Not Your Own Strength Can Break The Habit.
"I smoked tobacco excessively for fifteen years, commencing when I was
about twenty years old. I often strove to break off from the use of it;
indeed I determined time and again to desist from it, sometimes
abstaining for a few months or weeks, once for twelve months, _but the
desire never left me_, and whenever I tasted it I was sure to take to it
again. I sometimes vowed whilst upon my knees in prayer, to abstain from
strength; hence I failed, being overcome by the almost irresistible
influences it had upon my appetite, so long accustomed to the use.
"One Sunday morning, I retired to a secluded place, got down upon my
knees, and asked the Lord to help me quit it, determining then and there
that I would, God being my helper, never touch the accursed thing again
by any kind of use in the way of consumption, and from that day to this,
I have never had any desire to smoke or chew tobacco, or to use it in
any way; I lifted my heart to God, imploring his assistance in
abstaining from it. I have now been clear of the desire of it for nearly
twenty-three years."
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Lending To The Lord.
"A poor man, some of whose family were sick, lived near Deacon Murray, (referred to in the tract, 'Worth of a Dollar,') and occasionally called at his house for a supply of milk. One morning he came while the family were at breakfast. Mrs. Murray ... Lending To The Lord.
As a series of religious meetings was held in a Baptist church in ----, and the hearts of God's people were greatly encouraged, the church was consumed by fire. It was proposed to continue the meetings in the Congregational church, but the workmen... Licentiousness, Etc., In Answer To Prayer.
This question having been asked by a clergyman of Brooklyn, Rev. S.H. Platt, he received a large number of communications, which evidently prove that the Lord is _willing_ and _does_, either _instantaneously_ or gradually in answer to prayer, deli... Life Brought Back Again In The Midst Of Death.
The following instance, when _death itself was made to give back the life it claimed_, is personally known to us to be true: A mother, in this city, sent a request for prayer to the Fulton street prayer-meeting, asking the Lord for the recovery of... Life Of His Sister Is Saved.
One of the most beautiful incidents ever known relating to the faith of children, and the reward of their trust, is contained in the following circumstance, personally known to the editor of this book, who was a participant in the facts. The on... Life Spared For Two Weeks.
"On the 8th of January, last, I was called upon to visit a dying man in Jersey City, whom the doctors had said could not live but a few hours. I found him in severe bodily sufferings and a terrible agony of mind. He had lived a moral and upright l... Light Given To A Blind Child.
"A missionary visiting one of the mission schools of Brooklyn, was introduced to a remarkable child. He was brought into the school from the highways and hedges, and young as he was, he had been taught of God. One day he was playing with powder, a... Little George's Prayer.
A clergyman writes us these incidents: "I knew a poor family whose son George, four or five years old, was accustomed to pray. They lived five or six miles from neighbors, and, at times, were quite destitute. One day, as little George observed h... Luther's Mighty Prayer And Prophecy.
At one time in the life of Luther, there was a critical moment in the affairs of the Reformation. Bitter persecution prevailed with extraordinary power, and threatened every one. They were the dark days when faith could only cling. There were but ... Melancthon's Life Saved From Death In Answer To Luther's Prayer.
The most powerful tribute to the efficacy of prayer, was the answer to Luther's prayer which the Lord sent. A messenger was sent to Luther that Melancthon was dying. He found him presenting the usual premonitory symptoms of death. Melancthon rouse... Money For Postage.
"One day I opened my port-monnaie to get change for some little needful, when I found I had but ten cents. I used five of it. As visions of six or seven letters and many little things I needed came up before me, I said aloud: 'The Lord will have t... Money Wanted To Pay Railroad Fare.
"Once, on a visit, I left the company below, and went up stairs for an hour's quiet and prayer. I was to return the coming week and I had only just enough to pay my fare. For several days I had been anxious how I was to get some money. This aftern... Mr. Moody's Answers To Prayers.
Mr. D.L. Moody, the Evangelist, when a boy, was possessed of an unusual amount of muscular strength and animal spirits, and a strong will that knew little of impossibility or submission. When only six years old, being wistful to do something to he... Mr. Moody's Faith, In Prayer. A Remarkable Answer.
Mr. Moody, on his return from England, while conducting a prayer-meeting in Northfield, Mass., gave this illustration of the power of prayer to subdue the most unlikely cases of sin and unbelief: "There is not a heart so hard that God cannot tou... Mr. Spurgeon's Cow.
"My grandfather was a very poor minister, and kept a cow, which was a very great help in the support of his children--he had ten of them;--and the cow took the "staggers" and died. 'What will you do now?' said my grandmother. 'I cannot tell what w... Mrs. Whitney's Cure In Answer To Prayer.
Mrs. C.S. Whitney of Hartford, Conn., a lady well known for her Christian work among the poor, thus gives in a letter to Dr. Patton, her personal testimony of the efficacy of prayer: "Three years ago, I was healed of a bodily disease. I had been... My Heart Talked.
A child six years old, in a Sunday school, said: "When we kneel down in the school-room to pray, it seems as if my heart talked." ... Nettie's Daily Bread.
A little girl in a wretched attic, whose sick mother had no bread, knelt down by the bedside, and said slowly: "Give us this day our daily bread." Then she went into the street and began to wonder where God kept his bread. She turned around the co... No "ifs."
"A number of years ago I went West to better my condition.... After a little time I went into business of my own, had but little capital, and my good name to be punctual in paying for what I bought on credit was of great importance to me. I had prom... No Fear Of Thunder.
Some years ago a camp-meeting was held in Southern Indiana. It rained nearly all the time of the meeting. Father Haven, a man mighty in prayer, rose to preach. Just as he announced his text it thundered, and the congregation seemed to be restless ... No Flour In The House--in The Days Of Famine, His Soul Shall Be Satisfied.
Mr. Moody's domestic life has always been a happy one, but in the early days of his marriage, he was very poor, and his faith was often put to the severest tests. One day, on leaving home in his missionary work and labors of love, he remarked t... Noah's Prayer.--he Did Not Get Discouraged.
The life of faith and the necessity of uncompromising hold on the promise's, expecting their fulfillment, is admirably explained in the illustration of Noah's prayer. One day Mr. Moody was much discouraged, and it was as dark a Sabbath as ever he ... Not Your Own Strength Can Break The Habit.
"I smoked tobacco excessively for fifteen years, commencing when I was about twenty years old. I often strove to break off from the use of it; indeed I determined time and again to desist from it, sometimes abstaining for a few months or weeks, on... Oh, How Precious.
"I wrote five months since for prayers for myself, and I now write to say that I have found my Savior very precious to my soul." ... One Who Refused The Holy Spirit.
The following incident is related by D.L. Moody, the Evangelist, which contains a warning, how the Holy Spirit avenges itself to those who refuse its admonitions. It is a remarkable instance of the control of an overruling God, who alone knew that... Persevering Prayer.
At one of the prayer-meetings at the Brooklyn tabernacle, Mr. Moody closed by narrating an instance of persevering prayer by a Christian wife for an infidel husband. She resolved to pray for him at noon for eighteen months, and at the expiration o... Please God, Give Us A Home.
Mr. Moody tells of a beautiful answer to the faith of a little child. "I remember a child that lived with her parents in a small village. One day the news came that her father had joined the army (it was the beginning of our war), and a few days... Prayer Answered For Employment.
"A foreigner without means and friendless tried in vain for ten months to succeed in finding some employment. He requested your prayers to God, and _God answered_. In less than eighteen hours a splendid position was offered to him. He and his wife... Prayer For A Pair Of Boots.
In the Fall of 1858, H----, a student in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J., was in great need of a new pair of boots. His toes were sticking out of his old ones, and he had no money to purchase new ones. All the money he could command wa... Prayer For Purchasers.
When removal to the new Home was determined upon, there still remained five of the old buildings on hand to be disposed of. This too was taken to the Lord in prayer that he might send purchasers. One building was sold in October, and the remaini... Prayer Found The Remedy For The Disease.
"A correspondent of _The Illustrated Christian Weekly_, states that a mother of her acquaintance had a child taken alarmingly ill. She sent for the physician. The child was in convulsions. The doctor began at once vigorously to apply the customary... Prayer Instantaneously Answered For Conversion.
On the evening of the fifty-first daily prayer-meeting in Augusta, Ga., a large gathering assembled in the St. John's M.E. Church, at which Dr. Irvine presided, and some very touching communications were read. One was from a widowed mother, asking... Prayer Saves The Life Of A Little Child.
"A year ago this Summer, my sister's little baby, only five months old, was taken very ill with that distressing complaint which often proves so fatal, and takes so many sweet little ones out of loving hearts and homes. I loved baby Ernest, but ne... Prayer, Not Mesmerism.
"Several people have maintained that her work was one of mesmerism; and when once she was asked to visit an out patient, she earnestly implored the Lord _not_ to heal this invalid through her means if she employed mesmerism; but if not, to permit ... Prayer.
An exact parallel instance to the foregoing is given in the experience of a correspondent of _The Christian_, which occurred in the latter part of November, 1864, while traveling with her aged father and two small girls: "We started from New Ha... Praying For A Bible.
"For a long while it has been my habit to be entirely guided for the day by the first verse in the Bible on which my eyes rested. While dressing for the day, I glance at the open page, or sometimes turning over the leaves. But my old Bible was poo... Praying For A Furnace.
"I am earnestly praying for the means to purchase a furnace, for we cannot receive patients into the new Home until it can be warmed. I am looking to the Lord, and He will help." _Seven days later_. "A gentleman has this day ordered a furnace to... Praying For A Home.
A young Southern girl, who had lost a position through five months' sickness, and found herself, at last, in the street and penniless, turned her steps to a daily prayer-meeting. She said her earliest impressions from her mother were, that the Lor... Praying For A Lost Pocket-book.
A contributor to _The Christian_ writes as follows: "A few months since I lost my pocket-book, containing money and papers of a large amount--more than I felt able to lose--and which I should feel the loss of, as I was owing at that time about t... Praying For A New Hat.
"Whatsoever thing ye ask in _My_ name"-- "For a long while I had been without money, and my need was very great. I wanted a new hat so much; and the question arose in my mind, 'What am I going to do about it?' As I had no human arm to depend... Praying For A Pastor.
"Several months ago I wrote asking you to pray for a feeble church in need of a pastor. Since then I am happy to say that this church has been blessed and we now have a pastor." ... Praying For A Sewing Machine.
"One day a lady friend said to me: 'Would you like some nice sewing, easy to do?' I answered, 'Yes.' 'Have you a sewing machine?' 'I have not, but am praying for one.' 'That is right; so you believe you will have it by praying for it?' I replied: ... Praying For Money For A Journey.
A lady, Miss E., residing in New Bedford, received a letter telling of the serious illness of her mother, in New York. Sick herself, from unremitted care of an invalid during eight years, poor as Elijah when his only grocers were the ravens, too o... Praying For Others.
"My sister's husband wished to raise a certain sum of interest money by a given time, but could see no way; was very much troubled about it; said he knew no one to whom he could apply. I told him to pray for it. He answered, 'God won't hear the pr...