A mighty means of usefulness : a plea for intercessory prayer

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* JUL 6 1910
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BV 210 .M26 1902
McClure, James Gore King,

1848-
A mighty means of usefulness

A MIGHTY MEANS
OF USEFULNESS

By JAMES G. K. McCLURE

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* JUL 6 19

IF

A MIGHTY MEANS
OF USEFULNESS

A Plea for Intercessory Prayer

/ML St)

BY

REV. JAMES G. K. McCLURE

Fleming H. Revell Company

Chicago, New York & Toronto

Publishers of Evangelical Literature

COPYRIGHT, I9O2,

BY F L E

MING H .

R E VELL

COMPANY

M

arch

Contents*

I. The Mighty Ministry of Intercession - g

II. The Talent of Intercession 25

III. For Whom Christ Asks Intercession - 38

IV. The Comforter Sought for Service - 53

V. Special Petitions for Our Beloved - 66

VI. The Christian Worker's Intercession - 82

VII. Best Requests for Best People - - 97

VIII. Intercession for the Unsaved • . 113

Untrofcuctor^ IRote,

The purpose of this book is to exalt the power
and serviceableness of Intercessory Prayer. Many
Christian workers lead such busy lives, every hour
being claimed for speaking, visiting, studying or
the like, that their minds, absorbed in such duties,
are in danger of minimizing the sacred and impor-
tant duty of Intercession.

I earnestly hope that this book will remind every
reader of a mighty means of usefulness that is avail-
able to us all. I believe that sustained Intercessory
Prayer will hasten the day of Christ's glory — that
such Intercessory Prayer is one of the largest needs
of our time. If the reader of these pages will give
himself anew to Intercessory Prayer, making such
Intercession the very heart of his Christian activity,
these pages will have accomplished their purpose.

James G. K. McClure.
Lake Forest, III.

Ube /BMQbts /IDinistrs ot t ntercesston.

One of the mightiest instrumentalities for the
world's advance is intercessory prayer — prayer for
others. Some souls have realized this fact. One
such was Samuel. He was much like our Wash-
ington, a wise, practical leader, who had great
forethought and who secured large results.

All through his busy public career, while he was
trying to reform and elevate Israel, he prayed for
Israel. He laid proper emphasis on instruction and
administration : the principles that he taught were
the soundest, and the deeds of his official leader-
ship were flawless. But he believed that his full
usefulness to his fellow men and his full devotion
to God were not accomplished until he had prayed
to God to bless men.

To Samuel it was a "sin against the Lord" not
to pray for others. In one of the most remarkable
addresses in all history, an address that reminds
us of Washington's Farewell Address, delivered as
he was retiring from public leadership, Samuel so

9

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

designated failure to pray for others — a " sin against
the Lord." At a moment that was in many respects
the consummate moment of his life, a life eminently
judicious, pure and beneficial, he declared that
though he ceased to exercise the functions of official
leadership, one thing he would not cease to do —
pray for Israel ; for to cease doing that would be a
sin.

Some such startling assertion seems necessary to
arouse our attention to the wondrous power for
God's glory and for human good that there is in
intercessory prayer. It, too, as well as prophetic
teaching and public leadership, may be a mighty
ministry of usefulness.

An incident in English history illustrates this
ministry. Henry VIII. was king of England.
William Tyndale, a scholar, wished to translate the
Greek New Testament into English, so that the
English people could have God's word in their
own tongue. The king and church alike refused
to allow such a translation. There was not a spot
in England where Tyndale was safe to carry out
his project. So he went to the Continent. There
he labored, under stress and difficulties. He made
his translation. He sent it over to England. The
authorities burned it. Still he kept at his work,

IO

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

perfecting the translation. Enemies dogged his
footsteps. He was deceived, betrayed, imprisoned,
and at last burned to death. His dying words were
a prayer — a prayer of intercession: "Oh, Lord,
open the king of England's eyes !"

Little did it seem as though that prayer would
be answered. The king was set against the circu-
lation of the Bible and there was no indication
whatever that he would change his mind. But that
true prayer of intercession had been offered. All
unselfishly Tyndale had prayed that the king's eyes
might be so opened that he would see what a bless-
ing the English Bible would be to the English peo-
ple, and would desire the people to have that Bible.
The prayer was answered! In a little time Henry
VIII. saw the Bible in an entirely new light.
Instead of persecuting those who favored its trans-
lation he helped them. He even gave his royal sanc-
tion to the issue of the Bible. The English trans-
lation which is in our hands today, proclaims, when-
ever we read it, that the prayer of intercession pre-
vails. The English Bible is a witness to the power
of intercessory prayer.

It is startling to us sometimes — especially when
we have grown careless or lukewarm about inter-
cessory prayer — to turn to the Gospel as John wrote

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

it and see the place occupied there by Christ's in-
tercessory prayer. The closing hours of Christ's
life had come. He poured out His heart to His
disciples. So helpful, so living were the words He
then spoke, that the four chapters beginning with
"Let not your heart be troubled, " are the best loved
chapters of the Bible. How do they end? How
does Christ conclude His last opportunity of free
association with His disciples? He concludes it
with a prayer — a prayer not for Himself, but for
them; for them and those who should believe on
Him through their words. This was His last
legacy, His crowning service to mankind, ere He
died.

Earlier in His ministry He had said to Peter,
"I have prayed for thee." Peter had no thought
whatever of his particular need : he did not and
could not foresee that he would be exposed to pe-
culiar temptations that might lead him to forsake
his Master, and even to deny Him. But Christ
foresaw the whole exposure, and, in anticipation,
Christ prayed for him. When the temptations came,
and Peter did deny his Lord, Peter did not utterly
fail, because the prayer of intercession prevailed. In
the very hour of denial Peter's heart melted, and
penitently he came back to Christ.

13

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

We can follow this special prayer of intercession
by Christ for Peter and we can note its effects. We
cannot in the same way follow the general prayer
of intercession as given in John's seventeenth chap-
ter, and note its particular answers. Yet we do not
doubt that the courage of James at Jerusalem, and
the sweetness of John at Patmos, and the safety
and peace of hundreds like our own selves all over
the world, were secured through that very prayer.

How much this world of ours would have lost
had there been no intercessory prayer! Stephen
prayed for the group of people who stood about him
as he was being stoned to death — and lo, out of that
group comes a young man, Paul, who gives his
whole heart and life to the cause of Christ. What
an omission it would have been if Stephen had not
prayed! Away back in distant days, when Israel
contended with the Amalekites in the valley, Moses
was on the mountain, with Aaron and Hur at his
sides. Moses stretched out his arms in prayer, that
God would give victory to Israel. The day dragged
on. Moses was old and his arms heavy. But
Aaron and Hur helped him, upholding his out-
stretched arms in supplication : and when the day
went down, victory was with Israel.

Intercessory prayer — to prevail — is to be unself-

*3

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

ish. All prayer says, "Not my will, but Thine, be
done." We are never to pray for things merely
pleasing to us, irrespective of their relation to that
holy will of God which embraces all His creatures
as well as our particular selves. Pure and devoted
souls will not obtrude their individual interests as
imperative, among counsels that pertain to all hu-
manity. Not one of us should ask God to make the
day clear for him or her — unless a clear day is best
for all the interests of God's will. Our health and
strength and the health and strength of our friends
are to be sought by us only as they minister to the
advance of God's blessed wishes for us and others.

Intercessory prayer! for whom shall it be of-
fered ? Intercession is always for persons ; we sup-
plicate for things, we intercede for persons. Who
shall these persons be? ''For kings and for all
that are in authority," Paul says. "Kings and all
that are in authority" is an inclusive designation
comprehending all charged with the responsibilities
of public oversight and public welfare.

Tyndale prayed for Henry VIII. ; we are to pray
for all rulers.

The design of such prayer is defined, namely:
that rulers shall so use their power that "the people

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty." The prayer is not that our special
officer, whoever he may be, police magistrate, justice
of the peace, mayor, governor, president, may be
preserved in strength and may conduct his office so
as to secure the praise of his particular following:
but it is that every officer may administer his station
to the good of others "in all godliness and hon-
esty." Intercessory prayer rises above a party, an
administration, a sect, a college, a corporation; it
views all things in the light of eternal and world-
embracing principles — principles of righteousness
and goodness and truth — and in reality it asks that
those who hold office shall be men who carry out the
very will of God — for the good of humanity.

Of such prayer there never can be too much.
Office is deceptive. Office has power, and often
that power in itself gives a sense of self-sufficiency
to the person who holds it. "Is this not great Baby-
lon that / have builded?" boasted Nebuchadnezzar.
To whom, forsooth, was he responsible? Men and
women in the line of hereditary monarchies often
forget that their authority, as all authority of any
kind, is a God-conferred gift, and that they must
use it as God wishes, else they desecrate it. Even
when people have temporary authority conferred

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

upon them by the franchises of others, they may
give their constituents supreme place in considera-
tion, and thus rest their dependence upon those
constituents rather than upon God. To keep office
by pleasing their constituents becomes their chief
aim. The temptation to do this is fearful. Knox
did not care for office, did not care whether the
queen honored him or dishonored him, whether she
let him live or put him to death. What Knox cared
for was Scotland's welfare. He did not consult,
nor did he fear, the will of men: he consulted and
he feared the will of God alone.

Today there is not a person bearing authority
who does not need our intercessory prayer. Paul
held his apostleship by a special call thereto, but
in his sense of insufficiency, he said, "Pray for us."
Every minister needs prayer. He has his own pe-
culiar temptations: to formality, to slackness, to
discouragement. He may do and say very foolish
things; he may be like the shepherds of prophetic
days who cried peace when there was no peace, and
denied the people the spiritual food they lacked.
On the other hand a minister of pure motives and
true piety may be a great blessing. The people
prayed, and when Peter stood up at Pentecost,
three thousand hearts were changed. The people

16

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

prayed all night for John Livingstone, and when
next day at Shotts he preached, five hundred souls
came to Christ. A praying people make a power-
ful ministry. This is not due merely to the fact
that knowledge of their prayers cheers the minister,
though cheer him it does. When Spurgeon
stepped forward into his tabernacle pulpit on a
Sunday morning, with his large band of deacons
around him — men who had spent a half hour in
prayer that God's words through Spurgeon's lips
might bring glory to God — Spurgeon himself
felt stronger and the people who knew what
had taken place felt the more expectant. For if
there is anything God specially delights to own,
it is prayer that the Holy Spirit may be in the as-
sembly of His worshipers. God "loves the gates
of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob."
Pray then for the minister, have children pray for
him — not for his sake, but for the people's sake,
and for God's glory in the people's good. What an
opportunity for continued usefulness every invalid
has, and everyone detained from the House of God
has — to pray for the ministry of the Gospel! "God
forbid," may they one and all declare, "God forbid
that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to
pray for the ministry."

*7

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

Authority is wide-spread and diversified.
Teachers have it. They too are exposed to tempta-
tions— perhaps to be unduly dogmatic, perhaps to
do their work for the work's sake, perhaps to with-
draw too much from the responsibilities of the
Church, and the burdens of the State. The power
for good of a teacher's life, if that life be earnest,
scholarly, unselfish and godly, is mighty. Day by
day there comes the contact between the teacher
and impressible souls. Little by little truths can be
indoctrinated, ideals magnified, ambitions purified.
If the spirit be what it may be, the effect will be,
perhaps, a lifelong blessing. The pupil in after years
will express views, and enforce sentiments that to
him are absolutely his own — and still it was the
teacher away back in the past, who somehow so
inculcated all these views and sentiments that the
teacher, not the pupil, is their real author.

Teachers need prayer — prayer that they may be
patient, that they may see good possibilities in every
pupil, and that they may endeavor to bring out
those possibilities in all "godliness and honesty."
We wish sound views of society, of business and of
government taught ; we wish the eternal principles
of righteousness engrafted upon young life. When
a man or woman so arouses the nobility of pupils

18

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

that the pupils scorn to do the wrong or the petty
thing, and aspire after standards that are Christ-
like, then the teacher fulfills his mission. But the
very best teacher is in danger of carrying a heavy
heart because routine is so unceasing, and drudgery
so persistent. We do well then to pray that he
may always come to his classes like a benediction
and that his personal fellowship with his pupils
may be an unceasing inspiration.

Nor may we leave out from "authority" employ-
ers of labor. Certainly such employers have their
peculiar temptations. Often they are deceived,
often they are severely tried by the slackness and
unfaithfulness of their employees. The superior
mental and material gifts whereby employers hold
authority may prove a snare to their hearts. Be-
cause others have a lower order of talent employers
may, forsooth, look down on the others. Self-made
men find it hard to deal gently with those whose
incapacity always keeps them weaklings. But these
self-made men are under special responsibilities.
Because God has made them leaders, God has com-
mitted the welfare of tens, twenties, hundreds,
thousands, into their hands. Their views, their
decisions, their example, are fraught with mighty
influence. The tendency with many men concern-

19

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

ing these employers is, not to pray for them, but
to berate them. Fault is "found with their deficien-
cies, and sometimes even antagonism is aroused
against them.

The whole world today, even where there are
Christian churches, is filled with those who do not
understand one another. The effort to maintain
interests dear to one set of people seems to blind
the eyes of that set to the interests dear to another
set. Hence the opposition and the bitterness. But
it is far, far better to pray for "captains of indus-
try" than to arouse hatred against them. Employers
are but weak, fallible men, to whom God has as-
signed tremendous responsibility. Let us ask him
to open their eyes, as the eyes of Henry VIII. were
opened, and the result will be, that the hearts of
employers will become wise and the lives of em-
ployees will become enriched.

The prayer of intercession offered for all that
are in authority, offered not as a perfunctory utter-
ance, but offered straight out of a burdened heart,
assures all that are in authority that we understand
their burdens, sympathize with their difficulties and
expect "godliness and honesty" to characterize their
purposes. A man in authority who is careless or
wicked is a libel on his station; authority is con-

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

ferred by God only — that he who has it may strive
to make this world a happy, beautiful place for
every human life.

Our prayer of intercession is not complete when
offered merely for those in authority; it is to be
offered "for all men." When the High Priest
came into the Holy of Holies with the breastplate
over his heart, the name of every tribe was en-
graved on that breastplate. Face to face with God
he interceded for all. We all need intercession.
Whittier expresses in "The Prayer Seeker" the call
of every human soul for our sympathy and inter-
cession.

"Along the aisle where prayer was made
A woman, all in black arrayed,
Close veiled, between the kneeling host,
With gliding motion of a ghost,
Passed to the desk and laid thereon
A scroll which bore these words alone,
Tray for me!'

"Back to the night from whence she came
To unimagined grief or shame !
Across the threshold of that door
None knew the burden that she bore;
Alone she left the written scroll,
The legend of a troubled soul, —
Tray for me!'

"Glide on, poor ghost of woe or sin!
Thou leav'st a common need within;

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

Each bears, like thee, some nameless weight,
Some misery inarticulate,
Some secret sin, some shrouded dread,
Some household sorrow all unsaid.
Tray for us !'

"He prayeth best who leaves unguessed
The mystery of another's breast.
Why cheeks grow pale, why eyes o'erflow,
Or heads are white, thou need'st not know.
Enough to note by many a sign
That every heart hath needs like thine.
'Pray for us !' "

In Mr. Moody's long and useful labors there
was one story that he loved to tell because it sug-
gested the glory of God and in no wise suggested
the glory of Mr. Moody. He told it to indicate his
belief in the power of prayer. This is the story :

"After the Chicago fire he went to London to rest
and to learn from the Bible scholars there. He had
no intention of preaching. One Sunday morning
he was persuaded to preach in a church in London.
Everything about the service dragged. He wished
that he had never consented to preach. There was
a woman in the city who had heard of Mr. Moody's
work in America and had been asking God to send
him to London. This woman was an invalid. Her
sister was present at the church that Sunday morn-
ing. When the hearer reached home she asked her

22

The Mighty Ministry of Intercession

sister to guess who had spoken for them that morn-
ing. She guessed one after another of those with
whom her pastor was in the habit of exchanging,
never guessing aright. Her sister said, 'No, Mr.
Moody from Chicago.' The sick woman turned
pale, and said, 'This is an answer to my prayer. If
I had known that he was to be at our church, I
should have eaten nothing this morning, but waited
on God in prayer. Leave me alone this afternoon : do
not let anyone come to see me ; do not send me any-
thing to eat.' All that afternoon that woman gave
herself to prayer. As Mr. Moody preached that
night, he soon became conscious that there was a
different atmosphere in the church. 'The powers of
an unseen world seemed to fall' upon him and his
hearers. As he drew to a close he felt impressed to
give out an invitation. He asked for all who would
accept Christ to rise. Four or five hundred people
rose. He thought that they misunderstood him,
and so he put the question several ways that there
might be no mistake. But no, they had understood.
He then asked them to go to an adjoining room.
As they passed out, he asked the pastor of the
church who these people were. He replied, T do
not know.' 'Are they your people?' 'Some of
them.' 'Are they Christians?' 'I do not think so.'

23

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

In that adjoining room he put the question very
strongly, but still there were just as many who
rose. He told them to meet their pastor the next
night. Next day he left for Dublin, but no sooner
had he reached there than he received a telegram
from the pastor saying that he must return and help
him, for a great revival had commenced, and there
were more out the second night than the first. Hun-
dreds were added to the church at the time."

That was the beginning of Mr. Moody's work as
an international evangelist. Out of that work came
the religious quickening of Great Britain and Ire-
land, and the salvation of thousands upon thousands
of souls throughout the world. Well was it for
England and all Europe that the invalid woman did
not cease to pray for the ministry of God's world.

24

TLbc talent of flntercesston.

Not everyone realizes that ability to pray is a
talent. When the Rev. Charles G. Finney, about
1830, was laboring for deeper, stronger religious
life among the people of Western New York, there
was one man whose praying seems to have done
very much toward obtaining the desired results. In
Utica, Syracuse, Binghamton, Rochester, Rome,
great numbers of persons were aroused to new
earnestness. Great numbers, also, renouncing sin,
entered upon the Christian life. In all that coun-
try religion became the foremost thing. It leavened
society and business. It controlled ambition. The
person who, as the world saw, was the one through
whom these results were secured, was the preacher,
Mr. Finney.

But there was another person who had part in
these results, Mr. Abel Clary. He never appeared
in public gatherings. He gave himself wholly to
private prayer. He was an educated man. He
had been licensed to preach. He preached, how-

25

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

ever, very little. He was so burdened with the souls
of men that he gave almost his whole time and
strength to intercession. He was a very silent man.
Mr. Finney had known him from boyhood and had
the greatest respect for his character. This Mr.
Clary, lying in bed as a consumptive, and drawing a
little table to his side, would write in his journal
day by day, "My heart has been moved to pray for
Utica, for Syracuse, for Binghamton, for Rochester,
for Rome." After Mr. Clary's death, Mr. Finney
obtained this memorandum book and found that in
the precise order of the burden laid upon that man's
heart was the order of blessing as poured upon Mr.
Finney's ministry in the places named. Among
other notes he discovered a memorandum about
Ceylon. Looking into the records of the American
Board, he found that at the time when Mr. Clary
was praying on his sickbed for Ceylon, there had
been a great forward movement in that land.

We are familiar with the thought that every tal-
ent we possess or can possess should be cultivated.
Sometimes the talent is that of money-making,
sometimes that of public speaking, sometimes that
of doing drudgery faithfully. We believe in many
kinds of talents, and we believe that every individual
has some special talent, given him by God, to be

26

The Talent of Intercession

used for the world's good. The man who knows
how to lay a drain well has a great opportunity of
aiding the public health. The woman who can reg-
ulate a home's atmosphere so that it shall be re-
ligiously beneficial also has a great opportunity.
Every now and then, when someone stands forth
very prominently as a writer, or as a speaker, or as
a philanthropist, we say, "What a great talent that
person has !" We immediately think "What a loss
the world would suffer if that person's talent should
not be used !" Certainly our world would be the
poorer if a Victor Hugo had not written his books,
and a Henry Ward Beecher had not preached his
sermons, and a George Peabody had not erected his
buildings. The whole of Western New York and
great parts of Ohio and Illinois, affected by the
men who came from western New York, would
have suffered a distinct and grievous loss had not
Mr. Finney spoken and labored as he did.

But do we keep to the front in our minds this
thought, that there is a talent of prayer as truly as
there are other talents? Mr. Clary used the talent
of prayer as God entrusted it to him. The results
of his use of intercession were very great. Thou-
sands of lives would have been the poorer had he
not used his talent.

27

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

There are many worthy people asking themselves
what more they can do to advance the good of the
world. They give themselves to every kind of
beautiful enterprise; they provide holidays for the
weary; they take little children from the crowd of
the city to the open spaces of the country ; they nurse
the sick ; they furnish safe pleasures to the tempted ;
they teach; they preach; they do everything that
human ingenuity, under the inspiration of Christian
love, can suggest. The many beautiful agencies of
help, all under Christ and all for Christ, at work in
the world are legion. Let not one of them be
relaxed. Let all be sustained, and let a thousand
more be added to them as opportunity may arise.
Ability to use any or all of these agencies is a talent.
As a talent let it be magnified. But side by side
with these different talents let there be recognition
of still another talent, a talent that perhaps some-
times lies wrapped in a napkin unused — the talent
of intercession. The Yoriba Christians call prayer
"the gift of the knees," for to them prayer is a
special endowment directly bestowed by God.

Every now and then we are confronted by some
grave statements concerning the use of this talent
of intercession. It is not a rare occurrence to hear
the very men who, we might think, would most real-

28

The Talent of Intercession

ize their dependence on divine help confess that
their own personal use of intercessory prayer is
very limited. This information often comes out at a
time when there is a gathering of ministers, or per-
haps a more general gathering of Christian "work-
ers." The questions then are asked, "How much
time each day do you spend in interceding with God
for the advance of His work ? Is it an hour, a half
hour ? Is it fifteen minutes ?" The answers to such
questions are startling. The number of persons
who regularly give fifteen minutes a day to this
means of blessing is very small.

Of course we all understand that intercession is
not a matter of place nor of attitude. Dr. Henry
M. Scudder, when questioned in public on this very
subject, once said, "I walk the streets of Chicago,
picking my way in and out of the multitudes and
I am praying for those multitudes every minute."
So others may pray as did Dr. Scudder. Wherever
they may be — on trains, in stores, at public enter-
tainments they may continually and earnestly ask
God to bless those who are around them. Such
prayer may be unobserved by any human eye, but
the divine eye observes it, and to that eye it is
direct prayer. When we see people in their sorrow
or see them in their thoughtlessness or see them,

29

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

like Lot, exposing their children by too near resi-
dence to Sodom, we may silently lift our hearts to
God for them.

While not one word passes our lips, nor one
change takes place in our bodily attitude, our in-
tercession is true intercession. God hears it and
regards it.

Even after all such silent prayer has been reck-
oned as intercession, how large a place does such
intercession have in our lives? How does its place
compare with the place held by other matters? If
the place is a small one, is the reason for that small
place our misunderstanding of the value of inter-
cessory prayer? Have we thought about inter-
cession as a talent entrusted to us for whose use
we are responsible? We hear the calls for our
money and we try to respond conscientiously to
cases of need. We intend also to advocate all en-
terprises that make for the welfare of humanity.
We hold ourselves ready to do much running, think-
ing, working for every cause known to be dear to
Christ. But do we forget that Christ spent a whole
night in prayer before He chose His twelve fellow-
workers and before He preached His Sermon on
the Mount? Do we forget that the early church
continued for days in prayer before Peter's words

30

The Talent of Intercession

at Pentecost could be effective? Does our eye fail
to note that Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians has two
distinct prayers in it, as though Paul's hope for the
good of the Ephesians rested, not so much in his
words of instruction, as in God's power and bless-
ing?

The history of the Christian church never has
been completely written. That history has been
attempted and well attempted. The deeds done by
men in the name and for the sake of Christ have
been told. These deeds make a remarkable record :
the record of all martyrdoms, of all missionary ad-
vances, of all philanthropic conquests. These nine-
teen hundred years have witnessed scenes that are
well calculated to stir the blood and make brave the
heart of the student of church history. But nothing
except exterior effects and the supposed motives
back of these exterior effects have as yet been de-
scribed. The throne of grace, out from which go
the answers to prayer, is curtained. No one has
been able to draw aside that curtain and show the
world the spiritual helps that in answer to prayer
have issued from that throne. It is by these helps
that history largely has been wrought out. There
are some instances in which we can trace the direct
influence of intercession. We read in the Scripture

31

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

that Peter was delivered from prison because men
and women, meeting together, prayed for his de-
liverance. When then we see Peter, a free man,
knocking at the door of John Mark's home we un-
derstand that the means whereby he has become
free is prayer.

In profane history, too, there is an occasional
narrative that indicates the unseen force of prayer.
The Marquis of Argyle was one of Scotland's noble
witnesses for Christ's cross and crown. On the
morning of the day on which he was to be exe-
cuted he was engaged in settling worldly affairs.
Several of the leading people of Scotland were in
the prison room with him. Suddenly in the midst
of his business his soul was visited with such a sense
of the divine favor as almost overwhelmed him. He
attempted to conceal his emotions. He arose and
went to the fireplace tp stir the fire. But soon he
turned around and with great fervor said, "I see
that this will not do. I must now declare what
the Lord has done for my soul. Pie has just now,
at this very instant of time, sealed my charter in
these words, 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be
forgiven thee.' " A little later he went to the scaf-
fold. In the hour when he was put to death he
had the most perfect assurance and a most triumph-
ant calm.

32

The Talent of Intercession

The scene in the prison room as thus described
was all that the human observers could see. But
was there nothing unseen that was of significance
that day? Yes, there was. For in a retired part
of Edinburgh the wife of the Marquis and the
Rev. John Carstairs during that morning were
praying for the Marquis. They knew that the Mar-
quis would be put to death. They wished him to
die, if he must, so calmly that his death would show
the power of Christian faith and would contribute
to Christ's glory in Scotland. They made one spe-
cial plea for the Marquis, that the Lord would seal
his charter by saying to him, "Son, be of good
cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." It was that very
assurance that came into the heart of the Marquis
as he turned to the fireplace in the prison, and it
was that assurance, secured to him by others
through prayer, that sustained him in his brave
death.

Nor do these instances stand alone. So soon as
the facts are known, it becomes evident that the
means whereby some of the most blessed events of
life have been secured was prayer. The history of
Yale University tells of a great revival which one
hundred years ago stirred the whole college com-
munity. The secret of the revival was, that a group

33

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

of men were so earnest in their desire to have a spir-
itual awakening that "they got up before daybreak,
day after day in the long winter months, and gave
themselves to earnest prayer for that definite thing.
A revival began and spread from class to class until
almost every man in the college was led into faith
in Christ." Mary, Queen of Scotland, realized
that in John Knox the talent for prayer had been
so cultivated that it had become a mighty force.
She once declared, "I fear John Knox's prayers
more than an army of ten thousand men."

It is impossible to estimate the power for useful-
ness latent in hearts capable of prayer. No one
conceived the power lying latent in steam until the
spirit of steam, asserting itself, began to transform
the earth. No one conceived the power lying latent
in electricity until electricity, asserting itself, began
its world-wide ministry. The power lying latent
in hearts capable of prayer is similarly great.
Luther prayed for the Diet of Nuremberg. He in-
terceded with intense earnestness. He laid hold
of the throne of grace with such power that he
seemed to prevail with God. He felt sure, even
before the Diet took action, that those who com-
posed it would stand firm in Reformation princi-
ples. And they did. The people of Enfield, Massa-

34

The Talent of Intercession

chusetts, prayed all night that the sermon to be
preached by their pastor Jonathan Edwards might
be blessed to the good of souls. When the sermon
was preached the congregation left their pews,
crowding up the pulpit stairs and asking what they
might do to obtain the salvation of God.

DeQuincey divides all literature into the literature
of knowledge and the literature of power. As there
is a literature of power so there is a prayer of power.
It is the prayer of power of which we stand in need.
A powerless Christian ought to be considered as
great a misnomer as a powerless thunderbolt. If
the talent of prayer should be cultivated as assidu-
ously as the talent of business is cultivated, the re-
sult would be that numberless people who never
can be forceful in speech, nor bounteous in benefi-
cence, nor energetic in evangelism, would become
as effective forces for the world's help as any men
and women who have ever lived.

Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss in one of her letters used
the significant expression, "learning the mysterious
art of prayer by an apprenticeship at the throne of
grace." How many of us have ever thought of
"learning" to pray? Or, of "an apprenticeship at
the throne of grace?" In another sentence Mrs.
Prentiss enlarges on this idea. She says: "I think

35

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

many of the difficulties attending upon the subject
of prayer would disappear if it could be regarded
in early life as an art that must be acquired through
daily, persistent habits with which nothing shall
be allowed to interfere." Thus she makes "learn-
ing" to pray as much of a training as learning to
sing, or paint, or write. She exalts prayer into an
"art" — and makes us realize that the same applica-
tion, concentration, persistency and heartiness need-
ed to become a sculptor, are needed by us if the tal-
ent of prayer (possible to every one) reaches its
greatest development. Happy the man who, like
Epaphras commended of Paul, learns so well the
lesson of prayer that his distinguishing characteris-
tic is that he "always labors fervently in prayer for
others."

What blessings are awaiting the world if we
only develop the talent of prayer to its fullest pos-
sibility ! Has not the time come when we, one and
all, will do our part to re-assert the power of the
Christian church? Andrew Bonar with great sor-
row wrote in his diary: "I work more than I pray."
Also he wrote: "I must at once return, through the
Lord's strength, to not less than three hours a day
spent in prayer and meditation upon the Word."

There is no doubt that God longs to have His
36

The Talent of Intercession

servants so love their fellows that they shall rest
not day nor night in interceding in their behalf. He
waits for the effectual fervent prayer. Oh, that
thousands upon thousands of God's people would
awake to their possibility, and would become pow-
erful in His Kingdom through learning to prevail
with God in prayer !

37

ffor TIClbom Cbrist Bsfes IFntercesstoru

The general classes of people for whom Paul
asked our intercession have been considered. A
very important inquiry now presents itself : Are
there special persons indicated by Christ's com-
mands or practices who stand out with preeminence
as persons for whom we should pray ?

When we study Christ's own practices we find
five classes of people for whom He prayed or for
whom He taught us to pray. One was the sick.
He Himself healed the sick, using miracles.

These miracles were Christ's advertisements.
They called attention to His wondrous power, His
wondrous words, and His wondrous personality.
He might have used heralds to sound a trumpet
and get the ears of the crowd whom He then would
address. But He preferred to present Himself di-
rectly to men in the deeds of healing. Such healing
was a blessing in itself. Such healing evidenced
the kindliness of His heart and made clear His pur-
pose to relieve distress. Such healing also, from

38

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

its marvelous power, marked Him as the unique
One who could not be confused with any other.

Only once, if then, did Christ pray over the sick.
One was brought to Him who was deaf and had an
impediment in his speech. Christ took him aside,
looked up to heaven, sighed, and healed him.
"Looked up to heaven." That is the only phrase in
Christ's life containing even a hint that He prayed
over the diseased. He seems never to have asked
Heaven's aid to heal anyone. He always claimed
that He had power in himself to heal. That one
upward look we think was intended to assist the
observer. It helped the observer to associate the
deed of healing with God above, and so it helped
him to believe that the power whereby Christ
wrought the miracle, was divine.

But while Christ did not pray for the sick, He
intimated that we should pray for them. A lunatic
boy was brought by the boy's father to Christ. The
disciples had not been able to heal him. Christ
healed the boy. The disciples inquired why they
had failed to heal him. Christ answered that their
failure was due to their lack of faith. But He im-
mediately added that a disease of this kind would
not leave a man except "by prayer."

This reference to prayer seems to be a direct in-
39

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

timation that Christ expects us to pray for the sick.
It warrants us in bringing all our weak and suffer-
nig ones to Him that they may be made whole.
Christ Himself never refused the prayer addressed
to Him by loving hearts for the healing of disease.
"He healed them all." Likewise He bade all who
were weary and heavy laden come to Him, assur-
ing them that He would give them rest.

A second class for whom Christ taught us to
pray were children. He did this by direct example.
As Matthew states it, "Mothers brought young
children to Christ that He should put His hands
on them and pray."

The significance of this scene is often lost. Many
think of it as though Christ merely placed His
hands on their heads and said some kindly words
over the children. No. He "prayed" for them.
A blessing spoken by a godly man over a child is
indeed in its very nature a prayer. Accordingly
it is true that were John the Beloved here today,
and were he, placing his hands on the forehead of a
little child presented to him, to say, "May God ever
take care of you, and keep you, little child" — that
blessing would be a prayer.

But when Christ "prayed" over little children
there must have been, it would seem, distinct in-

40

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

tercession for them. We wonder what petitions
He offered ! We wonder whether the hearts of the
mothers were satisfied when they heard the special
wishes He expressed for the children. The whole
setting of the scene makes us feel that He did not
ask for money, place, power or health. Rather He
asked that they might be heavenly minded, so that
they should do Heaven's work upon earth, and then
do Heaven's work in glory.

There never can be too great and too earnest
prayer for little children. "He who helps a child
helps humanity with a distinctiveness, with an im-
mediateness, which no other help given to human
creatures in any other stage of their human life
can possibly give again." Children have in them-
selves the making or unmaking of the world. Even
while they are little children the characteristics of
their lives are largely decided. Almost before par-
ents and friends realize the fact, they are eight, ten
and twelve years old. In most cases, by this time,
character has taken its general bent. We must
labor and pray very early if we are to reach chil-
dren. It was so in Palestine when Christ was there.
The boy of twelve became a citizen of Israel and en-
tered the church. The girl at twelve was well on
her way toward marriage. The statistics of the cities

4i

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

where great masses of children center, tell us that
street boys are started upon their careers even be-
fore they are twelve. Captains of police, matrons
of reform schools, and city missionaries report that
character, good or bad, is stamped upon children
even before the children reach their teens.

All students of the religious experience make
similar report. The fathers and mothers who have
children to be nurtured, the Sunday school teachers
who have scholars to be guided, the instructors who
through five days, and the nurses who through seven
days are charged with the care of young lives, have
a very grave responsibility. As goes the child, so
goes the world. If Satan can hurt children, he
hurts the kingdom of heaven, and all that that
kingdom stands for. Instead of our being careless
concerning children, we should be solicitous and
even prayerful for them. Our prayer should be in
the very spirit and to the very ends that character-
ized Christ's prayer for them — that they may belong
to, and do the service of, the kingdom of heaven.

The third class for whom Christ taught us to
pray were disciples. This prayer also He taught
us by direct example.

Sometimes He prayed for a particular disciple,
as, for Peter : sometimes for the Twelve, the special

42

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

ones who in His day were charged with heralding
His truth: and sometimes for the whole body of
believers, present and future alike. He carried
Christian people on His heart. He felt that the
greatest responsibility that ever devolved upon men
was devolved upon them. As the Father had sent
Him into the world, even so did He send them into
the world. They were to be His representatives.
They were to bring forth much fruit to His glory.
So great was their mission that before He chose the
twelve He sought God's blessing in prayer. Later,
as He was to ascend from Olivet, and leave His fol-
lowers, He prayed for those followers.

Christian people need prayer. They are in the
world to continue today the very work which Christ
when here began. They are to seek the needy, re-
lieve the oppressed, deliver the imprisoned. They
are to comfort the sorrowful and to rescue the
sinner. Every soul of all humanity is to be cheered
and brightened by them. Service is their distinc-
tive calling. It is for this they are chosen as Christ's
disciples. Prayer then should be offered that every
communicant, every officer, every worker in the
Christian Church should answer to this call to
service. "I am glorified in them," Christ said, and
according to the faithfulness with which His dis-
ciples do His work is Christ glorified among men.

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

The three classes of persons that have been men-
tioned as those for whom Christ taught us to pray,
are distinct classes by themselves. We pray for
them because we infer from His words or example
that we should do so. Now comes the fourth class
for whom we are to pray. This fourth class is one
for whom we are positively commanded to pray.

"Pray for them that despite fully use you and
persecute you, Christ said. What He charged
us to do He Himself did. On Calvary, when men
maligned and tortured Him, He prayed, "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do!"
The people for whom He thus prayed were the in-
flamed and passionate multitudes that surrounded
the cross. Prominent among them were the priests.
The Scripture reads that these priests stirred up
the people to shout "Crucify!" and that the priests
persuaded the people to choose Barabbas rather than
Christ.

The Ober-Ammergau peasants, when they place
the scene of the crucifixion on the stage, show the
priests moving actively among the crowd. The
priests whisper suspicions and breathe out hatred,
until the popular mind is alarmed and even embit-
tered. The peasants make, as does the Scripture,
the priests the aggressive party in the crucifixion.

44

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

When Christ prayed, "Forgive them," he prayed
for these very priests who despitefully used Him
and persecuted Him. A few days later Pentecost
came. Thousands of hearts turned to God in peni-
tence. "And a great company of priests believed."
The prayer indeed was answered !

It is not easy to pray for those that abuse us.
We must have control of self and love to others
to offer such prayer. The absence of bitterness is
not enough. There must be the presence of sym-
pathy. Christ was wonderfully wise when He com-
manded this prayer. Divided counsels are a hin-
drance in any good cause. So long as jealousies ex-
isted between the army officers of our civil war,
that war was a failure. So long as officers asserted
their own dignity to the detriment of their fellow
officers, there could not be success. Animosities
had to be surrendered. Loyalty to a single com-
mander had to be cherished. Then the war has-
tened to its close.

We are to pray for the divided camps of Chris-
tendom. We are to pray that dissensions among
God's people shall cease. Like Moses of old, we
are to rejoice when others than ourselves have in-
spiration from the Almighty, and say, "Let Eldad
and Medad be among the prophets. Would God
that all the people might prophesy !"

45

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

The hurt to a man's own heart in cherishing
hatred is fearful. Had Christ's spirit on the cross
been bitter, the cross would have been the place of
His shame, not His glory. He could not have died
in peace unless His heart was sweet. Hate is folly.
It discolors vision and biases judgment. It makes
the man of war nurse his wrongs and sulk in his
tent when he should be on the battle line. Nothing
has hindered the advance of Christ's army more
than the unkind feelings cherished by Christians
towards those with whom they disagree. Such feel-
ings are to be overpowered with love. Every de-
nomination must sacrifice its cherished distinctions
rather than let those distinctions be a hindrance to
Christ's cause. Whatever embitters us against other
Christians must be surrendered. Words like "Cal-
vinism" and "Arminianism," intended to be sources
of love, must never be sources of hate. Special doc-
trines must not become idols to us and so stand be-
tween God and the world's good. Christian men
cannot afford to quarrel. Quarreling incapacitates
for usefulness. Quarreling hardens the heart to
the reception of truth. In praying for those who
despitefully use us we do not pray that God will
humble them to our special views or our special
methods. Rather we pray that God will lead them

46

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

as shall seem wisest and best to Him, and will use
them to His own infinite glory.

The last persons for whom Christ charged us
to pray were laborers for His harvest Held.

Here is a prayer that stands out by itself. It
introduces us into a new realm of thought. Again
and again this prayer is forgotten. Christ saw the
multitudes. They came from cities and villages.
They were pitifully ignorant. They were pitifully
weak. They were like sheep that do not know where
pasturage and safety are — like shepherdless sheep
that are exposed to every danger. These multitudes
made direct appeal to His heart. His heart an-
swered to that appeal. What heart is there, if it
have the least degree of tenderness, that does not
pity the misled, the mistaken, and the imperiled?
Seeing the multitudes and knowing their need, He
said, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labor-
ers are few."

What Christ then said many another has since
repeated. "So many needy lives in the world and
so few people to help them!" The deeper we see
into the hearts of men, the more we realize their
sorrows and their sins. There is not a village so
small but that in it there are souls to be visited,
comforted, and uplifted. Not a town so orderly

47

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

but that in it there are vices to be fought. Not a
city so evangelized but that in it multitudes are on
the way to destruction. Who shall purify the homes
of squalor, who take the children from the streets
and save them, who protect the boys and girls of
sixteen and direct their youthful energy into holy
pleasures? The market places need righteousness,
the court rooms need justice, the schools need con-
secration, the churches need thousands upon thou-
sands of workers. "Come over and help us," is
the cry that is ringing out from multitudes that no
man can number. Politics needs integrity, govern-
ment needs faithfulness, the army and the navy need
spirituality. Missionaries everywhere are calling
for men and women to enter unoccupied fields.

It is startling to consider that the one great
prayer laid upon Christ's people as a people is this
prayer for laborers. In general terms we say each
day, "Thy kingdom come !" In specific terms we
are to say, "Send forth laborers into thy harvest."
Praying for our enemies is usually a help to our
personal sanctification. But praying for laborers is
a help to the whole world's salvation.

"Today, as always, the great lack of the King-
dom is laborers." Every Christian enterprise la-
ments because so few will help in its work. Every

48

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

church is asking for Sunday school teachers, who,
like William E. Dodge, will lead souls to Christ.
Merchant in New York City as he was, this man
so knew and so taught the Bible that more than
one hundred persons declared that he had brought
them to the Christian life.

If men and women in one city like Chicago would
enter dwellings, sitting down as a friend, cherish-
ing interest in every individual child and beautify-
ing the home, ten thousand of them could find
opportunity for usefulness. A home thus made rest-
ful and attractive might prove a saving blessing to
the father and the elder sons as they return at night.

The word "laborers," as Christ used it, is not to
be limited to any particular set or sets of people.
Laborers may be those who speak or those who
write : may be those who give counsel, or money, or
influence, or time. All who are engaged in efforts
for the welfare of humanity are "laborers." It is
true that Columbus, not Isabella, discovered Amer-
ica. But it is also true that unless Isabella had
put her jewels at the use of Columbus, Columbus
would not have discovered America. The direct
and indirect laborers in God's harvest field are now
very many. We name all men laborers whose pur-
pose it is to elevate statesmanship, or purify litera-

49

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

ture, or sanctify commerce. Wherever there are
those who fight against sin and strive to rescue the
perishing, there are God's laborers. In homes, fac-
tories, railways, farms, there are great multitudes
of such.

But granted that there are these multitudes thus
engaged in their diversified efforts for human good,
still the one prayer Christ commanded us to offer
for "laborers" needs always to be upon our lips.

So many men brought up in Christian surround-
ings, are not "laborers !" They go to Alaska. Their
single purpose is to get gold. Their interests are
wholly selfish. As a result of their selfishness their
influence upon the natives is destructive. Were they
"laborers" how different their influence would be!

So with many of the troops that go to the Phil-
ippines. They drink, they carouse, they carry evil
with them. So with many of the merchants that
enter the treaty ports of China. They relax their
principles. They live impurely. How they disgrace
Christianity ! How they hinder the missionary !
Suppose, merchants as they are, they were in China
as "laborers !" What a blessing, instead of a curse,
they would be!

The great purpose of every Christian home is to
raise up "laborers." The one specific prayer Christ

5o

For Whom Christ Asks Intercession

taught fathers and mothers to offer concerning their
children is that they may be "laborers." It is to this
end that parents are to feed them, protect them,
educate them. Children fail of their glory unless
they become "laborers." Parents fail of their re-
sponsibility unless they beseech God to equip their
children for His service.

The words "send forth" are in the Greek one
word. That word, used by Christ, is a very strong
word. It means "drive out" — "thrust out." It is
the very word applied to Christ when He, finding
the Temple occupied by money changers and those
who sold doves, "cast out" those intruders. It is
also the word used when Christ "cast out" devils.
Parents, pastors, and teachers are to pray that God
will "thrust out" those dear to them into the harvest
field. They are to pray that God will send such an
irresistible conviction into their hearts as will com-
pel them to do the labor of the harvest. "May my
child have no rest until he is Thy laborer." So may
we, so should we pray.

Yes, unless a family, a church, an institution ex-
ists to raise up laborers, it fails of its mission. All
teaching, all friendship, all art, all literature answer
to their supreme end when they help create Chris-
tian "laborers."

5i

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

We are to pray that thousands upon thousands of
laborers may be thrust forth. They are needed in
America and in Africa. They are needed in every
school, business, and church in the world. May we
never, never forget that there is but one specific
prayer which we are charged by Christ to offer con-
cerning His kingdom. That prayer is, that God
"would thrust forth laborers into His harvest."

52

TLhc Comforter Sougbt ffor Service.

The prayer for the Holy Spirit as the Comforter !
Do people understand the real significance of this
special prayer? Have they a distinct idea of what
is involved in it when they offer it for themselves
and of what is involved in it when it becomes an in-
tercession for others?

The prayer for the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit
we are taught to offer with frequency and freedom.
We cannot be too urgent in seeking for all the gifts
of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kind-
ness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-con-
trol.

It rejoices us to know that God is more willing
to give the Holy Spirit in these gifts than earthly
parents are to give good gifts unto their children.
"Come, Holy Spirit!" has long been the cry of the
church, and it always will be the cry of the church.

But the prayer for the Holy Spirit as the Com-
forter seems to be a very special prayer. Its signifi-
cance was indicated when Christ's prayer for the

53

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

Holy Spirit as the Comforter received its answer
at Pentecost. Many public assemblages of Chris-
tian workers voice that answer. The more intent
those who compose such assemblages are upon per-
suading others to obey the will of God, the oftener
the prayer is offered for the Holy Spirit the Com-
forter and the deeper the earnestness that is ex-
pressed in it. Where formality of religious life
prevails and where sense of responsibility for the
spiritual welfare of others is weak, the prayer is
offered less and less frequently and less and less
fervently. Self-centered people and self-satisfied
churches give it small place in their petitions.

Years ago a band of men and women in the Lo-
diana Mission, India, looking out upon the religious
needs of their own country and of Europe, America
and the world at large, saw how great these needs
are. Their hearts became deeply stirred. The de-
sire took possession of them that mankind every-
where should speedily know the fulness of the bless-
ing of the Gospel. Inspired by this desire they is-
sued a call for a world-wide observance of a Week
of Prayer. The one supreme purpose of that Week
should be, to pray that the Holy Spirit would use
the church to the salvation of the world.

The prayer for the Holy Spirit as the Comforter
54

The Comforter Sought for Service

is a prayer Christ offered for others. He speaks
of this prayer, offered by Him, as having a twofold
suggestion. First, it suggested His love for His
disciples. Second, it suggested His desire for a
particular kind of blessing on them. It was, then,
Christ's love for His disciples that caused Him to
offer it. They were soon to lose His comradeship.
As a consequence they would need spiritual guid-
ance, courage and strength. This was especially
true in view of the fact that the responsibility of rep-
resenting Him before the world and advancing His
kingdom would, with His departure, devolve upon
them. Therefore He now asked, and stated that He
would continue to ask, that the Comforter, that is
a Spiritual Power from Heaven, should enter their
hearts, directing, emboldening and supporting them.
Thus, so far as he could protect them from loneli-
ness and weakness, He would protect them — by se-
curing for them special help. Accordingly he asked
God to give them the Holy Spirit the Comforter, or
as Wycliffe called Him, the "Helper."

The English word Comforter means primarily a
Strengthener, a Supporter. People of Christ's day
were accustomed to the Greek word used by Christ,
"Paraclete," or Comforter. It meant one who went
into the court room when a person appeared before

55

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

a tribunal and stood at his side, giving him counsel,
cheering his spirit and advocating his cause. Such
a comforter was a most valuable aid. He helped
his friend to keep a clear head and answer wisely.
He saved his friend from perturbation, as he sug-
gested the action to be taken at any given moment.
The mission of the comforter was to cheer and
strengthen him at whose side he stood.

When Christ interceded for the Comforter, His
disciples were about to appear before the world as
before a tribunal. They were to stand in a great
court room and be witnesses for the truth as it is in
Christ. The supreme responsibility laid upon them
was to plead the cause of Christ in the presence of
their fellows and persuade others to accept the
claims of Christ. For this great and important re-
sponsibility they needed help. Therefore Christ so
particularly and earnestly sought for them the gift
of the Comforter.

There was one special designation in this prayer
that Christ linked with the ''Comforter," namely,
"the Spirit of Truth." This "Spirit of Truth" was
indeed to be "another" Comforter, even as Christ
Himself up to this time had been their first Com-
forter. The Spirit was to do for them in instruction,
in counsel, in guidance, just what Christ hitherto
had done.

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The Comforter Sought for Service

But there was one particular feature of the
Spirit's work which Christ desired should have pre-
eminent recognition and so He named the Comforter,
the "Spirit of Truth." These disciples were going
out into life to bear witness to Himself, the Truth.
What they particularly needed therefore was a
Helper who should put into their hearts the words,
thoughts and purposes of Christ, the Truth, and
should enable them to manifest Christ, the Truth,
to the world. So Christ prayed that they might have
the Comforter as "The Spirit of Truth." Having
Him they would have the very spirit of Jesus Christ
Himself and would be endowed for the work Jesus
Christ wished of them.

We say of a man who has listened to the thrill-
ing stories of a hunter until he is on fire to go where
the hunter has gone and to do what the hunter has
done, that the man has caught the hunter's spirit.
A youth listening to a missionary may become so
aflame to visit the unenlightened and even, if need
be, lay down his life for them, that we say of the
youth, he has caught the missionary's spirit. So the
Holy Spirit coming to men was to impart such views
of Christ's character and work that Christ and His
work should be their inspiration, and they catching
Christ's spirit should live to exemplify Christ and

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advance His work. All those truths which Christ
entered earth to present, the Holy Spirit was to help
them to present. He was to give them power to
know the right, to bless their fellows and to honor
Christ. The Spirit of Truth would encourage them
for Christian activity and would sustain them in
Christian suffering. He would create a great body
of men, who like knights would rally to the defense
of right and would battle for the downfall of wrong.
A special condition of mind is requisite that the
Holy Spirit may possess men as Christ then prayed
that the Spirit might possess His disciples. The
Holy Spirit in this mission of the Comforter, the
Paraclete, is intended only for those who are ready
to glorify Christ before the world. The man that
is indifferent whether his influence tells as power-
fully as possible for helping Christ's cause cannot
receive the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. Such a
man is in no sympathy with the particular work He
has come to accomplish. Such a man is not a tool
meet for the Spirit's use. Ananias and Sapphira,
swayed by selfish purposes, cannot be the Spirit's in-
strument, nor can Demas, loving this present world
more than the souls for whom Christ died. No
person can ever have the Comforter who wishes
Him as an opiate. Such a person has no worthy

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The Comforter Sought for Service

conception of the Comforter's mission, nor has he
any true realization of what the Comforter wishes
done. People who ask to receive Him for these
purposes alone, have no idea of His particular func-
tion in the kingdom of grace. Unless they wish
Him that they may be better fitted for serving
Christ in the lives of others, they are unprepared
to profit by his presence. Inert rock that has no
intention of producing vegetation is not advantaged
by sunlight. It is the meadow that awaits the sun-
light in order to bring forth grass and flowers that
alone is advantaged by the sunlight.

There are many people who need to have their
understandings aroused to a clear perception of the
mission of the Comforter. He comes to prepare
men and women for Christian usefulness. That is
His one single purpose. When we pray that He
may be given to a boy, our only reason for so pray-
ing is that the boy may be fitted to do something for
Jesus Christ among his comrades or in his home.
This intercession cannot be offered for one who is
to continue sluggish in works of beneficence. The
coming of the Comforter is a trumpet call to action
— and that action, earnest Christian usefulness.

Wonder is often expressed that when the day of
Pentecost was come, the men and women who met

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the occasion were so brave and ready. The ex-
planation of their bravery and readiness is this :
Christ, previous to His Ascension, charged them to
wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit should come
upon them as He had prayed that the Comforter
might come. What did they need the Holy Spirit
for? Why should they wait a single day for Him
when time was so precious? What would they do
with this gift of power through the Holy Spirit
when they should receive it? The answer to these
questions is found in the mission of the Comforter.
He was not awaited to give them a sense of for-
giveness, nor to be a lullaby of peace in their hearts,
nor to teach them moral ideas — but to empower them
for a definite and special service. A particular work
had been entrusted to them. Speaking generally
they were to be Christ's laborers in the harvest field
of need. Speaking specifically they were to be His
witnesses. They were to advocate His cause, de-
clare His truths, tell His love and testify to His
saving power in human life. This they were to do
everywhere, in Jerusalem and to the uttermost parts
of the earth. In view of this specific service, this
witness bearing, Christ prayed for the Comforter to
come to them. The Comforter was to be to them
the great dynamic whereby they could fulfil their

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The Comforter Sought for Service

mission. He was to empower them to do what
devolved upon them as witnesses.

They recognized that this was the purpose of
Christ's prayer. Accordingly when the sound as
of a rushing mighty wind came from heaven, and
the tongues of fire appeared (exterior signals indi-
cating to the disciples that the hour for action had
arrived) these men and women who had simply
been waiting to bear their testimony sprang forward
to give it. The conception of the Christian life that
animated their whole being was, bringing the world
to Christ through witness bearing for Him. This
conception the Holy Spirit now told them should be
expressed in deeds. He enabled them to express it,
enlightening their minds in the knowledge of Scrip-
ture, kindling their bravery, giving them utterance
and imparting power to win souls. The prayer for
the Holy Spirit as the Comforter means service for
Christ in saving men. Irresponsibility for the wel-
fare of others, disinclination to effort, withdrawal
from the world's woe are as far from this prayer as
east is from west. When Christ prayed this prayer,
He wished God to take those few men who were
His disciples and so charge them with the forces of
Heaven that they would rise triumphant above all
hesitation and would spring forward to conquer this

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world in His name. Nothing should terrify nor
deter them. They should go anywhere, speak to
any man, endure any privation, in attempting to
lead men to believe in Christ.

Sometimes in the campaign of an army the bugle
call suddenly sounds. The camp has been asleep.
But the hour has come for fighting and the bugle
sounds the notes of "battle." Immediately the men
are awake. Straightway horses are saddled, ar-
tillery is unlimbered and ten minutes after the call
the whole camp is transformed. The army that
ten minutes before appeared so impotent and in-
deed was so impotent, through that bugle call has
become powerful. Let opportunity for action now
come, and the army will manifest its might. It will
answer to the end for which it has been created and
it will fight with energy and daring.

The prayer for the Comforter is the prayer that
God will sound His bugle call in the heart of the
Christian and will arouse him to aggressive action.
The Christian is no more to sit at ease. No more
is he to dream of himself, of his home, and of his
pleasures. He is now a soldier in the field, enlisted
under Christ and for Christ, to do a soldier's service.
He is to fight his captain's battles, resisting the evil
of life and trying to draw men to follow his leader.

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The Comforter Sought for Service

When that prayer was answered in Peter's heart
he could not rest until he had looked straight into
the eyes of the people at Jerusalem and told them
that they needed a Saviour. When it was answered
in Pilkington's heart he felt that he must go to
Uganda, take up Mackay's work and carry forward
the interests for which Mackay had lived and died.
When that prayer was answered in Mary Lyon's
heart she founded the Mount Holyoke training
school where girls should catch the spirit of Christ's
life and be inspired to redeem the world. When that
prayer was answered in F. B. Meyer's heart, he
started, with an energy entirely new, to reach every
living man with words that glowed with the love of
Christ.

The prayer for the Holy Spirit the Comforter is
one that many a parent hesitates to offer for his
child: it involves too much for the child. The an-
swer to that prayer may thrust the child out of his
present luxurious surroundings, into efforts, self-
denials and sacrifices from which the parent desires
to protect his child. That prayer for a child may
make a child leave home and go forth, as Henry
Martyn did, to meet responsibilities otherwise avoid-
able: may end forever his being "an ornament to
society," and, because of his zeal and persistency,
may cause all society to look on him askance.

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

Nor does every man dare to offer this prayer for
himself. Students who offer it for themselves may
find God straightway showing them paths of use-
fulness so different from those they cherish, that
to walk in them will require a wholly new plan of
life. Young men in theological seminaries who pray
this prayer for themselves may see fields of oppor-
tunity opening before them such as they never have
been willing to consider. Men and women who pray
it for themselves may see their business and social
practices in such a new light, that they will be
ashamed to continue those practices and will have
to change their methods.

The prayer for the Comforter is a very searching
prayer. It is the prayer that answered gives the
church power. Its answer causes the church to
break loose from listlessness and all hindrances, and
become a giant — mighty to the pulling down of sin's
strongholds and to the upbuilding of Zion's palaces.
We believe in this prayer. In our heart of hearts
we thoroughly believe in it. We wish every youth
would offer it for himself and every parent would
offer it for his child. Then the age of religious in-
difference would end. Then the age of religious
chivalry and knighthood would begin. Pentecosts
would be wherever the Christian church is. There

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would be no more servants of the Lord sleeping in
the laps of Delilahs. There would be multitudes of
mighty men abroad in the earth, and their testimony
for Jesus would be glorious.

We do well to intercede for the Comforter in the
hearts of Christian people. His coming giveth power
to the faint and increaseth strength to him that hath
no might. Let the Comforter come to His church —
ready and eager to rescue individual souls — and that
church will be fair as the morn, clear as the sun and
terrible as an army with banners.

Even so may the Holy Spirit the Comforter come !

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Special petitions tor ©ur Belovefc*

Once a peculiar discussion arose among some un-
dergraduates gathered in a college room at Cam-
bridge, England. The question had been asked,
"What kind of a man would you like to have at your
bedside in case you were dying?" So it was pro-
posed that each should write under cover the name
of the minister he would wish with him in such cir-
cumstances. Papers were brought out, each wrote
a name, the papers were folded, collected and read.
To the surprise of all each one had written the
same name and that name was the name of one of
the least mentioned ministers of Cambridge. The
minister was a quiet man whose church was never
crowded. But quiet and lacking in brilliancy as
he was, the minister was known to be a man of
prayer, who cared more for God's blessing on
others than for men's applause of himself. These
undergraduates somehow believed in him and in his
prayer.

An earnest man's prayer is a force for good.
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Special Petitions for Our Beloved

Abraham had influence with God for Sodom. Again
and again Abraham prayed that God would spare
Sodom from destruction, and every time he so
prayed God yielded to his wish. No one now knows,
no one ever will know — until eternity dawns — the
evils that have been averted from human lives by
the prayers of others.

Besides averting evils from others the prayers of
loving hearts have secured blessings to them. A
young man at Dothan was so alarmed because of
the seemingly overwhelming forces that threatened
Israel, that his heart failed him. But Elisha prayed
and said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he
may see." Thereupon the young man looking up to
the mountain that was near by saw the mountain
rilled with horses and chariots of fire, ready to de-
fend Israel against the enemy. Immediately the
young man's courage asserted itself and he became
fearless.

True love for others is intended to inspire prayer
for them. Such love was in Paul's heart for the
Philippian Church. Words of endearment were
often on his pen when he wrote to them. He called
them "My brethren, dearly beloved and longed for,
my joy and my crown." That love led him to pray
for them. This was his prayer :

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'A Mighty Means of Usefulness

"That your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment,

"That ye may approve things that are ex-
cellent,

"That ye may be sincere and without of-
fense TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST I

"Being filled with the fruits of righteous-
ness, WHICH ARE BY JESUS CHRIST,

"Unto the glory and praise of God."

This prayer has four great petitions. The first
of them is, "that your love may abound yet more
and more in knowledge and in all judgment."

Sometimes we ask ourselves, what special requests
shall we make for others? This prayer removes all
uncertainty. Our requests certainly should be, that
others may have increasingly loving dispositions
that are at once intelligent and discriminating.

Paul has a remarkable way of putting words to-
gether. In small, compact sentences he says much
and says that much judiciously. To him a loving dis-
position was the supreme product of Christianity.
In the description he gives in his first letter to the
Corinthian church of the characteristics and uses of
love, he makes love the best possession that can be
held by the human heart. "Love never faileth."
Eloquent talking will some day be valueless. In-

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Special Petitions for Our Beloved

formation, though it be encyclopedic, will eventually
be disappointing. So too will luxury and applause.
But a loving disposition will always be valuable and
satisfying. Unselfish interest in others is a last-
ing joy and an unceasing benediction. Fellow man
needs love, God rejoices in love and eternity per-
petuates love. Love is the immortal part of our
being, for it is the only part worthy of immortality.

When anyone prays for another "that his love
may abound yet more and more" he prays a great
prayer for him. What strength and joy and noble-
ness would characterize men if in every soul that
now has some love, that love should "abound !" The
good in many a man is small and inexpressive. In
defense and explanation of him we often are obliged
to say: "If the secret springs of that man's life
could be seen, it would be known how many noble
traits he has !" But the pitifulness is, that a friend
has to insist that the noble traits exist. The lost
piece of money was in the house. No one denied it
was there. But a great search was requisite to find
it, and bring it to light !

That your love may "abound." Once I went into

a palatial home and found at every step, yes, almost

at every half step, some beautiful article, brought

from Italy or Egypt, India or Japan. As these orna-

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ments, whichever way I looked, filled my eye, I said,
"Beautiful things abound in this house !" The heart
in which love "abounds" is a blessed heart. Gener-
ous instincts and gracious forgivenesses are in it.
Tender sympathies are in it. It has no place for
envies and jealousies. Anger and malice, hatreds
and grudges, every little and every large unloving-
ness are crowded out of the heart. When sunlight
"abounds" in a house, darkness must fly away.
When warmth "abounds" in a heart, no room is left
for coldness. Our world would become unspeak-
ably sweet and helpful, if in all Christian hearts lov-
ing kindness abounded "yet more and more." The
most attractive lives would become even more at-
tractive. Men like Drummond and Peabody would
take on a new winsomeness. Even the weakest and
least pleasing Christians would begin to glow with
beauty. Harshness and bitterness would go, as
mists go before the rising sun — and these weakest
and least pleasing Christians would be strong and
bright. That which in a man's own soul tastes
sweetest to the soul itself is love. That which in a
man's own mind most refreshes the mind itself is
love. As love abounds "yet more and more," con-
tent abounds, joy abounds, godliness abounds.

Reference has already been made to the fact that
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Paul used words judiciously. In this very petition
he so uses them. Notice the full statement of this
petition : "that your love may abound yet more
and more in knowledge and in all judgment."

The words "knowledge" and "judgment" safe-
guard the petition and make it an exceedingly wise
one. "Knowledge" means acquaintance with the
facts of a given situation in which love is drawn out :
"judgment" means discernment of the proper meth-
ods in which love should express itself. What Paul
had in mind was that these Philippians should love
intelligently, should use "sense" in their affection
and in the expression of their affection. Love may
become the sport of every impulse. Unwise love
has wrought great evil in the world. Sometimes
such love has been like a frenzy. Paul prays that
it may never be a frenzy. He wishes it to be deep
and strong and full-volumed, but never like a river
that breaks down its dam or like a fire that destroys
its chimney. Love is not to run away with judg-
ment, but the rather is to be controlled and directed
by judgment.

When the Crusades were proclaimed in Europe,
thousands of people, impelled by the purest motives,
rushed into the Crusades. They loved Christ : they
were ready to do and even to die that Christ's

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

sepulchre might be rescued from the Moslem. The
enthusiasm of the hour swept them off their feet.
Carried captive by a love that did not stop to con-
sider what was involved in their action, they bade
farewell to their homes and started for the Holy
Land, as unprepared for travel as an unarmed
soldier is for battle. As a consequence they fell by
the wayside or perished by disease.

There is no contradiction between love and in-
telligence. They are meant to act in harmony.
We are convinced that intelligent love is possible
when we study a heart like that of Moses. He loved
the children of Israel so intensely that for their wel-
fare he would willingly sacrifice his very life. But
intense as his love was, it was always directed by
wisdom. Accordingly love sought out the best bless-
ings and the safest situations that could be desired
for Israel.

Paul himself is a similar illustration of the union
of love and intelligence. He was very magnanimous
and tender hearted. He exemplified the love he so
emphatically described. And still, however devoted
he was to others, he never said a foolish word to
them, nor did he ever extend a hurtful sympathy.

To pray that the sphere of love may be "in knowl-
edge and judgment" is to pray that the kind heart

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may not make mistake in its kindness, hurting the
very ones whom it designs to help. Wise love saves
parents from unduly petting their children. Wise
love in blessing others leaves no sorrow. When
"love abounds yet more and more in knowledge and
all judgment" human hearts grow very sweet and
the world is greatly helped.

The second petition in Paul's prayer for the Phil-
ippians is "that ye may approve things that are ex-
cellent."

One day a son came home in rags and disgrace,
and said, "Father, I have sinned." Yes, he had
sinned. He had left his father's house when his
father wished him to stay at home, and he had done
many shameful deeds. His life had brought dis-
honor to himself and grief to his father. When,
returning, he said, "I have sinned," he told the
truth.

But there never would have been occasion for any
such confession as this, if he had always "approved
things that are excellent." His mistake and his sor-
row were all due to the fact that he had approved
things that were not excellent.

The word "approve" has an alternative reading
in the margin, where the word "try" appears as its
possible substitute. "Try" suggests familiar expe-

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

riences : A young man hears warnings against de-
ception, profaneness and impurity. He says I will
merely "try" them and see what they are. Then he
"tries" a deception, a profaneness, an impurity. The
way of "trying" evil is often the way of experiencing
death. Boys and men go to destruction simply by
trying inferior and hurtful tilings. The mere tast-
ing of evil arouses within them an appetite for evil,
and the poison of wrong enters every vein of their
life. For a man to try things not excellent when
he may try things that are excellent, is both folly and
sin.

But no wiser and safer course of conduct can be
suggested than that of "trying" things that are ex-
cellent. It is the course of conduct that leads to
holy character.

"O, make but trial of His love,
Experience will decide
How blest are they and only they
Who in His love abide."

Discernment is needed to know the things that
are excellent. Therefore it was that Paul prayed
for "knowledge and judgment." The eyes of the
understanding must be opened if good is to be
recognized as good though it be in rags, and evil
is to be recognized as evil though it comes as an

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angel of light. Deception is on every hand. It came
to Eve, it came to Esau, it came to Solomon. It
lurks in every society where some comrade exerts
a pernicious influence, it waits in every street where
some miscreant whispers an evil solicitation.

The men and women who, always being able to
know the things that are excellent, approve them,
are sure to be splendid specimens of Christian
beauty. "Excellent !" The word makes us think of
things that rise up high, like the great mountains
that tower above the foothills and have their summits
in the skies. "Excellent!" The word speaks to us
of graces that are the supreme graces — the lofty
graces of far-advanced holiness, of perfect peace, of
Christlike joy. He who has so long "tried the ex-
cellent things" that they have become incorporated
into his being, has very exalted ideals and very ex-
alted joys. He cannot demean himself to the low
and the soiled.

The third petition in Paul's prayer for the Philip-
pians is "that ye may be sincere and without of-
fense till the day of Christ."

There is a wealth of significance in the adjective
"sincere" as Paul used it. Our English translators
chose a strong word when they translated Paul's ad-
jective "sincere." Sincere is a Latin word meaning

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without wax {sine cera). The Latins applied it to
a vase that did not need to be patched up but was
perfectly whole. Sometimes vases had cracks which
were concealed by wax. But a sincere vase had no
faults of any kind needing to be covered. So a sin-
cere man is a genuine man, free from flaws, sound
and whole in every respect.

But Paul's Greek adjective really means "proved
in the sunlight." It suggests a type of character
that can stand the strongest inspection. A cloth seen
in the dim or in the artificial light of a store appears
one thing. Take that cloth out into the sunlight
and it is seen to be another thing. David seemed
fair so long as no sunlight fell upon him, but when
Nathan made him stand where the sunlight fell
directly upon him, then David was no longer fair
but foul. Judas in the shadow was a friend : Judas
in the sunlight was a traitor. The sunlight is a re-
vealer. When the sunlight of full scrutiny falling
on motives causes those motives to appear brighter
and purer, the sunlight reveals a magnificent char-
acter. It is this feature of Christ's life that is so
unique: it was spent in the open, where men con-
stantly saw him, and still not one of them all could
find a flaw in His character. Even the man who
betrayed Him was obliged to testify to Christ's spot-

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Special Petitions for Our Beloved

lessness as he declared "I have betrayed innocent
blood."

The men of today who, "proved in the sunlight,"
are seen to be pure and unselfish are the men who
draw their families and their associates to Christ.
Sooner or later the searchlight of inspection falls
upon every one. He whose integrity and high-
mindedness then become the more apparent, is the
man who most glorifies the name of Christian and
most adds power to the Christian Church.

This third petition asks that men be sincere and
also, "without offense." An offense is that which
causes people to stumble. If a stone or log or animal
is in a pathway and people stumble over it, that
stone, log or animal is an offense. In the olden time
special roadways led to the "cities of refuge." The
fleeing man who could reach one of these cities
ahead of his pursuer was safe. Great attention was
paid to these roadways. Everything that could pos-
sibly cause a runner to stumble was removed from
them. The purpose was to make the way to salva-
tion clear — without a single "offense" in it. To
leave in the roadway one stone that would cause the
runner to fall and so to fail of reaching the city of
refuge was a terrible wrong.

So today it is a terrible wrong to be an offense to
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

any one on his way to the city of God. Good things
left undone, as well as evil things done, may make
us an offense. If our virtues are not bright, our
very dimness may cause the ruin of others. The low
burning of the lamp in the lighthouse has been
known to wreck vessels. To be silent, giving no
alarm when danger approaches, is to let our brother
be unprepared for the danger. The man that is
"without offense" is a great spiritual helper. To go
through one's whole life never hindering one single
soul from being better but the rather aiding many
souls toward God and the joys of heaven, is an ex-
perience we may well wish for ourselves and may
well seek for others.

"Till the day of Christ." Such is the ending of
this petition to "be sincere and without offense."
Some day the Master is to appear. All things then
will be seen in His light. That light will search
men's hearts and lives even as the sunlight has
failed to do. Men shall be completely revealed to
themselves and completely declared to others.
Happy they who then — in the day of Christ — shall
be seen to be "sincere and without offense."

Paul's prayer for the Philippians closes with the
words, "being filled with the fruits of righteousness
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise
of God."

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Special Petitions for Our Beloved

These words constitute the fourth petition of
Paul's prayer. They voice his wish that those whom
he loves may have an abundant experience of the
benefits of God's grace. "Filled!" Paul loved to
use the words "full" and "filled." He sought the
full indwelling of the Holy Spirit in his own heart
and he desired that same full indwelling in the
hearts of others. He longed to have righteousness
the overpowering passion of men's souls. He prayed
that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's
will and that their peace might pass understanding.
His own spiritual experience was rich and deep.
"That ye may be filled with all the fulness of God"
was his desire for others.

Filled "with the fruits of righteousness." The
fruits of righteousness are comfort and content, en-
ergy and sweetness, power and salvation. Filled
with such fruits ! The autumn time suggests the
beauty of such an experience. When the mows are
filled with hay and the bins are filled with grain,
the time for harvest joy has come. All nations sing
that joy, Russia and England, France and America.
The fruits of harvest are glorious, so too are the
fruits of righteousness. He who is filled with the
fruits of righteousness has a heart filled with last-
ing happiness and a life filled with abiding strength.

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"Which are by Jesus Christ." Yes, Jesus Christ
is the source and means whereby these fruits enter
the heart and life. And when once they enter
the heart and life, these fruits are "unto the glory
and praise of God." They cause those in whom
they dwell to reflect honor on God. Men "filled with
the fruits of righteousness" are living illustrations
of the power of divine grace : they are God's epistles
written to show the beauty of His service. On earth
they are God's attractive ambassadors and then in
heaven they are God's eternal "glory and praise."

In the history of Hamburg occurs the story of an
intercession. The city was besieged. Days and
weeks had worn on until the people of this city were
in distress. The day came when it seemed to the
commander that he could not hold out another hour.
Heavy hearted he entered his garden. His armor
had not been put off for many nights. As he walked
through the garden he noticed the cherries on the
trees. They were large, ripe, luscious. A thought
came to him. Next day he dressed three hundred
children of Hamburg in white. Then he loaded
them with these cherry branches. When all was
ready he opened the gates of the city and had the
children walk straight toward the besiegers. The
besiegers could not imagine what the procession

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Special Petitions for Our Beloved

meant. Children in white, bearing branches of fruit !
Was it a stratagem? They awaited the coming of
the children. When they saw their innocency, re-
ceived their fruit and learned the dire need of Ham-
burg, the commander's appeal to their mercy touched
the hearts of the besiegers. Next day the besiegers
moved away from Hamburg and the city was saved !

The prayers of intercession are seemingly weak
means of good: but when we bring those prayers
t< God, as the children carried the branches, in love
a> id in earnestness, those prayers are appeals that
n ach God's heart and secure the blessings that are
si ught. Well may we then pray for our beloved :

"That your love may abound yet more and
a\3re in all knowledge and judgment,

"That ye may approve things that are ex-
c ;llent,

"That ye may be sincere and without of-
fense TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST :

"Being filled with the fruits of righteous-
ness, WHICH ARE BY JESUS CHRIST, UNTO THE
a^ORY AND PRAISE OF GOD."

81

XTbe Cbrfstfan Worfeer'8 Untercesston.

In a village in New York state the following scene
once occurred. The pastor of the church was to go
away. All the families dwelling within two miles
of the church belonged to his congregation. The
pastor had labored long and faithfully among them.
His life had been blameless. His preaching had
been forceful. He had gone into the homes with
interest and affection for all. Besides, he had
spoken some word of counsel to almost every in-
dividual in the entire congregation. He had rebuked,
encouraged, comforted and persuaded, according
to the need in each case. On the morning of his
departure he came to a rising ground whence he
could see the church, the houses lining the village
street, and the scattered homes of more than three-
fourths of his people. There he turned and looked
back. Then he stretched out his arms, lifted his
eyes, and with quivering voice called upon God:
"Blessed Father, this is the people I have loved. I
have labored for them with my whole soul. I can

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The Christian Worker s Intercession

do no more. Do Thou take care of them, and bless
them, and bring them one and all to Thy glory."

Then he looked once more upon all the homes
where the old and the young, the thoughtful and
thoughtless were, turned about and passed on his
way.

That scene does not stand alone in the world's
history. Abraham Lincoln once said : " I have been
driven many times to my knees by the overwhelm-
ing conviction that I had no other place to go."
Thousands of earnest, faithful men, having used
every means within their power for the spiritual
good of others, have reached moments when no
other resource was left them except prayer. "What
more can I do ?" a teacher of a Sunday school class
often asks after he has put his whole soul into trying
to make Scripture truths reach the hearts of his
scholars. "What more can I do?" a parent often
asks, after he has tried to live spotlessly in his home,
and has spoken to his children with all possible per-
suasion of Christ's claims for their allegiance.

At such times there is but one answer. It is the
answer given in Paul's example at Miletus. For
three years he had labored in Ephesus. He had
been manly, independent, and tender. He had
worked with his own hands to support himself; he

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

had coveted no man's money; he had gone from
house to house by day and by night saying the need-
ful word and showing a self-denying, loving spirit.
He had been a faithful friend and a faithful min-
ister. He had testified by his life and by his lips to
the beauty of Christ. He had — even with tears —
urged people to leave sin and walk in righteousness.

But now his opportunity was over. He was to
see their faces no more. He had done and said
enough to enable every one of them to be a splendid
Christian, at once a blessing to his fellows and an
honor to God. Only one resource remained pos-
sible to him : that was prayer. He knew the abso-
lute necessity for heaven's blessing on his work. He
himself said, "Paul may plant, Apollos may water,
but God giveth the increase." Prayer was to him
a refuge and a strength. Accordingly, on the sands
of the sea shore, surrounded by the representative
workers of the Ephesian church, he knelt down and
lifted his heart toward heaven in petition.

What was the nature of Paul's prayer? We are
not told positively. But we are told so suggestively
that we feel sure its nature is indicated in the words
of his farewell :

"And now, brethren, I commend you to
God and to the word of His grace, which is
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The Christian Worker's Intercession

ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP AND TO GIVE YOU AN IN-
HERITANCE AMONG ALL THEM WHICH ARE
SANCTIFIED."

The key-word of the prayer is the word "able."
The word "able" refers both to God and also to
"the word of His grace." "Able," "able," "able"—
that was the idea in Paul's mind as he knelt down
to pray for these Christian workers.

He commended them to God. What does it mean
to "commend" a person to God? To commend to
God is to hand over to God for His care and bless-
ing. When Christ came to the final moment of His
life He said, "Father, into Thy hand I commend my
spirit." Thus He intrusted His spirit to God for
His care and His blessing. If today a dying parent
desired to make provision for his child, so that the
child after his death should have proper oversight
and protection, he would call to his bedside some
friend in whose integrity, wisdom and loyalty he
had confidence, and he would say to him: "Here is
my boy. I want you to take him and do for him
everything you can, so that all will be well with him.
I commend him to you."

But is there any special reason why we should
thus "commend" people to God? Are they in any
particular danger? One thing Paul felt and felt

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

with his whole being — the exposure of every Chris-
tian to spiritual peril. He never complained of this
peril. Nor on the other hand did he ever forget it.
To Paul every man's soul was the battle field where
Satan fought desperately. Life to him was not so
much a game of chess which Satan plays with every
youth, the youth's soul being the stake. Nor was it
so much all sorts of frightful creatures, such as
Bunyan saw, threatening every pilgrim's progress
toward Heaven. It was more than these. To Paul
human life was an army of actual evil beings who,
well organized and well directed, had but one mis-
sion— the ruin of man's soul. They were principali-
ties and powers and rulers of darkness — spiritual
foes that were all the more effective because they
were unseen, foes that, subtly infusing into the soul
erroneous ideas, weakened its principles and per-
suaded it into evil. Paul never lost this idea from
his thinking. To him all the influences of hell were
in league against a soul's welfare. Therefore in
the very spirit of his Master he kept urging men
always to be on their guard. He exhorted them to
realize that one single hour of carelessness might
imperil their eternal welfare.

Nor was Paul wrong. It is just as certain as the
fact of existence that the careless soul, even in the

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The Christian Worker's Intercession

Christian worker, is exposed to spiritual danger.
In Ephesus there were persons eager to mislead
those very people whom Paul had taught. These
persons were ready to turn converts back to idolatry,
to lure them again into the vices of Diana worship
and to make them worse than they had been before
Paul rescued them. There are such people in the
world now. No words can be too severe to charac-
terize them. "Grievous wolves" Paul called such
people — "wolves" because they do not hesitate to
take simplicity and deceive it, innocence and corrupt
it, high mindedness and pull it down to destruction.

Once in Texas I saw brought into ranch head-
quarters the skins of eight little wolves. Why was
anybody killing little wolves? Because those little
wolves, left unkilled, some day would be grown.
Then a band of them would find a bunch of cattle
that was astray on the ranch plains. The wolves
would surround the bunch, would select some spe-
cial animal as their victim, and every time that in
the "milling" it came near them, would bite at its
flanks. At last the animal, weakened by loss of
blood, would fall. A moment later they would be
tearing it to pieces.

A wolf among young cattle is a fearful thing.
A wolf among sheep is even more fearful. But a

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

wolf in human form among weak souls is the most
fearful of all fearful things.

That minister in the New York State village look-
ing back in his farewell saw the village tavern.
There was the cheerful bar-room where many a
parishioner had tarried, sometimes drinking too
much, sometimes listening to low and soiled con •
versation. Again and again, after he had almost
persuaded his parishioners to Christian earnestness,
these parishioners had been drawn into the tavern.
Somehow before they came out all their concern
for the religious life had disappeared. That tavern
was to him like a great wolf : it destroyed his sheep.
Satan must have laughed many and many a time
as he saw the change wrought in one short quartet
of an hour in that tavern.

Wherever people go there are spiritual dangers.
They may be as imperceptible as malaria, but as
powerful. There are Congressmen who leave their
quiet home churches to go to Washington. When
they return home it seems as though the life-blood o)
their piety had been sucked dry. Let any parent
know that tomorrow his child is to be placed in
such surroundings of temptation as Joseph faced
when carried to Egypt : let any friend know that to-
morrow his companion is to meet the evils that are

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The Christian Worker's Intercession

waiting to ensnare youth, to mislead maturity and
to deceive even age. Then if parent and friend
love child and companion they will rejoice in "com-
mending" these exposed ones to God's care.

It is because mothers and fathers love so tenderly
and understand life's evil so clearly that they com-
mend the child to God. They lay their hands upon
the child's shoulder, look firmly into his eyes and
say, "Go, my child, I ask God to care for you." Then
they turn away and in secret shed tears of affection
for the child as they kneel and entrust him to God.
Oh for prayer, today, from hearts the world over,
that shall thus "commend" each exposed soul to
the protection and blessing of God.

There was one other feature of this prayer for the
Ephesians. Remember that it is not the prayer of
an inactive, easy-going Christian. It is the prayer
of one who has put his very life-blood into efforts
for others. Remember too that this prayer says
nothing about health of body, nor safety of home,
nor preservation of life. The prayer deals wholly
with Christian character. After commending the
Ephesians to God Himself, it commends them to
His "word."

Paul had immense faith in the value of the Bible
as a means of spiritual blessing. Lately a sermon

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

was preached in Trinity Church, Boston, on the
subject of weak Christian lives, and upon religious
indifference and doubt. Said the preacher, "People
are coming to me every week and saying that they
have lost their faith and that they have no strength
of Christian convictions. They are university stu-
dents, they are graduates, they are young men in
business and older people in society. I ask them if
they are keeping up regular attendance upon church
services where the Bible is read, taught, prayed and
sung. Almost invariably they answer, 'No.' "

The very familiarity of the Bible often detracts
from the force of its message. Its words fall im-
potent upon the heart. And still the Bible, under
God, has such a power in it that it may both protect
from evil and also secure holiness. It is a word of
"grace," — that is, of love, undeserved love. The
Bible as a "word of grace" is a provision by love
and is an expression of love. It reveals to men that
personal love which God has for each of them, the
knowledge of which should make every human crea-
ture understand his unspeakable value in God's
sight, and should summon him irresistibly from all
discouragement and sin.

That "word" purposes to do two things for men.
The one, to make them perfect men in this present

90

The Christian Worker's Intercession

life; the other, to insure them perfect blessedness
in the life to come.

The method by which this first purpose is to be
carried out is noticeable. The word indicating that
method is the word "build." The Bible is to do for
men exactly what a builder does when he erects
a house. He makes his foundation and then by
gradual processes of construction he erects a build-
ing. The advancement is not hasty. Jonah's gourd
sprang up in a day, and perished in a day. But no
building of worthy size and beauty, intended to
last many years, can be made in a day. Years upon
years must go into the building of perfect character.
This process of building a complete man is slower
than any other process with which we have to do.
And still the very slowness of this process suggests
that character thus formed is made to last, to last
as it would seem, for an eternity.

But the Bible is "able" to accomplish this great
result. Rightly used it is the means of transforming
weakness into strength and even of changing death
into life. If read superstitiously as a charm, or
irreverently as an ordinary book, or formally as a
matter of letter rather than of spirit, it becomes a
hindrance to the soul. But if read aright it " builds
up the soul in Jesus Christ and establishes it in the
faith."

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

When the soul tests all views of life by the Bible's
views, and when the soul is dominated by Christ's
purity, self-sacrifice, and self-control, then the soul
becomes stronger and stronger for duty, wiser and
wiser for truth — sweeter, happier, and holier. The
reverent heed of God's word secures firmness in
principle and development in power.

Such continuous use of the Bible never fails of
profitable results. To pray that people may hide
the Bible in their minds and hearts is to pray that
they may grow pure and useful. To give a person
a Bible with the expressed or unexpressed prayer
that it may be all that God designed it to be to that
person is to pray that the person — little by little,
but with all sureness — may be "built up" into a
noble, helpful, attractive Christian.

Give the Bible opportunity and it will do its work.
"Can you make a good mechanic of me?" the young
man asked as he went to the master mechanic. "I
can if you will do just what I tell you and will con-
tinue doing so for five years." "Can you make a
singer of me?" the young man asked as he went to
the singing teacher. "Yes, certainly I can, if you
will listen to all I say and will practice what I say,
for seven years." The hope of the master mechanic
and of the singing teacher is in having opportunity.

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The Christian Worker's Intercession

Let the Bible have opportunity and the desired re-
sults are certain.

One thing else God and the Bible can do besides
"building up;" they can "give an inheritance among
all them which are sanctified."

During all those years when the Israelites of old
wandered in the desert, they had a hope that sus-
tained and inspired them. They looked ahead to a
blessed land where wandering would be forever
over and all the uncertainties of pilgrimage would
cease. There each one of them would receive an
"inheritance," a safe and happy spot, where, sur-
rounded by God's people, he would have his per-
petual home. The thought of that inheritance
(God's gift reserved for them, His children and
heirs) put courage and strength into the Israelites.
It spoke to them of trial ended and of joy perpetu-
ated.

The word "inheritance" passed from the Old into
the New Testament. Christian writers used it.
They gave it an enlarged meaning. With them it
stood for the perfect and eternal blessedness which
God confers upon His people when Christ's work is
complete. "The inheritance among all them that
are sanctified" is God's Heaven. But God's Heaven
is the holiness, the peace, and the fellowship which

93

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are the crowning possibilities of human life and
whose sphere is the very presence of God. "Oh,
God," prays the mother when her boy goes from
home to the war, "Oh, God, bring my boy home in
joy and safety." So the man who loves souls prays,
"Oh, God, bring these souls to Heaven, pure and
true. Guard them, keep them all through this
earthly life, and at last, sanctified and worthy, wel-
come them to Thy home."

That is a prayer that may well be on our lips for
all Christian workers. It is a request to God that
the outcome of life may be eternal blessedness. As
the owner of a vessel, when the vessel starts upon
the ocean, may say, "I hope my boat will have a
prosperous voyage, carrying its cargo in safety, out-
riding all gales and entering its port in peace :" so
we may pray that men should live beautifully and
at the end reach Heaven. Many a man has had
this wish for his friend. The wish is a noble one —
that the friend may live so worthily that God at the
last will honor him with the crown of life. That is
exactly what Paul prayed for the Ephesians and
what we should pray for others.

God and His word are "able" thus to "sanctify"
men. His word is a purifying power. Christ's in-
cisive utterances concerning covetousness, hatred,

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The Christian Worker's Intercession

impurity and formalism condemn and humble men.
Christ's gentle utterances concerning forgiveness
and love comfort and heal men. Let the Bible do
its perfect work, and men will be sweetened, en-
riched and even "sanctified" until the pathway of
their souls shall run straight on to Heaven.

The editor of one of the most influential news-
papers of New York City went one winter day into
the hills of New England. Night came on while he
was still far from his destination. The snow was
deep. He lost his way. He could not tell which
road to take. No one was at hand to guide him.
He was helpless. No house was in sight. At last
he detected a light far in the distance. He drove
toward it. He found that it was in a school house
and that a little handful of people were meeting
there to pray. They were "commending souls to
God and His word." They had tramped through
the snow as best they could and were here to make
intercession. He asked them the direction he should
take. They gave it. He drove away and was safe.

That little meeting on the cold, snowy night, made
up of people who had left their warm homes that
together they might offer supplication to God, stayed
in the editor's memory. When he reached the great
city the meeting constantly asserted itself in his

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

mind. As he saw men giving large checks for
charity he thought of it. As he studied the many
beautiful efforts made for human betterment he
thought of it.

One day he wrote an article for the daily issue
of his paper, describing his experience on that win-
ter night. He showed the whole scene, the hills, the
snow, the lost traveler, the school house and the
little band of interceding souls. Then in a conclu-
sion that expressed his profoundest conviction, he
said : " I believe that such meetings as that which
proved light and safety to me are today the greatest
power in the world to bring light and safety to the
souls of men."

96

Best IRequests tot Best people*

In his own unique and happy way Spurgeon
once described the difference between great and
small intercessions. He said:

"It may be your prayer is like a ship, which, when
it goes on a very long voyage, does not come home
laden so soon; but when it does come home, it has
a richer freight. Mere ' coasters ' will bring you
coals, or such like ordinary things ; but they that go
afar to Tarshish return with gold and ivory.
Coasting prayers, such as we pray every day, bring
us many necessaries; but there are great prayers,
which, like the old Spanish galleons, cross the main
ocean, and are longer out of sight, but come home
deep laden with a golden freight."

In intercession requests do vary in importance.
Some requests seek good things, some seek better
things, some seek best things. Intercession for the
best people should seek the very best blessings that
can be asked. So Paul thought when he interceded
for the Thessalonians. Their religious conduct was

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of a noble order. They were people for whose spir-
ituality and strength he always thanked God. He
even gloried in their piety and wherever he went
mentioned their goodness with the highest approba-
tion.

He put his requests for these Thessalonians into
this prayer:

"Wherefore also we pray always for you,
"That our God would count you worthy of
this calling,

"And fulfil all the pleasure of His good-
ness AND THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER:

"That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

may be glorified in you — and ye in hlm,
"According to the grace of our God and

the Lord Jesus Christ."

The first request of this prayer is "that God
would count you worthy of this calling.17

"This calling" is an inclusive phrase. It has to
do both with time and with eternity. It expresses
every duty of time and every reward both of time
and of eternity, to which God invites the soul. It
means the life of Christian service here and the
life of Christian sanctification hereafter.

When Paul used this phrase, his eye was on the
present and the future alike. In his judgment ex-

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Best Requests for Best People

istence could be seen aright only as it is seen in the
light of eternity. All things are not to continue as
they are. "The day of the Lord" is to come and
with its coming great changes are to ensue. All
evil influences then will be overpowered. All good
influences then will be established. The eyes of
Christ are to search every heart. Every secret thing
is to be uncovered. That which is impure shall be
put to shame. That which is pure shall be honored.
The "day of the Lord" at once will be fearful and
glorious — fearful to the evil, glorious to the good.

When a man is asked to be a Christian he is
asked to be ready for that day. This is his "call-
ing"— namely, to so live in all lowliness, meekness,
endurance and love as now to be the very best man
he can be and then to be prepared for eternity.

There is no appeal that can reach the heart of man
comparable to this "calling." It summons to the
highest possible duties and it enforces the strongest
possible virtues. The Christian is to be the very
best type of man the human mind can conceive.
Such he is to be now. Then at the end, in comple-
tion of character, he is to reign forever with God.

A man of this "calling" is especially honored.
Great responsibility rests upon him. He is chosen
to be God's fellow-worker in saving the world. He

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is, too, the man on whom centers the gaze of all
those heavenly beings who watch the spiritual strug-
gles of earth. When his work is done, then comes
his greatest honor — he is welcomed by Christ into
the everlasting habitations of blessedness.

Those who are already started in this "calling"
need our intercession. Good and worthy as they
are, they still lack many graces. Spotlessness is not
yet theirs. They are not doing for Christ all that
they may do, nor are they being for Christ all that
they may be. The best Christians are the most con-
vinced of their deficiencies. Paul called himself
"chiefest of sinners." The better he became the
more he felt his imperfection. So felt the faithful
centurion. "I am not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof," he said. "Would God that I
could better illustrate the beauty of holiness !" is the
language of the truest Christian.

But there is a distinction between actually being
worthy of the calling and being "counted" worthy
of it. Christ selected twelve men to be His disci-
ples. Every one of them had flaws in his character.
Still he "counted" them worthy to represent Him.
John Newton was not worthy to preach Christ.
Nor is the mission-worker worthy to teach Christ.
Nor is any soul-seeker worthy to call himself

ioo

Best Requests for Best People

Christ's ambassador. But God "counts" such men,
imperfect as they are, "worthy," and He uses them
to His praise.

It is a great honor even to be "counted" worthy
of the Christian calling. There must at least be
true penitence and true consecration in a person's
heart, if he is to be "counted worthy." Every per-
son thus penitent and consecrated God uses for His
glory. But He will not continue to use such an one
unless penitence deepens and consecration grows.

"Counted worthy!" That was a great compli-
ment paid the American missionaries after the siege
of Peking. When the siege was over, the United
States Minister declared that during all the time of
peril the missionaries showed such energy, skill and
devotion that to them more than to any others was
due the protection of the compound and the preser-
vation of the besieged. Not one of these mission-
aries was without his individual foibles — and still
every one of them behaved so well that he was
"counted worthy" of the missionary calling.

Whenever any man is counted worthy of the
Christian calling, he is an honor to God. The man
who buys and sells in such a way that his fellows
count him worthy of the Christian name glorifies
God. It sometimes seems as though the greatest

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

request we could make for Christian people is that
they may be "counted worthy of their calling."
How rapidly would God's work advance if every
Christian were reverenced by his associates ! Would
not the finger of scorn, now pointed at Christ's
church, immediately drop — if the members of that
church bore Christ's name worthily?

It is beautiful when a man already earnest be-
comes increasingly earnest, — when a soul already
noble becomes increasingly noble. It is even glori-
ous when a life commends Christ to the world in-
creasingly— when that life's influence, like a mighty
Amazon, accumulates volume at each advance.
Well may we make the petition for all holy men
of God, "Oh, that they may be more and more ef-
fective for Christ every day they live !"

The second request of Paul's prayer for good
people is, "that God may fulfil all the pleasure of
His goodness, and the work of faith with power."

This is a petition that all God's desires for the
spiritual development of good people may be thor-
oughly carried out!

His desires for them are exceeding many and

exceeding great. He desires that every sin and

every worldliness be laid aside. He desires that

their souls be absolutely pure and their lives might-

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Best Requests for Best People

ily powerful. What God wishes is that the Chris-
tian should be both beautiful and strong, so Christly
that men should behold in him God's likeness and
that every life touched by him, should be enriched
by his goodness. When Victoria was a child, the
heir to a throne, her mother might often have said
to Victoria: "If all my wishes for you are fulfilled
you will be a true, pure woman, and you will be a
wise, good queen." That mother's wishes for her
child were many and large. She desired thousands
upon thousands of blessings on her child. But how
few and small the desires of any earthly parent for
a child are compared to the desires cherished by
God for those who are at once the children of His
love and the heirs of His glory! "I will dwell in
them and walk in them : and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people." "I will also perfect that
which concerned! them."

This petition that all God's desires for His chil-
dren should be fulfilled, ends with the remarkable
words "with power." The prayer is that these
desires shall not be fulfilled weakly but fulfilled
mightily.

There is nothing in the Scripture more thrilling
than the word "power" as used by God in connec-
tion with His blessings. "Ye shall be baptized
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

with the Holy Ghost and with power," Christ said.
In due time a man like Peter who was too weak to
confess Christ before one person had such strength
that he spoke fearlessly before thousands. Power f
Men never cease marveling at it. They watch thfl
ox-cart lumbering along the highway, and they rec-
ognize the life in it, indicated by movement. Buf
when they stand beside the railway and see the loco-
motive come rushing down the track, drawing itf«
thousands of tons and sweeping by with resistless
speed, they say "This is power!" Life indeed is in
the ox-cart, but life "with power" is in the locomo
tive.

When God fulfils His desires in men "with
power" those desires are abundantly, gloriously ful-
filled. Men thus blessed enter into the banqueting,
house of God and eat His pleasant fruits. TheM
go forth in God's name conquering and to conquer.
"My people shall be willing in the day of my
power," God said. When "God's power" is mani^
fested in willing souls, a little one becomes a thou-
sand and a small one a strong nation. Before God's
mighty movements in the heart all discouragement
disappears. Songs take the place of sighs. "The*
base things of the world and the things that are
despised, and the things that are not bring to nought

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Best Requests for Best People

the things that are." Let God once fulfil His great
desires for His people "with power," and the church
will not have one weak member, nor will any-
Christian disciple be other than "a tower of
strength."

Once, in writing to the Colossians, Paul explained
the secret of his indomitable courage and his un-
failing energy. He was speaking of the efforts
made by him for the world's good. "Whereunto,"
he says of these efforts, "whereunto I also labor,
striving according to His working that worketh in
me mightily." In that word "mightily" was the
secret of his robust character and of his effective
influence.

When we ask God to fulfil all the good pleasure
of His goodness and the work of faith "with power"
in Christian people, we ask Him to reproduce men
like Moses and Daniel and Paul. We ask Him to
make even stronger and better men than these
worthies. Was it not "with power" that God raised
Christ from the dead? If with that same power He
today implants Christ in human lives, then Chris-
tians of shining holiness and far-reaching fervor
will abound, and those who give irresistible testi-
mony for Christ will be a great multitude.

Paul's prayer for good people reaches its climax

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

in the third petition. He prayed "that the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and
ye in Him."

No greater, higher prayer than this can be of-
fered. Here is the consummate petition of all pe-
titions for good people.

This petition has in view both the present day
of earthly service and that other day, "the great
day," when Christ comes in glorious majesty, and
every eye shall see Him.

To pray that Christ's name may be "glorified"
in men is to ask much. The "name" of Christ is
that by which Christ is known. Christ's name
stands for Christ's kingdom and for Christ Him-
self.

The prayer is not that Christ's name may be
glorified in the words nor even in the deeds of men.
Many a man whose heart was evil has said kind
words about Christ and has even dedicated churches
to Christ. The prayer is that Christ's name may
be glorified "in you." It is a prayer for such holy
character in Christian people as shall actually
"glorify" their Master.

It is much to "glorify" anyone or anything that
is great. Successful runners in the Olympic games
glorified the city of their birth. Franklin when his

106

Best Requests for Best People

representations secured the recognition of France
for the American Colonies glorified his country.
Even so a man may glorify Him "in whose name
every knee should bow, of things in heaven and
things in earth and things under the earth I" Such
glory from man is Christ's highest glory.

Here is a fact of marvelous significance — the
highest glory of Jesus Christ comes to Him from
redeemed and sanctified humanity. Men and
women that are true, pure, holy are His greatest
honor. When the persecuting Saul became the
preaching Paul, he became a glory to Christ. When
today men live patiently, sweetly, helpfully, they
too are a glory to Christ. Men may so live as
to disgrace Christ's name. They can be so care-
less, so evil that they drag Christ's name in the
mire. But when, like Robert Murray McCheyne,
they spend their whole energy for the truth, the
name of Christ is honored. When like Blaise Pas-
cal, constantly subject to bodily pain, they live so
patiently that their very voices are a benediction,
that same name of Christ is glorified.

To pray that a Christian may bring glory to

Christ's name is to pray that the Christian's heart

may be so filled with the fruits of the Spirit that

his home shall reverence his piety, that society shall

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

feel the moral omnipotence of his goodness, and
that the world shall see in him, as in a mirror, the
very reflection of the spotless Christ.

This culminating petition for Paul for good peo-
ple concludes with a remarkable expression. It is,
that "ye may be glorified in Him."

The branch has vitality and productiveness
through abiding in the vine. The Christian has
beauty and power through abiding in Christ. The
branch is glorified when the vine, sending its sap
into the branch, causes the branch to bring forth
buds and clusters. The Christian is glorified when
Christ, imparting His own divine life to the Chris-
tian, causes him to bring forth the fruits of right-
eousness. No glory that man can have is comparable
to the glory of being a noble Christian. Learning,
pomp, applause pale into insignificance beside good-
ness. When that goodness is Christ-inspired it is
transfiguringly beautiful.

Macaulay wrote concerning ancient Athens :
"Her power is indeed manifest at the bar, in the
senate, on the field of battle and in the school of
philosophy. But these are not her glory." Then
he mentioned her literature. He described it as
the wisest expression of her best men. He spoke
of the comfort and inspiration that her literature

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Best Requests for Best People

had given to the world. Then he said : "Her liter-
ature is her immortal influence." The "glory" of
Athens was her literature. The glory of a man
is his Christlike character. That which glorified
Washington was his unselfishness. That which
glorified Lincoln was his benevolence. It was not
the power nor the position of Washington and
Lincoln that glorified them, but it was their good-
ness. Not the houses, not the farms, not the wealth
of our fathers and mothers — but their spirit, of love
and devotion, glorifies our fathers and mothers to
our hearts.

To pray that a Christian may be glorified "in"
Christ is to pray that the very traits of Christ may
enter into and possess his being. Glorified in Christ
is to be rounded, purified, completed. A man or
woman glorified in Christ is the world's highest,
noblest product.

The day is coming when Christ will appear with
His angels, in majesty. Then all who have lived
godly lives shall be openly acknowledged. Angels
seeing them will praise Christ for them and call
them trophies of His love. Every John Bunyan
will be an enhancement to Christ's glory. Every
Timothy will be a star in Christ's crown of rejoic-
ing. The nearer to God men lived, the brighter on
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

that day will they show forth Christ's glory. The
more they strove to save Christ's world, the more
will their contribution to Christ's triumph forever
exalt His praise.

Can this great prayer for good people be an-
swered? Yes, it can. We have every encourage-
ment to pray it. The words with which Paul con-
cluded this prayer assured him, as they should as-
sure us, that God can answer it. Those words are,
"according to the grace of our God and the Lord
Jesus Christ."

That "grace" provided a plan of salvation. That
"grace" brought Jesus Christ to earth. That
"grace" opened blind eyes and raised the dead. It
beautified a John. It rescued an Augustine. It
has worked and still works all the wonders of re-
generation and sanctification. No limit can be
placed upon its power. It can change the vilest
sinner into the holiest saint. It can take the heart
of stone and make it the heart of flesh. It can im-
plant in dying man the power of an endless life.

We may offer this prayer in confidence. God is
glad to hear it and is ready to answer it. He bids
us do good unto all men, especially unto them who
are of the household of faith. His followers are
His human dependence. He wishes them to stand

no

Best Requests for Best People

among their fellows as Mt. Blanc stands among the
mountains, white, pure, and towering. He wishes
His church to put on her beautiful garments. He
wishes her to be the salvation of the ends of the
earth.

The very best people need our intercession. They
are called by God to defend His interests, to show
forth His virtues and to advance His cause. The
largest duties ever devolved upon men devolve
upon them. They are exposed to severe tempta-
tions. If they fall, great is their fall and great the
consequent harm of God's name. If they stand,
they accomplish much for their Lord. They appeal
to us for our prayers, as Lincoln appealed to his
neighbors for their prayers when, called to the presi-
dency of the United States, he started from his
home toward the national capital: "A duty de-
volves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that
which has devolved upon any other man since the
days of Washington. He would never have suc-
ceeded except for the aid of divine providence, upon
which he at all times relied. I feel that I can-
not succeed without the same divine aid which sus-
tained him, and on that same Almighty Being I
place my reliance for support; and I hope you, my
friends, will all pray that I may receive that divine

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

assistance without which I cannot succeed, but with
which success is certain."

Let us then see to it that we so pray for these
special ones that they shall answer to their high
privileges and their glorious responsibilities. Our
prayer for them is safe and wise when we pray :

"That our God would count you worthy of
this calling,

"And fulfil all the pleasure of His good-
ness AND THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER :

"That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
may be glorified in you and ye in hlm,

"According to the grace of our God and the
Lord Jesus Christ."

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•(Intercession for tbe THnsa\>efc.

It is an interesting fact that in the Bible there is
not a single recorded prayer for the unsaved. There
are many prayers, fully and explicitly recorded for
"God's people," but not a single definitely stated
prayer for the unsaved.

The explanation of this fact seems to be two-
fold. First, the epistles, in which prayers usually
appear, are addressed to churches. The prayers
in these epistles always deal with special features
of Christian experience. The second explanation
of the omission of prayer for the unsaved is that
the Bible does not attempt to divide all men into
two recognizable classes, labeling one "the saved"
and the other "the unsaved," and then instructing
each class by itself. The Bible addresses itself to
all alike. It calls upon every person irrespective of
his confession or denial of the Christian name, to
do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with
God. The words of Christ as given in Gospel nar-
ratives and the words of apostles as given in

**3

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

apostolic letters, when heard in a church congrega-
tion, appear to be directed to every soul in the con-
gregation. These words are so inclusive of all,
that every hearer feels that they are intended for
him. So it is that the prayers for the best people
may be offered for any and all people.

It is true, however, that while no human eyes can
detect unerringly who are the real Christians and
who are not the real Christians, people do differ in
their attitude toward Christ. He Himself spoke of
two classes as existing in His day — those that were
for Him, and those that were against Him. These
classes always exist. Some persons are striving to
follow Christ's will, and some are not. Some per-
sons are "in Christ" and some are "out of Christ."
Often it is difficult to draw a dividing line between
these two classes. In this matter, as in many an-
other matter, there is a "border-land" where people
of different classes appear very much alike. Her-
bert Spencer speaks of "the indefinite border-land
between the animal and vegetable kingdoms" where
animals and vegetables are scarcely distinguishable.
In the border-land between the saved and the un-
saved no eye but that of omniscience can discriminate
with absolute accuracy.

But when we move farther and farther away
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Intercession for the Unsaved

from this border-land, in either direction, evidence
becomes so definite that with much assurance we
say of those on one side, "These certainly seem to
us to be saved," and of those on the other side
"These certainly seem to us to be unsaved." To
God's eye there never is obscurity : with Him a
man is always seen to be "for" Him or "against"
Him.

The unsaved rest with great weight on the hearts
of earnest men. As the original Greek expression
seems to indicate, the desire of Paul's heart and
the prayer of all his prayers was that men might
be "saved." David Brainerd was similarly bur-
dened with desire for the salvation of men. He
traveled the forests and swamps of Massachusetts
in dead of winter, kneeling in the snow and beseech-
ing God to save the Indians. Asleep he dreamed
of their salvation, awake his first thought was of
their rescue. The absorbing love of souls that has
animated some hearts cannot be exaggerated. The
thirst for gold that compelled men to seek Cali-
fornia and Alaska has not been so strong as that
thirst which has caused Christian hearts to pray
unceasingly for the unsaved. John Smith, the de-
voted Wesleyan preacher, used to say "I am a
broken-hearted man, not for myself, but on account
"5

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

of others : my God has given me such a sight of the
value of precious souls, that I cannot live if souls
are not saved. Oh, give me souls, or else I die."

Intelligent prayer for the unsaved should bear
in mind that they need to be saved from their
unconcern.

Monica's first thought was, "Oh, that my son,
Augustine, may be awakened to a sense of his sit-
uation !" He seemed to her like a man asleep in a
boat that is gliding to a cataract. He talked with
the wise, laughed with the merry and companioned
with the vicious. He frittered away his splendid
powers of mind and body, seemingly unconscious
of his fatal tendencies. Monica prayed that God
would rouse him from his unconcern. In the old
home in Africa she prayed for him. On the Med-
iterranean she prayed for him. In Europe she
prayed for him. Sleep went from her!

Saved from unconcern ! So many are going the
way of death heedlessly. They eat, drink and play :
they labor, they sleep — and all the while secondary
things are the end and aim of their living. Many
a man is like Jonah — not a profligate, but simply
a deserter from duty. Jonah slept on that storm
tossed vessel — disloyal as he was to himself, to
his fellows and to his God. Above the storm the.

Intercession for the Unsaved

shipmaster's cry was needed: "What meanst thou,
O sleeper, arise and call upon thy God if so be that
God will think upon us that we perish not." Jonah's
safety was dependent upon an awakening-. The
first thing we must ask God to do for the unsaved
is to make them think. In answer to Stephen's
prayer God stopped Saul on his way to Damascus
and forced him to realize his position. Thus God
aroused him from his unconcern. The beginning
of my own salvation was when the Holy Spirit
brought me face to face with the questions, "What
does Jesus Christ wish of you?" "Are you doing
what He wishes?" It was when the prodigal "came
to himself" and pondered his situation, that hope
for his salvation dawned. The first step toward
heaven is the step away from unconcern.

Prayer for the unsaved should bear in mind that
they need to be saved from their error.

This thought was especially prominent in Paul's
mind when he prayed for his own kinsmen. Their
views of religion were wrong. They thought it im-
possible that a penitent so soon as he came to God
could be forgiven and welcomed. They held that
through prayers, tithes and sacrifices the sinner
must work out his own perfection and thus make
himself worthy of God's blessing. They were in
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

error. No one, though he lives a thousand years
of effort, can ever, of himself, become perfect. For
acceptance God does not require perfection, but
penitence. God simply asks the soul to see in Jesus
Christ the righteousness which God freely offers,
and then to appropriate that righteousness.

There is widespread need of the prayer, "Save
them from error." Missionaries in lands of idol-
atry need to have it on their lips daily. The people
around them misconceive the nature of God and
misconceive the methods of propitiating Him. As
the missionaries realize the superstitions of the
heathen they exclaim again and again, "Come,
Lord, in Thy power and deliver the people from
their blindness."

The prayer is equally needed in Gospel lands.
Many persons hear the truth all their days and
still remain ignorant of its meaning. I myself felt
for years that to be a Christian would be to limit
my freedom, not enlarge it : would be to diminish
my joy, not increase it. God appeared to me to be
a hard master. The service of Christ's cross seemed
forbidding; the service of my own gratification
seemed satisfying. Hundreds of others, like my-
self, need to be "saved" from such views. Satan
is a jealous jailer. He holds fast many souls in
iiS

Intercession for the Unsaved

such beliefs as — that the faults of others are an
excuse for their own deficiency ; that ideals of con-
duct adopted without reference to divine revela-
tion are all that are required ; that cherished grudges
are of small import, and that postponement of
obedience to God is safe. All such beliefs keep
people back from salvation : they darken the eyes
of the understanding and often they lead lives into
immorality.

But there is power in prayer to save from all
errors. The father of John G. Paton knelt every
night for years in the little Scotch home and made
his intercession. "I have heard," wrote his son in
his own autobiography, "that in long after years
the worst woman in the village of Torthorwald,
then leading an immoral life but since changed by
the grace of God, was known to declare that the
only thing that kept her from despair and from
the hell of the suicide, was when in the dark win-
ter nights she crept close up underneath my father's
window, and heard him pleading in family worship
that God would convert 'the sinner from the error
of wicked ways and polish him as a jewel for the
Redeemer's crown.' " "I felt," said she, "that I
was a burden on that good man's heart, and I knew
that God would not disappoint him. That thought
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

kept me out of hell and at last led me to the only
Saviour."

Prayer for the unsaved should bear in mind that
they need to be saved from their sin.

To be saved from sin is to be saved from its
guilt, its power and its corruption. Sin is the vio-
lation of God's law. To violate human law renders
the violator guilty. He is guilty until in some way
his guilt is removed. He is not and cannot be a
full citizen so long as his guilt remains. Nor can
the man who violates God's law be other than
guilty before God until in some way he is saved
from his guilt.

It is fearful to be guilty before God. Guilt is
cruelty toward God and peril toward ourselves
Cruelty toward God, because it means wilful re-
sistance to the most tender of all tender hearts
peril toward ourselves, because were final judg-
ment to be pronounced immediately, our guilt would
be our condemnation. He who loves a soul that is
in sin will pray that it be saved from sin's guilt.

He will pray too that it be saved from sin's
power. The power of sin is seen in the drunkard
His drunkenness is his master. In the morning
he wishes always to be sober: in the evening he
is again a captive to his drunkenness. So too with

I20

Intercession for the Unsaved

the habitual thief, or slanderer, or backbiter : they
are held prisoners by their sins. Many a sweet
spirited person when asked to be a Christian re-
plies "I cannot. My will breaks down every time
I try."

Paul knew the power of sin. He exclaimed> "Oh,
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?" He felt that, like
a man chained to a corpse, he was chained to sin.
Sin hindered him. It hinders others — those who
today are in bondage to impure thoughts, or dis-
honest practices or selfish ambitions. They need
to have their chains broken and to be released
from evil. Prayer was made for John B. Gough
and he was saved from the power of drunkenness,
for Jerry McAuley, and he was saved from the
power of stealing. Prayer was made for Lady
Huntington and she was saved from the power of
worldliness. Prayer will avail for those today en-
chanted by the love of money or display, and for
those held by the silken hawser of self-indulgence.
A man is never free until he is saved from the
power of sin.

Then there is the corruption of sin. Sin is a
malaria in the soul : it vitiates taste, it weakens
strength, it spoils appetite for good. Sin crazes

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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

reason : it causes Barabbas to seem preferable to
Christ. Under the corruption of sin men take
"naturally" to evil. Unless that corruption is
checked it, like leprosy with the body, pollutes the
whole system. No one can check it but God. Even
He can check it only by making of man a new crea-
ture— with a new disposition and a new purpose.
This God is glad to do. "A new heart will I give
you." This promise God has fulfilled thousands
and thousands of times. Men who hated Him
have come to love Him. They have been rescued
from death and made alive in Jesus Christ. The
faces that were set earthward have been set heaven-
ward. Instead of becoming more and more cor-
rupted by sin, they have been saved from all sin's
disease and all sin's misery, and been brought to
holiness and joy. Surely we do well when we pray
for others, "Save them, O God, from the terrible
guilt, the awful power and the ruinous corruption
of sin."

Prayer for the unsaved should bear in mind that
they need to be saved from their alienation.

The prodigal boy in the far country is away from
home and fellowship. The prayer that he may be
saved involves more than deliverance from wrong:
it involves also adoption of right. It asks that the

122

Intercession for the Unsaved

boy may receive his Father's kiss and welcome,
that the sense of God's love may flow in on his soul,
that peace may be established between him and
God, and that fellowship with his Father may be
forever his. To be saved is to be delivered out
of the life of evil and brought into the life of God,
so that the sunlight seems brighter than ever be-
fore and the feast of the Lord is the strength of
the soul.

Such salvation — of happiness, health and safety —
is salvation indeed. The soul thus saved is at one
with God, growing more like Him and becoming
better prepared for God's immediate presence. It
matters not whether the consciousness of such
reconciliation with God comes to a man in a par-
ticular hour or comes in the course of years. It
is enough that the man takes on larger strength
and beauty, becoming increasingly loyal to Christ
and increasingly satisfied with Christ's service. Not
until Paul is ready to die can he say "I have fought
the good fight." Nor may anyone expect that the
process of salvation will cease this side of heaven.
Every man must struggle and endure unto the end
— to be fully saved.

But when that end comes and heaven is entered,
then salvation is complete. Saved from uncon-
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A Mighty Means of Usefulness

cern, God's servants see His face. Saved from
error, they walk in God's light. Saved from sin,
they dwell where there is no more curse. Saved
from separation, they are forever with the Lord.

"Perchance in heaven, one day to me
Some blessed soul will come and say
'All hail, beloved ! But for thee
My soul to death had been a prey.'
Ah, then, what sweetness in the thought
One soul to glory to have brought !"

Some years ago in Springfield, Illinois, an earn-
est man gathered about him a praying band and
made this suggestion to them: "When you reach
home this evening write down the names of all
persons in Springfield whom you would like to
have saved, and then pray for them by name, three
times a day, that they may be saved. Then make
your best possible efforts to induce those persons
to turn to God for salvation."

There resided in Springfield at that time an
invalid woman who physically was almost abso-
lutely helpless. She had been bed-ridden for seven-
teen years. She had been for a long time praying
to God in a general way to save a multitude of
souls. When her family told her of the suggestion
made to the praying band, she said: "Here is

124

Intercession for the Unsaved

something I can do." She could use her right hand.
There was an adjustable writing table at the side
of her bed. She asked for pen and paper. She
wrote down the names of fifty-seven acquaintances.
She prayed for each of these by name three times a
day. She wrote them letters telling them of her
interest in them. She also wrote to Christian
friends, in whom she knew these persons had confi-
dence, and urged them to speak to these persons
about their souls' welfare and to do their best to
persuade them to repent and believe. She had un-
questioning faith in God. In her humble, earnest
dependence upon Him she thus interceded for the
unsaved. In time every one of those fifty-seven
persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

It is worth while to intercede for the unsaved.
General Gordon always bore particular individuals
on his heart. He prayed for them : he prayed for
each of them. He entered their names upon a reg-
ister. Affectionately, earnestly, wisely he entreated
them to accept Christ's blessed salvation. By fol-
lowing this course, though he was in military service
and in active enterprise, he lived to see scores of
lives brought to God as the fruit of his intercession.

"Pray the largest prayer. You cannot think of
a prayer so large that God, in answering it, will

*25

A Mighty Means of Usefulness

not wish that you had made it larger. Pray not
for crutches, but for wings." Yes, we cannot think
of a prayer so large for the unsaved that God will
not wish that we had made it larger. He asks His
people to intercede in behalf of the unsaved. The
unsaved are very precidus to Him. Christ longs
for their salvation even with travail of soul.
Eagerly he awaits our efforts for them. For to
us He has committed the ministry of reconciliation.
Every heart then that is burdened with the salva-
tion of a friend becomes companion to Christ and
shares in His travail of soul. The honor of such
companionship ! It is admission to the holy of holies
of Christ's heart. It is participation in His in-
tensest passion. It is sharing in the greatest burden
He today is carrying.

Surely when the days of earthly life are over and
men and women enter heaven, they that on earth
shared Christ's travail will in heaven share Christ's
joy. Their previous experience will prepare them
to appreciate that joy. Monica who interceded will,
because she interceded, enjoy the more the triumphs
of redeeming grace. So too will every praying
soul that brought another life to eternal glory, have
its own especial gladness and peace.

May God ordain a new band of men who today
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Intercession for the Unsaved

and here being one with Christ in His travail for
souls shall be the means, under God, of bringing
many souls to Christ's perfect salvation.

And may you and I see to it that we enroll our-
selves in that band and henceforth keep not silence
day nor night as we intercede, with strong cryings
and tears — for individuals — whom we name before
God — for His gracious, holy and eternal salvation.

127

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