A Victorian’s Religious Beliefs

PREVAILING PRAYER

Reasonable prayers to God always prevail.

Prayer – by those who strive to learn “what they should pray for as they ought” and who seek some natural and probable, and special help or blessing, is reasonable, and always prevails.

Right Prayer – that is accompanied by an intelligent Faith, and wise, real and good work for securing some natural and special good thing or blessing, is reasonable, and it is bound to prevail.

A man’s Prayer to God for a friend – who is either present, or far away, should be united to the following advantages: -

• He should well know his friend’s nature, and his “besetting Sins”.

• He should, if possible, know nearly where his friend lives, if abroad.

• He should fix his mind on the special blessing, or good, that he desires his friend to obtain, through his prayers.

• And that blessing should be a very needful, and natural, and probable one.

• He should concentrate his whole Spirit upon God and his friend, and upon the one, special, work he is doing for him.

• And – he should exercise mighty Faith that his prayer for his friend will be granted. Faith keeps the Fire burning, which will not go out until his friend comes in.

• Prayer to God – of this kind, for any friend near, or far away, is reasonable, and in due time, and soon, it is certain to prevail.

All of the forgoing remarks arise from the hand and continuous study, and the closest observation of the real practice, and results, of prayer among religious people during many long years.

And the following Facts seem very clear: -

Godly Prayer – is a Power and Force controlled by laws that are changeless, and exact, in their workings.

The Force, and Processes of Prayer can be explained in followed from their beginning to their end, just as clearly as can the unseen processes of many other invisible, but mighty Forces in existence.

When Prayer to God is for a reasonable, and special blessing, it is exercised in exact harmony with the laws by which God governs prayer, then the blessing is certain to come.

And prayer to God brings a blessing, even when it is not exact in its reasonableness. It brings God’s Spirit close to man’s Spirit and makes the human being more divine. No single and sincere prayer can be offered up to God in vain! A blessing is Sure.

Prayer to God therefore, is not an act to make light of, for lifting man and woman up to Heaven, so that they may lay hold of the Right hand of the living God. Prayer is the mightiest power in the Universe. All the Thunders of the skies cannot stop praying Souls from mounting upward on their wondrous way.

We all know that it is necessary, and good, to ask help from our Mothers and Fathers. And it is supremely necessary, and good, that we should ask help from God, the one living God, who is the Maker, and Father of us All, and “who giveth to all men liberally, and UPBRAIDETH NOT”.

George Burgess, August 1899