Sermon Illustration

Every true prayer has its background and its foreground. The foreground of prayer is the intense, immediate desire for a certain blessing which seems to be absolutely necessary for the soul to have; the background of prayer is the quiet, earnest desire that the will of God, whatever it may be, should be done. What a picture is the perfect prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane! In front burns the strong desire to escape death and to live; but behind there stands, calm and strong, the craving of the whole life for the doing of the will of God. —Phillips Brooks

A young woman who, while poor herself, had many rich, influential friends and relatives, felt that she ought to devote her life to working among the neglected classes in one of our large cities. Her friends tried to turn her from her purpose. They ridiculed her, and told her that she simply wanted to do something sensational. A servant girl in the family where the young woman made her home, heard of it. She was ignorant and poor, but she was a Christian. One night, when her work was done, she went timidly to the young woman’s door and tapped for admission. “I just wanted to tell you to go,” she said simply; “I’ve always wanted to, but I can’t. I hope you will go in my place.” The would-be missionary had been just on the point of giving up, but this message saved her. “Yes, I will go,” she said, joyful tears running down her cheeks. “I will go in your stead, for God will know and I know that it was you who sent me.”

A young girl, who had struggled with the question of submission to God, said: “I could see easily enough that making God’s way my way was very different from submitting just because I had to do it, or because I felt that it was my duty. I was on the way down to Miss Howland’s to see about having my new dress made. I had some notion of how I wanted it to look, but when I showed her the materials she told me how it ought to be made and trimmed, and it wasn’t the least bit as I had planned. I didn’t altogether understand her, but I fell right in with her plan and was perfectly satisfied to have her go ahead with it. Now, it is just because I know Miss Howland so well, and we are in such perfect sympathy on questions of color, etc., that I am at rest in letting her work it out, though I don’t know just how she is going to do it. She knows what suits me better than I know myself. And it seemed to me,” dropping her voice a little, “that we ought to be just that way with God.” If our hearts ...

“For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28) A farmer and a king unite to teach us the secret of contentment in God’s will. The farmer who had been sick was being visited by his pastor. “How are you getting along?” asked the minister. “Just as I would have it, pastor,” he answered. “But how must I understand this?” asked the preacher. “Do you wish sickness for yourself?” “No,” said the farmer, “but what God wills that I also will. If it is God’s will that I should be sick now; then it is my will, too. If it be His will that I die now, then it is my will, too. Should He will that I get well again, then I will it, too. Everything is placed in His hands, let Him deal with me as it pleases Him.” The King, Christian III, of Denmark, when exceedingly sick, and without the medicine to cure him, laughingly asked: “Where are we now, who are accustomed to being called the great ones, when we are so utter...