I have a lifelong interest in religion on the American frontier. It stirs my imagination because of the extreme living conditions under which people lived. The struggle to just get by must have placed enormous stress upon folk. The life expectancy was far shorter than what we enjoy today. Illnesses that hardly slow us down were killers in pioneer times. Of course, lawlessness and banditry were common too and a threat to civilization. The elements of nature seemed at times to conspire against people. Drought, flood, famine…it could be tough at times. Naturally, people of faith turned to God for relief from the cruel winds of fate that threatened their very existence. They relied on prayer. They wanted vigorous prayers, not simply polite, liturgical expressions to God. They prayed as if their very existence depended on divine intervention in their lives because that’s what they sincerely believed.

     Some of their prayers in times of stress are have been preserved mostly through oral history. One famous prayer was attributed to Texas Ranger Captain Jack Hayes in the Mexican War. His regiment was trapped in the Battle of Palo Alto by a superior force of the Mexican army. Enough people survived to pass along his prayer. “Oh Lord, we are about to join forces with vastly superior forces of the enemy, and, heavenly Father, we would mighty like for you to be on our side and help us. But if you can’t do it, for Christ’s sake don’t go over to the Mexicans, but just lie low and keep in the dark, and you will see one of the dangedest fights you’ve ever seen.” Then the Captain ended his prayer, not with “Amen,” but with a rousing, “Charge!”

     One often-remembered prayer was by the wife of a drunken deacon who had been on a bender and was feeling awful. He thought he was dying. So, he called out to his devout wife and asked her to pray for him. She dropped to her knees and began to implore the Lord, “Oh Lord, please have mercy on my poor old drunken husband!” The desperate husband heard her from the adjoining room and cried out, “No, no, Sarah. Don’t tell him I’m drunk. Tell him I’m sick!”

     The most commonly remembered prayers are earnest pleas in behalf of a crowd of witnesses. Like the one attributed to an old Baptist preacher: “Almighty God, thou knowest the wants of us, and we need not be telling you. We have come to this ground to show thee our penitence and how badly whipped we feel and how willing we are to thank thee for past blessings and prepare ourselves for the blessings thou art going to give us in the future. Now, almighty God, thou knowest we are suffering down here, and we want you to come to our relief. We want you to come with no little sprinkle or shower, but, Oh God in heaven, send us an old-time, old-fashioned, gully washer and root soaker, and be quick about it. Amen!”

     The lore of prayers for rain is replete with reports that great downpours followed the prayers. A little congregation in the mountains held a prayer meeting for an end to the drought. They did not know that a flash flood had struck above them in the higher elevations. But they heard the rushing of rising waters in the creek beside the church. Soon it began to overflow the banks. Before long they had to climb on top of the church house to ride out the flood. Finally, the parson announced, “We did pretty well for a small church, didn’t we?”

     Also, sometimes prayers for the rain to stop become necessary. One drought-sufferer-become-flood-victim implored, “Lord, Lord, stay thy hand! Enough, enough! Art thou goin’ to drown us out like a bunch of groundhogs?” Which goes to remind us that even in a time of drought like this, we need to be careful how we pray.

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