Prayer and success
No one can tell how much power maybe imparted to a pastor’s preaching if even one person be among his hearers whose thoughts are wrestling with God that the word may be made effective unto salvation. In a church it was noticed that for several years one young man after another became a communicant. This could not be referred to the preaching of the pastor, nor to any known agency. At last it was found that an old coloured woman who sat in the gallery had been doing this. She selected one young man whom she saw in the congregation, and made him the object of her prayers. She prayed for him in her home and when she was at church. After he united with the church she selected another. And thus for years She had been praying. This reminds us of the legend so sweetly put into verse by Adelaide Procter:
“The monk was preaching: strong his earnest word,
From the abundance of his heart he spoke,
And the flame spread,--in every soul that heard
Sorrow and love and good resolve awoke;
The poor lay brother, ignorant and old,
Thanked God that he had heard such words of gold.
‘Still let the glory, Lord, be thine alone,’
So prayed the monk, his breast absorbed in praise;
‘O Lord, I thank Thee that my feeble strength
Has been so blessed; that sinful hearts and cold
Were melted at my pleading,--knew at length
How sweet Thy service and how safe Thy fold;
While souls that love, Thee saw before them rise
Still holier heights of loving sacrifice.’
So prayed the monk, when suddenly he heard
An angel speaking thus: ‘Know, O my son,
Thy words had all been vain, but hearts were stirred,
And saints were edified, and sinners won
By his, the poor lay brother’s, humble aid
Who sat upon the pulpit stair and prayed,’”
God give us in all our churches the lay brother who prays. He is the best prayer book.
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