Does God Answer Prayer?

Does God Answer Prayer?

BY PROF. L. F. MOENCII

Part II

"God's eyes are upon all men," so the sacred scriptures tell us, "and lie knows their thoughts and hears their prayers."

A REMARKABLE ANSWER TO FASTING AND PRAYER While I worked in the office as secretary of the Swiss and German mission, we received a letter, one morning, from a German professor, named Maurer, of Landau, Bavaria, asking us to send him some literature which would give him some idea respecting our belief, as he was writing a history of all the religious de- nominations of the various Christian sects, and he had but lately heard of the "Mormons," and would like to embody something of our religion in his work. Accordingly we mailed him the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and some of our leading tracts. We thought no more about this, as such requests were of common occurrence. A few weeks passed when we received another letter from thjs same professor. The contents were surprising to us all. In it he made the request that one of our missionaries be sent to him at once ; had occurred that something very incomprehensible to him, in connection with the books we had sent him, that he felt he must see one of us, and at our earliest convenience. As his profession was in my line, the lot fell to me, and I was instructed to go at once. Minute-man like, the next day found me on my way speed- ing to Landau. On my arrival I registered at the hotel, after which I at once repaired to the professor's home. I found him to be one of the most prominent educators of Germany, and in charge of the leading school at Landau. He was a man highly respected for his literary attainments, well-built, and of dignified appearance which was augmented by his height six feet and — two inches in short, a man of the regular Bismarckian school ;

in physique and bearing — a German professor in every sense of the word. After the introduction, I was at once admonished by him not to make myself known, as "Mormon" missionaries were not toler- ated at Landau, while he himself would lose his position, should it become known that he entertained a "Mormon" missionary in his

bouse. My lodgings, lie suggested, should be at the hotel, and my visits early in the morning, through a private entrance, so that public attention might not be aroused. My next visit, therefore, was at his private office, at the appointed hour, and in the designated way. As soon as I was comfortably seated, and the compliments of the morning passed, he told me that he had been in search of the true gospel of Christ for years, but that he had searched in vain among the various sects, and that, in his mind, they were all wrong, and that none of them harmonized with the true gospel of Christ, as taught in the New Testament. He had even searched among the heathen na- tions, but with the same unsatisfactory result. At last, to satisfy his own soul, he had written a novel in which he had embodied his views, respecting the true gospel of Christ. So saying he handed me the novel. I read it carefully during the day, and to my great surprise found that it contained "Mormon" doctrine ttirough and through. After this, he said, he seemed to have some peace of mind. But it lasted but a short time, when his mind again be- came restless, and this time, he said, he resolved to write a history of religion, and to embody in it the religious views of the various Christian sects, and of the heathen religions as well, still hoping thereby to find the truth. "While gathering material for this pur- pose," he said, using his own language now, "I came across a notice in one of the Landau papers, announcing the imprisonment and banishment of two 'Mormon' missionaries from one of the cities of Germany. The editor, at the same time, called upon the police of Landau to keep a lookout for these men, representing this unpopular religion, and to imprison and banish them should they make their appearance. This made a great impression upon my mind, and I resolved forthwith to become acquainted with them, and to know more about their religion. I went to the editor in person and learned from him where the headquarters of these missionaries were located. He gave me the address, No. 32 Post- gasse, Bern, Switzerland, and I at once addressed a letter there with the result of which you are already familiar. "To my great surprise," he continued, "the more I read the books, the more convinced I became that at last I had found the truth, for the books entirely harmonized with my views but that it should be found among the despised and persecuted 'Mormons,' was a surprise to me, and beyond my comprehension. "While reading and pondering over the things contained in the books, my wife was suddenly taken very sick. She is my second wife, my first having died about three years ago leaving me a widower with seven children. As days passed on, she gradually grew worse, until I finally realized that unless some unforseen power would step in, I would again be left a widower and *his time with nine ch ldrcn. T summoned, therefore, three :

of the best

DOES GOD ANSWER PRAYER? oOl

physicians of Landau, but they finally gave her up, telling me she could not live till morning. I sat that night by her bedside in despair, expecting every moment to see her breathe her last, for she was sinking very rapidly. No human being knows, unless he has passed through the same experience, how I felt that night with my nine dependent children surrounding that sick bed. The fatal rattle in her throat at last announced the approaching end. I could stand it no longer, and in the agony of my soul, I called upon the Lord to deliver me from this terrible affliction, and to spare my wife. A bright light burst suddenly into the room, and a voice, as if from heaven, said, T will help you if you will help me !' It is needless to say what promise I made, but to my surprise, when I looked around at my wife, I found her breathing naturally, sweetly slumbering in a calm, quiet sleep from which, in a few moments, she awoke with a heavenly smile upon her face, perfectly restored to health and strength again. My joy was unbounded the Lord ;

had heard and answered my prayer. The happiness was cor- respondingly as great as the sadness had been a few moments be- fore. The light that had burst into and filled the room, had faded away, and as I sat overwhelmed with joy, and pondering on what had happened, the distinct recollection forced itself upon my mind that I had made a covenant with the Lord that I would help him if he would help me. The question now arose, 'Lord, what do you want me to do?' Suddenly and unconsciously, my eyes fell upon the Book of Mormon which I had been reading and which I had laid open upon a chair by the side of the bed, when I felt that my wife was dying; and as distinctly as though a voice had spoken it, the impression came upon me, 'There is the truth, and in those books your duty will be made known.' The next morn- ing, when I thought this all over, I felt that I must see one of you personally, and, therefore, sat down and addressed the letter to you, in response to which you are here with me now. The books are all right, but there are some things which I do not understand, and that I wish you to explain to me personally." In subsequent conversations, I soon found that his perplexing question was the living prophet of God, President John Taylor, who then stood at the head of the Church. The dead prophet, President Young, was all right; he had been a mighty man, and a prophet of God.but President Taylor was the wrong man, lacking the ability, and hence he could not be the true prophet of God. I also soon found that I, like President Taylor, shared the same fate, and that I had as little influence with him as President Taylor had. The more T met with him the more I became convinced that I could do nothing with him. and that unless the Lord intervened, my mission would be in vain. As a last resort, therefore, I re- solved to call upon the Lord through fasting and prayer to help

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mc in my work. I notified the professor, therefore, that I would

not meet with him again for two or three days in consequence of other duties I had to perform. At the end of three days, during which time neither food nor drink passed my lips, I felt impressed to call upon him again. He received me cordially, and after the usual greeting exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. Moench, if you had only come yesterday, I could have told you some marvelous things, but, per- haps, after all, it was only some imagination or psychological working of my brain that caused me to see and dream what I did, so that I do not care to relate it now." Feeling impressed that the Lord had heard and answered my prayer, I urged him to tell me what had happened. After some hesitation and urging, he related to me the following remarkable vision, which, as near as I can remember, I prefer to give in his own language "The second night after you were here, I lay in bed thinking over some things which you had told me. All of a sudden, whether asleep or awake, I know not, I was wrapped in a vision in which you and I seemed to be sitting in my private office, dis- cussing the principles of 'Mormonism' as we had been doing. Suddenly, to my great surprise, you became transformed into a large, portly man." (I would here say that in our conversations he usually occupied a large congress chair, while I occupied a small arm chair, facing him.) "When you were thus transformed," he continued, "I asked you, 'Are you not Mr. Moench?' To my great surprise you answer.ed, 'No, I am not, I am President (Those who remember President Young will remem- ' :

Young!' ber that he was a large, portly man, much larger than myself, though not so tall.) "If you are President Young," he again con- tinued, "you are a prophet of God, and you can tell me what will transpire in the future. He answered, T can,' and bade me to follow. Immediately my spirit seemed to leave my body, and together we seemed easily to journey through the air, to the top of yonder prominent peak," pointing out the place through the window. "As I tood gazing on the scene before me, President Young said, 'Look!' All at once, the whole world lay like an open sheet before me, and I could see every part of it, and every nation that dwelled thereon. Men seemed to be pursuing their natural vocations of life, and all seemed peace and quietness. The scene was beautiful beyond all description. Again President Young said, 'Look!' And glancing in the direction indicated, I beheld a small, dark cloud arise, not larger, seemingly, than a man's hand. It no sooner made its appearance than I saw trouble arise among the nations of the earth; and as the cloud grew larger and darker in appearance, so, proportionately, the strife seemed to increase/ At last the cloud cast an inky darkness over the face of the whole earth, and then the scene became terrible. All the nations of the earth seemed to be involved in a most ter-

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DOES GOD ANSWER PRAYER? 603

rible war, the sight of which is beyond all description. Oh ! so horrible that no human mind can describe it! I saw men in battle array mowing each other down like grass, until streams of blood ran through the land, with the crowns of kings floating upon them. And everywhere I looked, the same sight met my gaze. "While yet looking upon this dreadful scene of murder, mas- sacre and bloodshed. President Young again said, 'Look!' pointing in an opposite direction. Again looking in the direction indicated, I could see America, looming up beyond the Atlantic ocean, and up in the top of the Rocky mountains, I could see a beautiful, white building loom up with tall spires pointing to the skies and in it ;

I saw men and women moving around dressed in beautiful, white clothing, while in the valleys surrounding it, I saw cattle and sheep grazing, and men and women quietly pursuing their ordinary vocations of life. A sweet, heavenly influence rested upon the — building and seemed to hover over the valleys the only spot upon the whole face of the whole earth where there was peace. Oh the contrast between the two ! I shall never forget it. In the one place men were murdering each other in cold blood, while in the other place peace on earth and good will to men prevailed. "I was greatly overcome at this and finally asked President Young what the Lord wanted me to do, a weak and sinful man. He told me he wanted me to help in spreading the principles of truth among the nations of the earth, and to warn them of the terrible judgments of God, that would shortly fall upon the in- habitants of the earth. "This vision was repeated to me three times in succession, and whether awake or asleep I do not know, but when I finally came to myself, it was daylight. I was very anxious to see you, and to tell you what I had seen, while it was yet fresh upon my mind." And now was literally fulfilled a remarkable part of his vision. Knowing that this was of God, and in answer to my prayer, I commenced to bear testimony to him. And, as I continued, the Spirit of God rested upon me to that degree that T seeing' to grow beyond my natural size, while he, on the other h?nd, seemed to diminish in stature, until he sat before me, a small, chunky man, staring up at me, while I seemed to be gazing down upon him. He appeared to be perfectly spell-bound and moved neither limb nor muscle. This transformation seemed marvelous to me. while I was speaking, and to convince myself that it was no delusion, I

compared, in my mind's eye, my body with his. and found it to be as first shown. ' When I had finished speaking, and the Spirit of the Lord had, in a measure, withdrawn, he was again a large, and, in portly man, as before, sitting in his large congress chair,

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604 IMPROVF.MENT ERA

comparison with him, T again dwindled to my natural size, sitting before him in my smaller chair. When I concluded, he asked me, "Mr. Moench, what will you do with me if I receive your gospel? I have a wife and nine

children, as you know, to support, and no other way of doing it only through my profession." I told him the Lord who heard the raven's cry, and marked the sparrow's fall, would surely not for- sake a man and his wife' with their nine lovely children, especially if he hearkened to and obeyed a direct command which the Lord

had given him. I had no promise to make of a financial character I was there to preach the gospel to him, and there my mission

ended and if he received it, he would have to trust to the Lord ;

for his help and guidance, as men of old had done, and as we were doing now. Whether he ever received the gospel or not, or whether he is alive yet or not, I do not know. I heard, years afterwards, that he inquired after ire, and that he made the remark, he never would be satisfied until he could be baptized and gathered with our people, for he knew the gospel was true. Now as to wdiether the present awful war is in fulfilment of this vision, I know not but if it is, most terrible consequences will ;

yet follow. Verily, verily, God hears and answers prayers. OGDEN, UTAH

Brothers

Homeless, though mansions fronted him; Alone in the wind-swept street, Though myriad faces drifted by; Only the beat of stranger feet

Answered the bitter cry Of the vagrant, mocked by vain desire, Heart-hunger for the bread of life, Love, and a waiting fire.

Homeless, though shut from dark and rain, By gilded, stately walls; Alone, though mirth and melody Rang through the raftered halls: The rich man sat by his cheerless hearth, Mocked by vain desire For the sound of little pattering feet, And love at his glowing fire. Maud Baggari ey