of prayer, through God's blessing on the work of his hands? And as he prays for himself, he will also certainly pray for others, for his wife and children, for his friends, for those with whom he is associated in any of the affairs of life, for the Church of God, for the whole human race, and, above all, for that spread of true religion which, according to the blessed promise of God's Word, will make the wilderness and the solitary place to be glad, and the desert to rejoice and to blossom as the rose; wars and rumours of wars to cease; the voice of the oppressor and the cry of the oppressed to cease, and the whole earth to be surrounded as with an atmosphere of peace and joy. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the Apostle James (James v. 15).— "If any of you lack wisdom," says the same apostle, "let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord" (James i. 5-7). “Verily, verily, I say unto you," said Jesus to His disciples on the eve of His betrayal, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John xvi. 23, 24).

That view of faith which brings us to the throne of grace in prayer is exhibited in the opening words of the form of prayer which our Lord taught His disciples, the Lord's Prayer:-"Our Father which art in heaven." And here as we are called to recognise, in our approach to God as suppliants, this relation to Him which it is so delightful to contemplate; we are called also to recognise our brotherly relation to each other, and to consider that our prayers are to be made not for ourselves alone, but also for our brethren.

Let us further remark that in the Lord's Prayer there are petitions not only for spiritual blessings, although these form the greater part of it; there is also one petition for temporal blessings, "Give us this day our

daily bread,"

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a petition that we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and God's blessing with them. "Take no thought," said our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, that is, be not anxiously careful, for such is the precise meaning of the original words,saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these do the Gentiles seek ;) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" (Matt. vi. 31, 32). It is a blessed privilege of the believer, that he can look to God with confidence for a blessing on his daily labour, and in all his honest enterprises. It relieves him from care and anxiety. Knowing God as his Father, he can trust in His love, as well as in His wisdom and power. This trust he expresses in resignation to the Divine Will, and in prayer. The right which we have to approach God with prayer concerning the ordinary things of this life, admirably exhibits the relation in which we stand to Him as His adopted children; and not even in prayer for the greatest of spiritual blessings, is the believer's trust in God more beautifully manifested than in prayer for those things which, unless we were otherwise taught in His own Word, we might suppose to be beneath the notice of the great God, and unworthy to be mentioned in our addresses to Him.

True faith leads us to assign to them a subordinate place, but it leads us also to make them every day the subject of petitions to our Father in Heaven. The most fervent prayers for pardon of sin, for grace to keep us from sin and to deliver us from temptation, for the extension of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and for our final admission to the joy and glory of that kingdom in Heaven, proceed from the heart from which ascend most frequent supplications for a blessing in all the common affairs of life.

The most eminent examples of faith in the patriarchal times, and in the earliest Jewish times, are enumerated in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews; the faith displayed by Abel, by Enoch, by Noah, by Abraham,

by Sarah, by Isaac, by Jacob, by Joseph, by Moses, by Rahab, and by Joshua (Heb. xi. 1-31). "And what shall I more say?" adds the inspired writer, in words most affecting and sublime; "for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy;) they wandered in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth" (Heb. xi. 32-38). Almost every clause of these eloquent sentences bears evident reference to some passage or incident of Old Testament history: we are reminded of the victories of David, how the people were subdued under him, and God gave him the necks of his enemies; we are reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, thrown into the burning fiery furnace, because they refused to commit idolatry at the command of the King of Babylon, and delivered out of it by the God in whom they trusted; of Daniel cast into the den of lions, because, contrary to the foolish and impious edict of King Darius, he persevered in making his prayer and supplication three times a day to his God, with his windows open towards Jerusalem, and how the mouths of the lions were stopped so that all through the night they did him no harm.

Many examples of faith, besides those cited or referred to in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, are presented to our contemplation in Old Testament

history. The instances there adduced from the inspired record are not the only ones which it contains, even in the case of the ancient saints there named, but others, extremely interesting, will be found in the lives, for example, of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, of Moses, and of Joshua. Beautiful instances of faith appear also in some of the pious kings of Judah, and in the conduct of Elijah, Samuel, and other prophets.

We might also dwell long on New Testament history,pointing out how the faith of the apostles was manifested in their adherence to their Master, and their working of miracles in His name during His life upon the earth; and still more, when it was confirmed and greatly increased after His resurrection and the fulfilment of His promise by the effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. It is unnecessary, however, to dilate upon this subject; and it must suffice us to make a mere general reference to their perseverance in preaching the gospel, notwithstanding all the opposition which they experienced, and all the persecution to which they were exposed, "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts v. 41). How admirable the words of Peter to the rulers and elders of the Jews, when they commanded the apostles not to speak at all, nor teach, in the name of Jesus: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye!" These are the words of a strong faith. Let us also pause for a moment to meditate upon Paul's account of his sufferings for the gospel's sake. "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen; in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. xi. 24-27). Let us also think of Paul

and Silas, when having received many stripes, they were thrust into "the inner prison," the most horrid dungeon of the jail at Philippi, and their feet were made fast in the stocks, how at midnight they "prayed and sang praises unto God" (Acts xvi. 23-25). Here we see faith triumphing over bodily distresses, and in the presence of the most imminent danger. And what a glorious scene is that of the martyrdom of Stephen, when "he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God;" and when, as they stoned him, he called upon God, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and also prayed for his murderers, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge (Acts vii. 55-60). Here both faith and the fruits of faith appear, the joy which it imparts to the soul, even in the prospect or during the agonies of death, and the charity which it produces. It is impossible to say which is most admirably displayed, faith or charity, in the prayer “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."

In the Gospel narratives there occur several beautiful instances of faith on the part of persons occupying no such peculiar and eminent position as the apostles: as Lazarus and his sisters; Mary Magdalene; the Syrophenician woman; the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and anointed them with ointment; the woman who had the issue of blood and touched the hem of the Saviour's garment, in order to be healed; the centurion, whose servant Jesus healed of the palsy. But again we must refrain from prosecuting this interesting subject as we would wish to do, if our limits permitted. In John the Baptist we have an eminent New Testament example of faith; but a mere reference to him here must suffice, as well as to Mary the mother of Jesus, and to Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John.

The commendations of faith in the Holy Scriptures,