The Power of PrayerSamuel I. Prime |
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| Preface |
| A few short weeks ago, the Publisher solicited my aid in preparing this
volume for the press. The idea was exciting. The work would be one of love
and faith. To gather into a book the wonderful facts which had transpired
around us for a year past; to trace the rise and progress of the great religious
movement that marks the age and the land in which we live; to record the
remarkable answers to prayer which are daily mentioned to the praise of
divine grace; to recount the striking cases of conversion at meetings, in
church, at home, and in the street; to tell of prayer in shops, stores and
markets; thrilling religious experiences among all classes of people —
lawyers, merchants, seamen, children; great sinners converted; drunkards
reclaimed; wives obtaining the conversion of their husbands; children seeking
and finding the conversion of their parents, and parents praying for and
asking others to pray for their children, and obtaining gracious answers;
poor prodigals brought back in answer to prayer; specific individuals prayed
for and all converted; and scores of astonishing, tender and delightful
facts, to show the POWER OF PRAYER! — this was what the Publisher
desired me to do, and my heart responded yes, before I had time to estimate
the labor and care it would require to make a record in any measure commensurate
with the greatness and glory of the theme. But so much impressed was I with
the importance of the undertaking, and of its present and future value to
the church, that I resolved, with dependence on the help of him who has
all the glory of this revival, that I would not decline the work which was
urged upon me.
The second, third and fourth chapters of this book, comprising the historical account of the prayer-meetings, were written by the Rev L. G. Bingham, who has been a constant attendant upon them from their inception. He has also prepared expressly for my use the reports of the incidents here recorded, and many of them, intensely interesting, thrilling and wonderful, have never been published before. Without the aid of Mr Bingham, this volume could not have been prepared, as many of the facts were obtained by his private interviews with the persons, whose extraordinary religious experiences are here portrayed. I am under great obligations to my friends, Rev Dr Plumer and the Rev Dr Murray, for the powerful and graphic chapters which they have contributed to these pages. The facts they have embodied, and the call to prayer which they utter, must produce a deep impression on every devout reader. Never was my own mind so filled with AWE, as it has been while grouping these facts into consecutive pages and chapters. Never was the connection between prayer and the answer, the relation of the Asker to the Giver, so revealed to me as in the prosecution of this work. Here I find it confirmed by scores of facts and examples, not in history, sacred or secular; not traditionary or secondhand, but facts of present occurrence, in the midst of this noisy, busy, restless, worldly city; facts beyond all doubt or cavil, that the Lord will give his praying people whatsoever they ask in faith! We raise no question about miracles. We know what things are agreeable to God’s will, and what submission requires. Here is the written proof that God will answer prayer, and no religious man can enter into the spirit of these prayer-meetings, or read the accounts here presented, without being overshadowed with the conviction that it is a solemn as well as a blessed privilege to pray; that God is willing to give his Spirit to them who ask him; and that believing PRAYER is SURE to be ANSWERED. It must be that these pages will be greatly useful in stimulating the people of God to prayer. It must be that this volume will be a monument to the glory of him who converts our children and neighbors, and revives our churches with the sun and rain of his grace. It must be that pastors will rehearse these facts in the hearing of multitudes, who will rejoice in the Lord, and give thanks for such manifestations of his power. The most of these facts are given in the form of reports of the daily meetings. This secures for the volume more of the interest of the actual meeting than would attach to a separate narrative. We give them as they were given by the lips of those who saw or heard what the Lord has done in answer to prayer. I am well aware that the volume is far from being as complete and perfect as it should be. To make it more so, let all those who read it send me other facts to illustrate the power of prayer, other exhibitions of the grace of God in the conversion of sinners, and they will be added to these records or embodied in a future history of this work of the Spirit, which we trust has only just begun. With no other desire than to honor God, and encourage his people to pray, we send out this book, with the fervent prayer that others may find at least as much enjoyment in its perusal as the author has found in compiling it for the press. NEW YORK, November 27th, 1858 |
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