In "Gabriel's Prayer," Gabriel hears his sister's cry and is taken back to the morning he was saved: Dragging himself home after a night of drinking and carousing, Gabriel fell to the ground and experienced a religious conversion. He began preaching, and after his mother's death, the neighbor Deborah began to look after him, cooking his meals and mending his clothes.
There was to be a large revival meeting during which 24 widely known and well-respected ministers would meet and take turns preaching. To his surprise and honor, Gabriel was invited to be one of their number. On the final night, a banquet was held during which one of the elder ministers mocked Deborah for her rape (which occurred when she was 16) and her now chaste life. Much offended, Gabriel chastised the man for his lack of discretion. That evening Gabriel had two dreams that he interpreted to mean that God intended for him to marry Deborah. She tearfully accepted his proposal.
Cries from Elisha, who lies prone on the floor in religious ecstasy, revive Gabriel from his memories. Gabriel, for a moment, thinks that it is John on the floor. When he sees that it is not, he is relieved but also bitter that neither of his own sons are in the church with him: Roy is at home wounded and angry, and the other child (Royal, whom Gabriel never claimed as his son) is dead. Again Gabriel recalls the past.
Soon after Gabriel first began to preach, Ester came to town with her mother and stepfather. Gabriel saw Ester as sinful because every day after work a different boy escorted Ester home. One day, Gabriel invited Ester to church on a night that he was to speak. To everyone's surprise, Ester and her mother attended the service that evening. Gabriel preached a powerful sermon, one destined to be remembered for many years to come. Nevertheless, Gabriel was angered when his words did not draw Ester from her seat and to the altar to ask for God's forgiveness and mercy. Soon after this episode, Ester and Gabriel had a short-lived affair during which Ester became pregnant. When she told Gabriel of her condition, he initially denied that the child was his and only agreed to help her after she threatened to tell the community of his indiscretion. He gave Ester money that he stole from Deborah, and Ester left for Chicago to have the baby. Ester died in childbirth. Her body, as well as the newborn Royal, was brought back by her grieving mother. Gabriel never claimed the boy as his own. Many years later, Deborah told him that Royal had been stabbed and killed in a fight over a game of cards. Gabriel finally admitted to Deborah that Royal was indeed his child.
