Henry Moorhouse preached one evening on the love of God. In the meeting was a rough, wicked coal miner who had a vile temper, was a heavy drinker, and mistreated his wife and children when he’d been drinking. His name was Ike Miller.
Moorhouse was told that Ike Miller was at the meeting and that many were praying that he would be saved. Moorhouse preached his heart out but Ike Miller didn’t respond. Instead he went straight out the door after the meeting and disappeared.
Those who were anxious for Miller’s salvation told Moorhouse that he had failed to touch the town’s biggest sinner. But what those men did not know — and what Moorhouse learned later — was that Ike Miller had gone straight home. He had kissed his wife and tenderly gathered his two children into his arms — something he had not done for years — and sobbing, he prayed a prayer that his mother had taught him:
“Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to thee.”