 |
2004-07-19 - An Illustration on
Prayer
Proverbs 21:13, "He who shuts his ear to the cry of the
poor will also cry himself and not be answered."
The above verse is really just food for thought and does not relate, save
indirectly, to what is below. My intention is to use the Monday devotional
to share some illustrations or just interesting stuff that I find in my reading.
I am still recovering from my illness. I can't do much but read, and so I
cover a lot of ground in my reading. Most (honestly all) of the books I am
reading are written by much abler writers than myself, and it seems to the
advantage of everyone, to share with you some of the better, or even odd,
things I find as I read.
Today's question, in respect to the illustration below is, "What would you
be willing to sell your right to prayer for?" "How much would you take for
it?" It is my hope that the illustration from a sermon by the Baptist preacher
Charles Haddon Spurgeon will help us all to see the preciousness of prayer.
This was part of a long paragraph, and so I have broken it up some, to make
it easier to read. The words are a direct quote from the sermon...as are
any grammatical errors you might find. I tried to copy it iota for iota.
It is astonishing for how little a man will sell his soul. I remember an
anecdote -- I believe it is true. I had almost said I hope it is. A minister,
going across some fields, met a countryman, and said to him, "Well, friend,
it is a most delightful day." "Yes, sir, it is." And having spoken to him
about the beauties of the scenery, and so forth, he said, "How thankful we
ought to be for our mercies! I hope you never come out without praying."
"Pray sir," said he, "why, I never pray; I have got nothing to pray for."
"What a strange man," said the minister; "don't your wife pray?" "If she
likes." "Don't your children pray?" "If they like, they do." "Well, you mean
to say you do not pray," said the minister, (as I think, not very rightly:
no doubt he saw that the man was superstitious). "Now, I will give you
half-a-crown, if you will promise me not to pray as long as you live." "Very
well," said the man, "I don't see what I have got to pray for," and he took
the half-crown.
When he went home, the thought struck him, "What have I done?" And something
said to him, "Well, John, you will die soon, and you will want to pray then;
you will have to stand before your Judge, and it will be a sad thing, not
to have prayed." Thoughts of this kind came over him, and he felt dreadfully
miserable; and the more he thought, the more miserable he felt. His wife
asked him what was the matter. He could hardly tell her for some time, and
at last, he confessed he had taken half-a-crown never to pray again, and
that was preying on his mind. The poor ignorant soul thought it was the evil
one that had appeared to him. "Ay, John," said she, "sure enough it was the
devil, and you have sold your soul to him for that half-crown."
The poor creature could not work for several days, and he became perfectly
miserable, from the conviction that he had sold himself to the evil one.
However, the minister knew what he was about, and there was a barn close
by, and he was going to preach there. He guessed the man would be there to
ease his terror of mind, and sure enough, he was there one Sabbath evening,
and he heard the same man who gave him the half-crown take for his text these
words, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul?" "Ay," said he, "what will it profit a man, who sold his soul
for half-a-crown?"
Up gets the man, crying out, "Sir, take it back! take it back!" "Why," said
the minister, "you want the half-crown, and you said you did not need to
pray." "But, sir," said he, "I must pray; if I do not pray, I am lost;" and
after some testing by parleying, the half-crown was returned, and the man
was on his knees, praying to God. And it came to pass, that that very
circumstance was the means of saving his soul, and making him a changed man.
Soli Deo Gloria,
T-
godrulestb@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.papercutpress.com |
 |