228

BENEFIT OF PRAYER,

manner, on the same holy influence-the intercessory power of the petitions of the faithful. We may surely believe that, in answer to our earnest supplications, GOD may "bring into the way of truth some who have erred and been deceived," that He may convert some who are now sceptics and infidels-" that He may comfort and help the weak-hearted," those who unhappily have been led to listen to their delusions; that He may raise up those that fall, that He may forgive our enemies, persecutors and slanderers, and turn their hearts; that not to ourselves only, but to others at our intercession, He may give true repentance and forgiveness of sin, and may grant both to them and us "the grace of His Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to His Holy Word."

It is an astonishing thought to consider how the temporal and eternal interests of us all are thus mingled and interwoven with each other, and what an effect every sincere prayer which we utter may have on the destinies of others, as well as on ourselves. If we could impress on our souls a firm faith in this undoubted truth, how would it add wings to our prayers, with what a new energy would they ascend from our hearts, as well as lips! With what an availing fervency would they reach the throne of grace! That which is principally needed in our prayers is the firm per

SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL.

229

suasion, or rather faith, that they are, if sincerely uttered, really efficacious-that they are not mere pious forms, which it will do ourselves good to utter, because they show a reverence for God and are in conformity with His Will: undoubtedly this is one effect of them, that they react beneficially upon ourselves, but that is only an incidental benefit. In order to pray aright, we must firmly believe that our prayers are a real business, and really help to effect that which they profess to aim at. We should always remember, and be under the impression, that what we are engaged in is an effectual work, on the earnestness and sincerity of which may depend not our own spiritual and temporal benefit, but the benefit, the safety, and prosperity of our friends, our families, our country, and all the vast circle with which our destinies are mixed up. Let us only pray with this conviction, and our prayers will not have been offered up in vain. Thus, in fact, the saints of GOD are, in some degree, the rulers of the world. It is a bold assertion, but if GOD listens to their petitions, and regards their wishes, and rules events with reference to their wellbeing, it is clear that they are in reality, in no small measure, the actual movers of the world's machinery.

How astonished the Gentile nations, who in times past were brought into connection with

230

THE EFFECT OF PRAYER

GOD's people, must have been when they saw their best-considered schemes often defeated in some unaccountable manner contrary to all human calculation and probability-when, for instance, in answer to the prayer of the good Hezekiah, the immense army of Sennacherib well-nigh melted away in a single night before the walls of Jerusalem-GOD "put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips," and forced him to return, as if he had been some horse or mule-or when Jonathan and a single armour-bearer destroyed a garrison of the Philistines-or when the Egyptians having, as they thought, effectually cut off the retreat of the Israelites at Pihahiroth, were baulked of their prey by the opening of a passage through the Red Sea. Though the days of miracles have apparently passed, yet the faithful believers in God's superintending Providence may still often discern traces of GOD's interferenceas in the storm which dispersed the Spanish Armada, or the premature winter which defeated the Russian expedition of Napoleon. There is an interesting passage quoted in the Quarterly Review from the "Memoirs of Count de Ségur," from which it appears that the invasion of England by Napoleon I., and possibly the history of the world, depended on the wind blowing on a certain day from the north-west and not from the 1 No. CCLXXVII. p. 201.

UPON DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

231

south. Sceptics and infidels are of course as blind to these evidences of God's government of the world as were the heathens, Pharaoh or Sennacherib in their day; but the Christian loves to trace the finger of GOD in His manifold dispensations, and believes that He still listens to the prayers of His people.

CHAPTER XXIV.

PHILOSOPHERS AND SCEPTICS ARE OFTEN OBLIGED TO RETRACT THEIR OPINIONS.-REAL PHILOSOPHICAL TRUTHS ARE GLADLY ACCEPTED BY

CHRISTIANS.-FALSE NO

TIONS ARE EXPOSED AND DIE AWAY.

SPEAKING of the new doctrines lately put forward in the scientific world, a friend remarked to me one day that "In the main the aggressions of science are made good. It rarely has to retreat from its positions, however objectionable at first they may appear, and indeed impossible for Christians to accept." This set me thinking, and the result of my cogitation was this,—that in the recent advance of science many things have been discovered so obviously true, when well considered, that Christians have cheerfully accepted them with little hesitation-that there are also many things, whether objectionable or otherwise, which science has not "made good," and yet stubbornly refuses to retreat from.

A few examples will best illustrate these points. Centuries ago, it was generally believed from the