It is of the Christian faith that prayer changes things. Prayer can release forces in this physical world and in the spiritual world. What blessings then may be prayed upon ministers. This I covet above all other blessings which could be bestowed by my congregation and friends, namely, an interest in their prayers. How much of protection from accident, from physical harm, from dis ease; how much of inspiration and spiritual power; how much of influence through open doors I owe to the pray ers of God’s people I shall never know until we get to glory, but I believe that such prayers have had a primary part in whatever usefulness I have known. Paul often faced great spiritual bat tles when Satan attacked him, attempt ing to stifle the witness. This happened at Ephesus, at Corinth, at Thessaloni- ca, and at Rome, but the prayers of God’s people delivered him from such satanic activity. The needs of ministers today are equal to those of the ministers of Paul’s day. They have hindrances to their devotion, they have need of enlighten ment and empowerment, they must be men of victory, of vision, of faith, and of courage. They must be used of God as soulwinners, as reformers, as teach ers, and God’s people should be praying for them for that purpose. Our day is one of the most difficult days in which to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. There are physical dangers by flying through the air, by traveling on land and sea, there is the hostility of great atheistic forces and those engaged in the ministry of the Word, especially in travel and in foreign countries, stand in the need of our prayers. There are many new currents of thought which would attack the min ister’s spiritual and intellectual life. He must be alert and awake to these currents of thought, but he must be kept from them by an intimate rela tionship to God. Ironside, “the need •of ministers for prayer is greater than for education, for material provision, for commenda tion or for human cooperation. Thus Paul says, ‘Brethren, pray for us’ (I Thess. 5:25).”
" T H E W A L L A N D T H E H E D G E "
The devil may wall you round But he cannot roof you in; He may fetter your feet and tie your hands And strive to hamper your soul with bands As his way has ever been; But he cannot hide the face of God And the Lord shall be your Light, And your eyes and your thoughts can rise to the sky, Where His clouds and His winds and His birds go by, And His stars shine out at night. The devil may wall you round; He may rob you of all things dear. He may bring his hardest and rough est stone And think to cage you and keep you alone, But he may not press too near; For the Lord has planted a hedge in side, And has made it strong and tall, A hedge of living and growing green; And ever it mounts and keeps be tween The trusting soul and the devil's wall. The devil may wall you round, But the Lord's hand covers you,— And His hedge is a thick and a thorny hedge And the devil can find no entering wedge Nor get his finger through; He may circle about you all day long, But he cannot work as he would, For the will of the Lord restrains his hand, And he cannot pass the Lord's com mand And his evil turns to good. The devil may wall you round With his gray stones, row on row, But the green of the hedge is fresh and fair, And within its circle is space to spare. And room for your soul to grow; The wall that shuts you in May be hard and high and stout; But the Lord is sun and the Lord is dew, And His hedge is coolness and shade for you, And no wall can shut Him out. Annie Johnson Flint
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