o floods wash away the poles. From the pulpit, from the
sidewalk, from the counter, from the railway coach, from the sick bed,
an ever-steady stream of prayer is kept up. They may befoul our names,
but they can not stop our praying. They may "cast us out as evil," and
may deny us pulpit privileges, and take away our salaries, but prayer
and praise they can not stifle nor hinder.

INCENSE AND THUNDER.

The prayers of God's people are sweet to Him. "With much incense"
burning in a golden censer (Rev. viii. 3) they float to His throne. But
notice the effect of the prayers of saints. Not only is there a silence
of an half-hour but "voices and thunderings and lightnings and an
earthquake" are observed in the earth. The children of God, if they but
pray and believe, can pull spiritual fire and earthquakes down upon
earth and effect great things for God and His Church.

CHAPTER X.

SUCCESS.

SUCCESS INTENDED.

Nothing is clearer in the Acts of the Apostles than that the disciples
after Pentecost had success in gospel service. Everywhere they went God
rained fire upon their Word and sanctioned the truth which they
preached by tremendous moral and spiritual upheavals.

B. T. ROBERTS.

Bishop Roberts has put the matter of success very succinctly: "If the
lawyer must win his case and the doctor cure his patient in order to be
successful, the minister and worker must save souls if they in their
calling are to be said to be successful." But alas, saving souls is
precisely what we are not doing. Thank God! there is here and there a
man who stands out as a soul-saver. But the average minister is not
distinguished for revivalism so much as proficiency in making a church
social a "blooming success."

FALLEN SAMSONS.

We all want to seem to succeed. We shun and dread the appearance of
failure. When a church begins to rot instead of grow it is natural for
us to do our utmost to find out some way of excusing the retrogression
without admitting our failure to reach men with the gospel. There are
evangelists, who in the palmy days of their power had wonderful,
heaven-gladdening revivals, who have ceased to wield "the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon," and, in order to cover their spiritual nakedness,
are forced to resort to finger-raising, card-signing methods for
stuffing and expanding "the big revival." There is no more sobbing, no
more desperate praying, no more shouting; all is "decent and in order,"
as well it may b