CHAPTER XII.

PROVIDENCE ANSWERING PRAYER.

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,

Utter'd or unexpressed;

The motion of a hidden fire,

That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear;

The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

MONTGOMERY.

Prayer is a part of religious worship, to which we are moved by the very light of nature. It is a mark of respect and homage to the Divine Being, exactly agreeable to the natural ideas which all men have of God. Prayer was never invented; it was born out of the first sigh, the first joy, the first grief of the human heart, or rather, man was only born for prayer, to glorify

God; this was his only mission here below. Every thing else perishes before him, or with him; but the cry of admiration or of love which he raises up to God, though it passes away along the earth, does not perish; it reascends to God, as the echo of his own voice, as a reflection of his magnificence.

The Scriptures describe prayer to be our drawing near to God, lifting up our souls to him, and pouring out our hearts before him. It is the offering up of devout acknowledgments and desires to God, with a design to give unto him the glory due unto his name, and to obtain from him promised favours, through the mediation of Jesus Christ.

The desire of the heart is essential to true prayer. Without this, no petition, however frequently repeated, can be successful. The mere repetition of a form of words, although distinguished by the greatest beauty, propriety, and strength, will be unavailing. God is ready to give but his blessings are all but exclusively bestowed on those who have formed some accurate conceptions of their value. And no man sets a high value on an object for which he does not cherish ardent and habitual desires.

But who can thus prepare his heart to call upon God? The preparation of the heart, as well as the answer of the tongue, is from

Him. We are ignorant and weak. It is on this account that the aids of the Holy Spirit are essential to true prayer. He helps our infirmities, checks our unbelief, strengthens our faith, and calls hope, and love, and every excellence of the christian character into lively exercise. Nothing which can be said will add strength to the forcible language of the great Apostle on the subject:-"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

The man who lives in the spirit of prayer rises above the turmoil of worldly strife, and dwells in the very precincts of heaven, enjoys a full assurance of his interest in the great salvation, and is gradually preparing for the realms of bliss, where prayer shall be turned into praise, and where faith and hope shall be exchanged for sight, and for full and endless fruition.

A soul in communion with her God is heaven;
Feels not the tumults and the shocks of life;
The whirls of passion, and the strokes of heart.
Prayer ardent, opens Heaven, lets down a stream
Of glory on the consecrated hour

Of man, in audience with the Deity.

Many objections are made to the exercise of

prayer. Some of them are plausible; but they are all founded in ignorance. The best way to answer them is to take our stand on the Scriptures, and make our appeal. Does not God derive his character and glory from his hearing prayer? Is not his Spirit the spirit of grace and supplication? Is not this his command-is not this his promise "Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find ?"

We know indeed, that prayer cannot inform the Divine Being; cannot alter his mind; but there is something more in prayer than some would have us believe, namely, "paying a just tribute to the Deity, and cherishing the virtues of the religious life." There is efficacy in prayer as well as homage. There is power as well as devotion. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." It has always appeared to us that prayer-that instinet so unerring of our powerless nature-formed the only real power, or at least the greatest power of mankind! Man cannot conceive its results, but what can he conceive? The necessity which impels man to breathe, proves to him, of itself, that air is necessary to life. The instinct of prayer also proves to the soul the efficacy of

prayer.

We shall now relate a few instances illustrative of the truth, that Providence answers

prayer "that God withdraweth not his eye from the righteous:" and that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him." His providence proclaims him to be a God hearing prayer.

PRAYER IS SOMETIMES ANSWERED BY THE PROVIDENTIAL CONTROL OF MATERIAL THINGS.

At the prayer of Moses, the Red Sea was divided, the flinty rock was cut, and streams of water gushed forth to supply the thirsty tribes of Israel. He interceded for the people, when they seemed devoted to destruction, and they were spared. While his supplicating hands were lifted up, the Israelites were protected and delivered from the power of the Amalekites.

Peter was shut up in prison, bound with chains, attended by soldiers, and the keepers of the prison stood before the doors, to guard them with the utmost security; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. The doors of the prison fly open, and Peter walks from ward to ward, and is at length found knocking at the gate of the house where the pious company are gathered together, praying for his deliverance. Acts xii. 5-19.

Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the