Prayer and the Bible
There are three methods used distinctively in the study of the Bible and
upon each of them prayer has a clear effect. This fact comes out fully
in the written testimonials received from the members of the church
worshiping in the Baptist Temple. One individual may read the Bible as
he would read any other book, and, consequently, finds it dull reading.
Another studies the historical references as an archæologist or as the
scientific specialists examine a rare specimen. To them it is a curious
and strange collection of ancient manuscripts, and such a student finds
amusement in the research. Another regards the Book as a miraculous
revelation from God, and he handles the volume with reverent care and
reads the statements it contains as he would a letter sent from heaven
direct to him. Those three classes are found in almost every religious
gathering, and it is an intensely interesting thing to observe at close
range the various effects of prayer on such a congregation. When the
leader of the prayer service approaches the Bible with the manner of a
delighted seeker after truth, and, before opening the Book, leads the
people in a direct appeal to the Divine Spirit for instruction and
inspiration, the interest of the worshipers in the Book is especially
awakened. When the leader prays fervently and with frank sincerity that
the passages of the Bible to be read shall be illumined or be made alive
with special meaning and new emphasis, then the Book will be an
interesting volume to nearly all of the gathering. And when the leader
is himself expecting a special revelation from that Book at that time
his personal magnetism combines with his manner to help the worshiper
into a receptive, expectant state of mind. The people then expect to
hear "an important message from a most important person." The
helpfulness of those conditions anyone would understand, as they are in
accord with human experience in other gatherings. But the effect of the
prayer in bringing to each person present a different message from the
same verse puts the matter over into the realm of the supernatural.
At one prayer meeting at the Temple, when a severe storm had cut down
the attendance to a number under twenty, the prayerful attitude of all
present made the session one of special spiritual illumination. The
Scriptures were read with accuracy and natural emphasis, and then each
listener was requested to state informally what was the chief lesson
which the reading brought to him. Each person present received a
distinct and helpful suggestion differing from the suggestions made to
any of the others. It is that well-established fact, so often
experienced, that makes the Bible a book unlike any other. In this, too,
is shown the importance of persuading everyone to read the Bible for
and by himself. It seems, however, to be universally true that when the
Bible is prayerfully, intelligently read aloud each praying listener
receives some message of special importance to himself. While all that
evening heard the same words from the same mouth, yet the circumstances
of each life were different from every other; the experiences had been
unlike, the inherited dispositions were different, the meaning of the
words was shaded by the variation in their home use, and a full
allowance was freely made for those differing effects. But those
considerations cannot, to the calm, critical student of the inspiration
of the Bible, account for the special and mysterious messages which come
to each participant in the meeting. The suggestions are often beyond the
application of the law of "the association of ideas." They cannot be
explained by any of the known psychological laws which seem generally to
govern the human mind. This experience with the Bible is the best
evidence of its divine inspiration. Archæological, psychological,
etymological, or historical analysis cannot establish the accuracy of
the Bible so surely as that actual experience. The best proof is
subjective. The secular argument that the Bible carries on its face the
evidence that the writers were all inspired by a "good motive" is surely
an excellent reason for believing the Bible to be "inspired." A holy
motive, apparent in its wise communications, is clearly shown in the
Bible. The etymologist who rests his case on the conclusion that the
words "inspired by God" were formerly written "inspired by the Good,"
and that the "All Good" being is the ideal God, is not far from the safe
definition. That does not in any way conflict with the theory that "all
Scripture, inspired by the 'All Good,' is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." The
complications into which the narrow theologian or technical philosopher
falls when attempting to reason about the Almighty often makes the
study bewildering and unprofitable. The testimony of the good and great
through all the ages that every line of the Book is written with the
unselfish purpose to do good is sufficient warrant for the common reader
in concluding that it has some unusual inspiration.
The question was often discussed at the Temple whether it was safe after
prayer to open the Bible at random and be guided by the first verse on
which the eye rested. Some claimed that it was always safe to trust it.
Others said that it was only occasionally that they found it to be
reasonably instructive. Still others believed that the ascribing of such
magic, or miraculous, power to the Book was clearly a form of forbidden
idolatry. But the majority of the praying Bible readers felt convinced
that the selection of texts at random could not be trusted. Yet here
again we find strong evidence that sometimes the worshiper is directed
to a particular record which seems to be selected by a divine mind.
Again, it is wholly a matter of faith. The boy who asked his father for
a silver dollar and found one in the road which some traveler had
accidentally dropped, concluded that there was no design on the part of
his father to give him the dollar. But when he found a dollar there the
third time his conclusion that his father had placed all three of the
dollars there for him was not unreasonable, but, nevertheless,
erroneous. So while the Lord surely has established certain laws or
customs which seem permanent, yet he has the power and may change the
laws or allow exceptions, and one cannot believe in prayer without
believing that such changes are sometimes made. It is a far greater
strain upon human credulity not to believe it than it is to believe it.
The careful use of common sense in the interpretation of Biblical or
unusual events, examples, and records of wisdom is ever the safe and
sane proceeding. If one should pray for divine direction and opened the
Bible at random to find the Lord's advice he should always examine the
verse to see if its teaching or direction accorded with his petition. In
a "call" to the ministry there must be a conviction of duty in the soul
and also a road providentially opened to the would-be laborer. So in all
the thousands of answers to prayer at the Temple there was found a
conjunction of circumstances which showed that the worker was called by
the same Lord who had a work to be done.
The will of man is a strong force and is in itself an effectual, fervent
prayer. The Lord prospers the person whose righteous will is decided,
persistent, and uncompromising. The too-frequent consultation of Bible
texts for hints or for direction shows a habit of doubt which is often a
clear evidence of weakness. But in this, as in almost every other
experiment, it is the consensus of opinion that the Lord does often
inspire the Bible, especially for certain devout seekers, and that he
inspires the soul with a keen, sensitive apprehension and appreciation
of the special revelation. The spiritually minded man or woman is the
only one who can interpret a spiritual book. The chief value of the
Bible is as a spiritual guide. It is the only book which explains the
Creator's revelation to this world, and is the only one which gives a
trustworthy description of the spiritual world. What a shadow would pass
over the earth, and what destruction, devastation, and misery would be
experienced, if, in one moment, all knowledge of the Bible were crossed
out! Sane men who reverently pray for the inspiration when they read the
Scriptures are the only safe guides to its sacred meaning. All who came
to the Temple to pray seem to have been lead to the Bible at once, and
thousands have learned to love it. To those who have prayed long over it
it has become a continual feast.