SPEAKING AND PRAYING IN PUBLIC.
By E. G. Doud
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I feel like addressing a few words to you on this important subject. I write, not to inform you that public speaking and prayer, are duties we owe to our God and to ourselves, for this we know. What I wish to speak about, is the manner in which these duties are often performed. I have seen a great many Christians arise and talk of the goodness of God, with their eyes fixed upon the floor so that they saw no one, nor could any one catch their eye. This seems to me to be wrong. Were a stranger telling us what great riches some friend had bestowed upon him, keeping his eye from coming in contact with ours, how much, think you, would we regard the story? So when the wicked hear us witness for Jesus, telling of what he has done for us, with our eyes upon the floor, how much confidence can they have in what we say? When honest people talk, their eyes meet; and should it not be the same when Christians speak, if they speak the truth? Again, is it right for Christians when they pray in public to speak so low that none can hear what they say? Is it not safe for the bystander to conclude that they are cold professors and their religion not worth having? Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, writes against the practice of speaking in unknown tongues; and if we speak so low as not to be heard, do we not virtually do the same thing? When this is the case, how shall he that occupieth the same room say, Amen? 1 Cor. xii, 16. Then again, some speak too loud when they pray. This is wrong. God's ear is not heavy that he cannot hear; and it is truly painful to the hearer. We ought to be in earnest in prayer, and if we are, and do not smother our voices with our hands, there will be no trouble in our being heard, and that is all that is necessary. Much more might be said upon this subject, but I leave it for more able minds, fearing that I, in my awkwardness, may give offense and discourage some one from doing duty. It is better to speak low than not to speak at all; and I say if circumstances were such that we could not speak above a whisper, let us in this way lisp forth the praise of God. We believe in reform; and while we are reforming in our mode of living, so as to increase our health and strength, let us reform in our manner of using this strength in praising God; remembering that much depends upon the words we speak, for our Saviour says, Matt. xii, 37, “By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”