'Cbe Conservative.
RAIN AND PRAYERS.
"Naturalists are being driven stop by
stop to hypothecate the presence in the
universe of conditions which are best ex
plained by the supposition that the
direction of affairs is in the control of
something like our own intelligence. "
Prof. D. S. Shaler.
"What 1ms happened in the last ten
years of brilliant scientific discovery is
this : That the physical sciences in their
investigations have reached the bound
aries of their special domains. They
have agreed , from astronomy to chemis
try , upon this proposition : 'There is
only one universal and identical force in
action in the universe ; all matter is
under the control of spiritual laws. '
Biology calls this force 'Life ; ' physics
calls it 'Thought , ' 'Etheric Energy'
and 'Volition ; ' religion calls it the
'Divine Will. ' " New York Journal.
"Our God , who covereth the heavens
with clouds , who prepareth rain for the
earth , who maketh grass to grow upon
the mountains. " Ps. 147:7-8. :
No old fashioned preacher could write
a newspaper article without a text ; you
see I have chosen three of them ; two
from men learned in science and one
from the Bible.
The hopeful and forceful thing about
the first two texts is that they agree
with the third one in the fact that some
thing outside of man's power , outside of
the force of mere law , is directing the
affairs of this universe.
The Bible and the common sense of
almost all men in all ages affirm this
force to be God.
A live question just now in Nebraska
is , will this God of ours hear and answer
prayer for rain ? That depends. Who
is praying ; what the motive , etc.
I see the editor of THE CONSEUVATIVE
has been stirred up to ask : "Has prayer
produced rain ? If so , when and where ? ' '
The editor then adds :
"This is a statistical inquiry ; if at any
time , universal praying has brought
about the downpour of needed rain ,
church histories and church almanacs
have certainly recorded the facts. "
All right , thus far ; but 1 think many
were surprised to find the editor of THE
CONSEUVATIVE , at least , seeming to put
the praying of heathen and Christian up
on the same level. He says , to admit
the argmnent for prayer "drawn from
the general use of it , " that this argu
ment " to make the
"compels us mons
trous admission that the prayers of
pagans , of fetich worshipers , and of
Tibetans who turn praying-wheels , are
recompensed in the same way as those
of orthodox believers. "
To put pagans and Christians in just
r- the same category in the matter of iu-
telligeuce and piety , is a strange thing
to do for an American citizen , living in
the good state of Nebraska. If a man
were to stand under a great arc-light ,
and then , with a tallow-dip in his hand
and his eyes fast shut , say , "I see no
difference between these lights , " we
could understand it. But what could
we think if he inado such a statement
with his eyes wide open.
An argument against prayer that de
pends for its force upon the putting of
fetich worshippers and Christians on
one common plane , in Christian Ameri
ca , needs no answer. We have our eyes
open.
But to come up close to the question :
"Has prayer produced rain ? If so ,
when and where ? "
. I am not a lawyer , but I think that
there is a rule of law that demands that
the very best evidence shall be intro
duced , possible to bo obtained , and so ,
passing by the "church histories and
church almanacs , " I put in evidence ,
the Bible a book containing the truest
science , the profoundest philosophy , the
Will of God.
If I do not mistake its teaching , it is ,
in substance , this : God anciently , on
account of the sin of His people , did
shut up the heavens so that it rained
not , then , upon their repentance , and ,
after offering earnest prayer to Him , He
caused it to rain. If this can be shown ,
then an answer has been given to the
inquiry of THE CONSERVATIVE. "Has
prayer produced rain ? " It will also sug
gest this : What God certainly did at
one time , He may , under like circum
stances , do again.
Now for some Bible proof.
The Jewish people were slow to re
build the temple upon their return from
captivity. They said : "The time is
not come the time that the Lord's
house should be built. "
But , some how , they were having the
worst luck farming , they ever had.
Then God , by the the mouth of Haggai ,
tells them how it is :
"Because of mine house that is waste ,
and ye run every man unto his own
house.
"Therefore the heaven over you is
stayed.from dew , and the earth is stayed
from her fruit.
"And I called for a drouth upon the
land , and upon the mountains , and up
on the corn , and upon the new wine ,
and upon the oil , and upon that which
the ground briugeth forth , and upon
men , and upon cattle , and upon all the
labour of the hands. " Haggai 1:9-11. :
Here is a case where God , on account
of the sin of a people , "called for a
drouth upon the laud. " They repented ,
prayed , and went to work. Then God
said to them , "From this day will I bless
you. " Again : "If I shut up heaven
that there be no rain , or , if I command
the locusts to devour the land , or , if I
send pestilence among my people ; if my
people , which are called by my name ,
shall humble themselves , and pray , and
seek my face , and turn from their
wicked ways ; then will I hear from
heaven , and will forgive their sin , and
will heal their land. " 2 Oh. 7:18-14. :
Now , here is' the principle stated.
God shutting up heaven , so that no rain
follows , on account of the sin of the
people , promising , if they "pray and
seek my face , and turn from their wicked
ways , " to restore the old-time prosper
ity. If one clear case can bo giventhen
the matter has been settled , unless the
testimony can be impeached.
The time is 925 B. 0. ; the place ,
Palestine ; the people , the Israelites.
Ahab , their king , was a bad man and
had led the people into idolatry. A
great drouth was cursing the land ;
Elijah comes before Ahab and says :
"As the Lord God of Israel liveth , be
fore whom I stand , there shall not be
dew nor rain these years , but according
to my word. " A bold statement for an
old preacher , but the results showed
that he spake in the name of his God.
The end of it all was just this : "And
it came to pass , after many days , that
the word of the Lord came to Elijah , in
the third year , saying : "Go show thy
self to Ahab ; and I will send rain upon
the earth. "
You know the outcome ; the contest ,
with the prophets of Baal upon Mount
Carmel , then Elijah , praying seven
times , then the little cloud coming up
"out of the sea , like a man's hand" and
Elijah saying , "Go up , say unto Ahab :
Prepare thy chariot , and get thee down
that the rain stop thee not. " The ac
count closes by saying : "And there
was a great rain. " I Kings 18.
The New Testament confirms this in
cident thus :
"The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
"Elias was a man subject to like pas
sions as we are , and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain : and it rained not
on the earth by the space of three years
and six mouths.
"And he prayed again , and the heaven
gave rain , and the earth brought forth
her fruit. " James 5:17-18. :
Is our case made out ? I see but one
way to deny it. Set aside the testimony
as unreliable. But the editor says that
"church histories and clntrch almanacs"
can settle it.
Now , if the readers of THE CON
SERVATIVE are willing to grant the
Bible to have the weight of a "history"
or an "almanac , " then they must de
cide that prayer has brought rain. And
what happened in Israel may in Ne
braska. Pardon this last word of exhor
tation. I am not looking for great re
sults from this discussion on prayer in
die secular papers. But , O , my brothers
in the church , God broke the drouth in
answer to united prayer , and is he not
calling us to penitence and prayer to
break the awful spiritual drouth in the
land ? After obtaining a clean heart ,
let each pray : "O Lord , revive Thy
work in the midst of the years , in
wrath remember mercy. "
BYRON BEALL.
Lincoln , Neb. , Aug. 15 , 1901.
The Rev. Byron Beall should look to
the final result and ascertain whether
those who pray , attain their objects
more frequently , than those who do not
pray , but who live in all other respects
\ .
