90 QUAKER ASPECTS OF TRUTH 



we determined to pray that the shutter might shut* 

 So pray we did, bringing to our help a simple credulity 

 that only childhood can command* As we prayed, we 

 gazed at the shutter, expecting every moment to see it 

 glide silently upwards, or even shut with a bang* Yet 

 that shutter never moved an inch, and what I called my 

 ** faith '' received a severe and salutary shock from which 

 I am glad to say it has not even yet recovered* So that 

 was a faith that did not work* What that shutter needed 

 was a push, and a great many of our prayers remain 

 unanswered for want of a push* Prayer is not 

 an easy way of getting what we want without working 

 for it* 



Jesus once said : '' If ye had faith as a grain of 

 mustard seed, ye would say unto this mountain, * be 

 thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,* and it 

 would be done*'' Doubtless it would be done, but it 

 would take a deal of hard work with pickaxes and 

 shovels to do it* You might sit down before that 

 mountain, and say, ** Be thou removed and be thou cast 

 into the sea,'' and if nothing more were done, the 

 mountain would no more move than did my shutter ! 

 Faith has moved many mountains, but the faith that 

 moves mountains is faith that works. It is a mere 

 travesty of faith that leads us to expect miracles to be 

 wrought for us* Miracles are wrought by Faith ; but 

 it is we ourselves who have to work the miracles* True 

 faith fills a man with divine energy and enthusiasm, and 

 leads him to exclaim in deep humility, ** I can do all 

 things through Christ Who strengtheneth me*" 



But I think that the reason why what we call our 

 prayers seem so futile, is not that we expect miracles* 

 Most of us soon outgrow that kind of faith* It is because 

 what we call our prayers do not really represent our 

 desires* Probably in our childhood, we all learnt the 

 hymn that begins. 



