Prayer meeting

“ We call upon all those who admit the truth of what we have been putting forth in these pages on "Prayer and the Prayer-Meeting," to unite in cordial, earnest, united prayer and supplication. Let us seek to get together according to God; to come as one man and prostrate ourselves before the mercy-seat, and perseveringly wait upon our God for the revival of His work, the progress of His gospel, the ingathering and upbuilding of His beloved people. Let our prayer-meetings be really prayer-meetings, and not occasions for giving out our favorite hymns, and starting our fancy tunes. ”

“ The prayer-meeting ought to be the place of expressed heed and expected blessing—the place of expressed weakness and expected power—the place where God's people assemble with one accord, to take hold of the very throne of God, to get into the very treasury of heaven, and draw thence all we want for ourselves, for our households, for the Whole Church of God, and for the vineyard of Christ. ”

“ Still a fair representation of the congregation has always delighted to meet in the class-room every Thursday for praise and prayer. I assured my friend and substitute, Mr Cameron, that at this exercise he would be loyally supported by Messrs Rennie, Torrance, Wright, Fraser, A. Cameron, and others, and that he would find the re-union at once delightful and refreshing. To me our Prayer Meeting has always been 'a feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.' I crave for it your prayers always, and your presence as often as possible. ”

“ Every man, and every woman, too, found a tongue. We broke up into little knots. A busy hum of many voices replaced the dead silence. The "social meeting" commenced when the "prayer-meeting" ended. This, I think, is a fair portraiture of our prayer-meetings at Wheathedge as they were during our late pastor's presence with us. ”

“ The most cheering of closing incidents was found in the prayer meeting. We have regretted the lack of a decided religious influence—it has been the one failure of the year. In the last meeting we were not left without evidence of the Spirit’s work. Two young men confessed their trust in Christ and determination to be his avowed followers. Another young man, whose voice has been silent for years, and who has seldom attended meetings either at school or church, asked prayers for himself in a manly way that spoke well for his expressed desire to resume his place in the ranks of Christian workers. ”

“ Such is the true idea of a prayer-meeting, if we are to be taught by Scripture. May it be more fully realized amongst the Lord's people every where. May the Holy Spirit stir us all up, and press upon our souls the value, importance, and urgent necessity of unanimity, confidence, definiteness, importunity, and perseverance in all our prayers and prayer-meetings.
Yes, there's a power which man can wield,
When mortal aid is vain ”

“ Since the close of the protracted meeting, each Sabbath-school class has had its own weekly prayer meeting—a means of great good. Also a general young Christians' prayer meeting has been held weekly. In it effort has been made, not only to lead these new converts to take part in prayer and conference, but to instruct them upon some points too often neglected. Those who on this day united with the church could each, I think, give an intelligent statement of reasons why they should unite with the church ”

“ The large prayer meeting hall is usually crowded, the attendance including not only members of the church but hundreds who are not members of any church. It is no unusual sight to see all the various rooms of the Lower Temple thrown into one by the raising of the sashes, and this vast floor packed as densely as possible, while a fringe of standers lines the edges. People will come to these prayer meetings though they cannot see the platform, though they must lose much of what is said. ”

“ A Mountain Prayer Meeting
"Will you go to meeting with me this afternoon, Mabel? Come; this is your last day here; do go once before you leave the White Mountains." "What do you do in 'meeting'?" asked the gay, beautiful, "High Church" New York belle, with just a shade of contemptuous inflection in her voice.
"Well,—there will be no sermon; there never is in the afternoon. The good minister sits in the aisle, in front of the pulpit, and invites any one he likes to make a prayer. ”

“ We sustain two prayer meetings every week, at the church Wednesday evening, and from house to house Monday evening; and I have begun a young people’s meeting Sunday evening half an hour before regular service, which opens with good promise. The Lord has given us one soul as a pledge of His readiness to bless. A bright, promising young girl has been seeking Christ for a long [13] time, but has been hindered by the general superstitious notion that she must have a vision or tangible evidence of God having heard her prayers. ”

“ When he was informed of this public reception he replied that that was prayer-meeting night and everything else had to give way for prayer-meeting, that he could not attend the reception on that night. That general had proved himself a man that can be depended upon. The Church of Christ in America owes more to him than to almost any other officer in the American army. Ministers learn to depend upon their prayer-meeting members. The prayer-meeting is the most important meeting in the church. ”

“ If prayer is so important that a week is set apart for it, and the whole world turned into a great prayer-meeting, I should think that Professor A. might go without an audience, rather than the meeting be given up. ”

“ At nine, Sabbath morning, I conducted another prayer-meeting. At eleven, Mr. H—— preached and administered the communion. God was truly there in great power. At three we had a meeting for prayer again. At night the church was full. I based my remarks on the words, “I will arise and go to my father.” I saw that every heart was moved, and but few cheeks were dry. At the close of my remarks, I turned to Mr. H——, and said to him, “If you will ask them, some anxious souls will remain for instruction and prayer.” The result was, seven inquirers took a stand on the Lord’s side that night. ”

“ Go into such a prayer meeting, for instance, as you can find in scores of churches in our large cities, where the large numbers present augment the sympathy of each with the common object, where thoughtful, practical, energetic men pour into the common treasury streams of fresh, living thought, where the singing is an inspiration, and say what you will, a man will be stirred and stimulated as he cannot be in the thin assemblies of too many country churches, where the minister is chiefly depended on to give interest to the meeting, where the singing is faint and slow. ”

“ And when the meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quick they can get out of the church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will be liberty there. A good many go to the prayer-meeting out of a mere cold sense of duty. ”

“ Another service very dear to the members of Grace Baptist Church is watch meeting. The services begin at eight o'clock New Year's Eve with a prayer meeting which continues until about half after nine. An intermission follows and usually a committee of young people serve light refreshments for those who want them. At eleven o'clock the watch meeting begins. It is a deeply spiritual meeting, opened by the pastor with an earnest prayer for guidance in the year to come, for renewed consecration to the Master's service, for a better and higher Christian life both as individuals and a church. ”

“ They have come for information, that they might know which way of worship is the best. There were about 300 persons present to attend the meetings. Towards evening we assembled in the two houses for prayer meeting. The Lord was pleased to pour out his Spirit upon us, and there was a shout in the Camp; the slain of the Lord lay all over the floor, some shouting, others weeping, and crying for full redemption through the blood of the covenant.
Monday 7th. — At 9 o'clock, the Chiefs collected all the men together for a Council. About noon we assembled in the bush and had a meeting. ”

“ The Monday prayer-meeting, the afternoon exhortation; the evening conference of the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, or the Congregationalists, are not what is wanted; nor is it a cold and barn-like edifice which makes one feel, if one goes to call upon God, as though He were out, and could only be seen at stated times, and by the will of the sexton and the trustees.
A people's church is wanted, where the people can come and go as they please ”

“ Comparatively few are regularly in these mission enterprises. For those at home there is the quiet hour and prayer meetings, a gathering in the interests of purity or temperance--enough to employ the time to the early supper hour. After that comes the last public meeting of the day in the chapel, which for some time has been conducted by our Society of Christian Endeavor. The day is a full one, with large opportunities for personal growth and usefulness.
From a recent visit, I am able to write more fully of one of the meetings of the Young Men's Christian Association. ”

“ The next morning we were assembled at nine for prayer and exhortation. At eleven Mr. C——, a student of divinity, spoke with much fervor. After recess I spoke with much liberty, and five came out as inquirers. We held meetings at night in two places; both well attended, and several were awakened. 170 The Sabbath morning prayer-meeting was crowded. The communion was administered by Mr. P——; and after recess I spoke again, and we had nine inquirers. The next morning we had a crowd, and there were clear indications of the presence of the Spirit of God. ”

“ At two o’clock, I went into the school building to attend a prayer meeting held daily among the pupils since the opening of the Week of Prayer. There are indications of the Spirit’s presence among us, and we are anxiously hoping that some of these dear young people may be turned to the service of Christ. ”

“ Prayer is the vital breath of the Christian life, and none the less of missionary endeavor. We ask a place evermore in the prayers of God’s people. At our Annual Meeting it is our custom to spend a season of devotion on Tuesday afternoon in concert with all our workers in the field, who gather in their homes and schools and churches to lift up their voices in thanks and supplications with us for the blessing of God upon our work. ”

“ I preach in three schoolhouses and a large barn. The people are mostly Scotch, Irish, and English. The four would make a decent congregation. I take them two each Sabbath, and have prayer-meetings, when I can manage it, as well as week-day 'preachings.' To-morrow night I must ride six miles northwest to hold a meeting among some English people (whom I like best of all my people) , and next day, Friday, come back ten miles to a prayer-meeting in another place, [Pg 27] Saturday ten miles again to another, and Sabbath two meetings. ”

“ The universal priesthood of believers, which the Scriptures so plainly teach, constitutes the ground for common intercession, for "the praying one for another" which is the distinctive feature of the Spirit's dispensation The prayer meeting, therefore, in which the whole body of believers participate, probably comes nearer the pattern of primitive Christian {152} worship than any other service which we hold. ”

“ At the regular Wednesday evening prayer meeting a young man announces that he has made up his mind to turn and live a Christian life. Good Deacon Morford asks of the pastor: “How would it do to have a meeting to-morrow night?” ”

“ I see great reason for encouragement. We have 60 members on the ground whom I can find, and who seem to be quite as consistent as the average church members at the North. This, out of a list of 77, seems to me a pretty good showing. Half of the absentee list is accounted for by the former teachers who have not taken their letters, and students at Atlanta and Talladega. I have more reliable “prayer-meeting” members in proportion to our number than most pastors enjoy. “Pauses” in the prayer meeting have not yet been introduced. ”

“ In one city is gathered a little band of believing women, who hold a weekly prayer meeting, and "it is most touching to hear their simple requests and pleading for this and that one still outside the fold. ”

“ It is so persistently twisted and befogged and misunderstood, some of the very best people seem inclined to make our prayer-meetings into formidable church-meetings, for the purpose of hearing a succession of not very short sermons, rather than a social gathering of Christians, to sympathize with, and pray for and help each other, as I believe the Master intended them to be. ”

“ After meeting it seemed best to us to try for a meeting, and, no obstacle appearing, at the time appointed nearly all assembled, and the short silence was blessed with His presence who is invisible. With awfulness and fear we ventured to make known our requests, and our dependent souls were made joyful in the house of prayer. Great solemnity pervaded the assembly, and these desperate spirits seemed contrited and made to fear. We were comforted with the spirits of a little band of humble followers of the Lord in this meeting, whom doubtless the Saviour loves. ”