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Show REV. fflfflLER 01 THE NECESSITY OF m j Sunday morning, in the First Methodist Meth-odist Episcopal church. Rev. O. F. J jfcssweiler took for the text of his sermon, I.uke 18:1, "Men Ought Always Al-ways to Pray." In part he said: "This mi plies that the Christian I cught to live a life of prayer and a praj erf ul life. When John Fletcher heard of the Methodists in tlit time of Wesley as asked what kind of people they sere. Ho was told that they were people who did not cease to pray dav or ulght, and he said, "If there he . iUCh a people anywhere on earth I fl.all :ind them,' and he became one ol the seraphic spokesmen of the I movement. Prayer is an essential and . universal element in the religious life. , The s.ivages chant their incantations, , tne earnesi remnants of literature , arc the transcriptions of ancient , (ravers; the heathen faananites cried, '0 Baal, hear us ; the Parsees pray to the eternal fire; the Mohammedan Mo-hammedan cries to Allah, the Hindus beseech their myriad gods, the Chinese Chi-nese burn their prayer strips; the Christians supplicate the Eternal Father Fa-ther in chants, or recitatives or out o: the abundance ol their hearts. "This is one of the distinguishing characteristics between a merely morn I man and a Christian he prays Prayer is the breath of the soui. the expression of spiritual impulses; the gspiratious the love, the praise, the impulse of worship and adornation which constitute the life of the sou!. Prayer is the natural expression of ifcc sense of need, and most nu n everywhere, ev-erywhere, though ordinarily profane ind irreligious, m the urat rises f'i life, when confronted with some pn-at danger before which they feel belpless, are prone to pray So the me who prays often is the one who the soouer reulizes his need of help cnine. "The religious soul like the eolian barp which responds to the moving of tbe wind with sweetest music, expresses ex-presses in prayer the action of the spirit upon the heart. What shall we I ay then of professing Christmas who do not pray, either in the secret place o( devotion, or in the saying of grace ai their meals, or round the lamilyj fliar, or 111 the public congregation'.' To be a ( hristian, for one thing, tteans to live a life of prayer "This becomes more manifest when we note that whenever or wherever there has been a religious awakening Iheir has been a deepening of the prayer life. So It was in the revivals under Calvin, and Knox and the Wes-kS, Wes-kS, and Finney, and Moody, and Torrey, and in the great Welch revival, re-vival, and in the spiritual awakenings in India, and China, and Korea and " it is today in the amazing revivals under "Billy" Sunday "Christians then will be much given to prayer in the quiet time of secret devotion, in the gathering round the family altar, as well ay in the prayer meetings of the church The Prayerful Life. Not only will all Christions pray, but they will always be inclined to pray and will pray about all things Upon all of our activities will be asked the divine blessing, upon our business activties, upon our citizenship, citizen-ship, upon our intellectual life, upon j MJtin doings, upon our choice of com-J Panlons. upon our choice of a profes-ion, profes-ion, upon our loes. at well as upon fur souls And we ill also make all our life 2 part of our prayers, an amen to our petitions, an echo of our supplications supplica-tions We will remember that God answers our prayers through us, "Hher it be for earthly prosperity. W social reforms, or physical health, r-r the salvation of souls. So we must ,Jflug our lives up to our prayers We must live as it were within hearing distance of Cod, in all that we do keep in touch with the divine, keep our souls so keyed to the rythm of God ol love and righteousness, that Ike the wireless, our messages may be heard Our lives must be a sound IDK board, ar, it were, to our petitions. we altai upon which the incense h'Jrns, the megaphone with which our Prayers become mighty, Thus we r"ad that it is the prayer of a fghteous man that availeth much.' "Thus we must make our lives help 'tj answer our prayers. It is idle for us to pray for the heathen and do nothing for missions, or to pray for the poor and refuse succor, or for political righteousness and still vote in a corrupt gang, or to prav for our business and continue to oppress our employes, or crush our competitors or deal dishonestly, or to pray for a sinless life and rush into temptation." |