Luke 18:1-8 And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;… In reply to the question, "What place has prayer for temporal blessings in your system of natural law in the spiritual world?" Professor Drummond, as reported, said, in one of his talks at Lakeview: — A large, splendidly equipped steamship sailed out from Liverpool for New York. Among the passengers were a little boy and girl, who were playing about the deck, when the boy lost his ball overboard. He immediately ran to the captain and shouted, "Stop the ship; my ball is overboard!" The captain smiled pleasantly, but said, "Oh no, my boy; I cannot stop the ship, with all these people, just to get a rubber ball." The boy went away grumbling, and confided to the little girl that it was his opinion the captain didn't stop the ship because he couldn't. He believed the ship was wound up some way in Liverpool, and she just had to run, day and night, until she ran down. A day or so afterward the children were playing on deck again, when the little girl dropped her doll down into the engine-room, and she supposed it, too, had gone overboard. She said, "I'll run and ask the captain to stop the ship and get my dolly." "It's no use," said the boy; "he cannot do anything. I've tried him." But the little girl ran on to the captain with her story and appeal. The captain came and peeked down into the engine-room, and, seeing the doll, said, "Just wait here a minute." And, while the ship went right on, he ran down the stairway and brought up the little girl's doll, to her delight, and to the boy's amazement. The next day the cry rang out, "Man overboard!" and immediately the bell rang in the engine-room, by orders from the lever in the hands of the captain; the great ship stood still until boats were lowered and the life rescued. Then she steamed on until she reached her wharf in New York. As soon as the ship was tied up the captain went up town and bought the boy a better ball than the one he had lost. "Now," said the professor, "each of the three prayers was answered. The little girl received her request without stopping the ship; the little boy by a little waiting received his also; and yet for sufficient reason the ship was stopped by a part of the machinery itself, not an afterthought, but something put into the ship when it was made." Parallel Verses KJV: And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;WEB: He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up, |
    |