George Jacob Holyoake, of England, tells how in the days of utter poverty, his
believing mother asked the Lord, again and again -- on her knees, with tears
streaming from her eyes, and with absolute faith in Jesus' ability to keep His
promise, -- to give her starving children their daily bread. But the more
fervently she prayed the heavier grew the burden of her life. A stone or wooden
idol could not have been more indifferent to a mother's tears. "My mind aches as
I think of those days," writes Mr. Holyoake. One day he went to see the Rev. Mr.
Cribbace, who had invited inquirers to his house. "Do you really believe," asked
young Holyoake to the clergyman, "that what we ask in faith we shall receive?"
"It never struck me," continues Mr. Holyoake, "that the preacher's threadbare
dress, his half-famished look, and necessity of taking up a collection the
previous night to pay expense's showed that faith was not a source of income to
him.