Health, Healing, And Faith

Health, Healing, and Faith.

by Russell H. Conwell.

FOREWORD

That prayers are answered nearly all the human race believe. But the subject has been beclouded and often made ridiculous by inconsistent superst.i.tions.

This book is a modest attempt to clear up some of the errors. Its record is as accurate as impartial observation can make it. G.o.d is not bribed.

Laziness cannot bargain with him. But the prayers of the righteous and of repentant sinners availeth much.

Desired ends are gained by prayer which cannot be gained by any other method. The daily experiences of devout persons establish that fact conclusively. The reasons and the methods which produce the results seem hidden, and they often bewilder the investigator. G.o.d"s thoughts are far above our thoughts. But we can trust our daily experience far enough to retain our confidence in the potency of prayer. It is, therefore, a profitable and comforting study.

RUSSELL H. CONWELL.

EFFECTIVE PRAYER

Chapter I

Effect of Environment

The fascinating history of events connected with the Baptist Temple, Philadelphia, through thirty-nine years must be recorded carefully to obtain the credence of those readers who live out of the locality. It may or may not be that the unusual demonstrations of power, seemingly divine, were not incited or influenced by the special environment. Yet the critical reader may reasonably inquire where these things occurred in order to determine the power of a.s.sociation on the form and effect of prayer.

The Baptist Temple is a somewhat imposing building on the corner of North Broad and Berks streets in Philadelphia. It is located almost at the geographical center of Philadelphia, and eighteen squares north of the City Hall. The Temple is architecturally very plain, and the beautiful stained-gla.s.s windows are about the only ornaments in the great hall save, of course, the pipes of the great organ. The church is one hundred and seven feet front, and is one hundred and fifty feet in length. There is a deep gallery occupying three sides, with a chorus gallery, back of the pulpit, seating one hundred and fifty singers.

There are three thousand and thirty-four opera chairs arranged in a semicircle, and every person in the congregation can see clearly the platform and chorus, and each normal worshiper can be heard from the pulpit.

The building itself is a testimonial to the effectiveness of sincere prayer. The Temple and the halls in the lower story, as it now stands, are far beyond the dreams of that little company of earnest worshipers who, in 1880, hesitatingly and embarra.s.sed, began to build the small church at the corner of Berks and Mervine streets. They had no wealthy or influential friends. They had but little money or property; they could pray, and that they did do unceasingly. Any man who tries to describe or explain fully how it came about that the Temple was built becomes bewildered in the complications, unless he covers the whole question by saying, "The Lord did it." In six years after the small church was completed the Temple was begun on Broad Street.

For seven or eight years after its construction the Temple was a Christian Mecca to which pilgrims seemed to come from all parts of the earth to kneel there in prayer. One Good Friday night, which was observed quite generally as a season of fasting and prayer, the writer entered by the side door the Temple at two o"clock in the morning, and in the dim light of two small gas jets, always left burning, he saw scores of people scattered through the church. Why that church had such a fascination for or preference with earnest seekers for the prayer-answering G.o.d none may explain. All were kneeling separately in silent prayer. As they pa.s.sed in and out there were in the line, going and coming, Chinamen, Europeans, Orientals, and Americans from distant states. Different denominations, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, colored and white, were often represented among the individual worshipers. They also came any night in the week at any hour and prayed silently for a while and then went silently out. The church was not locked, night or day, for fifteen years. People sought the place when they sought to find a locality which was especially near to the Lord. It may be that any place is as near to G.o.d as any other; and many think it only a sentiment, superst.i.tious and foolish, to esteem one place above another in matters of effective prayer. But there does stand out the fact that, for some good reason, our Saviour did choose to pray in special localities, and his devout followers do now feel more deeply the soul"s communion with G.o.d in certain favorable places. Why the Baptist Temple had such worship as a sentimental matter brings forward the facts that the graves of the loved, the home of childhood, the trysting places, the old fireplace, or the churches where sainted parents worshiped are influential because of the suggestions which come with sacred memories.

That fact is a strong agency in the awakening of tender and sacred emotions. But the Baptist Temple was new and could lay claim to none of those a.s.sociations. Men and women with no religious habits, and some seemingly without devout inclinations, testified decidedly that whenever they visited the building they felt that they had entered into an atmosphere of special spiritual and sacred power. One soldier of the English army wrote an interesting letter in 1897, saying: "I do not recall any such impression before. I went into the church alone out of curiosity to look at its architectural design. But the moment I entered the side aisle I felt an indescribable pressure which made me desire to pray. I hurried out to the street to escape the solemn impression. But twice since then I have been in the auditorium and each time some power seemed pressing me down to my knees." Whether that influence was the act of the Holy Ghost or not cannot be proven by any known formula of human reasoning, and hence it remains, as most of such questions do, a matter of faith. Some believe it was a divine presence which made itself felt there, and other good men do not believe the conditions were in any way unusual or unnatural. So many persons with uncontrolled imaginations, and others with their mental faculties weakened or distorted, often reported the most improbable visions and absurd revelations. Such characters, half insane or wholly deranged, testified in favor of Jesus to his face, and such have ever been present since in every genuinely spiritual movement. They would do less harm, of course, if they should declaim against him. So it was, and is, at the Baptist Temple. Those inconsistent, deranged advocates of religion did often drive away permanently into the ranks of unbelievers the most sincere investigators. But a calm review of the testimonies concerning the occurrences which followed so clearly the pet.i.tions they offered in the Temple seems overwhelmingly to establish the claim, now held by so many thousand people, that the results of the prayers were but a cause and natural effect, as the prayers and results were infallibly related.

It is not claimed here, however, that the place had more influence with man or Christ than other places have had, or that any church or cathedral may be as sacred as Gethsemane or as the Mount of Transfiguration. The plain facts are recorded here with great caution and with a determination to keep conservatively within the truth and draw no unreasonable conclusions. It is a true statement, known to all the community, that many thousands of people have sought to pray in the Temple, believing that the boon their hearts desired would be more sure to be sent if they asked for it within the Temple walls. Many persons have attended the church services on the Sabbath who have been so deep in prayer that they were unconscious of the music or the preaching. We must rea.s.sert that this fact is not recorded here to sustain any idea that the Temple is a sacred place above many other churches, cathedrals, and holy places, but to sustain the opinion that there are places more sacred than others to certain people, and that burdened hearts and minds would act wisely if they sought some such place when the answer to their prayer seems especially vital.

Chapter II

How a Church Was Built by Prayer

In 1886 the small church at Mervine and Berks streets in the northern section of Philadelphia was crowded at every service. Children were turned away from every session of the Bible school, and tickets were issued a week in advance for the preaching services. The idea of moving to some larger place was discussed, as it was impossible to enlarge the building where it stood, because of the streets on three sides. Under those circ.u.mstances the people began to pray. A voluntary committee canva.s.sed the small band of church members, asking each to pray for an opening to a larger work. It is often thought to be an easy thing to promise to pray for a person or for a cause. The promise to pray is too often made carelessly, and disinterested auditors often feel relieved of all responsibility when, instead of a collection, they are let off with a request to pray for the advocated cause. But a sincere promise to pray for a cause carries with it the sincere purpose to work and to give self-sacrificingly. To say, "We do not ask for your money, but only that you pray for us," is a half-hypocritical request, because a real prayer can ascend only from a soul intent on doing. To agree to pray is a hearty promise also to do all in one"s power to work with the Lord. Only the hearty worker can really pray. "The people had a mind to work," said Nehemiah, and G.o.d, seeing their zeal, responded to their appeal. The Lord answered in a way absolutely unforeseen. The salvation of the world cost a great sacrifice, and everywhere we see the results of a mysterious law that some must die that others may live, and that real happiness is ever gained at the cost of suffering.

A little child in Philadelphia opened the gates of the Temple by going down through death. She had been unable to get into the overcrowded Bible school one Sunday, and she began to save her pennies to help secure some larger place. Little Hattie May Wyatt, living in a home near the church, was chosen of G.o.d to convey his answer to the pleadings of that church. How little could the afflicted parents realize what a great work their sweet, prattling Hattie was to do in her short life. When the sweet, pale face lay in the coffin amid the flowers and tears, her pocketbook, containing fifty-seven cents which she had saved, was handed to the minister. She was the messenger of Christ on earth before she became one in heaven! That fifty-seven cents was a sacred treasure, and at the next church meeting prayers went up to G.o.d, asking direction how to invest the first gift toward the larger accommodations.

Providentially, the subject of the Scripture text was the narrative of the little child with his five barley loaves and two little fishes (John vi). What can Christ do with the gift of a little child? What can the spirit of G.o.d do with the seed of an oak? One patriarch led in prayer and earnestly asked the Lord to "take these few pennies and build for us a temple." There were some in the a.s.sembly who, like the disciples at Galilee, said, "What can this little supply do among so many?" But the most part seemed inspired by the Holy Spirit with a faith that was immovable. The Lord then put a thought into the mind of Mr. John Baer, who owned a lot of land on the corner of Broad and Berks streets, to suggest to a member of the church that, as the people needed larger quarters, they ought to buy his lot and erect there a larger church. Mr.

Baer did not know then that the church had only fifty-seven cents and that the church building they then occupied was still heavily mortgaged.

Another church member heard of Mr. Baer"s remark and, with the a.s.surance of a faith unshakable, told Mr. Baer that if he would take fifty-seven cents as the first payment he felt sure the church would purchase it.

Mr. Baer (a devout man) said that he would cheerfully accept the terms and that he would also not only give back the fifty-seven cents, but would contribute one thousand dollars toward the first payment on the lot.

The church then purchased the lot and held another prayer meeting to determine the second time what to do with the Wyatt fifty-seven cents.

It was unanimously decided to organize a "Wyatt Mite Society" to invest the money. There were to be fifty-seven children in the society, and each was to invest one of the pennies so as to secure the largest possible amount for the new church. It seems almost miraculous that wherever a child tried to sell the penny not one would buy it after hearing the story, but nearly all did give a liberal donation. One lady gave fifteen hundred dollars. Finally, the pennies all came back, were put in a coin frame, and kept as a sacred souvenir. Then joyful enthusiasm seized upon the people and hurried them along in many different enterprises for raising money. One Sabbath the pastor was overpersuaded to exchange with Doctor Pierce of Mount Holly, and the joyful people presented the pastor, on his return, with a subscription list of ten thousand dollars. But to that account the practical and critical business man can answer that in any enterprise enthusiasm, hard work, and economy secure success almost invariably. So that even the matter of raising one hundred and nine thousand dollars by a people, all poor, industrious persons, may not be absolutely convincing to the skeptic who questions the personal interference of G.o.d in answer to the call of his children. But there was another phase of the history of that campaign which seems to be absolutely unaccountable on any other hypothesis but the direct and special interference of superhuman intelligence.

The number seven! It is called "a sacred number"; but why it has been credited with its peculiar significance is, perhaps, the effect of its mention so often in the Bible. The various theories, reasonable and fanciful, for the sacredness of the number seven need not be rehea.r.s.ed in a record of simple facts like these which this account preserves. But the daily appearance of the number seven in the evangelistic history of the Grace Church through the five years and two months before the large Temple was completed has never been explained by any solution other than by accrediting it to some power or law above the normal. The "five years" meetings" were only the usual meetings of the small church and no evangelistic or unusual endeavors were used, nor were any special methods tried. Evangelists of noted power sometimes addressed the church or gave sermons at the church in connection with some convention or a.s.sociation, but none of those instrumentalities seemed to affect the answers to the prayers of the people. The church sessions were simple, practical, social, and fully democratic. But the prayers were full of faith and feeling and were brief and direct. One evening, in a meeting held in a small bas.e.m.e.nt room, there were seven young people, strangers to one another, who stood up at the invitation to confess Christ. Each one stated that he had come under a strange and irresistible impulse unaccountable to him. Each asked the people to pray for his soul. That was the opening of the continuous stream of seven new converts each week for five years. That repet.i.tion of the number seven was not especially noticed until it had been repeated through several weeks. Then the people began to expect it, and during the active enterprises connected with the building of the new Temple it had a powerful effect on the courage and faith of that small company. As the years came and went with no change in that weekly number of fresh seekers after G.o.d, a feeling of awe held the worshipers to such an extent that when the seventh man or woman arose to come forward a deep sigh pa.s.sed through the congregation.

Sometimes the leader of the meeting paused or asked for "the hesitating one" if the full number did not at first appear. But there was no prearrangement and no attempt or purpose to cease giving the invitation to confess Christ after the number seven had been reached. The church was too deeply impressed with the seeming miracle to undertake any experiments with it. Continual prayer was all that was attempted. People ceased to ask their acquaintances to come to the meetings, and the usual revival methods were omitted. Real prayer, sincere singing, and a short comment on some verse of Scripture made up the usual order of services, aside from the regular preaching on Sunday.

Various explanations of this mysterious and systematic manifestation of some hidden spiritual force have been advanced by students of the unusual occurrence. Some undevout friends have rested satisfied with the belief that it was only a coincidence or an accidental repet.i.tion of a natural phenomenon. The skeptic said that there was no mystery about it, as it merely "happened so." Others, more devout, declared that the people must have habitually "let go of their faith" when seven appeared, and that according to their faith "was the limitation of the numbers."

Others believed that it must have been, consciously or unconsciously, arranged by persons managing the meeting, and not a few outsiders regarded the statement of the facts as a clear falsehood. They said it could not have been possible, and that there was surely some deception in the arrangements or reports. But the hundreds of intelligent and conscientious people who were present week after week became fully satisfied that it was the work of the Divine Spirit sent in answer to their prayers. Some of the circ.u.mstances connected with that large accession to the church will be of interest to the student.

During the years when the building was being constructed many simple schemes were devised by the people to raise money for the work. But prayer was a part of every endeavor. Fairs, suppers, and concerts were often used to raise funds, and, although a worldly spirit often creeps into church entertainments, there came there a devotional spirit which seemed to transfigure every work. The devotional meetings held in a side hall when the church fairs were going on at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia ever had the same startling result--the unchangeable number, seven, came out for Christ. One evening a specially large number of citizens were at a dinner given to arrange plans for securing the money for the first payment to the contractor who was laying the foundation for the Temple. A visitor, in his speech, said that he had been more interested in the "steady revival," of which he had heard, than in the feast, and that he was quite disappointed to learn that for the first time in three years the church had omitted its weekly prayer meeting to give place to a dinner. Thereupon, Deacon Stoddard, a devout man and full of the Holy Ghost, arose and suggested that before the guests left the table the presiding officer should give the usual invitation for anyone to arise and declare his decision to follow Christ. After several eloquent and entertaining speeches on general topics the invitation was given for the religious confession, and, to the amazement of many, just seven young men arose. A deep, spiritual emotion filled the hearts of all present. In two or three instances the number was less than seven who responded before the benediction was p.r.o.nounced, and some said, "The spell is broken." But in all cases another seeker after G.o.d appeared before the people left the room. Men, in those cases, rushed to the platform and called for the attention of the company to say that they dared not go home without openly confessing before the people their need of the Saviour. In several instances persons were too much overcome or too timid to stand out before a public meeting, and they persuaded some one sitting near them to get up and ask prayers for them. But there was no prolongation of any service and no outlay of money for exhorters or singers. Naturally that remarkable condition attracted a throng of people, and before the Temple was opened the church and Sunday-school rooms at Mervine and Berks streets were crowded beyond endurance.

At the first great prayer meeting held in the Temple when the call was made for converts the number who came forward was seventy-seven. From that time (1892) there has been no resumption of a regular number of seekers. Often the number seven, seventy-seven, forty-nine, and seventy appear in the number of those who arose for prayer or in the list of those who were received at the same time into the church. At one Easter service two hundred and seventy-seven were baptized. But those "five years" revivals" stand out as five most beautiful years in the memory of the thousands still living who recall them. All of that company of believers prayed, and on those stormy days when the curious crowd were kept away the people drew together in sincere devotion, and the most dreary days without were the most happy within. G.o.d seemed more reachable and the domestic sweetness of the church home was much more fully appreciated when the snow shadowed the panes, when the wild storms beat on the doors, and when only earnest worshipers ventured out to church. For more than fifteen years three thousand tickets of admission to the regular church services were taken up several days in advance, and when a very stormy day kept many ticket holders away special and repeated prayer was made especially for them. The effect of those stormy days of special prayer was one of the most remarkable experiences of the church life. Letters came in great numbers from different parts of the world, saying that they missed the services, but felt decidedly impressed to send for some needed information or for special religious advice.

Many cathedrals, churches, homes, and charity halls have been built on prayer and faith, so that the construction of the Baptist Temple, on a prominent corner of Philadelphia"s widest street, in the heart of the city, by a few poor people, may not seem strange. Yet the fact that G.o.d has prospered other enterprises is only a confirmation of the theory that G.o.d answered the prayers of Grace Church in giving providential a.s.sistance in the construction of the Temple. When the church voted to go on and pay for the lot and build a church to seat over three thousand in the upper auditorium and two thousand in the lower hall, there was no money in hand or pledged. Yet there was no recklessness, no tempting G.o.d in their faith. When the contracts were entered into with the builder, or the furniture manufacturer, provision was made carefully for any contingency. If for any unforeseen reason the great building had been unfinished at any stage of construction all bills would have been paid.

But each advance in the work was made after special prayer over each division of the building enterprise. The foundation was constructed after special prayer, then came the walls, the roof, the carpenter"s inside work, the painting, the furniture, and the organ--each being the object of prayerful consideration. There were a few instances, however, which are worthy of special mention. There was a point when the contract for the stone for the walls was held up by the quarry proprietors, as they feared to venture on so large a job with no guaranty but a mechanic"s right of lien. At that time a new savings bank was opened at Columbia Avenue, two squares from the Temple, and President c.u.mmings, head of the bank, offered to a.s.sist the church in any safe way. How he came to know of the proposed work, or what special reason he had for helping a people with whom he was not personally acquainted, was never explained. But he was a n.o.ble citizen. His influence was itself a powerful aid in all the business of the church. One day a stranger (General Wagner, president of the Third National Bank) was driving by the half-constructed church when an "impulse" seized him to go into the building under construction. He was a Presbyterian elder and a stranger to all the members of Grace Church. He was a great man of business, a person of unflinching integrity whose coolness in emergencies and whose conservative management of financial inst.i.tutions made him a trusted authority for private, for city, or for national finances. In a few words of conversation with the contractor in the building General Wagner was told that the church was being built "by faith in prayer." He told General Wagner that thus far "every payment had been made promptly, with nothing left over." From that hour the general was a strong, unmovable friend and backer of the Temple enterprise. The Tenth National Bank and its offspring, the Columbia Trust Company, and the Third National Bank, of which General Wagner was president, were ever safely used as a reference, and often tens of thousands of dollars were loaned by them to the church for short periods. The trustees and the deacons of the church were prayerful men of stable common sense and successful in their own labor or business. There was no foolish overpiousness, no loud professions of religious fervor, but a determined trust in G.o.d"s promise to heed the call of those who loved him.

Mr. John Little, a Quaker by inheritance and training, was a leading mind in the affairs of the church and was for many years the treasurer of the Temple University. He was a quiet, keenly modest man, but living a transparent truthfulness and honesty which commanded the confidence of all who knew him and secured for him a love that can never die. He said that he had two special places for prayer, one being in the Temple and the other on the street. Mr. Charles F. Stone (whose wife, Mrs. Maria L.

Stone, continued his work after he died) was the treasurer of the church at the critical period and was a man endowed with excellent business ability and a devout man full of good works. He, too, had a "good name"

which was rather to be chosen as a financial recommendation than great riches. These men are not mentioned because of their special claim to attention above the others a.s.sociated with them, but simply as two specimens of the prayer-making company who moved on unhesitatingly, yet carefully, in doing the thing which many declared could not be done. The weekly reports from the committees and individuals showing how G.o.d had raised up, unexpectedly or strangely, friends of the undertaking, often caused a deep feeling of awe and sent the people out with fresh determination to work cheerfully on.

A single instance of the many hundreds reported will probably answer the inquiries of others now engaged in some like work. Looking back upon the incident after thirty years the plan or the purpose of the divine leadership, so hidden then, becomes reasonable and clear. Why the Lord wished to use only three hundred men out of Gideon"s great army was not understood at the time, but all can see now that the purpose was to bring the Lord"s hand into vision and win for him the recognition which would have gone to the human army.

Only once did the people of the Temple falter and their prayers seem ineffective. Only once did those Philadelphia worshipers limit their faith. But that one period of doubt came when the question was suddenly thrust before the church whether they would try to put in a suitable church organ. Many claimed that they had reached the utmost limit of sacrifice. Some said that the church ought to be fully satisfied if they could buy seats for the first services. Others strongly declared that after all the asking of G.o.d and man for aid to build the Temple they could not expect either G.o.d or man to help them to buy an unnecessary organ. Through thirty-eight years the church has never had any quarrel to settle in all its history, and that division of opinion did not a.s.sume an angry or excited phase. It was simply a feeling in some of the people that the Lord had done wonders and that, now that the church was out of the wilderness, it was full time to let the people and G.o.d"s providence rest. When the question arose whether the church should venture to purchase a suitable church organ it was decided by a large majority that it could not be undertaken. The small minority were Gideon"s three hundred. One member of that small body asked the church for the privilege of putting in the organ, "if he could raise all of the ten thousand dollars needed without asking a contribution from anyone who had already given or subscribed toward the building." Even that conservative offer was accepted by a reluctant and small majority.

Then that member began a downright, heart-stretching wrestle with the Angel of G.o.d. He spent two successive nights in the Temple in hard and tearful prayer. He had nothing to give. He must secure the whole from others. He pleaded with G.o.d to let him work with Him in awakening the hearts of possible givers. But the Lord was not willing to give to man the major part of the glory of success. The murmuring people must be made ashamed of their lack of faith in the Lord who had safely led them thus far. The contract for the organ was made with a company whose agent said they usually sold their organs on faith, but that churches always paid the cost and often paid in advance of the date when the notes matured. The purchaser of the Temple organ did not feel authorized to put in the organ with no money in hand, at least for the first installment on the price to be paid. But all the men he approached refused to give because it was "overdoing it," and was "too improbable"

for credence or a.s.sistance. But the purchaser did not waver. The time set for the payment of the first fifteen hundred dollars came. The note the purchaser gave was due on Monday. The debtor had asked the Sunday-morning prayer meeting to remember him especially "on the morrow." He had until three o"clock Monday to raise the money to save his note from protest. He had written to a relative to ask for a loan of fifteen hundred dollars, but the letter had not been sent to the mail box. When he entered his room just before church services a working girl who was a member of the church came quietly to his door and handed him a letter in which, when he opened it, he found a check for fifteen hundred dollars. The letter and check were signed by a laboring man in Ma.s.silon, Ohio, who wrote that he had not been asked to give anything, but he had heard that the church "hoped soon to get an organ." He felt impressed to send this check and to ask the church to accept it on the condition that, should he ever be reduced to actual need, the church should endeavor to aid him in some way. The second payment due came as an unexpected draft from Boston for five hundred dollars, which must be honored or refused within three days. But in the same mail with the notice of the draft came two money orders from the executor of an estate in California, saying that the deceased testator had left the distribution of certain sums to the discretion of the executor and he had decided to send five hundred dollars toward "the music in the new Temple."

The third payment was met by funds raised by solicitation, about which there seemed to be nothing remarkable. Other payments were made by gifts clearly sent in connection with the appeal of the believer, but the last payment was the most unaccountable of all. Three one-hundred-dollar bills were pushed under the door of the church study by some one never discovered, and a certificate of mining stock worth seven hundred dollars was sent from b.u.t.te, Montana, without other signature except that on the face of the certificate. The blank for the purchaser of the stock was blank. Public efforts were made to find the givers, but without success. Well might the people feel that the voice of the organ was the voice of the Saviour.

When the organ was dedicated and Dr. D. D. Wood led the devotion with inspired fingers and sightless eyes the church"s congregation was a beautiful sight--like a sea sparkling with tears. When the great chorus was singing the hymn, "G.o.d moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform," a large number of the singers were so choked with emotion that they ceased to sing and Doctor Wood said the event was one of the most thrilling in all his experiences with choirs.

These are "the simple annals of the poor," but they ill.u.s.trate and inculcate great principles which are applicable to any work for the Lord.

Chapter III

Healing the Sick

The health and happiness of mankind depend in a great degree on faith.

Every emotion of the body and every action of the mind is an exhibition of faith. Persons who believe they are well, even if they are ill, will soon recover, and persons who believe that they will not be sick are seldom ill. There is no department of human life so dependent on belief as that connected with health. Millions would arise, take up their couches and walk, if they could be made to believe that they could do so. To believe a falsehood has cured many people, and consciences waver between the duty to tell a patient the clear truth when he is very ill and to make him believe a lie in order that he may get well.

It must also be stated, in fidelity to the truth, that the subject of healing by faith has called out a host of the half-insane cla.s.ses who proclaim with trumpet tones some cases of divine healing which are unworthy of a moment"s consideration. Hence, out of a collection of possibly sincere letters, many have been rejected altogether as foolish or misleading. Eleven hundred written testimonies to cases of healing in direct answer to prayer at the Baptist Temple have been carefully examined and the trustworthy testimonies tabulated. Those "years of healing" to which reference is so often made were years of prayer and years of faith. After deducting all the questionable cases, and after a wide allowance for the naturally health-giving and health-preserving power, the normal human belief is that there remains an overwhelmingly convincing amount of evidence that healing is directly brought about by sincere prayer.