WHAT IS PRAYER?

Any believer cannot help but feel a kinship to both the letter and the response to the letter by Gilbert Beebe -ed.

Brother. Beebe:

After troubling you once with my scribbling, I concluded. I would never commit so great a piece of vanity again. Yet I have often felt a great desire to return. My thanks to sister Norris for her kind reply to me. Again and again, after reading her last Epistle of Love to me, (which seemed to serve me as a stepping stone, whereby I might mount higher up the ladder of faith,) I have in my imagination, written to her. For I would not have her think me ungrateful if I could edify others as I have been edified, to write would be a delightful task. For it is my constant desire to "walk about Zion, to mark well her bulwarks, and to tell how high her towers are." The subject is ever present with me, whatever my employment may be, my mind is wandering and searching after things of eternity. Time seems to be drawing to a point. Sometimes I conclude that my time is very near its end and that the Lord is weaning me from the world by causing me thus to reflect constantly on the subject so that I have been made to exclaim in my inmost soul:

Am I so near your gates?

Oh, bless Jerusalem.

I feel the light that radiates.

That shines within your precious walls.

And gloriously illumines all.

The Holy Star of Bethlehem.

Methinks I see your pearly gates.

Or blessed Jerusalem.

While here my soul, so anxious, waits.

And longs to raise her trammeled wing.

Far up, where dwells your glorious king.

The Holy Star of Bethlehem.

Certainly, I have been made to see that the pleasures of time are all together, vanity and vexation of spirit.

As far back as I can remember, the subject of religion was interesting to me, and in the days of my youth, I was influenced to see Christ as the only true source of salvation. I spent some four or five months in search of Christ, trying to render myself acceptable to him by upright conduct and well-worded prayer. And had set many times for deliverance. But I sought him as one of far off and a respecter of persons. Like Peter, trusting in myself, I thought to walk the waters of Christ. But when the billows of sin rose high and seemed to ready to engulf my soul and hide me forever from his presence, then I cried, "Lord save or I perish." And Oh brothers and sisters, I found him very near with this welcome call to me.

Come here, soul, I am the way.

And I gladly responded:

Low, glad I come, and you blessed Lamb. 

Shall take me to yourself as I am.

I was but a young schoolgirl. With few cares to harass me and I rejoiced daily in the hope set before me. But how soon, when I left the schoolroom and entered the world, did my feet go astray after the pleasures of the world? And then I feared I was only a stony ground hearer. Who received the word gladly, but whom the glittering scenes of life had caused to wither away. But blessed be the Lord forever when the pleasures of youth passed away and the cares and trials of mature life came crowding around me, I have been constrained to hope that there was a little depth of earth wherein the seed sown might take root and grow. And I thank God now for the light affliction which he has in kind mercy sent to me. I truly can say, "no chastening for the present is pleasant but grievous, but blessed be the God. who gives to victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Many, many times during my short pilgrimage has my soul been shrouded in darkness. Though it is needless for me to enumerate all the changes through which I have passed. Shifting ever from hope to fear, and from fear to hope again. But I will say to sister Norris and to others if there be any who feel an interest in my spiritual welfare, that the past year has been comparatively one of glad sunshine and refreshing showers. Nor will you wonder that we have felt our strength renewed, our faith increased when I tell you that the prayers of the parents have been answered. And that the Lord has brought our children and our neighbors into the fold. About 14 or 15 members have been added to the church since last October. Three of our own daughters are included in the number. The two youngest have joined the same church as ourselves. The eldest, though a Baptist in faith, has never joined any church, being married and having removed to an inconvenient distance from any Old School Baptist Church. Our two daughters were baptized on the same day with two others, a lady and a gentleman. On another occasion, our pastor, Elder I. Stevens immersed his two sons. On the last Sabbath, a mother with her two daughters was baptized. Brother Bebe. Does not this look as though all our children shall be taught of the Lord? A rich harvest have we gleaned; well worth the labor of the parents' prayers?

And here I would ask if you or any of the correspondents of the signs are exercised in regard to prayers, as I am. It is often a source of trouble for me. For if I set a time and place where I may pour forth my soul and prayer to God when I arrive at the selected spot, it seems to me that the humility which caused me to feel the desire to throw myself into dust and cry unto the Lord has vanished away from me. My heart grows hard, my mind is wandering and I, am made to feel that I am honoring God with my lips, while my heart is far from him. Therefore, the spontaneous prayer of the public, and rising and going forth from the impulse of the moment, has become almost my only prayer. And indeed, this seems better adapted to me than any other, for I know not what I need. But the Lord knows what is needful for me before I ask him. The only things which I know are needful are his grace and mercy, and having these, all things are mine. Yet I feel as though this body ought to bow itself down in humility to worship God. I do not believe that he is a respecter of positions any more than he is of persons. And I do believe that the heartfelt prayer is acceptable to him, whether we stand sick or kneel. Yet when I meditate on the depravity of this mortal tenement, and the deck of gratitude we owe to God, it seems, that we ought to be always ready to bow our bodies down in the most humiliating attitude. Then we would venture near the mercy seat in prayer. Again, when I seek a retired place where I may without interruption meditate on the things of eternity, that I may search the thoughts and feelings of my soul to find out, if possible if the Lord is there, immediately my thoughts are wandering here and there and everywhere. Thus I bear about me daily the testimony that "truly the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." For when I would do good, evil is present with me. So that I feel anxious to lay aside the earthly Tabernacle, "Not that I would be unclothed, but clothed upon with the righteousness of Christ, that I might lay aside, every weight and the sin which does so easily beset and run with patience the race set before us, looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith."

Brother Beebe. I would like to have your opinion on the subject of prayer. Also the opinions of brothers and sisters who are correspondents of your valuable paper. What is prayer? Is it not the ardent desire of the soul which springs forth, seeking the mercy seat of God, at the moment when the soul feels that it is altogether sinful and loathing of self fills the heart with contrition? And we feel as if we would gladly fall down into the dust of the Earth. And acknowledging ourselves guilty before God, begging that he would purify us and cleanse us of all sin. Or is it, when we have a time and place appointed, whether we shall go each day to seek his presence?

But again. When we would seek his presence. We may compel the body to bow the lips, to utter words of praise and Thanksgiving, and acknowledge ourselves guilty before God. Yet our thoughts are wandering, our hearts are hard, and our souls receive no nourishment. How often do I feel under such circumstances that I have sinned against God a deeper sin, and that such prayers must be an abomination in his sight? Yet Christ says, "Enter into your closet and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, which is in secret. And your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly." Yet it is our duty to enter the closet and to pray in secret, and it rests with God whether he will enter with us or not. If he is not there, we cannot pray. But if he is, we shall most assuredly perform our duty. These are my views. I would like to know if they accord with those of the household of God. If you'll excuse me for intruding on your columns this time, I do not think I will trouble you again very soon. Nor should I have done so this time, but that I wish to return. My thanks to sister Norris for her letter to me and to request her to write again. For her letters were both very edifying to me, and I would like to see her name often in the Signs. Having written much more lengthily than I intended at the beginning, I will close with the hope that you will exercise your own judgment with regard to giving this a place in your paper.

Yours in the hope of immortality,

Mary S. Gentry

Marshall County, August 1855

What is prayer?

In the preceding number of the Signs. Sister Gentry asked for our opinion. And for the views of others on the subject of prayer. The subject of prayer has occasioned us much reflection at times for the last 45 years. And yet, we have been so dull a scholar in a school of Christ if indeed we are a pupil of a school. That after almost half a century's tuition on the subject, we have now come to confess the humiliating truth: that we often ask and receive, because we ask a miss. and to this day, we know not how to pray as we ought. In the year 1811, when but young in our profession, we resolved to be much engaged in prayer. And as we had read somewhere that:

Satan trembles when he sees. 

The weakest saint. upon his knees.

We were fully resolved to make him tremble continually. We suppose, then, that prayer consisted in periodical forms, in which we are required to humble ourselves before God and ask him whatever we were in need of. To our inexperienced mind, there was much virtue in prayer, that is, in the form and language of prayer. And it was our impression that the poet was right when he said:

Restraining prayer we ceased to fight. 

Prayer makes the Christians's armor bright.

And we verily thought by our constant praying we should avoid temptation and live above doubts and fears. We should keep the older tempter so terrified with our devotions that he would not dare assail us with any wicked suggestions. But we soon learned that our prayers were not the right kind to keep Satan at bay. For it was not long before it really appeared to us that we were much more annoyed with his company when performing our solemn devotion than at any other time. Often, when the hour of prayer that we had set came, we were either inflated with pride, that we were so devout or crushed down with such a sense of our sinfulness, that it seemed wicked and presumptuous to call upon the name of the Lord. Sometimes when about to rush into the presence of the Lord like the unthinking horse into battle. We found our thoughts like the fool's eyes were wandering to the ends of the earth. And we have been unable sometimes to utter one word of supplication self-abased before the Lord. We have risen up from our knees and left the place, concluding that we could not pray, and perhaps in reality praying or breathing forth the heartfelt and heaven-inspired desire of our inmost soul, that God would manifest himself as our God and portion and give us grace, whereby we might serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

These earnest desires were breathed forth to God. We hardly dared to call them a prayer. For we have imbibed the idea that prayer must have more formality about it, that we must go into some closet or secret place, literally, and fall on our knees or prostate, our body before the Lord, and then and there utter are prayers in an appropriate utterance of words. Often, like sister Gentry, we have been in great happiness because we could not pray, or rather because we were unable to satisfy ourselves that we had prayed. But we are now led to believe that the most fervent prayers we have ever offered to God were indicted by groanings which we could not utter. There have been times when it has really seemed to us that the Spirit truly helped our infirmities and made intercession for us in that way. And we were made more sensible of our entire dependence on God than we could have been if we had believed that we had the ability to pray when and as we pleased.

Volumes might be written in reply to the inquiry of our sister what is prayer without exhausting the subject? But in this short article, we can only touch briefly upon the subject. Secret prayer, or that prayer of the saint which is poured forth as a community between God and the individual worshipper, we believe is often made when we may be in the open field. On the public highway or when lying on our bed. But it is always when none but God, who sees in secret, knows the emotions of the supplement's heart. And this is what we understand to be entering into our closet and shutting the door. Here it becomes a matter between the God of Heaven and that saint. on whom God has graciously poured the spirit of prayer and of supplication.

Social prayer is that in which a number of Christians are led by the same spirit to call upon the name of the Lord, and in which one is mouth for them all. Such praying must necessarily be audibly uttered, so that all who are present may understandingly unite in the prayer. This public or social devotion is as important in its place as the secret aspirations of the praying saint. in the closet. But all vain shows and the ostentatious parade should be avoided. We have to remember that God is in heaven, and we are on his footstool. And it is becoming that our words should be few, for his people are not heard for their much speaking, nor for their loud speaking, nor for the sanctimonious tone in which the words of prayer are uttered. In the public assemblies of the Saints, we do not find that every praying soul has been distinguished with the gift to be mouth for the church. But all the saints are blessed with the gift of prayer, whereby they may unite in the petitions offered, so far as they are incited by the Spirit of God.

In regard to the answers to prayer, we are not to expect that there is either power, merit, or efficacy in our prayers in themselves considered to entitle us to the things which we pray for. God, who has all things needful for us. either for time or eternity, in store. Gives the spirit of prayer to his children. And that spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. It knows what is the will of God, and it incites within us the desire for what God designed to bestow and answer to prayer. So instead of our bringing the Lord under obligation to bestow blessings on us for our prayers, here is an additional dependence on God. Not only for the things that we need but also for the spirit to ask him for them. And when we speak of our children and neighbors being quickened and born of God, in answer to our prayers, we mean to be understood that God has not only made bare his holy arm, and revealed his salvation in the conversion of sinners and in reviving his church, but that he has made his children desire and by the spirit of supplication, has led them to pray for the accomplishment of all things. There are many things connected with this subject on which at this time we cannot dwell. Among others, faith is indispensable. Not a faith of human origin that we can create or exercise, but that faith which is the fruit of the spirit and the gift of God, that faith of which Christ is the author and the finisher, and which is called the faith of Jesus Christ, by which we live spiritually. And that faith which is of the operation of God. He that comes unto God must believe that he is. How can we devoutly pray to what God the existence of whom we doubt or disbelieve? And if we believe there is a God, how can we ask him for blessings unless we have faith to assure us that God has them in store for us and that he will freely bestow them upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith lays hold on his promises and gives us confidence that they shall be fulfilled. Faith looks to Jesus as the only medium through whom we may approach the Father. For he says, "no man comes unto the Father but by me. He is also the only medium through which spiritual blessings are sent down from heaven upon the saints. God has blessed his children with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. So we have no reason to expect any spiritual blessing of Christ or in any other way than according as he has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Elder Gilbert Beebe

April 1, 1856

Signs of the Times