word, told me that the intercessions of his servants departed should
prevail with Him, provided I sought that benefit by prayer, I should,
without any misgiving, have implored Him to receive their {249} prayers
in my behalf; but I can find no such an intimation in the covenant. In
that covenant the word of the God of truth and mercy is pledged to
receive those, and to grant the prayers of those who come to him through
his blessed Son. In that covenant, I am strictly commanded and most
lovingly invited to approach boldly the Supreme Giver of all good things
myself, and to ask in faith nothing wavering, with an assurance that He
who spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will, with
Him, also freely give us all things. In this assurance I place implicit
trust; and as long as I have my being in this earthly tabernacle, I
will, by his gracious permission and help, pray for whatever is needful
for the soul and the body; I will pray not for myself only, but for all,
individually and collectively, who are near and dear to me, and all who
are far from me; for my friends, and for those who wish me ill; for my
fellow Christians, and for those who are walking still in darkness and
sin;--I will pray for mercy on all mankind. And I will, as occasion
offers, desire others among the faithful on earth to pray for me; and
will take comfort and encouragement and holy hope from the reflection
that their prayers are presented to God in my behalf, and that they will
continue to pray for me when my own strength shall fail and the hour of
my departure shall draw nigh. But for the acceptance of my own prayers
and of theirs I can depend on no other Mediator in the world of spirits,
than on HIM, whom his own Word declares to be the one Mediator between
God and men, who prayed for me when He was on earth, who is ever making
intercession for me in heaven. I know of no other in the unseen world,
by whom I can have access to the Father; I find no other offered to me,
I seek no {250} other, I want no other. I trust my cause,--the cause of
my present life, the cause of my soul's eternal happiness,--to HIM and