1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



145 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A.I. R OOT. 



Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he 

 will give it you. — John lfi : 23. 



For some time back, dear friends, I have 

 had a good deal to say in regard to the matter 

 of answers to prayer. Several times I have 

 thought that perhaps I was holding on too 

 long to this subject ; and yet in my desire to 

 benefit mankind, and to help those who are in 

 trouble, I have been again and again almost 

 impelled to tell you how I had been helped 

 and guided, and lifted through my troubles 

 and discouragements. God forbid that I 

 should at any time or under any circumstances 

 convey the idea to any one that God was more 

 willing to hear and answer my prayers than 

 those of the rest of humanity. 



A good many times I have worked long and 

 anxiously to accomplish a certain thing, and 

 have failed. Then i hear or read of somebody 

 who has succeeded with the same thing, and I 

 am filled with a great desire to see the man, 

 and to see his garden or farm, with a feeling 

 that, if I knew just how he did it, I could do 

 the same thing, or something nearly the same; 

 and I have traveled many miles, as you know, 

 to meet these successful people and to learn 

 their ways ; and I have tried through this 

 journal to explain to you how it is they have 

 succeeded when so many of us have failed. 

 A good many times it is a simple matter when 

 you come to see the actual thing with your 

 own eyes. When I was full of enthusiasm 

 over the Grand Rapids lettuce I succeeded iu 

 getting a glimpse of a greenhouse containing 

 a full crop. This glimpse was only by the 

 light of a lantern, and I was in the green- 

 house only a few minutes ; but that one 

 glimpse was worth to me many dollars. I 

 really felt glad when he agreed to let me have 

 half a pound of the seed for $50, because I 

 knew then I could grow such lettuce, or felt 

 very sure I could, with the seed and the 

 glimpse he had given me. Others succeeded 

 in like manner, and now growing this lettuce 

 is a great industry, and it is cataloged by 

 almost every seedsman in the world. It comes 

 somewhat natural for me to describe how 

 things are done, in a way that will make oth- 

 ers understand it so they can duplicate my 

 success. 



Now, in this matter of answers to prayer I 

 have felt sure that thousands of people might 

 triumph over their difficulties if I could make 

 it plain to them how God answers prayer, and 

 not only go through life rejoicing, but, more 

 than that, go through death (with its pain and 

 suffering), rejoicing in the hope of a risen 

 Savior and Redeemer. 



While these thoughts were in mind it was 

 my privilege yesterday to listen to a sermon 

 by Rev. S. D. Gordon, of the Cleveland Y. M. 

 C. A. His subject was, "Hindrances to an- 

 swers to prayer." You may be sure I was 

 attention all at once. He first read promises 

 from the Bible — a great number of them — 



including one similar to the one I have chosen 

 for my text above. How should it come that 

 with these great, precious, and wonderful 

 promises, repeated again and again, so few 

 professing Christians and church - members 

 should avail themselves of that wonderful 

 privilege of going straight to the Creator of all 

 things with their troubles and perplexities ? 



Mr. Gordon said he would consider four 

 reasons why our prayers are not answered. 

 The first and most important hindrance is sin. 

 This is a very little word, and many times 

 people think it is a little matter — little sins. 

 He said we were having a good deal to do just 

 now with electiicity. One who is in touch 

 •with the great Father above is like the man 

 who goes to the switch-board. He moves a 

 little key only a few inches, aud perhaps a 

 whole quarter of a city is all at once flooded 

 with light as a consequence. He turns anoth- 

 er switch, and lights another quarter, and so 

 on. By means of this switch-board he moves 

 a single lever, and electric cars are sent miles 

 here and there ; or a great factory is started 

 running with all ils wheels and powerful 

 machinery. Now, these things are possible 

 while the connections are perfect. If a wire 

 gets down, the current is "grounded," and 

 nothing can be done until this broken circuit 

 is repaired. People talk about little sins. 

 Suppose a man were working a telegraph 

 instrument, and there is a break in the wire. 

 The ends are separated, say, half an inch. 

 Suppose he should express astonishment that 

 so little a break as half an inch should prevent 

 his sending a message. Dear friends, just one 

 little sin entirely spoils the connection, and 

 our prayers never reach the throne of grace. 

 One might pray till doomsday, just as the 

 telegraph operator might keep drumming on 

 his key till doomsday. There can be no mes- 

 sage or response until the mischief is repaired. 

 Is not that Bible? David says, " If I regard 

 iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear 

 me." Once more I am sure you are all 

 familiar with the passage where the Savior 

 says, " If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and 

 there rememberest that thy brother hath aught 

 against thee, leave there thy gift before the 

 altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to 

 thy brother, and then come and offer thy 

 gift." One can not expect God to hear and 

 answ T er his prayers while any little thing re- 

 mains unadjusted. I once had an actual 

 experience right along in this very line. I 

 went to prayer-meeting and sat down ; but I 

 could not keep my mind on the subject of the 

 meeting because I was thinking of a difficulty 

 the foreman in our lumberyard had had with 

 a man about some basswood lumber. I arose 

 at once and left the meeting, planning to go 

 in search of my irate brother. I met him very 

 unexpectedly within a few rods of the church. 

 I put out my hand to him smilingly, but he 

 was not going to take it. He had just been 

 consulting a lawyer. I told him we two would 

 consult the same lawyer, and I would abide 

 by his own lawyer's decision. I still think 

 the lawyer was a little biased in giving his 

 opinion ; but I paid the difference, and got 

 back to prayer-meeting before it was out. 



