The Wonders of Prayer Part 27

A G.o.dly man, the master of an American ship, during one voyage found his ship bemisted for days, and he became rather anxious respecting her safety. He went down to his cabin and prayed. The thought struck him, if he had with confidence committed his soul to G.o.d, he might certainly commit his ship to Him; and so, accordingly, he gave all into the hands of G.o.d, and felt at perfect peace; but still he prayed, that if He would be pleased to give a cloudless sky at twelve o'clock, he should like to take an observation to ascertain their real position, and whether they were on the right course.

He came on deck at eleven o'clock, with the quadrant under his coat. As it was thick drizzling, the men looked at him with amazement. He went to his cabin, prayed, and came up. There seemed still to be no hope. Again he went down and prayed, and again he appeared on deck with his quadrant in his hand. It was now ten minutes to twelve o'clock, and still there was no appearance of a change; but he stood on the deck, waiting upon the Lord, when, in a few minutes, the mist seemed to be folded up and rolled away as by an omnipotent and invisible hand; the sun shown clearly from the blue vault of heaven, and there stood the man of prayer with the quadrant in his hand, but so awe-struck did he feel, and so "dreadful" was that place, that he could scarcely take advantage of the answer to his prayer. He, however, succeeded, although with trembling hands, and found, to his comfort, that all was well. But no sooner had he finished taking the observation than the mist rolled back over the heavens, and it began to drizzle as before.

This story of prayer was received from the lips of the good Captain Crossby, who was so useful in the Ardrossan awakening; and he himself was the man who prayed and waited upon his G.o.d with the quadrant in his hand.

THE FAITH OF DOROTHEA TRUDEL.

The life of Dorothea Trudel has afforded some remarkable instances of answer to prayer; during the years 1850 to 1860, at the Swiss village of Mannedorf, near the Lake of Zurich, and that of Molltingen, were seen and witnessed, cases of cure in response to unyielding faith in the promises of the Lord.

Dorothea Trudel was a worker in flowers, and in time came to have many workers under her, and when she was about thirty-seven years of age, four or five of her workers fell sick. The sickness resisted all treatment, grew worse, appeared to be hopeless. She was a deep, earnest Christian, and while diligent and unselfish as a nun, yet her anxiety for her work people drew her to earnest prayer and study of the Scriptures for relief. Like a sudden light, she says, the well known prayer of the Epistle of James, 5: 14, 15, flashed upon her.

"If medical skill was unavailing, was there not prayer? And could not the same Lord who chose to heal through medicines, also heal without them? Was he necessarily restricted to the one means? There was a time when his healing power went forth directly; might it not be put forth directly still?"

Agitated by these questions, she sought help in prayer, and then kneeling by the bedside of these sick people, she prayed for them. They recovered; and the thought that at first had startled her, became now the settled conviction of her life.

Her reputation spread; others who were sick, came to her for relief, but she sought only the recovery of the patients by prayer alone. Many recovered. Her doors were besieged, and at last she consented to receive invalids at her home, from compa.s.sion. By degrees her own house grew into three, and at last it became in fact a hospital.

She lived a life of humility, and perfect simplicity, yet strength of faith, and at her death her work was, and still is, carried on by Mr.

Zeller, who also has had marvelous successes in answer to prayer.

REMARKABLE CURES.

There have been gathered together in her biography, well authenticated cases of answer to prayer, when the patient was considered wholly incapable of help from medical skill.

"There was one of a stiff knee, that had been, treated in vain by the best physicians in France, Germany and Switzerland; one of an elderly man who could not walk, and had been given up by his physicians, but who soon dispensed with his crutches; a man came with a burned foot, and the surgeons said it was a case of '_either amputation or death_' and he also was cured; one of the leading physicians of Wurtemburg, testifies to the cure of a hopeless patient of his own; another remained six weeks, and says he saw all kinds of sicknesses healed; cancers and fevers have been treated with success; epilepsy and insanity more frequently than any other form of disease.

"Neither is the life and experience of Dorothea Trudel an exceptional one. Pastor Blumenhart of Wurtemberg, has had his home crowded for years with patients, and cures occur constantly.

"The mother of Dorothea Trudel was an eminently pious woman, and it was her custom, when any of her children were ill, to bring them in prayer before the feet of the Heavenly Physician, as Dorothea herself says: 'Our mother had no cure except prayer, and though at that time we did not understand, yet since then we have found it out, that it was the healing hand of the Saviour alone, that helped and restored us.'"

CURED OF THE SMALL-POX.

"Even when I had the small-pox, and became blind, no doctor was sent for, and no one was told of it. Our father was not at home (he, father, most unfortunately, was not a religious person); and when our mother asked him to come, telling him how ill I was, he would not believe it, and preferred to remain with his friends. Our mother, however, was not in the least vexed or excited; she prayed for him, for all of us, especially for her sick child, and before my father came home, my eyes were re-opened."

CURED OF SEVERE FITS.

"Once again, one of my brothers had a fit brought on through fright. It was a most violent and painful attack, and we were greatly alarmed. This time, also, our father was out; and our mother said to us, I know this fearful illness, my children; it is one of the heaviest trials which could have, occurred, but Jesus, who cured that lunatic boy, can heal our child. Do not speak of the attack to any one; we will go only to Jesus about it; and then she prayed with us.

"Not long after, a second fit came on, and again our father was taking his pleasure at the public house. This time mother told him what had happened in his absence; but he laughed at it, and said, 'I don't believe it; you were frightened at the child having bad dreams.'

"His wife replied, 'For the sake of your unbelief, I hope that the child will have another attack whilst you are at home, so that you may witness it yourself, then you will believe; I pray G.o.d, however, that this may be the last time.'

"It came to pa.s.s about a week after, that another most dreadful fit came on; the boy foamed violently, and threw himself about in fearful convulsions; on this occasion the father was present, and he was convinced of the nature of the attack, and alarmed at what he saw. _But the mother's prayer was heard, for the disease never showed itself again for thirty-four years, while both parents lived_."

BUYING A COW.

"Our father going away abroad, he sold one of our two cows, and took the proceeds with him. (He, the father, was a reckless spendthrift, idle, and fond of the public inn.) A rich neighbor directly offered to loan us money enough to buy another; this kind proposal we gratefully accepted.

Although we did not understand much about bargains of this kind, yet the cow we purchased served us so remarkably, that we were obliged to acknowledge whence the blessing came. In Summer we could sell fourteen measures of milk; in Winter, twelve to the dairyman, so that the borrowed money was speedily paid.

"At the same time the cow performed the farm work required of it, with such strength and quickness, we were astonished. When our father, on his return, heard us speaking with pleasure of this animal, he became so enraged with the poor thing, that he was determined to sell it, and actually _offered it at half its value_.

"The faithless children were in a continual fright. When any one came near the house, we thought that we were a.s.suredly going to lose our cow.

But mother exhorted us not to be so fearful; for, said she, 'If your father could do always as he likes, none of you would be alive now; but G.o.d will never let him go any farther than he sees to be for our good.

Believe me, G.o.d, who has given us this cow, will keep it for us as long as we need it.'

"And so it turned out, for the cow never left us whilst our mother was alive; and when we were all provided for, a purchaser came, who paid a high price for the creature, having heard of its wonderful powers from the man to whom we sold the milk for so many years; but no sooner was the animal taken to its new home, than the wonder ceased, and _this cow became no better than any other_."

A LADY CURED, WHO HAD BEEN REJECTED FROM AN ASYLUM.

"Madam M----, the mother of twelve children, had been quite shattered in mind by the death of her husband, and had been actually sent away uncured from an asylum. She came to Dorothea's home, was blessed in remembrance in her prayers, _and after seven weeks went away perfectly cured_. She acknowledged the Lord was indeed her helper, and she has remained well to this day."

THE SOUL CURED AS WELL AS THE BODY.

On many occasions she experienced wonderful help from G.o.d, who, while performing marvels for the body, which is the least important part, accomplishes what is far greater, even the salvation of souls.

"Among others, one named B. T----, went to her, who had been suffering for six months from a disease of his bones, and had been for a lengthened period in a Swiss hospital, under medical treatment. At length he, by the advice of Christian friends, sought for relief from his malady at Dorothea's house. His care began in the first week of his visit, and in a few weeks he was completely recovered."

On one occasion a young artisan came, in whom cancer had made such progress as to render any approach to him almost unbearable.

"At the Bible lessons, this once frivolous man, now an earnest inquirer, learned where the improvement must begin; and from the day that he confessed his sins against G.o.d and man, the disease abated. Some time afterwards he acknowledged one sin he had hitherto concealed, and then he speedily recovered his bodily health, and returned to his home cured in spirit also."

"A lady in S---- had so injured her knee by a fall, that for weeks she lay in the greatest agony. The doctors declared that dropsy would supervene; but the Heavenly Physician fulfilled those promises which will abide until the end of the world; and by prayer, and the laying on of Dorothea's hand, the knee was cured in twenty-four hours, and the swelling vanished."

PRAYER, NOT MESMERISM.

"Several people have maintained that her work was one of mesmerism; and when once she was asked to visit an out patient, she earnestly implored the Lord _not_ to heal this invalid through her means if she employed mesmerism; but if not, to permit recovery. The woman was cured in a short time, though Dorothea had never entered her house, and had, therefore, no opportunity of placing herself in a mesmeric relation to this patient."

HELP IN PECUNIARY AFFAIRS.

"In pecuniary affairs, also, the Lord was their helper. Many times something had to be paid, and they had no means wherewith to meet the claims. Once, G.o.d actually sent aid by means of an enemy, who offered money; another time, _three thousand francs_ came from Holland, just as they were needed, and also unexpected on a third occasion they were about to borrow money to pay for bread, when two hundred and fifty francs arrived."