who, in a right spirit, have availed themselves of them. This truth is taught in passages like the following: The Lord hath heard my supplication. Ps. 6: 9. I sought the Lord and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Ps. 34: 4-6. Open the Old Testament and read the whole narrative. 2 Kings 19: 14-37. 2 Kings

SECOND SERIES, VOL. IX. NO. 111.

I

State University of Iowa
LIBRARIES

19: 20. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. v. 33. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. vs. 35, 36. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead. corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

But we are not confined to scripture for the verification of these promises. Many a christian, in every age, has known and felt that his own prayers for particular blessings have been heard and favorably answered; and such instances in the life of a christian are numerous, just in proportion to the simplicity and uniformity with which he relies on God. A few insulated cases of this kind, might be explained on the ground of accidental coincidence; but when they occur uniformly and through a series of years, it is contrary to all the laws of sound reasoning to explain them in this manner.

I will illustrate my meaning by a few well authenticated examples. Henry Young Stilling was an eminent physician in the service of the Grand Duke of Baden. He died in the year 1812, and consequently was well known to many persons now living. His career was an extraordinary one. By his skill as an oculist, he restored more blind persons to sight than there are miracles recorded of our blessed Saviour himself. I have been acquainted with some of his children and grandchildren, and feel no doubt of the entire accuracy of the facts about to be related. Stilling was an intimate friend of the German poet Goethe, who will not be accused of credulity or superstition, and it was at Goethe's suggestion that he published the account of his own life from which the following incidents are taken. Goethe, in his autobiography, says of Stilling, "he had a round understanding-and an enthusiasın for all that is good, right, and true, in the utmost possible purity. His course of life had been very simple, and yet had abounded with events, and a manifold activity. The element of his energy was an impregnable faith in God, and in an assistance immediately proceeding from Him, which obviously justified itself in an uninterrupted provision,

« PoprzedniaDalej »