HOW PAUL'S PRAYER WAS ANSWERED.
By W.
WHEN Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, he said: "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you." Rom. 1:9, 10. In the latter part of the epistle, he recurs to this, telling why he had not been able to come to them before, namely, because of his efforts to preach the gospel where Christ had not been named. He would forego the pleasure of meeting with the brethren in Rome, in order that he might labor for those who had never heard of Christ. But he adds: "But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; whenever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you; for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints." Rom. 15: 23-25. He had gone pretty thoroughly over the territory, preaching the gospel, and now he designed to see his Roman brethren as soon as he had discharged his duty to the poor saints at Jerusalem. In Acts 19: 21 we are told of this purpose: "Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome." Well, his prayer in this respect was answered, for he did go to Rome after he had been to Jerusalem. But he did not go as he expected. He prayed for a prosperous journey; and all know that his journey to Rome was attended with the greatest dangers. We also find from Rom. 15:30-32 another thing that was on his mind. He says:— "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe, in Judea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed." But Paul was not delivered from the unbelievers in Judea. In fact, before he got there he knew that he would be seized by them, and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. Still he did not begin to doubt, and to say that God had not heard his prayer. He well knew that hearing a prayer and answering it are two different things, and that God is the best judge of how a request should be granted. Notwithstanding Paul's earnest prayers that he might be delivered from the unbelieving Jews (and his entreaty to the Roman brethren shows how much he dreaded them), he was seized by them. For more than two years he was kept a prisoner by the Romans, and finally, when, by his appeal to Cæsar, he was sent to Rome, it was in chains. Notice, however, how the real desire of Paul was met, and that far better than if he had gone as he hoped. If he had gone as he expected, he would have entered Rome quietly, and might not in that great city have attracted much attention outside of the narrow circle of the acquaintances of the church in Rome. As it was, he was met outside the city by the brethren, and was escorted not only by them, but by an imperial procession. He was a prisoner of State. He had appealed unto Cæsar, and consequently he was brought into the immediate presence of royalty. And so, instead of preaching the gospel to a few obscure people, he preached to all Rome, and had many to help him; for while there he wrote:— "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Phil. 1: 12-14. Thus, although Paul's prayer was not answered as he expected, it was answered according to his real desire; for his sole desire was to come to the brethren, "in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Rom. 15:29), and that Christ alone should be honored. And we have no reason to think that at any time Paul was disappointed or discouraged, for let it be noticed that when he prayed it was that he might have "a prosperous journey by the will of God" (Rom. 1:10), and that he might come to them "with joy, by the will of God." Rom. 15:32. The will of God was accomplished, the cause of God was prospered, and we may be sure that that was joy to that devoted servant of God.