other for
a sick pastor and the other two seeking a higher development in
godliness.

As many of these requests come from church members, both pastor and
people pay especial attention to them and practically, as well as
prayerfully, try to reach those for whom prayers are asked. In many
cases distinct answers to these prayers are secured, so evident that
none could mistake them. At an after-service on Sunday evening a
mother asked prayers for a wayward son in Chicago. Dr. Conwell and
some of the deacons led the church in prayer for the boy, very
definitely and in faith. At that same hour, as the young man afterward
related, he was passing a church in Chicago, and felt strangely
impressed to enter and give his heart to Christ. It was something he
had no intention of doing when he left his hotel a few minutes before.
But he went in, joined in the meeting, asked for forgiveness of his
sins and the prayers of the church to help him lead a better life,
and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. In the joy of his new
experience, he wrote his mother immediately.

At another prayer meeting, Dr. Conwell read a letter from a gentleman
requesting the prayers of the church for his little boy whom the
doctors had given up to die. He stated in the letter that if God would
spare his child in answer to prayer, he would go anywhere and do
anything the Lord might direct. After reading the letter, Dr. Conwell
led earnestly in prayer, beseeching that the child's life might be
saved since it meant much for the cause of Christ on earth. Several
members of the church made fervent prayers for the child, and at the
close of the meeting, many expressed themselves as being confident
that their prayers would be answered. At that same hour, the disease
turned. The child has grown to be a young man, and with his father is
a member of Grace Church.

Such direct, unmistakable answers to prayer strengthen faith, give
confidence to ask for prayers for loved ones, and make it a very
earnest, solemn part of the prayer meeting service. Thus working and
praying, praying and working, the church marches forward.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE TEMPLE COLLEGE

The Night Temple College Was Born. Its Simple Beginning and Rapid
Growth. Building the College. How the Money was Raised. The Branches
it Teaches. Instances of Its Helpfulness. Planning for greater Things.

In a letter written to a member of his family, from which we quote the
following, Dr. Conw