November 22

Effective praying

“Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee” (Neh. 1:6).
“Thy prayer is heard” (Acts 10:31).

The story is related of a poor but exceedingly pious colored woman, who felt keenly the need of her people having a church. She went about accordingly to have the neighbors meet for prayer-meeting at an old unused house. When the evening came, the woman took her lantern and went to the place of appointment, but no one else came. Nothing daunted, the woman prayed and sang, and then went home. The week following, the woman went again. Some were curious to know where the woman went, and followed. Outside they listened to a fervent prayer, and in time grew interested. After some time one or two ventured into the house that they might the better hear. One, more bold than the rest, asked the woman if she was not discouraged over the failure of others to come.


“The Lord and I makes a ’jority,” was the simple answer.
After a while there were others to pray besides the old colored woman, for her faithfulness and earnest prayers had led them to Christ.
In three years from the time the woman began holding meetings within the unused house, there were enough Christians to build a neat church upon the site of the old building where the prayers had been offered.
If the effectual fervent prayer of one righteous man avails so much with God, how much more the united prayers of your entire church! “If one sigh of a true Christian,” says an old divine, “wafts the bark to the desired haven, or stirreth Zion’s ship, how much more a gale of sighs, breathed by hundreds of believers. If one trumpet sounds so loudly in the ears of God, how much more a concert of all the silver trumpets in Zion sounding together! Where so many hands are lifted up, how many blessings may they not pull down from Heaven!”
—James Caughey.

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