Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?Moody, Dwight Lyman
Religion
Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?
Moody, Dwight Lyman
Christian life; Prayer -- Christianity
“Mr. Bradford, hearing Latimer on that subject, was struck in the heart
for one dash of the pen which he had made without the knowledge of his
master, and could never be quiet till, by the advice of Mr. Latimer,
restitution was made, for which he did willingly forego all the private
and certain patrimony which he had on earth. ‘I, myself,’ saith Mr.
Barroughs, ‘knew one man who had wronged another but of five shillings,
and fifty years after could not be quiet till he had restored it.’”
If there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. If we have done
wrong to some one, we should never ask God to forgive us until we are
willing to make restitution. If I have done any man a great injustice
and can make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am
willing to do so. Suppose I have taken something that does not belong
to me. I cannot expect forgiveness until I make restitution. I remember
preaching in an Eastern city, and a fine-looking man came up to me at
the close. He was in great distress of mind. “The fact is,” he said,
“I am a defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers.
How can I become a Christian without restoring it?” “Have you got the
money?” He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about 1,500
dollars, and he still had about 900. He said, “Could I not take that
money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?” I told
him that was a delusion of Satan, that he could not expect to prosper
on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his
employers to have mercy upon him, and forgive him. “But they will put
me in prison,” he said. “Can you not give me any help?” “No; you must
restore the money before you can expect to get any help from God.”
“It is pretty hard,” he said. “Yes, it is hard; but the great mistake
was in doing the wrong at first.” His burden became so heavy that it
was, in fact, unbearable. He handed me the money--950 dollars and some
cents--and asked me to take it back to his employers. I told them the
story, and said that he wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears
trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, “Forgive him!
Yes, we will be glad to forgive him.” I went down stairs and brought
him up. After he had confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all fell
down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. God met us and
blessed us there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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