President Finney's Prayer For Rain.

The following incident of the prayer of President Finney for rain, and

its immediate answer, is furnished by Professor Cowles, the intimate

friend of President Finney:



"Somewhat more than twenty years ago, the village of Oberlin and its

adjacent country along the lake shore, suffered severely through the hot

season from a total failure of rain, for nearly three months. Clouds

that seemed to promise rain w re repelled from the heated dry atmosphere

over the land, and attracted by the more moist atmosphere over the lake,

to pour out their waters there. On one such occasion, the clouds had

gathered dark, low, and heavy over the lakes, and lay there with no

particular indication of rising. President Finney walked out with his

eye on these clouds. I give the sequel in his own words, as they fell

from his lips, less than three months since:



"'In this walk I met Ralph, who turned sharply upon me. 'Mr. Finney, I

should like to know what you mean in preaching that God is always wise

and always good, when you see him pouring out that great rain upon the

lake, where it can do no good, and leaving us to suffer so terribly for

the want of that wasted water?'



"'His words cut me to the heart; I turned, and ran home to my closet,

fell on my knees, and told the Lord what Ralph had been saying about

Him; and besought Him, for the honor of His great name, to confound this

caviler, and show forth the glory of His power and the greatness of His

love. I pleaded with Him that He had encouraged His people to pray for

rain, and that now the time seemed to have come for Him to show His

power in this thing, and His faithfulness as a hearer of prayer.



"'Before I rose from my knees, there was a sound of a rushing, mighty

wind. I looked out, and lo! the heavens were black; that cloud was

rolling up, and soon the rain fell in torrents, two full hours.'



"The writer, (Professor Cowles,) himself remembers how that cloud lay

over the lake; how it drove him, also, to his closet; and that soon and

signally the prayers of that hour came back to us in mighty rain."