Robert Collier – The Life Magnet Volume 3 of 5

1928

 

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 – What Are We Here For?

Chapter 2 – Prayer

Chapter 3 – The Unpardonable Sin

Chapter 4 – The Covenant

Chapter 5 – The Sowers

 

Chapter 1

What Are We Here For?

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. ” —Isaiah 60:1.

ONE of the early Christian missionaries to Britain was addressing a conclave of the tribes, gathered at night in a rude hall, made of branches covered with skins and open at each end. He spoke eloquently of the one God. He told them of the Saviour. He pictured the joys of a future life.

As he finished, suddenly out of the night there swooped a great bird, fluttered for a moment over their heads, then disappeared into the blackness beyond.

All were silent—awed, impressed. Then an old Chief arose.

“You tell us of one God,” he said. “We believe in another. You tell us of a Heaven where the just and the meek go. We believe in a Valhalla for the brave and the fair. But who has ever come back from beyond to say which is right?

“Life is like that bird which flew through here. It comes from none knows whence. It stays with us an all too brief moment, then goes none knows whither. Tell me if you can—what is it all about? What are we here for?”

That is the old, old question. What are we here for? Philo­sophers have wrangled over it since time began. And few indeed have been the acceptable answers.

But one thing we can be sure of—we are put on this earth to progress. All through history, all through nature, all through life, we can see evidences of this on every side. Whenever a nation becomes too self-satisfied, whenever a man or an institution walls himself around to shut out new ideas, whenever a plant stops growing—it is a sure sign of decay and death. We must go forward—or die. We can’t stand still. Time is ever moving. We must keep up with it— or perish.

Professor Michael Pupin, famous scientist, in an interview published in the American Magazine, says: “Science finds that everything is a continuously developing process. It reveals man as a being with a soul which is progressing more and more toward Divinity.

“Here’s my opinion. . . our Physical life is only a stage in the existence of the soul. . . . The human soul goes on exist­ing—and developing—after death.”

What do you live for? You might ask nine-tenths of the people in the world, and all they could tell you would be: to work to buy food and clothing and shelter, so I may gain strength to work tomorrow to buy more food and clothing and shelter. And that is as far as most of them ever get. The endless round of work and eat and sleep, and work and eat and sleep. Is that worth living for? Is that any preparation for a future life?

Suppose you sent your son to a preparatory school that was to make him ready for College. And instead of giving him the studies necessary for his College entrance, the school taught him only carpentering, or bricklaying, or plastering, or common day labor. What would you think of it as a preparatory school for College?

If our life here is anything, it is a preparation for the life to come. It is a preparatory school. You are taught Greek in school—not because you expect ever to speak it, not even because some of our words are derived from Greek roots, but because of the valuable mental training its study gives you. Every College student must learn higher mathematics, even though not one in a hundred ever will use anything but the plainest arithmetic. Why? For mental training.

We go through experiences here on earth which apparently have no purpose, no good in them. We are given obstacles to overcome, trials and tribulations to fight our way through. Why? To give us something we may take with us to the other side—Character.

“It is written in the Prophets, and they shall be all taught of God.”—John 6:45.

To quote Dr. Pupin again—”Everything that happens in this great universe is for a purpose; and that purpose is the development of the human soul.”

Accounting, engineering, mechanics, law, business—none of these in itself is going to do us any good over there. It is what the use of it adds to our perceptive faculties that counts.

It is an unknown country “over there.” There are no telephones, no electric lights, no automobiles, no courts, no factories, no stores. To regard our ordinary avocations as preparation for the hereafter is as though a man with a perfect knowledge of typewriters—and nothing else—were set down in the middle of the Amazon jungle and left there to live or die. Unless he had learned something else from his tinkering with typewriters besides mechanics, he would be in a bad way.

But tinkering with typewriters—or any other job—does teach higher things to the man ready or willing to receive them. It teaches patience, perseverance, honesty, pride in work well done. All the attributes that, summed up, spell S-E-R-V-I-C-E.

That is something which is as welcome in the Brazilian wilds as here. It is something which pays dividends on the other side of the River Styx just as surely as on this—the attitude of mind which is always looking for the best way, the most effective way to SERVE others—to make the world a better place for his having been in it.

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever.”—Daniel 12:3.

Stewart Edward White had a story in the May American of a man who, to all intents, had died. And in that hazy limbo between the new world and this, the thing that worried him was his utter nakedness—his complete lack of any trait he might carry over from our world into the beyond.

To quote in part the character in the story—

“Here is how it seemed to me; “There I was, temporarily inactive, but convinced that sooner or later would participate in whatever there was. And I knew there was something to participate in. There was an environment. I couldn’t become cognizant of it because I had not the proper development to possess senses that would take it in. I had no equipment. I was like a baby.

“It came to me with rather a shock of illumination that my appreciation of even this much was due solely to the fact that I had gotten something spiritual out of my earth life.

“Perception was one of them. And I realized with a kind of sinking feeling that if I had not brought over that much, I would probably be unconscious—perhaps just dormant like a seed, waiting for something to germinate me.”

“Waiting for something to germinate me.” Isn’t that the way most of us are even here—waiting for some force outside ourselves to come along and start us into action? Are we going to carry that same inactivity, that same lack of initia­tive over to the other side? We will unless we speedily learn to bestir ourselves.

A noted criminal judge once said that he had yet to meet the man who had not some good in him, some redeeming trait. He thought once he had found him—a man hard as iron, a murderer and a thief.

Yet out in the chain gang, working on the roads, that man risked crippling or death to save a little child!

So we all take something with us across the Great Divide, something that, with sufficient exercise and help, may germinate there and enable us to grow in time to the stature of God’s children. But how much we have to start on and how fast we grow, depends upon the faculties we acquire here that are of use on the other side.

In the gold rush to the Klondike in the Fall of 1898, no man was allowed across the Chilkoot Pass unless he carried with him $1,000 and a ton of provisions. The Canadian authorities wanted no “foolish virgins” on their hands to provide for. Each man must carry with him the requisite money and provisions to supply him through the winter— or go back home.

Death is the Chilkoot Pass across which each soul must travel to reach the Land of Promise beyond. But there are no Northwest Mounted Police to turn you back if you cross without provisions and without equipment. You are allowed to go through—but not to the Promised Land, To Hell instead.

That Hell is not a place of fire and brimstone. Rather it is one of darkness and loneliness. Those in it have failed to carry over any perceptive faculties, and without them they cannot find their way to the Promised Land.

Do you know what “Hell” means? The word used for it in the New Testament is “Gehenna,” and it comes from the Vale of Hinnom, which was a dump-heap outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

Hell is the place for waste and useless material. Hell is the place for those who cross the Great Divide without any­thing that can make them useful on the other side. Hell is the dump-heap of useless souls.

At a little wayside station up in Northern Michigan, a lumber jack was waiting, an old grain sack over his shoulder with his spare clothes and belongings in it. Seeing a fellow traveler eyeing the meager load, he explained tersely—”This old sack holds all I’ve been able to accumu­late in sixty-two years.”

What is in your sack? What have you that you can take with you over the Great Divide? Blue blood won’t help, you know. Nor a bank account. Eloquence or mechanical skill or salesmanship count for nothing in the country beyond.

What have you added to the world’s knowledge? What have you done to help your fellow man? What noble thoughts have you added to your mental store, what kindly deeds, what unselfish service?

Those are the things that count “over there.” Those are the riches you can take with you to clothe your nakedness, to start you in your new life, to give you that faculty of “Perception” which shall enable you to see your way to the Promised Land.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”—Matthew 10:39. In other words, he that works only for his own aggrandizement shall lose all that he makes. But he that loses all thought of self in the service of others shall thereby serve himself, too!

What is that you say? You have been one of God’s poor all your life? What good is that? The poor have no better chance over there than have the rich. The ceaseless grind for a bare livelihood is as stunting to the soul as the ceaseless grind for wealth. There must be more to your life than that. There must be a ceaseless search for the wealth of the soul, a ceaseless reaching out to God, a ceaseless effort for understanding and knowledge of the Father. “Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace. Thereby good shall come unto thee.”— Job 22:21.

The Father is not poor. He is not sick or weak or afflicted. And He is not proud of any of His children who boast of such gifts as coming from Him.

The Father has all riches, all power, all life, and those who “acquaint themselves with Him” share in His gifts. When you live in the Father, it will make little difference to you whether you live in Him on this plane of existence or another. When you depend on His bountiful law of supply for your subsistence, on His love and protection for your happiness, you will know that “My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches.”—Philippians 4:19.

I read the other day of a mother whose daughter was killed in an automobile accident, just after she had begun a wonderfully useful work. Did the mother repine? Did she sit down and waste away with grief?

No—she decided that the way she could best help her daughter was to carry on her work for her. She would take her daughter’s place. In spirit, in planning, in everything she did, she tried to put all her daughter’s energy and her daughter’s efforts into the work, with the result that not only is the work itself a complete success, but the mother is a new woman—rejuvenated and happy. Her daughter lives again in her.

And if there is any way that the souls of the departed can be helped, if the faculties they have carried over with them can be made to germinate from without, that is the way—to carry on for them here the work that would have developed those, very faculties.

When father or mother or loved one dies, prayer may help them, but far better than wordy petitions is to send them riches they can use in the world beyond—the riches of service you are doing in this world in their name.

When Marshall Field died he left the bulk of his fortune to his children. But it was not to be given them at once. Part they were to receive immediately. The rest only as they proved themselves ready and worthy. When they did so- and-so, they were to receive such-and-such.

The Father above left a far vaster fortune to each of us than that acquired by Marshall Field. But He put the same restrictions upon it. All are given a certain amount without effort, but thereafter, we receive only as we prove the law. There is no limit to the amount of the fortune. The only limit is in our ability to prove ourselves ready to receive it.

The Kingdom of Heaven

The glory of life is in our mastery of it. We are put here to prove ourselves—to wash away the dross, to refine the gold in the fire—and to the extent that we prove ourselves, to that extent we win to the Kingdom of Heaven, here and hereafter.

For the Kingdom of Heaven is not some occult place we can enter only through the gates of death. On the contrary, unless we can win to some measure of it here, we shall find it a long, hard trail to win to it in the hereafter.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is within you,” said Jesus. Until He came, mankind had been taught that circumstances were the result of causes outside ourselves. Jesus showed that all circumstances are within our own control. Instead of being under the control of some malign fate, under the influence of some natal star, the reverse is true. “And he that over- cometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and I will give him the morning star.”—Revelations 2:26-28.

But granting that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, what is it? “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground,” said Jesus, “and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear.”—Mark 4:26-28.

To go back to the man in White’s story: “I used to know a man who suffered a stroke of paralysis. All he could move was two fingers in his left hand. Instead of getting discouraged, he said to himself: ‘Well, all right, I’ll move those two fingers!’ So he did. And by and by he found he could move the next finger. Today he’s almost as good as ever.

“That’s the way I felt. I got a sudden glowing conviction that if I exercised what faculties I had, I’d speedily develop more faculties.”

The seed of the Kingdom of Heaven is love—unselfish love. The stalk is service. The golden grain is riches and happiness. The stronger the stalk—the more ears of golden grain.

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all those things shall be added unto you,” said Jesus.—Matthew 7:33. Seek first the seed of love, plant it in the soil of work, water it with genuine interest in your fellow man, and the stalk of service will speedily spring up, to bring forth golden grains of reward.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”—Matthew 13:44.

When a man learns the joy of genuine service, he will gladly give up all that he has for it. He will guard it jealously as his dearest treasure.

Henry Ford was offered a billion dollars for the Ford Company. He refused it. Not because he wanted to make more money—a billion dollars are more than any man can spend in one lifetime, more than he wants to leave to his children—but because that company represented to him the most valuable thing in life, his means of service to his fellow-man.

Hundreds of men have refused the most generous offers for their businesses—for the same reason. To the extent to which you find that reason—to that same extent you have justified your existence, to that same extent you have discovered the Kingdom of God.

Hold on to it, for as much of it as you take with you across the Great Divide—that much will serve you as seed to plant on the other side, seed that will germinate and grow and bring forth an ever more abundant harvest.

Don’t let it slip from your fingers merely because you have already reaped a golden harvest. That is the very time you can sow most surely for the future. You no longer need to worry about money. Now you can sow for happiness.

So, you millionaires and successful men about to retire— take heed! There is no retiring. You must keep going for­ward—or lose what you have. Perhaps not in money, but in that which is far more valuable than money—the seed you are to take to the other side.

That seed decays with disuse. Keep sowing it—and reaping it—and what you no longer need to sow for riches, sew for happiness instead. You will find that harvest not only more bountiful, but more satisfying and more easily carried over the Great Divide.

It is not necessary that you stick at your desk. It is not even necessary that you stick at your business. But it is necessary that you hold on to the idea of service to your fellow men.

What are we here for? To discover the Kingdom of Heaven —to carry its seed with us into the next great phase of existence.

”I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things. ”

—Revelations 21:6,7.

“And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

—Revelations 22:12.

Chapter 2

Prayer

“Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

“When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, there is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.”

—Job 22:27-29.

“DADDY,” said the little boy as he knelt for his prayers one evening, “please pray that Detroit is the capitol of Vermont.”

“Why,” exclaimed the father, “what on earth do you want to pray that for?” “Because,” came the naive answer, “that’s the way I put it in my geography examination today.”

And that, truly, is the way many grown-ups pray. Then they wonder why their prayers are not answered, and go off scoffing at the idea of any prayer bringing an answer. “Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss.”—James 4:3.

Prayer is not a mere petition. Prayer is communion with the Father. Prayer is realizing that He has all good, including all riches, all honor, all success, all happiness, and that as His children we are heirs to these. Prayer is manifesting the good the Father long ago gave to us. As Phillips Brooks reminds us—”Prayer is not forcing God’s reluctance: it is taking hold of God’s willingness.”

Our God is Love. Our Father the personification of good­ness and mercy. We are His children. He has given us dominion over all things. Can we ask for more?

We have all of good. We have all of power. Prayer is realizing this—manifesting it.

“Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain. So the Lord shall make bright clouds: and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”— Zechariah 10:1.

Most of us are like a man who owns a fertile valley, surrounded by reservoirs of water. But rather than make the effort of clearing out his ditches and opening the sluice gates, he stands around hoping for rain. Prayer is simply an opening of our receiving channels. There is water enough and to spare. How much you will receive is limited only by how much you can use. More than that will do you harm.

“Concerning the works of my hands, command ye me.”

—Isaiah 45:11

How then shall we pray? How manifest all this good which is ours? How would you do if you had the fertile valley? First, prepare your ground to receive the water, would you not? Till it, then plant your seed in the secure confidence that you could turn on the water as soon as you were ready for it.

Just so you must do when you pray—make ready to receive the thing asked for.

Jesus gave us specific directions for prayer, and first and most important of them was: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.”—Mark 11:24.

If we truly “believe that we receive,” then we will make ready for the accomplishment of our prayer just as surely as if we ourselves were going to turn on the water. Failing in this, the conditions that Jesus laid down for successful prayer are not fulfilled. The seed falls upon stony ground and quickly withers away.

“He that wavereth is like the wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed: let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”—James 1:6,7.

A country congregation was praying for rain. Three evenings they had besought the Lord, yet the skies remained clear as crystal. “What’s the use?” they began to ask one another. “Here we’ve been praying and praying, and not a drop has it brought us. We’ve done our part. Why can’t the Lord do His?”

But the Pastor of that little flock had a clearer view. “You’ve done your part, have you?” he asked. “Well, tell me, one of you, what is the first essential that Jesus laid down for successful prayer? Belief aright. ‘Believe that ye receive it.’ You say you have that belief. You have come here three nights and prayed for rain. Yet I ask you—how many of you have brought umbrellas?”

The only obstacle that stands between you and the greatest desire of your heart is doubt and fear. When you can pray without doubting, wish without worrying, the good does not exist which you cannot win through prayer.

But having made your prayer, you must BELIEVE THAT YOU RECEIVE IT. The great minds are those that can wait undaunted, even though the answer seems long delayed, secure in the promise of the Father.

“In due season we shall reap if we faint not.”

—Galatians 6:9.

Your prayer is never lost until you stop praying. No man is defeated until he acknowledges defeat. Jesus lying in the tomb refused to acknowledge the finality of death, and the resurrection was his triumphant answer.

Never try to force results. Put your desires in the hands of the Father, serenely, believingly. Then—”Be still and know that I am God.”—Psalms 46: 30. Hold the faith. Hold the thought. There is no stronger faith than that which can go ahead, making all preparations for the thing it wants, even though there be not the slightest sign of its coming. “Trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”—Psalms 37:5.

The reason that the answer to our prayers is so often delayed until the eleventh hour is that only then do we truly let go—clear the brushwood of restraint out of our channels and let the Father work through us unhindered.

“Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be openeth unto you.”—Matthew 7:7.

When the Baptist Temple that now stands on the corner of Broad and Berk streets in Philadelphia was first proposed, the fund in hand for the lot and the building was exactly 57 cents. But it happened that the Scriptural text for that morning was the story of the five barley loaves and the two fishes. So instead of asking—”What can we do with 57 cents?”—the Minister blessed them and asked the Father to take those few pennies and with them build a worthy Church.

Did He build it? Go look at the Church! The old Baptist Temple was very small and its congregation was poor. Yet they multiplied that 57 cents to well over a hundred thousand dollars. And if you ask them how, they will tell you—”Through prayer.”

Prayer built the Baptist Temple. Prayer supplied its furnishings. Prayer bought it an organ. Not a move was made—not a thing undertaken—without earnest prayer. Many a time when it seemed as though that little congregation had reached the end of its resources, prayer found the way out.

“My word shall not return unto me void, but shall accomp­lish that whereunto it is sent.”—Isaiah 55:11.

And once they had found the efficacy of prayer, the congregation used it in their homes, in their businesses, with just as great success.

A doctor, utterly baffled in the treatment of a serious case, prayed for light and was shown the hidden cause of his patient’s trouble.

A workman out of a job prayed for work and before he left the Church, was brought into touch with an employer who had just been praying for such a man as he.

A servant girl prayed for a dress, and was given three by a friend of her mistress.

A young man prayed for the opportunity to study for the Ministry, and near him sat the principal of such a school praying for a suitable man to do certain work in return for his board and tuition. They were promptly brought together to the profit and satisfaction of both.

A woman prayed for a purchaser of her land. A student that he might pass his examinations. A farmer to learn what seed to use. A girl that her parents might join her. A lawyer for some lost evidence. A business man for guidance. And each and every one promptly received the answer to his prayers.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”—Jeremiah 29:13.

Too many of us pray only under pressure. Like the small boy who goes home only when he is hungry or in trouble. Of course, it is better to pray then than not at all, but to get consistent results from prayer, we must pray consistently.

“Watch and pray,” was the admonition of Jesus. “Watch”— be on your guard against those things that may interfere with your happiness or well-being or success. “Pray”—take your business, take your home life, take everything you are interested in to the Father for His advice, His help, His protection.

For praying does not mean petitioning God to change His will towards us. Rather, praying is asking the Father to point out the path of good. The right way always leads to good—no matter what the obstacles, no matter what troubles wall us ’round. There is always a way out—and prayer finds that way.

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”—Matthew 18: 19-20.

The Pillar of Fire

When the Midianites and the Amalekites and other children of the East descended upon the Israelites of old, God chose Gideon to save Israel from its invaders. But Gideon was a modest soul and could not see why the Lord should pick him out of all the hosts of the Israelites. So he prayed for guidance, he asked for a sign:

“And Gideon said unto God, if thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said,

“Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.

“And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

“And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger to be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

“And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.”

—Joshua 7 136-40.

On another occasion, when Moses was called of God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, he shrank back appalled at the magnitude of the task. He was slow of speech, he objected, and anyway the people would not listen to him.

What sign could he show them—what proof give them?

“And the Lord said unto him. What is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod.

“And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled before it.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.”—Exodus 4:2-4.

When Pharoah proved obdurate, there were signs a-many to show the still doubting Israelites that the Lord was on their side.

And when at last they started on their way out of the land of Egypt—”The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.”

—Exodus 13:21.

All through their years in the desert—the years of their purging from idolatry and slavery—that pillar of cloud and pillar of fire was their guide.

Throughout the Old Testament, you will find evidence of just such leading. And through it, again and again from direst straits the Israelites were brought forth triumphant and unharmed.

It was not when their numbers were small that they were overwhelmed by their powerful neighbors. It was when they grew so rich and strong that they depended upon their own fighting ability rather than upon the Lord. Let them stop and pray, let them ask for guidance through their Prophets—and they were victorious. Let them depend upon the strength of their own arms, and their enemies overran them.

“Then why,” many will ask, “does no leading come to me? I pray—but I get no answer to my prayers,”

Possibly it is because you are never still long enough to hear the answer. You don’t wait for it. You pray—then go ahead in the way you think best, without waiting for guidance, “Man’s dreary desires are answered drearily, and his impatient desires long delayed or violently fulfilled.”

There must be time for concentration, time to strengthen the structure of your belief, time to clear away the static of petty thoughts, of doubts and fears, so you can hear the still, small voice beneath. Remember how the Lord led the Israelites into the Promised Land:

“At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents.

“And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.

“Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

“At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.” —Numbers 9:18-19-22-23.

Like a successful business, prayer needs the right amount of attention and the right kind of neglect. It pays at times, when difficult problems confront you in business, to shut down your desk and go off and play. It gives your subconscious mind a chance to work them out without the petty distractions of ordinary routine. In the same way, once you have made your prayer, once you have the structure of your belief right, It pays at times to forget it— in the serene knowledge that the burden is now the Father’s, that you have done your part and He can be trusted to do the rest. “I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.”—I Corinthians 14:15.

Prayer can do anything. Prayer can fight battles. Prayer can win games. Prayer can bring success in any right under­taking.

Not lip prayers—not the kind of prayer that is a mere mouthing of phrases—”Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”—Matthew 6:7. But prayer from the heart. Prayer that goes to God as a loving Father, takes its desires to Him, realizes that He loves nothing better than to grant any right desire—and then accepts it as granted, in short, “BELIEVES THAT HE RECEIVES IT.”

When the vast English host of more than a hundred thousand descended upon the Scots at Bannockburn, the Scots sank to their knees in their ranks and sent up heart­felt prayers to the God of Battles that He might save their country.

“See,” cried the English King exultantly to a militant Bishop near, “they give in! They are on their knees to me already.”

“They are on their knees, sire,” answered the Bishop, “but to a greater King than you. They pray for victory. ‘Twould be well, sire, did we do the same.”

But Edward, secure in his hundred thousand veterans, laughed at the need of higher help. And before the day was done, met the most crushing defeat ever suffered by English arms!

Instances of successful prayer are so many and so well authenticated that whole volumes could be filled with them. In the home, in the Church, in business, in every phase of life. Perhaps the field in which prayers seem least often used is in games, yet we have it on the authority of Tim

Lowry, Northwestern University football star, that prayer belongs to the football field as much as to the pulpit, and the record of his team stands as a tribute to its efficacy.

E. C. Garbisch, for two years captain of the West Point football team, established the custom of having the team join with him in earnest prayer, and the remarkable success of the team during his two years of leadership attracted worldwide attention.

Coach McDonald of the University of North Carolina established the practice of prayer on his basketball team years ago—not only before entering the game but between halves. “Prayer has inspired teamwork and morale,” he says, “and has enabled the ‘Tar Heels’ to win time and again when defeat seemed certain.”

I know many an actor who has obtained the part he longed for through prayer. I know others who have found producers for their plays, manufacturers for their inventions, publishers for their books. To illustrate, here is an item cut from a Boston paper of March 12, 1927. . .

“Ted McLean, actor, playright, esthete, lay on his bed one night recently and sobbed, He had neither food, clothing to brave the icy gales of winter, nor money to pay back rent for his room. From the bed he slipped to his knees on the floor and prayed.

“It was no prayer by rote, no mumbled prayer he had learned to repeat. It was a fervent supplication for aid in his distress.

“Next morning the telephone rang and there was a producer on the other end of the line. He was accepting one of McLean’s plays and offering plenty of advance royalties for it.

“Luck? Ned believes it was the prayer, the first he had prayed in years.” I know scores of people who have found the right position through prayer. I know men and women who have been brought together to their mutual happiness through prayer. In fact, I know of nothing good that cannot be gained through sincere prayer.

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”—Mark 11:23.

Casting Bread Upon the Waters

In days of old, when the Jews knelt in prayer, they had a custom of sacrificing to the Lord the finest lamb from the flock—as an “offering.” In the beginning, it had started with the old idea of fear—they offered the best of the flock to the Fear-God in the hope that he would spare the rest.

But as the idea of a God of Justice and Mercy became more prevalent, the spirit in which the offering was made changed. Instead of a sacrifice of fear, it became one of gratitude and love. God had blessed the flocks. He had sent His increase. Therefore the finest of this increase should be given to His service.

Giving such as that is easy. Anyone can show gratitude after he has received largely. The sort of giving that is not so easy is to give before you can see any evidence of the answer to your prayers. That sort of giving requires faith. But because it is so sincere an evidence of faith, it is the sort of giving that comes back amplified a hundredfold.

Mere belief is often passive. Faith is active. Faith must do something to show its belief. Faith BELIEVES THAT IT RECEIVES, and evidences that belief by a “Thank Offering” to the Father even before there is any physical sign of the answer to its prayers.

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?

“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

“And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

—James 2:14-17.

In Effective Prayer, Russell Conwell tells how making an “offering” to God was used by his congregation when the

Baptist Temple was being built. To quote him:

“The prayers made that day were made immediately before the offering was taken. The question was afterward put to the audience twice to ascertain if anyone who made a special offering on that particular day had not been answered, and there was no exception in the mass of testimony to the efficiency of each prayer that day. The recitals of the marvels which followed that prayerful offering were too startling for general belief. The people had complied with the conditions, and God had answered clearly according to His promise. They had brought the tithes into the storehouse, and the Lord had poured out the blessings as an infallible result.

“Cases of sudden and instantaneous recovery of the sick were related by hundreds. One poor man whose child was insane prayed for her recovery. That afternoon when he went to the sanitarium, she met him in her right mind.

“A lady sold her jewelry and brought the proceeds as an offering as she prayed for healing from sciatic rheumatism. She fell going from the Church} and arose to find the rheumatism gone.

“One old gentleman involved in a ruinous lawsuit brought all the profits of the previous week and deposited them as he prayed for a just outcome. Within the week, the suit was withdrawn,

“A woman with an overdue mortgage on her home deter­mined to risk all on one prayer, and gave all she had as she prayed. When plumbers came to repair a leak the following week, they discovered a loose board in the floor under which her father had hidden all his money. The sum was more than enough to pay off the mortgage in its entirety.

“There were probably fifty such cases.”

They had faith. And to show that faith, they gave thanks— they made their offering—as soon as they had prayed. They BELIEVED THAT THEY RECEIVED, so without waiting for more tangible proof of the answer to their prayers, they offered their thanks. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”—I Corinthians 3:6.

Do your part, and God will never fail you with the increase.

But don’t think you can work Him like a slot machine— putting in a nickel and taking out a dollar. Your offering must be made—NOT in the hope of getting back more than you give, but as a thank-offering for what you HAVE RECEIVED! You have received abundantly—therefore you cheerfully give abundantly. You have asked for and are receiving infinite riches—therefore you cheerfully give of those you already had. Your giving must be a sincere act of faith. Unless you can make it such, keep your money. It will do you more good where it is.

And when you offer it, don’t offer it on the first altar that presents itself. Don’t just GIVE. Give to a cause you know to be good. If possible, give to the ultimate consumer, to some particular man you know who needs help, for—”As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.”—Matthew 25:40.

To give merely to some organization or Church without regard to the cause is lazy. Every man knows cases right in his own neighborhood that are as worthy as any ever cared for by an organization. Hunt these up. Give them a helping hand—and what is far more than the money you offer, give them the friendly, neighborly interest which restores their faith in God and man.

That kind of giving is never wasted. That kind is never lost. You can bless such gifts and look for them to return to you an hundred times over.

“No man gives to himself but himself.

No man takes away from himself but himself.”

Every bit of help and sympathy you give to others, you are really giving to yourself. Every time you lend a helping hand to lift another, you are really boosting yourself. So give—give though you see no evidences of return—and as you give, so it will come back to you, only amplified, a thousand times amplified.

“Trust in the LORD, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.”—Psalms 37:3-5.

Keeping the Tracks Clear

A few years ago, when the Grand Central Terminal in New York was being built, traffic there was fearfully congested. Thousands of trains coming in—thousands of others going out—tracks to be laid, building to be done, space to be found for vast quantities of material—and all the while the din of building, building.

Naturally, trains were delayed. Naturally, passengers were complaining. Naturally, good business was being lost to competing roads.

And then a strange thing was noticed. Incoming trains were late—five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour and more, on every division but one. On that one division, practically every train came in on time!

They checked up to find the reason. Trainmen smiled when they asked them—”Nothing in their way,” they explained, “so they brought their trains in on schedule.”

They traced it to the Superintendent in charge of that division—and there they found the answer. “Why,” he told them, “it’s simple enough. You can’t bring trains in unless you first send out those that came in ahead of them. I just keep my tracks clear, that’s all.”

And for keeping his tracks clear they made him Vice­President and put him in charge of the whole Terminal.

Men write asking me how they can tap the Universal Supply that is all about them, how they can get the money they require for some worthy enterprise or need.

How do you tap the supply of electrical current from the power house near you? Not merely by connecting your wires to the main current. That puts power into your wires, but of itself it serves no useful purpose. Before you can actually tap the source of electrical power, you have to find an outlet for it! You have to use what is in your house wires before more can come to you. The moment you stop the outflow—that moment the incoming current stops, too.

What is the surest way to bring business into a store? To first give out something—give out advertising, give out samples, give out special service.

What is the surest way to bring more water from the common reservoir into your pipes? To first draw out the water that is in them.

What is the surest way to draw upon the Universal Supply for more money?

To first use to good advantage that which you have.

You don’t depend upon the water in your pipes for your bath. You cheerfully use it to clean the tub, knowing there is plenty more behind, pushing its way forward, waiting to be used.

No more must you depend upon the money in your pocketbook or your bank account. Use it cheerfully, freely, for any good purpose, knowing there is infinitely more where that came from, merely waiting for you to make room for it.

The other day a friend told me of a time when he was in urgent need of a thousand dollars. All he had to his name was a $10 bill. And he found himself holding on to that $10 like a drowning man to a straw. For days he kept it, fearing to break it lest he should be lost entirely.

Then it suddenly occurred to him that he was pinning his faith to a lone $10 bill instead of to the Source of all supply—that he was damming the flow of money by keeping that little obstruction in the faucet.

He sat down at once and to show his faith, he mailed that $10 to the first worthy charity that came to his mind.

Immediately his faucet opened and the supply flowed through abundantly, and never since has it failed to respond to the same treatment.

“There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more. And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

“The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself.”—Proverbs 11:24,25.

Exercise

Out in California, away back in 1847, there lived a man who owned a ranch located upon a little stream.

The news came to him that down in the south of the state, men had discovered gold. All afire with the thirst for it, he sold his ranch and hurried south.

The man who bought the ranch, Colonel Sutter, built a mill and settled down with his family. One day his little girl brought some of the wet sand from the spillway into the house and that evening, playing before the fire, she sifted it through her fingers.

Here and there in the falling sand the firelight caught bright yellow glints and a visitor, watching them, recognized them for glints of gold. Since that evening, $38,000,000 in gold has been dug out of those few acres!

For thousands of years the gold lay there. For all that time, untold wealth was right beneath the feet of any chance wanderer. It remained for a little child to find it—for a chance visitor to make the contact which turned this dor­mant wealth into dynamic riches.

All about you is electrical energy—in fact, many great scientists believe that this whole world, the heavens, the planets, all are nothing more than vast aggregations of protons and electrons. But the most of it is static. You have to put it to work—give it a job to do before it becomes dynamic.

In the realm of Mind, there are ideas worth more than all the gold ever dug out of the sands of California, all the diamonds ever taken from African mines. There are ways of harnessing the tides, of utilizing the power of the atom, of manipulating the steam in the tornado, of turning to account the full power of the sunlight. Why, right now, in the oldest section of the world known to man—the Land of Palestine—there have been uncovered riches greater than any gold or diamond mine ever dug, the riches of the Dead Sea! In this great body of water, which men have passed contemptuously by for thousands of years, it is estimated that there are recoverable salts worth a thousand billion dollars! But it required the power of mind to uncover them, to show men how to extract these vast riches.

In the Universal Mind, the God-Mind all about us, is the answer to thousands of even greater problems.

There is nothing you seek—neither wealth nor happiness, nor well-being nor success—that you cannot find in Mind.

How to do it? How make the contact? The Bible tells us— “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.”—Jeremiah 29:13.

And how shall we search for Him?

The first essential is to have a definite work in which you want His help. Go through the Old Testament. When did God actively interfere with the ordinary processes of nature in behalf of the Israelites? Only when they had definite needs which must be met.

When did He divide the Red Sea? When did He send the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night? When did He give water to the three Kings in the desert? When did He find the well for Hagar, send the manna for the Israelites, feed the Prophet through; the ravens? Only when they sought Him and searched for Him with all their hearts.

Find the need. Find a cause worthy of all that Mind can give. Then give of your best—work head and heart and hand—and when you have done all that is humanly possible, have faith in the great God-Mind for the rest.

The first essential is a definite task. The second is perfect faith.

If the task be likened to a bulb which the electric current is to light or a motor which it is to turn, faith may be called the wire which brings the current from the power house. There can be no connection without the wire. There can be no results without faith.

Faith forms the contact between Universal Supply and your immediate need. The supply is always there, ready, able, willing to fill any need. But it is merely static supply as far as you are concerned—until you make it dynamic through faith.

How acquire such a faith? Read your Bible. Read of the many times the Israelites were saved by faith. Read the promises of the Scriptures, promises that offer you any and all things if only you will have the faith. Just listen:

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”—I Peter 3:12.

“And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.”—I Sam. 1:12.

“And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to “fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.”—Dan. 9:20-21.

“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”—Psalm 4:1.

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”—Psalm 5:3.

“The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.”—Psalm 6:9.

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father, also which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses.”—Mark 11:25.

“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven opened.”—Luke 3:21.

“I was in a city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me.”—Acts 7:5.

“I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”—I Cor. 14:15.

“Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.”—Job 22:27.

“He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.”—Psalm 102:17

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”—Prov. 15:8.

. . . . “and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

—Matt. 17:21.

“Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

—Phil. 4:6-7.

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shalt be forgiven him.”—James 5:15.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”—James 5:16.

“Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house;

“Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men” . . .)—II Chron. 6:29-30.

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard them.

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels.”—Matt. 24:53.

“Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” — Mark 11:24.

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”—Luke 18:1

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”

—St. John 17:9,15,20.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”—Rom. 8:26.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thess. 5:23.

“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power.” —II Thess. 1:2.

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.”—I John 3:22.

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us;

“And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

—II John 5:14-15.

“But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”—St. John 11:22.

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

—St. John 14:13.

“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

—St. John 14:14.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.”

—James 1:15-6.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”—Jude 1:24.

“But when ye pray, use not vain repetition, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

“Be not ye therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

“Give us this day our daily bread.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.”—Matt. 6:7-13.

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”—Psalm 37:3.

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”—Psalm 37:5.

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.”

—Psalm 37:7.

“The Lord is my shepherd; 1 shall not want.”—Psalm 23:1.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”—Psalm 23:4.

“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.”—Psalm 4:1.

“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

—Psalm 141:2.

“I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”

—Tim. 2:1.

“Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee today.”—I Kings 8:28.

“And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.”—Luke 1:10.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.”—Eph. 6:18.

“Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.”—I Thess. 3:10.

“And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.”—I Kings 8:30.

“Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.”

—Neh. 4:9.

“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.”

—Dan. 9:3.

“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”—Acts 6:4.

“And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”

—Acts 16:13.

. . . . “be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

—I Peter 4:7.

“And when He had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray.”—Matt. 14:23.

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.”—Matt. 36:36.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

—Matt. 26:53.

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.”

—Eph. 3:17-18.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”—St. John 14:15.

”Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.”

—James 4:3.

“There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man: but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”—I Cor. 10:13.

Chapter 3

The Unpardonable Sin

“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blas­phemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” —Matthew 12:31-32.

THERE was once a young Prince so courted, so pampered and waited upon, that when he grew to manhood, his parents found he had not learned the first principle about acting or even thinking for himself.

Like most parents, the King and Queen could not under­stand the reason for such stupidity. Finally, despairing of his ever learning enough at home to succeed to the throne, they decided to send him on a journey through foreign lands in the hope that thus he might learn to look out for himself—and eventually for his Kingdom.

The Prince rode gaily forth, for even to a Prince, a life where everything is done for you becomes monotonous.

Presently he came to a little man lying with his ear to the ground. “What are you doing?” asked the Prince. “Listening to all that goes on in the world,” answered the little man. “I am called Hearing. For anyone who is interested in his fellow man, I could be an invaluable servant.”

“Then come with me,” directed the Prince. “I have use for such as you.”

Coming to a little wood, they saw a very tall man on the other side of it—quite the tallest he had ever seen. “And who are you?” asked the Prince. “I am called Smell,” the tall man said. “I can reach over tree-tops, or around corners or through cracks. I could clean up the world if I had a Master who knew how to use me. Can you use another ser­vant?”

“That I can,” replied the Prince, “just come with me.”

Journeying along cheerfully together, they espied a man sitting in the sun, wrapped in blankets, yet shivering as though with the ague. “And what ails you, my good man?” asked the Prince.

“Alas,” moaned the poor fellow, “I had a master who was always afraid of something. In cold weather it was over­heating. In hot weather it was drafts. Until now that he has left me, I can’t be comfortable in either. I am looking for a master who fears neither cold nor heat. Him I can serve happily and make happy. Pray can you tell me of such a one?”

“What Is your name?” asked the Prince curiously. “My name is Feel,” answered the miserable one. “Then come with me, Feel,” said the Prince, “and I will make you happy.”

Nearing the boundaries of the Prince’s kingdom, they saw a huge oaf lying by the side of the road and stopped to talk with him. “Do you need another servant?” asked the fellow. “If I did,” replied the Prince smilingly, “I don’t know what I should do with such a huge fellow as you. What are you good for?”

“I can be the best servant in the world,” answered the other. “My name is Taste, and I am so strong I can carry you all day long without tiring. It was only because my last employer let me become the master that you see me looking so fat and ugly, I rode him instead of carrying him. Now I am looking for someone who knows how to remain the master.”

Once more they wended their way through wood and meadow, until they came to a high hill. On top of it they found a man gazing intently at all that went on below him.

“And who are you?” asked the Prince. “I am Sight,” replied the other. “And I am watching all that goes on in the world. I can tell you the good and the bad, the needy and the shiftless. I can show you all that is wrong with the world. I can point out the way to make things right. But I will work only for one who will work with me. I want a master who is intelligent, who is industrious and who will use me for good. Pray tell me, do you know any such?” “Come with me,” said the Prince, “and I will try to be such a master.”

That night the Prince and his five servants rested at a tavern, where Sight and Hearing pronounced the landlord honest, Smell picked out a clean room for the Prince to sleep, Taste ate circumspectly, as became the ideal servant he had promised to be, and Feel settled them all com­fortably for the night.

The next day they reached the castle of Princess Happiness. The Princess greeted them so graciously and looked so charming that the Prince fell in love with her at once. But to win her, he was told that he must perform three hercu­lean tasks—to fail in which would lose him not only the Princess, but his head.

How his five servants accomplished those tasks, how he won the Princess’ hand and heart and bore her back in triumph to his parents, make a story too long to tell here.

The meat of it I know you have already grasped—that he who would win happiness must himself work for it to some worthy purpose—and that he who learns to master his five servants (senses) can get from them any good service he may ask.

Most of us are like the young Prince—good fellows, cheerful, well-meaning, but without purpose. We let circumstances or people say what we shall do, what we shall be. We let others do our thinking for us. We let circumstances control our actions.

Like the heathen idols of old—”They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

“They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

“They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk, not: neither speak they through their throat.”

—Psalms 115:5-7.

All knowledge is written in an open book before us—yet how much do we grasp? The little that others hand to us on a platter.

All power is put in our hands—yet how much do we use? The infinitesimal bit necessary to do our daily tasks.

All riches are spread out before us—yet how much do we take? Enough to buy our daily bread, to give us a few little comforts and necessities.

Like the little green loafers in the plant leaves, we waste 99 percent, of the power, 90 percent, of the raw material that is given us.

“The greater part of agriculture,” says the New York Herald-Tribune, “is the job of persuading the small green slaves that do our fundamental agricultural work to labor a little more earnestly at their jobs.” “These small slaves are the most incorrigible loafers in the world. They are those tiny green globules which any botanist’s microscope will show you in the leaves of a green plant and which operate that enormously important process called photosynthesis, by which sunlight and air and water are converted into the bodies of living plants and into food for every living thing. The power that runs the green-leaf factory is sunlight. Of this power it is estimated that the leaf uses less than one-tenth of 1 percent. The materials of the factory are water and air and the salts of the soil. Of these the factory wastes well over 90 percent., usually more. A manufacturing enterprise that throws away 99.9 percent, of its raw materials ought certainly to give its owner some disquiet. If the working habits of these granules could be bettered, farming would recover at one step the ground that it has lost to more mechanical crafts.”

What is the Unpardonable Sin? It is to neglect the latent powers within yourself.

What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? It is to ignore the Holy Spirit within you. It is to use only your conscious energies, when the Holy Spirit is capable of a thousand times as much.

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.”—Acts 7:51.

You have been given a certain talent. Yet for lack of initiative or fear of loss, you keep that talent buried. What will you say when the accounting is demanded of you? Go read the parable of the talents. Go listen to what the Master had to say of the unprofitable servant.

The story is told of a great artist of several hundred years ago. His skill in mosaics was marvelous. He had a poor young assistant whose duty it was to keep the studio clean, to lift and carry and help around the place.

One day he asked the artist if he might have the little fragments of glass that fell from the latter’s work bench. “Of course, of course,” said the great man impatiently, “do what you like with them. They are of no value.”

Over in a corner of the studio, behind tools and canvasses and the like, the young mail studied and worked over his fragments during the long evenings after the artist had left. Through weeks and months he labored painstakingly, tire­lessly.

Upon a time the artist, looking for a lost tool, happened into the corner and stood astounded. The face of glass that confronted him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen!

He called the young man. “Who did this?” he asked. “I did, Master,” the other explained, apologetically. “I used only those bits of glass you threw away.”

Long and earnestly the other gazed. “It is wonderful,” he said at last, “wonderful! Better than I, with all my fine materials, have ever done. It shall have the place of honor in the new Cathedral.”

You say you have no opportunity to do big things? Where do you suppose opportunity is—around the next corner, or hiding in the cellar? Opportunity is all around you. It is like the air you breathe. It is everywhere—and always.

A.T. Stewart, founder of the great Wanamaker store in New York, began his merchandising career with $1.50. 87 cents of it he invested in buttons and thread and needles. But they would not sell. He sat down to think this out. Buttons, thread, needles—they were necessities—it seemed to him they ought to sell. But people wouldn’t buy them. Should he keep on trying until somebody would buy them, or should he—wonderful thought—should he first find out what people WANTED, invest the rest of his capital in that and sell it?

He decided on the latter—and the store he eventually sold to Wanamaker for millions was the result.

It is said that John Jacob Astor once took over a bankrupt millinery concern. He did not immediately conclude—as most seem to—that the buyer, or the manufacturer, or the sales people were at fault, and discharge them. Instead, he went out and stood on a corner which fashionable women were in the habit of passing. And whenever a particularly well dressed woman passed, he studied her hat. When he had it well in mind, he went back to the store, picked out one as nearly like it as possible, and put it in the window at a special price. Took all the other hats out of the window and left only that one.

Then he betook himself to the corner until he found another attractive style—and added it to the first one. And so on until he had learned what people wanted. He didn’t try to sell people what they did not want—and then wonder why no business came his way. He took time to find out what people did want—and then gave it to them at a special price.

Emerson had the same thought when he wrote: “He who addresses himself to modes or wants that can be dispensed with, builds his ‘house off the road. But he who addresses himself to problems that every man must come to solve, builds his house on the road, and every man must come to it.”

There are opportunities to build your house by the road every day and everywhere. A man down in Washington, who was too poor to buy his kiddie toys, sat down one evening and carved out a “Kiddie Car”—just to satisfy the father-love in him for his own child.

But the “Kiddie Car” made such a hit that he was promptly besieged by every other child on the street for one like it.

He grasped the idea that the toy which appeals to your own child is likely to appeal to all children of the same age— took his idea to a manufacturer and made millions out of it.

Capital ? His material capital consisted of a pen-knife and a piece of wood.

Do you know how the mowing machine was invented? A woman nailed a lot of scissors along the edge of a board, wired them together so they would all open at one pull of the wire, and close at another. And there was the principle of the mowing machine!

What do people want? What do people need? Those are the questions to ask —not how much capital or training or tools you have. Find the need—then work out the way to satisfy it. The capital will be easy to get.

Everything is useful. Everything has in it the seed of riches. Even the insects can be used for gain.

The other day I read in the paper that armies of English beetles and caterpillars are being picked at the experimental station at Harpendon in Hertfordshire to ship to New Zealand. Brambles and ragwort weed are getting beyond control out there, so the insects that feed specially on these are being sent out to keep them in check. And every farmer is familiar with the idea of encouraging the propagation of harmless insects to prey upon those that ruin trees or crops.

All about us is opportunity—so close under our noses that we cannot see it. Often the very obstacles in our path, the very things we fear most, are our greatest opportunities. Like Moses, our supporting staffs sometimes seem to change into serpents in our hands, but if we grasp them fearlessly, we find them just as strong to support us as of old.

“And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod.

“And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.”

What is the correct way to pick up a snake whose fangs you fear? By the neck. Take it by the tail and it will twist around and fasten its fangs in you. Yet the Lord told Moses to grasp the serpent by the tail. Why? To make him first overcome his fear of it. When Moses grasped the serpent fearlessly, it turned into a supporting staff in his hand.

Have you ever heard the story of Tombstone, Arizona?

A prospector, with all the faith of the true prospector, believed he could find gold in the mountains of Arizona. His friends laughed at him—ridiculed his dream of fortune—told him all he would ever find in those mountains was his tombstone.

He held on to his dream—he kept his faith—and discov­ered a mine worth millions. Then in kindly irony he named the town “Tombstone.” “Faith,” said Paul, is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith must be up and doing. That prospector might have believed all his life that there was gold in those Arizona mountains, but it would have done him little good had he not had the active faith to pack up his tools and go get it.

The man who dreams, then works and prays to make his dreams come true, cannot help but succeed.

“Be ye doers of the word,” says James (1:22), “and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Pray—believe—then turn that belief into active faith by doing your part, even if that part be only the making of a “Thank Offering” for the granting of your prayer.

The Steam of the Mind

If there is any place more than another where we have neglected the power given us by the Holy Spirit, it is in controlling our thoughts.

What would you think of an engineer who kept his boilers coaled to capacity, but left his steam cock open so that as fast as it formed, the steam escaped?

Yet that is what most of us do a large part of the time. For thoughts are the steam of the mind, with a power far greater than any steam ever formed of water. Yet instead of using that steam to direct and control our destinies, we let it blow off through our mouths—through the steam cock of idle conversation.

Don’t run to someone else with every new idea that comes to you. Keep it bottled up. Drop a bit of yeast into it and let it work. When it is ripe it will pop off of itself. Then you will have something worthwhile. But to take it and look at it, to show it to admiring friends, is like taking the hen off the nest every few minutes to see whether any eggs have hatched. After a while she loses interest and refuses to go back.

Your subconscious mind is your part of Divinity. Baptize it with understanding of your Divine sonship, confirm it with active faith, and it becomes the Holy Spirit within you that has all power, that can bring you anything of good.

Your subconscious is controlled—not by will power, but by your thoughts. Your real, secret, innermost beliefs. What­ever beliefs penetrate to the subconscious, it proceeds to bring into being in the material world.

In short, your thoughts register upon the subconscious much as sound registers upon the phonographic disc, to be given back to you in material manifestations just as surely as the seed in the soil brings forth the plant.

When John McCormick sings into the phonograph, you do not get back the sound of Galli Curci’s voice. When your shout rings against the mountain side, the echo does not bring back the sound of another’s voice. When you think thoughts of poverty, or sickness, or unhappiness, you do not get back evidences of riches or health or happiness. No—you get what you give. You see materialized the thought you have impressed upon your subconscious mind.

“As a man thinketh in his subconscious mind,” we might well paraphrase the old saying, “so is he!”

Thought is the greatest power we have. It is the steam of the mind. It is the electricity that runs our mental dynamo. But just as the electric current can be used to electrocute or to serve you, so can your thoughts make you well or ill, rich or poor, happy and prosperous or miserable and needy.

What happens when electricity runs loose—when wires become crossed and the power of the volt scatters in all directions? What happens when steam pipes burst and the escaping steam suddenly finds itself uncontrolled? Fire— explosion—death—injury—these are the penalties of lack of direction in handling the mighty elemental forces of nature.

What happens when thought is uncontrolled, when it lacks direction? Sickness—poverty—crime—death—these are the penalties of lack of direction in handling the greatest force in the whole wide world, the force of thought.

What is the Unpardonable Sin? It is to waste this mighty energy the Father has given you. It is to fail to harness it to your needs, to your worthy desires.

What is the sin against the Holy Spirit? To ignore Him, to lack the initiative or the faith to call Him to your side, to go through life with never an inspiration, never a guiding hand from this Holy Spirit within.

“And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But unto him that blasph- emeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.”

—Luke 12:10.

How do we blaspheme against Him? By scorning the power latent in Him, by ridiculing the idea that any good thing is within our reach if only we will seek His guiding Spirit.

There is no goal you can strive for that He cannot guide you to. There is nothing you can ask for—believingly—that He cannot show you the way to obtain.

Do obstacles bar your way? Baptize them—baptize them stepping-stones to your goal—in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Then confidently, believingly use them as stepping-stones. The Holy Spirit will show you the way.

The important thing to remember is that no sincere prayer is lost. Even though you pray for something it is not good for you to have. The effort is not wasted. If your prayer is offered in the right spirit, it will come back to you in good.

So pray for what you want—believing. Then enlist the

Holy Spirit on your side by your active faith. Ask for a sign—ask for guidance. Then start, one step at a time, towards your goal. Any task is easy if you break it up into enough little tasks, and then do one at a time, finishing each before you start the next. The start is the hard part. To begin is to be half finished.

“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

“For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straight way forgetteth what manner of man he was.

“But who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

—James 1:23-25.

Chapter 4

The Covenant

“And He said unto them; which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

“And he from within shall answer and say. Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

“I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”

—Luke 11:5-8.

IF there is one riddle which more than any other has defied mankind’s ingenuity, it is that of supply.

In a world full of unlimited riches, with mental powers whose limits have never yet been reached, a large part of the human race barely subsists, keeping scarcely a jump ahead of starvation.

Even here, in the richest country on earth, misery stalks through idle coal fields, through mill towns, through the slums of the great cities. Why?

With undreamed of riches in the power of the atom, in the force of the tides, in the sunlight, in the very air we breathe, why should so large a section of mankind live in misery? Why should not we—you and I and our neighbors—be able to draw upon Infinite Supply at will for any good thing we wish? Jesus told us we could:

“If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a Father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

“Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give to them that ask him?” —Luke 11:11-13.

Then why should we, like many a poor, starving miner back in 1849, be walking over millions in riches, yet be unable to lay our hands upon even a trace of them?

Perhaps the story of Charles Page, as given in the July American Magazine, may be of help in pointing to the solution. Page is now a millionaire oil operator in Okla­homa, but a few years ago he had little or nothing, and his wife was so sick he feared he was going to lose her as well. The surgeons at the Hospital had given up hope for her, so as all other avenues seemed closed, Page turned to God.

“Oh, Lord,” he prayed, “don’t take her away from me. I just couldn’t bear it.”

The words rang in his ears—and they had an empty ring.

As a prayer, it seemed to fall flat. Why should the Lord intervene for him, if the only reason he could offer was that he couldn’t bear it? Plenty of husbands just as devoted as he had lost their wives. Why should the Lord specially favor him?

The thought came home to him with the power of a blow. What had he ever done that the Lord should go out of His way to help him? What reason had he to look for special consideration from above? None! He’d been a decent enough citizen, but no more so than the average, and kneeling there he couldn’t recall a single thing he had done which would entitle him to ask favors from the Lord.

The thought appalled him. What chance had he? Must he then lose the one dearest to him in all the world, just because he had never done enough to be worthy of keeping her? No! No! That was unthinkable. It wasn’t too late. He would start that very minute. What was it the Master had said? “Whatsoever ye do unto the least of these my brethren, ye do it unto me.”

The next morning a poor widow was in transports of joy to find under her doorsill money enough to carry her safely through the winter.

But that evening, inquiry at the hospital elicited the information that Page’s wife was no better. For a little his faith faltered. Then, as he thought back over the reason for his act, it flamed up anew. Why had he helped the widow? Not because he was interested in her welfare, not even because it was the right thing to do, but because he was trying to buy off the Lord. Thinking of it in that light, it sounded ridiculous. He got down on his knees again.

“I ain’t makin’ a bargain with you, God,” he promised. “I’m doin’ this because it’s the right thing for me to do.”

This time it seemed to him his message carried. He felt strangely cheered and relieved. His prayer had gone through.

Now comes the remarkable part of this incident. His wife, much to the astonishment of the surgeons, took a turn for the better, and within a comparatively short time was well!

From that day to this, Charles Page has never failed in his Covenant with God. Times there were when everything looked black. Times when it meant a real struggle to find the Lord’s share. But his faith never faltered. He knew if he did his part, he could depend upon God for His.

For a long time he gave a tenth of all his earnings. Then he increased it to a fourth. Later to a half, and finally all except what he needed for personal and family expenses. He has given away literally millions.

“But don’t get the idea,” he warns, “that I’m telling you how to get rich. It’s the giving, not the getting, that’s important. Personally, I believe that it’s only playing fair to tithe, or give a part of your income to God, but it must be a gift, not an investment. Do you get the difference? If you tithe in the right spirit, you will get your reward just as sure as a gun’s iron; but the reward may not come in the form of money. Often it’s something far better than money………………………………………………………………… ”

The longer I live, the more I read and study, in books and among people, the more firmly convinced I become that Charles Page and his kind have found the only sure method of contacting with Infinite Supply. In the words of the hymn, you must “make channels for the streams of love, that they may broadly flow.”

You have heard of the wells in the great Sahara Desert. Keep them free from sand, and they flow forever. Dam up the crevices through which the water comes and they dry overnight.

Just as surely as you let the sands of selfishness and greed dam up your wells of supply, your flow of riches will stop, too. Oh, yes, there is the occasional miser who accum- mulates a fortune, just as there is the occasional this, that or the other who breaks all the rules and gets away with it for a while. But we are not looking for hundred-to-one shots. We are looking for a sure thing.

And the one sure thing I have been able to find about the Law of Supply is that we get as we give—generously or parsimoniously—it all depends upon ourselves. From the poor widow who shared her last bit of oil and meal with the Prophet, and thereafter found no end to her cruse of oil or measure of meal, down to Charles Page, the record has been the same.

The size of the gift does not matter. The widow’s mite may bring far greater returns than the rich man’s millions. It is the spirit in which you give that counts.

You who are starting upon life’s highway, you who have traveled far and are worn and weary—make this Covenant with God:

I will give to every worthy cause, whatever may seem right and good in Your sight. Not as a bargain with You. Not to put in a nickel and pull out a dollar. But as a token of real thankfulness for all You have done for me, as a proof of my serene confidence in Your continuing supply. I will act as Your channel, carrying the good things of life from their Infinite Source to those who need them. I will not stint myself or others. I will drink deeply of the waters of the well, yet give just as generously to others, knowing there is no limit to the Supply—that the more good outlets I find, the greater will be the inflow.

A Covenant such as that is not a bargain with God—it is an evidence of your serene faith in Him. A Covenant such as that is like the Ark of the Israelites—an assurance of the Father’s continuous protection and supply.

“Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

“Is any sick among you ? Set him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”—James 5:13-15.

Chapter 5

The Sowers

”A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and were trodden down; some fell upon rock; and withered away; and some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and hare fruit an hundred fold. ”

—Luke 8:5-8.

A MANUFACTURER makes a good coat. He puts as low a price upon it as he can and still make a living profit. He satisfies himself that he is giving the utmost of value for the money. Then he goes out to sow the seeds of sales.

To merchants in his own town he shows the coat. He tells them of the fine cloth he has put into it, the careful work­manship, the graceful style lines.

To merchants in other towns, he sends salesmen, with samples of the coat.

To people dwelling in rural communities, he writes letters, encloses pieces of the cloth, sends pictures of the coat, describes it in detail.

For those whose names he can not get, he puts advertise­ments in their papers, in their magazines, in catalogs, picturing the coat, showing its beauty, its grace, its low price.

He sows the seeds of sales. Some fall by the wayside, some fall on stony ground, some among thorns—but if his soil be well chosen, the most fall on good ground and yield fruit that springs up and increases.

We are all sowers, and the seeds we sow in good ground are seeds of success, of riches and happiness. Every word we speak, everything we do, is a seed.

When you want a better position, how do you go about it? You tell your friends what you can do. You ask them if they know of an opening for a capable man like yourself. You answer “Want Ads.” You advertise your abilities. You write to likely prospects, telling them how you could serve them. Above all, you hold in your own mind the thought of what wonderful things you could do in the right job, what new avenues of service you could open, what numbers of people you could benefit. Sowing seed—and if it be sown on good ground, if it be kept watered with faith and prayer, it will presently spring up and blossom forth in new opportunities for you.

Do you want business? You sow the knowledge of your products, of their special qualities, of the things they will do, among those they will serve best, and to the extent that you pick good ground, to that extent will your crop be good.

Two things you must watch:

1st—Be careful of where you sow. There is the seed which falls by the wayside, and the fowls of the air come and devour it. There is the seed which falls on stony ground, but when the sun comes up, it withers away because it has no root. There is the seed that falls among thorns, and the thorns grow up with it and choke it. And then there is the seed that falls on good ground.

For many years I have sold books by mail. Millions of dollars worth of them. And I have found that quite as important as the letter I write or the circular I print is the list of people to whom I send them. The best letter in the world will not bring results from people who do not read books. But even a poor letter will bring a fair response from a good list.

So it is with all things. Pick your soil, and even the most amateurish planting will bring you fair results.

2nd—Be careful of your seed. Good soil will always bring forth what you plant—be it wheat or thistles. So plant only what you wish to reap.

And remember that every thought, every word, every act, is a seed—of good or ill. If you have seen suffering, know that it is the effect of wrong thought, of evil seeds. Seeds of right thought, good actions, can never bring forth crops of sorrow. Seeds of wrong thought, wicked action, can never produce happiness or content. The Law is just, unchanged- able. It cannot give evil for good, or good for evil.

As Allen puts it in As a Man Thinketh: “Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe; justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life; and righteousness, not corruption, is the moulding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.”

So look now to your seed. What are you sowing?

If it be seeds of timidity, inferiority, self-consciousness, fear, repression—change them now, this minute. Burn those tares of unhappiness and misery. Sow instead the seeds of riches and happiness and success. It is just as easy. It requires merely a change of base—a change in your thoughts, a change in your attitude towards the things that happen to you.

Let obstacles, let trials, let difficulties beset you; let friends or enemies stand in your way; see the angel in them—greet the Divinity in them. By digging one cellar at a time, John MacDonald built the great New York subway. By taking one step at a time, you can overcome the world.

So refuse to recognize, refuse to accept difficulties. Tell them they don’t belong to you. Baptize them stepping- stones to success. Sow the seeds of success in your every thought, in your every act—and some fine morning you will wake to find those seeds of success blossoming all over the very obstacles that appeared most insurmountable.

“As a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”—Galatians 6:7.

Till your ground. Sow your seed. Then have no worry as to the results. If you do your part with serene faith, depend upon it, the Father will do His. You can look to Him for the increase.

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”—I Corinthians 3:6.

 

The End