I mean by this is, that although those who suffer have no means of knowing what may be the particular result of every trial to themselves, and how God will open to them a way of escape that they may be able to bear it, this at least their faith in Christ, and their habits of acting in His Spirit, will teach them to be assured of, that by God's help all the worst trials and hardships may be worked up into an edifice of Christ-like character, even a temple for the Holy Spirit of God, which can never fade nor fail, and which will enable them some day, and in some place, to see of the travail of their souls and be satisfied.

The fact seems to be that with respect to the growth of the soul in the image of God, as with respect to everything else with which we are acquainted, we must be prepared to pay the price for every advance we make. If a man wishes to better his estate, even in the things of this world, he must practise self-denial and self-control, and live laborious days; and if we desire to work up the materials of joy and sorrow which are given us amid the circumstances of our daily lives, and which are probably more or less adjusted to the stage of spiritual growth at which we have arrived, into something which will contribute to our growth in the image of Him Whom we call Master and Lord, we had better avoid wasting our strength in morbid self-pity, and give diligence to bring our Master's spirit to bear upon them—the spirit of faithful

confidence in the wisdom and goodness and love of Him by Whom this wonderful world is governed, and of absolute obedience to His righteous will. But just as it is often said that it is better to practise Providence than to trust in Providence, because there are some who think that trusting in Providence means trusting that something will turn up without any exertion on their own part, so it is necessary to be reminded that trusting in God as Christ trusted in Him, means living and acting in accordance with the Divine Spirit which He has given us. Let us believe, then, for ourselves, at least, that we are probably as blest now as we can bear, and instead of dwelling on the sadness of life, except in so far as it is necessary to prompt us to have compassion on those who feel it, and do our best to remove its cause, let us dwell rather on the possibilities of victory that faith places within our reach, and say with the Christian Apostle, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

XV.

Prayer.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."-JAMES iv. 3.

How many are there amongst ourselves who, at one period or another, have been tempted to complain that Heaven is deaf to our entreaties, and that we have well-nigh lost all belief in the efficacy of prayer, and yet who never suspect that we ask, and receive not, simply because we are always asking amiss, in that we are always asking merely for the gratification of our own desires !

But did not our Saviour say, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive;" and is it not just our intense desire, or sense of want, that causes us to pray? If we were able to gain everything we require by means of our own exertions, we should lack all motive to pray at all; and it is exactly because we want, and want so much, that we wish with all our hearts we could believe our Saviour's words. But surely, if we wish to believe our

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Saviour's words, it is not reasonable to take some of them by themselves and wish we could believe them apart from the rest, to the neglect of the main purpose and intention of His life on earth, and the spirit which He desired to impart to His faithful disciples. True, our Master said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," but He also said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do,” and, "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." And we know that when the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He gave them an idea of the kind of things for which He meant them to ask, and which His Father was most likely to grant, in that short but memorable prayer which we so often repeat with little or no thought about its meaning, but in which we are taught, before we ask for any material blessing, to pray that God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Moreover, when our Lord told His disciples that they should have what they asked, if they prayed in His Name, we must surely understand Him as meaning that they should at least aim at asking for the things for which He, their Master, would Himself have prayed, or be likely to sanction in His disciples in compassion for their infirmities; for to profess to do a thing in the Name of our Master, and yet to do it in defiance of His intention, is surely a strange way of going to work

to gain the petitions we offer up in obedience to His command, and directly opposed to the teaching of the beloved Apostle who writes, "Whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in His sight." If we quote our Saviour's words when we talk about the efficacy of prayer, we must remember in what spirit He was Himself in the habit of praying. How He spoke as if there was a possible and impossible with God, as when He said, "Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from Me;" how He added, "Nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done;" and how He recommended His disciples, before teaching them to pray, to remember that the Father to whom they spake knew what things they had need of before they asked Him, and that they must be on their guard, therefore, against vain repetitions, and supposing, like the heathen, that they will be heard for their much speaking.

But already I can fancy there are many who will be disposed to say, "If, whenever we pray, we are to begin by remembering that the Being to Whom we address ourselves knows better than we do ourselves of what things we stand most in need; that when we have expressed our wants we are to be ever ready to add, 'Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done;' or rather, if we are to follow the Lord's prayer, that we are first to pray that God's will may be done on