The Prayer-Meeting

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 1, 1875

The Prayer-Meeting.

I LOVE THE PRAYER-MEETING,

1. BECAUSE, after the toils and perplexities of the day, my mind finds a sweet relief from the burdens that have oppressed it. The privilege of praying for others relieves my own heart. My repinings are lost in anxieties for them. “When I went into the sanctuary, then understood I their end.”

2. There I often obtain new views of truth. A spark is struck from the word of God that kindles a flame in my heart. A vein hitherto hidden is opened. My soul bows down to drink the reviving element, and is refreshed.

3. It brings me near to God. It is the place of special promise: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” If many are absent, God is always there. I am never disappointed in this. He never stays away. If but “two or three” meet, he condescends to make “one.” And what a “one” he is! We see him not, but we feel his presence; we hear him not, but something seems to say, “Lo, I am in the midst of you.”

4. It brings me nearer Heaven. Like Jacob, we are often constrained to say, “This is the gate of Heaven.” Here I come to look upon my Saviour, and the glories of my future eternal home.

IT IS THE CHURCH THERMOMETER.

Well what is that? Ask any veteran pastor who has weathered the storms and rejoiced in the sunshines of a long ministerial life, and he will tell you that it is the social prayer-meeting. The true thermometer of a church, to indicate its spiritual temperature, is the weekly gathering around the mercy-seat. A cold prayer-meeting makes a cold church. It is at once the cause and effect of spiritual declension.

And as a church has no surer symptom of decay than a decaying prayer-meeting, so nothing feels the approach of a revival so palpably as the place of prayer. A revival begins there commonly. The deserted seats are filled. Those who “could not leave their business,” now find but little difficulty in closing the doors of their shops or their counting rooms. The absent Thomases are once more with the deserted flock of disciples, and wonder to find their Saviour there too, saying, “Peace be unto you!” Those who seldom prayed are now ready to pour out their souls in supplication. A latent power is developed in the church, which astounds both pastor and people.

The prayer-meeting, too, becomes a place for communion with each other, as well as for communion with God. Old differences are forgotten; old wounds are healed; church members will grasp each other’s hands, and inquire about their neighbors’ spiritual health.

The experienced mariner constantly “consults the glass.” Brethren, if we are wise, we, too, will keep a lookout upon the thermometer of the church. A prayer-meeting below freezing point is a fatal indication.

GO TO THE PRAYER-MEETING.

1. It will be a relief to your conscience. It will be redeeming the solemn pledge which you made before angels and men, when you gave yourself to Christ and to his church. You cannot have a peaceful conscience while thus disregarding the vows of God which are upon you.

2. It will bring great good to your own soul. You will be refreshed and gladdened in spirit; you will have new and more satisfying evidence of your being a child of God, and will be prompted to new activity in his service.

3. If you are prompt and regular at the prayer-meeting, it will greatly encourage your pastor. His labors are arduous, and his discouragements are many—his night watchings often. Allow not his heart to sink at the thought that you have forsaken the place of weekly prayer. Encourage him by your constant presence, and you will be repaid a hundred fold in the increased happiness and usefulness of your pastor.

4. Go to the prayer-meeting. It will strengthen your brethren. It will animate their hearts, and make them feel strong in the day of trial. The few who have borne the heat and burden of the day sometimes feel sad because no more “come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Yet they are resolved never to abandon the cause, for they have enlisted for life. Go stand by their side, and share the burdens and toils, and you will also share their abundant rewards.

5. Your weekly presence at the prayer-meeting will have a powerful influence upon the unconverted. When they see your perseverance in Christian duty, united with a consistent life, they will take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus; they will be constrained to go themselves to a place that is so constantly attractive to you, and may, through your instrumentality, be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Be punctual, then, at the prayer-meeting, for the sake of those around you, who are “without hope and without God in the world.”

6. Above all, go to the prayer-meeting because it will glorify God. This is the great object for which Christians should live. “Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” In the spiritual prayer-meeting, God is greatly honored by the growth of Christians in grace and in knowledge, and by the marvelous displays of the Spirit’s power in the conviction and conversion of men. Go, through the storm, the cold, and the heat; go, though but two or three are inclined to meet you there; go, though worldly cares press hard; go, meet the people of God for prayer, and you will meet your Saviour also, and be richly blessed.

Reader, Do you go to the prayer-meeting? WILL you go henceforth?—Sel.