“Very good,” said the teacher; “and this is not only true of nations, but of individuals. I doubt whether any person ever lived to mature age, who never offered a prayer at some period of his life, in some way or other. Let some terrible calamity suddenly threaten even the most abandoned man, and how quickly does he begin to pray! Even infidels cannot repress this natural instinct of prayer. It is said that Thomas Paine, when in danger of shipwreck, called loudly on God for mercy; and Lord Herbert, the celebrated deist,[[9]] after he had written a book against Christianity, actually prayed to God to tell him whether he should publish it. I have even read an argument written by an avowed infidel, trying to prove that it was right and consistent for an atheist to pray to God. He maintained that if there were only one chance in a thousand that there is a Deity who hears prayer, and will reward or punish us for our conduct, it was a matter of policy to call upon Him, rather than run the risk of offending Him.”
[9]. A Deist is one who rejects the Bible, but believes in a Supreme Being. By an Atheist, is commonly understood one who professes to believe there is no God; but there are very few if any real atheists. We read that “the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God;” but he does not, he cannot believe it. The term Infidel is applied to both atheists and deists.
“Prayer brings down blessings,” was given by another pupil as a fifth reason why we ought to pray; and in proof, she cited several examples from the Old and New Testaments.
“How do you account for it, then, that some people who never pray receive so many blessings?” inquired the teacher.
“It is because God is so good, that he often bestows blessings when they are not asked for,” was the reply.
“You are right,” said the teacher. “The Lord is good to all; He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil; but He often bestows special favors in answer to prayer. His choicest blessings are spiritual ones, and these He usually gives only in answer to prayer. They are offered to us conditionally. We must ask for them if we want them.”
Another reason was now called for, but the class seemed to have exhausted the theme, and no one responded. The teacher then continued:
“Supposing it were possible to overthrow all the arguments that have been mentioned, there is one more that would still have great weight with me. It is this—prayer exerts a good influence on our hearts. It improves our temper, and disposition. It makes us better children, better parents, better men and women. It seems as if God rewarded us for the very act of coming to Him in prayer, even when He does not think it best to grant our petition. It appears to me that if this were the only benefit we derived from prayer, we should be very unwise to give it up.
“Can any of you think of another argument in favor of this duty?” inquired the teacher. No one replying, she continued: “The fact that the best people that have ever lived have always been praying people, is, I think, a strong argument in favor of prayer. The Bible is full of examples of this kind, and so is all history. The purest men that the world has ever known, and those that have done the most for mankind, have been men who communed with God. I should like to have the members of the class name some examples, if they can think of any.”
Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Paul, and several other Bible saints, were mentioned by different scholars.