D. L. Moody gives this illustration of the power of prayer: “While in Edinburgh, a man was pointed out to me by a friend, who said: ‘That man is chairman of the Edinburgh Infidel Club.’ I went and sat beside him and said, ‘My friend, I am glad to see you in our meeting. Are you concerned about your welfare?’
“‘Well, just get down on your knees and let me pray for you.’
“I knelt beside him as he sat, and prayed. He made a great deal of sport of it. A year after I met him again. I took him by the hand and said: ‘Hasn’t God answered my prayer yet?’
“‘There is no God. If you believe in one who answers prayer, try your hand on me.’
“‘Well, a great many are now praying for you, and God’s time will come, and I believe you will be saved yet.’
“Some time afterwards I got a letter from a leading barrister in Edinburgh telling me that my infidel friend had come to Christ, and that seventeen of his club men had followed his example.
“I did not know _how_ God would answer prayer, but I knew He would answer. Let us come boldly to God.”
Robert Louis Stevenson tells a vivid story of a storm at sea. The passengers below were greatly alarmed, as the waves dashed over the vessel. At last one of them, against orders, crept to the deck, and came to the pilot, who was lashed to the wheel which he was turning without flinching. The pilot caught sight of the terror-stricken man, and gave him a reassuring smile. Below went the passenger, and comforted the others by saying, “I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well.”
That is how we feel when through the gateway of prayer we find our way into the Father’s presence. We see His face, and we know that all is well, since His hand is on the helm of events, and “even the winds and the waves obey Him.” When we live in fellowship with Him, we come with confidence into His presence, asking in the full confidence of receiving and meeting with the justification of our faith.
_Let your hearts be much set on revivals of religion. Never forget that the churches have hitherto existed and prospered by revivals; and that if they are to exist and prosper in time to come, it must be by the same cause which has from the first been their glory and defence._ —JOEL HAWES.