A man of great learning gave a lengthy discourse once upon the subject, “There is no such thing as heartfelt religion.” In concluding, feeling sure he had silenced any who might have held contrary views, he said, “If there are any present who desire to make any remarks, they are at liberty to do so.” An old colored man arose and said, “This great and learned man has said there is no such thing as heartfelt religion. He should have said there is no such thing as heartfelt religion as he knows of.”

It may be that some reader of this little book may question and even deny that man may have such a sweet and intimate communion with God as herein described. If so, I would ask him not to deny, but merely to say that he is not acquainted with such a life. There are those who thus walk with God. This little treatise does not lift up an ideal life of prayer too high to be attained, but describes real facts as far as it lies in the ability of the author’s pen to describe them.

I would ask the reader to read slowly and thoughtfully.
Especially would I have him meditate upon the quotations on the closing pages.

It was not at all my intention to make this a thorough work on prayer. It is intended to be a book that you may pick up and peruse now and then, when you become dull and do not have as much appetite for prayer as you desire. My hope is that this little volume will prove an encouragement to all its readers and a stimulus to increase their relish for communion with God.

Yours in sincere prayer,
-C. E. Orr.

Introduction

“And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” Rev. 8:3, 4. This incense is evidently the unction of the Holy Spirit iharrnakes prayer fragrant and acceptable to God. In the Jewish tabernacle Aaron, in his priestly service, burned incense upon a golden altar every morning and every evening. This burning of incense is typical of the prayers of saints. Prayer arising in the Spirit from Christian hearts is a fragrant and pleasant odor to God. The fragrance from some sweet-smelling flower is very agreeable and solacing to us. Divine truth assures us that the prayer of the upright delights the heavenly Father.

That beloved disciple who had the privilege of resting on the bosom of Jesus saw in a vision, a door opening into heaven, and looking through this door, he beheld worshipers before the Lamb of God. These had harps, and golden vials full of odors, which John says, were the prayers of saints 5:8 . Prayer from Spirit-filled hearts arises to God and delights Him with its balmy odor. This is not mere sentimentalism but Scriptural verity.

In ancient times it was a custom with some Oriental people to preserve the tears of mourners in vials as a memorial. True prayer ascends to the throne of God and is placed in golden vials, and by its fragrance is a memorial of us before God. This also is a truth taught in Scripture and not a mere fancy.

The centurion of the Italian band in Caesarea was a devout man, a man that feared God and prayed always. His prayers reached the throne, and God sent an angel to say to the praying man, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come un for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:1-4). That our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving come up before God as a sweet odor and are kept in golden vials as a memorial of us is not a mere fanciful conception, but a blessed reality, clearly seen by the eye of faith.

Israel’s psalm-singer said once when in earnest, tearful prayer, “Put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book?” Psa. 56:8. Tears add much to the fragrance of prayer. There is a prayer of tears. What speaks more loudly to our hearts than tears? The tears that are set flowing by the emotions of the heart are bottled in heaven and written in God’s book. 0 dear praying saint, pray on. Never will one tear be lost. It is too precious. Diamonds and pearls are mere trifles compared with thy tears. Nev¬er a word of thy prayer, however feeble it may seem to be, will fail to reach the ear of God. Amid the many prayers that are ascending to the throne from this lower world and amid the noise of angels’ shouts and songs, he will catch the sweet strain of thy feeble heart-cry and record it in heaven. The perfume of a prayer is never lost.

“I have a precious telephone
The line is long and clear;
It reaches to the heavenly throne,
Unto my home so dear.

“And when I call by day or night
And ask the Lord to hear,
There comes a sweet ‘Hello! Hello!
For thee the line is clear.’

ODORS FROM GOLDEN VIALS

Prayer the Want of the Soul

The soul is in want. Man is conscious of a lack, of a “missing link,” of something outside of himself and higher than himself. He is internally conscious of having sunk below his level and of being unable of himself to rise. He looks and longs and prays for help.

Music awakens feelings in the mind of an idiot and a moanful cry from his heart as though he longed for something higher. The inspiring voice of nature pours into the soul of man a melody which awakens in him a consciousness that beyond him is a nobler, higher plane of life. Within man there lies a self-slumbering instinct of a lost union with a purer, holier realm; and the falling of a leaf, it may be, or the whispering of the breeze, the beauty and fragrance of a flower, the song of a bird or the music of the rippling brook, the broad plain or the lofty mountain, the expanse of ocean or the azure vault of heaven decked with glittering stars, awakens that instinct and declares to him that he was born for something higher-and he prays.

Could you ascend to some height and observe the behavior of man, what would you see? You would see him praying. You would see the African bowing down before his fetish. You would hear the muezzin notifying the Mohammedans of the hour of prayer. You would see the Parsi endeavoring to satisfy his soul’s want in the Zend-Avesta. You would see the Tartar prostrating himself before the Grand Lama. You would see the countless number paying their devotion to the bird, the cow, the crocodile, the sun, Jupiter, and to the many wooden gods and gods of stone. You would see the Arabian before the Black Stone of Mecca, which, says a legend, was white when the angel gave it to Abraham, but was turned black by the sins of man. You would see the Indian with his Manitou, the devotee of the Romish church counting her rosary. You would see a Nathaniel under his fig-tree or a woman pleading for a crumb. Among all these gods, including the true God, some men fear they have not found the god that can meet the soul’s demand, so they worship the Unknown God.

Thus men pray. Everywhere man seeks for something to meet the want of the soul. The Christian has found the God-and the only one-that can satisfy the heart. He has found the one true God-he who through his Son restores the missing link, and brings man again into blissful union with himself. This union which man finds with God meets all the wants of the soul, satisfies all its longings. When God is found, the soul sinks into perfect rest. There is no want to those who fear the one true God. He supplies all man’s need. He leads him into green pastures and into quiet resting places. He restores his soul. Amid the gods many to whom men pray, the Christian has found the true God-the one, and the only one, that actually hears and answers prayer, lifts man to his proper plane and sphere, and gives him rest, joy. and peace. He is all in all to the Christian.

In this little book we deal only with the Christian’s prayer-the prayer that avails and brings the blessings of the skies to the heart of man.

“Oh! this is blessing, this is rest.
Into thine arms, 0 God, I flee;
I hide me in thy faithful breast,
And pour out all my soul to thee.
There is a host dissuading me,
But all their voices far above
I hear thy words, ‘Oh, taste and see
The comforts of a Savior’s love’;
And hushing every adverse sound,
Songs of defense my soul surround,
As if all saints encamped about
One trusting heart pursued by doubt.
O tenderness! 0 truth divine!
Lord, I am altogether thine.
I have bowed down; I need not flee.
Peace, peace is mine in trusting thee.”

The Soul’s Hidden Life Sustained by Prayer

The soul that has found Jesus has found life. “And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” 1 John 5:11. This life is a heavenly life, because it comes from God. It is heavenly not only in its purity but also in its peacefulness.

This life of the soul is a hidden life. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Christianity is not an exterior, visible something. As the fruit of a tree is not the life of the tree so holy action is not the life of the soul but is the fruit of that life; and as the bearing of fruit does not sustain the life of the tree, so the doing of good deeds does not keep the soul alive. Its life is sustained from an unseen hidden source. If a man’s religion consists in his doing and his talking he has not the true Christian religion. If he loves to talk about the things of God more than he loves to talk with God; if he has more animation in public prayer than in secret prayer, it is to be feared that his religion is only an external thing and not that true religion which has its source in God. If a person can talk out more than he experiences in his heart; if he has more outward thought than inward feeling, his religion is gleaned from an outside source, and not breathed into his soul by the Spirit of God. If he has a religion that is fed through the intellect, a religion that is borrowed or learned from others, and not that which comes along as a hidden stream from God, his religion is vain. True spiritual life comes from God to man’s soul and then flow Jn.ch2l living. This life is both gained and sustained through believing prayer. The reading of the Scriptures is listening to the voice of God and is the listening side of prayer.

All true spiritual life and holy living comes by the soul’s life being hid with Christ in God. “In him is life, and this life is the light of men.” The good deed, in order to be of full value, needs to have the stamp of the divine life; a coin must bear the government stamp in order to pass current. Our acts of kindness should have their origin farther back than in us. If they proceed from us they will leave our imprint on others; if they have their rise in God they will engrave His image on the character of others. “All my springs are in thee,” said one who had all his expectations from God. “There is a river [or spring] whose stream makes glad the city of God.” Our stream of life should have its spring in God.

Achsah was leaving her father’s home to go and dwell with her husband. Taking advantage of a father’s feeling, she asked him for a blessing. He had given her a south land, and now she desired a spring of water. He gave her the upper and the nether springs. Too many, we fear, have only the upper, or surface springs, whose waters fail in a dry time, and dry times will come. We should have the nether (underneath) springs, whose waters never fail. If our outward life has its rise in our own human sympathy, compassion, and kindness, it will be feeble in a dry time. Oh! let your life be hid with Christ in God, that the spring of every act, word, and thought may be in him. If man’s life has its rise in himself, it may bind man to him; but if it has its rise in God, it will bind men to God. The cultivation of gentleness, kindness, and love is excellent; but let it be the cultivation of that gentleness, kindness, and love that comes from God, and not the cultivation of merely our own qualities. If you desire to be kind, go into the presence of Jesus. Draw near that He may breathe His Spirit upon you. A kind, tender feeling will begin to thrill your heart, and then as you go out among men, the vibration of that thrill will strike upon the hearts of men and win them to Jesus. If you would have more love look with steadfast eye to Calvary. See the pierced hands and side, the thorn-crowned brow, and hear the “Eli! Eli! lama sabachthani,” and there will begin to kindle in your soul a love that will make men feel the warmth of its flame.

It is by prayer that the soul’s life is sustained. The intellect may feed upon the external perceptions of God, but the soul feeds and lives upon God himself. Live each moment under the cover of His feathers. Hide beneath the shadow of His wing. When the angry storm-clouds of life are gathering, oh, how blessed to feel the soft down of God’s feathers covering us and when the heat of trial is kindling upon us, to feel the cooling shadow of His wing! Let thy spirit, C) pilgrim saint, closely entwine with the Spirit of thy God. Let thy life he hid in the secret of His pavilion, and there in the closest inlimacy commune with I-urn. Thus shalt thy daily life be like the peaceful flowing of the river whose banks are ever verdant as the spring-time.

“I dwell beneath his shadows
‘Tis sweet to shelter ______,
Secured within his loving arms
From all distracting care;
To nestle ‘neath the feathers
Of his protecting wings,
Defying there hell’s fiery darts
And all beside that stings.

“I dwell beneath his shadow
And gladly linger there,
While on his love I feed my soul
And his own peace I share.
Oh! precious are these tastes of bliss;
The fullness is to come,
But these refresh us on our way
To fuller joys at home.”

What is Prayer?

Prayer is a coming to God. Some Bible expressions are: ‘He that cometh to God” “Whosoever will, let him come ;“ “He that eometh unto me;” “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden;” “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him ;“ “Come ye to the waters;” ”Come ye, buy and eat; yea. come, buy wine and milk;” “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

God is the Christian’s Father. In prayer we should come to him as a child to its father. God loves this familiarity. This is not irreverence. We can come to him familiarly and yet reverently. We can conceive of God both as the Supreme Ruler of the universe on his throne and as our Father by our side. We should be so conscious of his being with us that when we go into our closets we shall almost feel like holding the door ajar to admit him. Then a little closer still, we can conceive of him as being in our own hearts. To turn our voice inward and speak to him in our own heart brings him nearer. We see him then, not as a ruler in heaven only, but as a ruler in our own hearts. When we come to God, we can have this view of him.

We should come to God in prayer and speak to him, thanking him or making a request of him, as familiarly as with the closest friend. In true prayer, we talk personally with God; we embrace him as a bosom companion; we see him and hear him and speak to him and feel his presence as we do that of a friend. This seeing and hearing and making him a person with us is in the province of faith. In prayer we close our eyes to things that are seen and open them to things unseen. Prayer is a coming to God and embracing him, a drinking in of his life and spirit, a leaning on his bosom, and feeling the beating of his heart warm with love.

“Prayer is the Christian pilgrim’s staff
To walk with God all day.”

Enoch walked with God three hundred years. That long walk we do not suppose was a walk in silence, but a walk in converse. We do not know what was said, and it is not God’s purpose that we should know; but we can come to Him, and He will teach us what to say.

Prayer is more than bending the knee and saying some words. it is the shutting of the closet door and being alone with God. It is the coming of the soul, tremulous with love and holy awe before His sacred presence and at the same time, as said before.-a talking to Him in childlike innocence and confidence. It is Father and child in the most intimate converse and sweetest companionship. The little child climbs upon its father’s knee and, leaning upon his bosom, delights itself in his companionship. There in the sacred silence the heart seems to talk with heart, and the spirit of the child is fashioned into the likeness of the parent. Such is the companionship that the trusting child of God has with his Father. There he finds rest.

Wrapped in the bosom of his God,
His head upon his breast,
Forgetful of the cares of life,
He finds the perfect rest.

Prayer is adoration. By adoration we mean worship; reverence and esteem; respect and love. The soul adores God as it beholds his greatness and his goodness. When a person beholds the beauty of God’s perfections, the glory of His majesty, and the wonders of His works, he experiences a feeling of awe and of filial fear and dread. When he gives utterance to his feelings, he cries with the seraphim. “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his glory.” We have cause to fear there is great deficiency of adoration in prayer, especially in private prayer. Perhaps in silent meditation there is not enough admiration of God’s exalted nature and marvelous works. There is not a due ascription to him of glory and honor. Jesus said, “When you pray say, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” As we bow down before Jehovah, oh, may there be not only the word “hal¬lowed” on our lips, but a hallowed feeling in our soul.

We hear the Psalmist in his meditation exclaiming: “Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. 0 Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coyerest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the cloud his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind.” Psa. 104:1-3. Much adoring prayer is recorded in the Scriptures. Listen to the devotional song of Moses after the deliverance at the Red Sea. “Thy right hand, 0 Lord, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, 0 Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.” “Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exod. 15:6, 11.

The angels are engaged in the prayer of adoration. They are shouting, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and honor and thanksgiving and power and might be unto our God forever and ever.” They are singing the song of Moses and the Lamb before the throne of God, saying, “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall fear not thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy.” May the spirit of Moses and the Lamb and the angels fall upon our souls as we approach the mercy-seat in prayer.

Breathe on me, 0 thou Most High,
The spirit angels have,
Till I adore thy matchless name
And am thy willing slave.

Prayer is confession. Adoration is only a part of prayer. There is much that such dependent creatures as we need to confess. We need not, since Jesus washes our sins away and enables us by His grace to serve Him in the beauty of holiness and walk in His ways-we need not make a confession of sin, but we need to confess our dependence and our weakness. To confess our dependence does not make us independent, to confess our weakness does not make us strong, and to confess our faults does not make us faultless; but to do these things manifests a proper attitude of the heart. God can make us strong if we but feel our weakness. It is for this reason that the weak can say that they are strong. But God cannot make us strong until we feel our weakness, any more than he can save a sinner that does not realize his sinfulness. We should feel our unprofitableness our weakness, our need he1p. We can draw so much closer to God in prayer if we feel the great need of His help. It is really precious to become terrified at the hideousness of sin and the devil and the world, and to flee to our refuge under the shadow of God’s wing. The blessedness is not found in the terror, but in the feeling of security we experience when hiding in the secret of the Lord’s pavilion.

Prayer is petition. God delights in having us ask Him for the things we need. He gives many encouraging promises. One is this: “Ask, and ye shall receive.” We are told to be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known unto God. To have a kind heavenly Fa¬ther to whom we can come for everything we need is a blessing too great to conceive. He is faithful to fulfill all He has promised. 1\Iav the Lord increase the faith of His children. The “if” is not on the Lord’s side, but on man’s side. A father brought his son that had a dumb spirit to Jesus and said, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Christ, in His reply, gave the man to know that the “if” was on the latter’s part. “IF thou canst believe,” said Jesus, “all things are possible to him that believeth.” The question is not whether Jesus can; it is whether we will ask and believe.

Some persons object to the petitioning side of prayer. They say that the Fatherhood of God is in opposition to all reasonableness in petitioning prayer. Since He knows our every need and is disposed to give us all we need, there is, they say, no necessity to ask Him. Being a God of infinite goodness and love He is disposed to grant all our needs without our asking, the same as He gave His Son to die for us. They go further and illustrate by referring to the readiness of earthly parents to supply the needs of their children without their asking. But the illustration is not perfectly analogous to God’s manner of dealing with His children. Though parents provide everything good for their children, it is certainly respectful on the part of the children to ask for things they need. The prayer of petition may not change God’s disposition and influence Him to a willingness to grant us our needs, but it prepares our heart for the receiving of them in thankfulness. Prayer does not change God so much as it changes us. God is always willing to save sinners. Prayer does not persuade Him to save, but it does bring the sinner to a right attitude before the Lord, so that God can save him. I am indeed glad that God has obligated us to~ask. It brings us in such close personal contact with Him. We would not be likely to come feelingly near to Him in thanksgiving if we did not come feelingly near to Him in petition. But of this we shall have more to say in another chapter.

Prayer is supplication. In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus we find these words: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” And again, in his letter to the saints at Philippi, he says, “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” He does not mean that prayer is one thing and supplication something else. Sup¬plication is prayer. Petition is for the obtaining of some special object for which there is to be the definite act of faith. Supplication is not so much a desire for the obtaining of any special object as a more general longing and intense love for God and His glory and the good of all men. There is not such a definite act of faith, but an earnest pleading with a submission to the will of God. Supplication is more earnest and intense than petition and rises above it into a longing, yearning, pleading in love with a resignation to the divine will. Many people pray the prayer of petition, but fewer pray the prayer of supplication.

Prayer is a pouring out of the soul. I do not attempt to discriminate between “supplication’ and “pouring out the soul,” for my mind is scarcely capable of conceiving any difference. The latter term seems to me to be but another form of expression, which may enable us to grasp more clearly the full meaning of the other. By the expression “pouring out of the soul” we can see more distinctly the labor and intensity of supplication. Hannah, in her prayer, did not speak audibly. She spoke only in her heart. Her lips moved as in the formation of words, but there was no voice. In reply to the high priest’s accusation, she said, “I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.” As David’s soul was panting after God and tears were his meat day and night, he exclaims, “I pour out my soul in me.” And again, when beholding God as his strength and refuge, he said, “Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Pouring out the soul is deep, close communion with God. It is the losing of consciousness of earth and earthly things and the bringing of the soul up into the presence of God. It is leaving the body behind, so to speak, and talking to God in the spirit. Every one should occasionally have such communion with the Lord.

Prayer is a supping with Jesus. The voice that was heard by one in the spirit said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev. 3:20. Elsewhere we said something about conceiving of God both as being on his throne and as being a companion by our side, and again as an abiding guest in our heart. The text just quoted pictures Him to us as abiding in our hearts. There we can commune with Him. We sup with Him, and He sups with us. The heart is the communion chamber.

In the Canticles we read, “While the King sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” Jesus brings his viands of grace and places them on the table, and we bring our viands of joy, praise, and thanksgiving and place them on the table, and then we sup---Jesus and we. We sup of His grace to the full need and satisfaction of our souls, and He sups of the joy and the praise we bring and delights himself in their sweetness and fragrance. And should we have burdens or sorrows, we may bring them, too, and he will share them with us. Bless his name! This is prayer.

Prayer is thanksgiving. “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests he made known unto God.” “in everything give thanks.” Giving thanks always for all things.” Thanksgiving is the aroma of prayer. Every prayer should be perfumed with it. Unless we live in faith and in the Spirit, our thanksgiving will he an empty form of words. It is good often and in some quiet place to recount the goodness and mercy of God. Let faith be very active and see the Lord as the Giver of every blessing. Surely a sense of thankfulness will become more perceptible in your heart. It were good if you should be so thankful that ofttimes tears of gratitude would fill your eyes at the remembrance of His mercies. 0 Lord, help our poor hearts to praise thee!

Prayer is the heart talking to God. It is a devout movement of the soul Godward. It is a quiet sitting by the Saviour’s side, leaning the head on his bosom, and feeling the beating of his heart. It is the opening of the soul to heaven to be fed and renewed by the inflowing life of God. We become like that which we feed upon. Prayer makes us like God.

“Man, earthly, of the earth, an hungered feeds
Of earth’s dark poison-tree.
Wild gourds, and deadly roots, and bitter weeds;
And as his food is he.
And hungry souls there are that find and eat
God’s manna day by day;
And glad they are, their life is fresh and sweet,
For as their food are they.”

Praying In Jesus’ Name

Sing, oh, sing the name of Jesus
All along the way of life.”

There is but one name in which we can come to God. That name is Jesus. If we come and knock in our name, the door will not be opened unto us; but if we knock in Jesus’ name, it will be opened. At the name of Jesus the angels bow. ‘Whatsoever ye’ shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” The Father has promised to give us all things with Jesus. Thus in Christ we have every temporal and spiritual need supplied. The Father was well pleased with the Son and heard him in all things. It is only in him that God is well pleased with us and will hear us. Jesus offered himself to God as a sacrifice for us. This sacrifice is a sweet-smelling savor unto God. Only when we come to God in the name of Jesus and in acknowledgement of the sacrifice he made for us will our prayers be fragrant. There is no fragrance in man.

What is meant by praying in Jesus’ name we can un¬derstand by one text of scripture: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19 God never gives anything to man except through Christ. It is Jesus that holds the bank account. He has deposited riches of every kind with the Father. He has placed in the bank of heaven a generous deposit of grace, which contains all the needs of every creature. In that grace there is remission of sins, sanctifying power, healing virtue; there is our daily bread, raiment, and every temporal need; there is comfort and consolation, joy and peace, love, meekness, and wisdom. Take a look at that store of grace, or call it the bank of heaven if you choose. Everything that man has need of for soul or body, for time or eternity, is deposited in that bank.

It was Jesus who made the deposit, and it is he who holds the account. Man has never placed one single thing there to his credit. In fact, there was a great debt there against him; but Jesus has paid that and has placed there a great storehouse of riches. But it is all in his name. Now if I should give you a check on a bank in which I have made no deposit, would you get any money when you presented the check? Certainly not, because I should have nothing there to my credit. But if a man that has placed money in the bank should give you a check, the cashier, on seeing the signature, would pay you what the check calls for. So if you go to the bank of heaven in Jesus’ name, you will certainly get what you ask for. But be sure you get the name of Jesus on your check. If you need food or clothing or healing for your body, or wisdom and grace to help you bear your trial, or comfort to soothe the pain of sorrow, he will certainly give you a check, because he has promised to do so. When you get his name on the check, then go to God and present it. He will look at it and, seeing the name of Jesus, will be pleased.

But God must also know the petitioner. Faith is the act by which God recognizes the one presenting the check. So when you desire anything from God, get the signature of Jesus, exercise faith, and you will certainly receive all for which the check calls.

“Be not faithless, but believing,
Though the shadows deepen fast.
‘Tis the darkest ere the dawning;
Morning light will break at last.

“Be not faithless, but believing;
Oh! ‘tis Jesus breathes the word.
Yes, he hears thy heart’s quick beating,
And will help and strength afford.

“Fear not though he seem to tarry;
Calmly on his promise wait.
Jesus knows the fitting moment,
And he never comes too late.

“Every grain of faith, to Jesus
Is more precious far than gold.
‘Tis to test thy faith’s true metal
That he doth the gift withhold.

“Blest are they who wait for Jesus;
Is more precious far than gold.
‘Tis to test thy faith’s true metal
That he doth the gift withhold.

“Blest are they who wait for Jesus;
They shall never wait in vain.
Hope may lie a while in grave-clothes;
Faith shall bid her rise again.

“Be not faithless, but believing,
Though the shadows deepen fast.
‘Tis the darkest ere the dawning;
Morning light will break at last.”

Success in Prayer

We call prayer a success when we get audience with God and receive the things we desire of him. This is a wonderful privilege. When we go to God in the right manner, he will extend the scepter. In order to get an answer to our prayers, we must have desire. This arises from a sense of want. The desire will be to the extent of our sense of want. If we have but a slight sense of want, we have but little desire. “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11 :24. “There is no want to them that fear him.” God supplies every want of man. Desire as we have said, arises from a sense of want, and God will supply our wants; therefore what we desire we shall receive. Again, we read in the Word of Truth “that the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” Thus we understand that in order to pray successfully we must experience a sense of want. Do you want more love for God? Do you feel in your soul a deep sense of such want? Then you have great desire for it and “the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” God will not hear cold, dead, formal prayers; he will not give us that for which we feel no need.

In order to be successful in prayer we must come to God humbly. It is the cry of the humble that God hears. He heard the prayer of the publican because he came feeling a sense of want and also came in a humble, dependent spirit. He did not hear the proud Pharisee. God heard the prayer of Abraham when this patriarch came to him asking him to spare Sodom if a certain number of righteous persons could be found there. God heard this prayer because of the manner in which the suppliant came. Abraham said, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.” If we come to the Lord feeling that he is under some obligation to us because of something we have done or because of what we are, he will not hear us. 0 Lord, help us to be humble, to feel our dependence.

In order for prayer to prevail with God it must come from a submissive and obedient heart. “Submit yourselves therefore to God,” is the exhortation of the Bible. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” When we keep the commandments of God and love his will, he will hear our prayers.

The Lord would have us come to him with reverence. We should come into the presence of God with a holy awe resting upon our souls. If we were to step into the presence of an earthly monarch, we would have a profound feeling of awe and reverence; then how much more on coming into the majestic presence of God. Oh! do not dishonor him by bowing down so unfeelingly as if God were no more than an ordinary man. We should address him with reverence. It is better not to say “you” and ‘your,” but to say “thou” and “thy.” The English language recognizes a solemn form of the pronoun. Do not rush hurriedly and unceremoniously into his presence, but come before him as Moses did at the burning bush. Prayer should be sacred and hallowed. We feel constrained to bow our heads when devout men pray. When we come upon any one in secret communion with God, we feel impelled to withdraw in silence. In your worship around your family altar, let there be reverence. Teach your little ones to revere the name of Jesus. Let everything else be laid aside and come before him with profoundness of thought and feeling.

We should come before the Lord in childlikeness. Being reverential does not necessitate being in slavish bondage. We can come to the Lord with reverence and also in childlike confidence and cheerfulness. We should come with a filial spirit filling our hearts. When we come in this manner, the Lord will hear us, and prayer will be availing.

“Father, let me speak to thee,
While thou art near, so very, very near;
My soul would breathe her wishes and desires
Into thy listening ear.”

It is the midnight hour,
And, Father, I would have with thee a word.
The world in slumber lies; my heart awakes.
Hast thou its beat not heard?

‘Father, I would be pure;
For thou hast said the pure shall see thy face,
Shall see thee here, in all thy glorious works
Of providence and grace.

“And I would useful be.
Do thou arrange and order out my way
Just as shall bring most glory unto thee
And best thy pains repay
Oh! keep me in thy love;
Help me in all I do or think or say,
To do out of purest love for thee.
For this, dear Lord, I pray.

Praying in the Spirit

That our prayers may be odorous they must have the sweet incense of the Spirit breathed into them. It is the prayer that the Spirit inspires that reaches the ear of God. Alas! the many formal prayers. They have their bounds, and when the person has gone his round he closes. He has gone over the same ground so often he wearies of it. Every prayer would be a new prayer if we prayed in the Spirit. This is the prayer that God answers. We are as ignorant of true prayer as the disciple who said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We know not how to pray, but the Spirit will teach us and help us. When the Spirit in our heart talks to God, the answer is certain to follow. We build ourselves up on our most holy faith by “praying in the Holy Spirit.” We can have faith when the Spirit prays. It may be there is not enough acknowledgement of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit and waiting for him. We have prayed so many times we know just how to pray, we may conclude; and so we go ahead, but the answer does not come. The language of Eph. 6:18 teaches us that ef¬fectual prayer is made only in the Spirit. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” Formal prayers are not heard by the Lord.

It is only when the Spirit comes into our hearts that we can cry, “Abba, Father.” We can call God Father only by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that draws us to God in prayer. He fills the heart with longing for God. Those who live in the Spirit find no difficulty in prayer. The Holy Spirit gives us power in prayer. It is the Spirit that keeps us in such a frame of mind as makes prayer delightful. He gives us a keen appetite for converse with God and makes prayer enjoyable. To those who are filled with the Spirit no hour is so hallowed and so heavenly sweet as the hour of prayer. It is by the Holy Spirit that we have power over the enemy of our souls. The devil fears a prayer in the Spirit. Cold, lifeless, Spiritless prayers do not alarm him. But

“Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.”

He will do all he can to hinder the children of God in their prayers. He will tell them that they have no time for prayer. But the Christian must take time to pray. No other religious exercise is so important as prayer; so the Christian must pray, if he does nothing besides. This temptation to leave off prayer because of not having time is a cunning device of the enemy of prayer. Satan endeavors to get us hurried in our prayers. But when praying in the Spirit, we shall not be hurried, but shall pray in calmness and deliberation. Those who are acquainted with the laws pertaining to physical health know that we should eat slowly, and that unless we do, we fail to get the full benefit of our food. This same law exists relative to spiritual health. Take time to pray and take time in prayer. The Spirit of God will not lead us hurriedly, and if we get in a hurry, we shall get ahead of the Spirit.

The whole of the Christian experience is to be filled with the Spirit. We are to worship God in the Spirit and in truth. Our bodies are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is he who is to teach us and to guide us. It is he who anoints us that we may know God and the things of God. We get no true conception of God except by the Holy Spirit. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” 1 Cor. 2 :9. Oh, how dependent we are on him! We cannot pray aright without him; we cannot understand the truth of God without him; we cannot know God without him; we cannot love God without him; we cannot have peace in the soul without him; we can never get to heaven without him. Then, let us be careful never to grieve him nor quench him; let us do noth¬ing that he would not have us do and let us do promptly all that he would have us do; let us honor him; let us look to him for guidance and for help; let us acknowledge our dependence on him and seek his aid in prayer; let us have our whole life under his influence. A true, sincere Christian is one whose life is powerfully under the Holy Spirit’s influence.

The Fervency of Prayer

Fervency in prayer is warmth of devotion, the ardor of a loving heart. To avail with God, prayer must be fer¬vent. ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” It is said that when Elijah prayed for rain, he prayed fervently (R. V.). The apostle Paul exhorts Christians to be “fervent in Spirit.” By Conybeare and Howson this passage is rendered, “Let your Spirit glow with zeal.” The same translation renders Eph. 6:18 in these impressive words: “Continue to pray at every season with all earnestness of supplication in the Spirit.”

I greatly fear that with many dear saints a serious lack is fervency in prayer. It is in the sweat of our face that we are to earn bread for the body, and it is in labor that we are to gather manna for the soul. Epaphras labored fervently in his prayer. His was no easy, sleepy praying; it was labor. The literal rendering would be “striving as in the agony of a conflict.” Jacob wrestled with the Lord, yes, wrestled all night. He desired a blessing. for he was going to meet an offended brother. He laid hold upon the Lord, saying, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” Though the odds were against him, his thigh being out of place, yet he wrestled on even in this agony. He was decided to prevail, however great the cost. He did prevail at the ascending of the morning and stood a crowned prince on the field of prayer. God will not give where there is no desire. Where there is a great desire, there will be great earnestness. I would that every reader fully comprehend the importance of earnestness in prayer and had the indefatigable industry to work it out. Alas, those indolent prayers! There is not enough earnestness in them either to please the Lord or to alarm the devil.

Some have become listless in prayer because they fear an over anxiety. But we should not fear. We should pray in confidence, not in fear and anxiety. Truly, the more confidence we have in God the more earnest we are in prayer. He who desires to accomplish a certain feat will labor hard if he is confident he can eventually succeed. Many a prayer goes unanswered because it is not fervent enough. Wrestle until you get the answer. Too many come away from the place of prayer not knowing anything. They do not know whether God answers or not. It is our privilege to know something, and we can if we wrestle long enough. Be an Israel. Stay on the field until God tells you something. If your child comes to you in very great earnestness, you will tell him that you will grant him his petition or you will not or that you will give him an answer at a later time. You will give him an answer of some kind if he is really in earnest and presses the question eagerly. But alas! too many come to God in a half-hearted way and make their request, but never hear from that prayer again. They go to the telephone and call, but they never so much as place the receiver to their ear. I read once in a book of a Daniel Quorm, who went to visit a friend. At the family altar Daniel heard his friend pray that the Lord would that day give him a Christlike Spirit, meek and quiet; but soon the visitor heard his host speak words most unchristlike. Thereupon Daniel said:

“You are expecting a present today?”
“A present? Why, no.”
“I heard you say so this morning.”
“You must be crazy, Daniel.”
“I was hoping it might come while I was here.”
“Whatever do you mean, Daniel?”
“Why, friend, did you not pray that you might have a meek and Christlike spirit today?”
“Oh, is that all you meant?”

This illustrates how little earnestness and expectation some people have when they pray. It is the Christian's privilege to get an answer to his prayers. He need never go away unanswered. He may have to pray fervently at times, sometimes wrestle unto the breaking of the day; but if he is earnest enough, God will tell him something. God will grant him the petition or tell him he will not grant it or tell him to wait and he will answer later. To go to God with a petition and come away and know nothing is to show indolence. Prayer is a mental effort. We are to pray in the Spirit, certainly, but we cannot pray without taking thought. We can pray with the mind and not pray from the heart; but it is certain we cannot pray from the heart without praying with the mind. The schoolboy sometimes meets with a puzzling problem in his mathematics, one that requires him to put forth great mental effort. This mental exertion strengthens his mind and enables him to grasp other and more difficult problems. God sometimes brings us face to face with difficult problems, problems that can be solved only by earnest effort. This must needs he, in order that we may be able to grasp the deeper things of God. It is true we can become habituated to prayer, as the pianist to playing, so that but little men¬tal effort will be required. But we must be very constant in prayer and keep a truly devotional spirit, or the mind will wander and we shall have to pay the penalty of mental toil to get our thoughts back in the right channel again.

There are times when the Christian finds it easy to pray. The Spirit seems to have touched the mind and unsealed the fountain of thought, so that the thoughts flow out so spontaneously that the mind is not conscious of any effort. Then how blessed it is to pray! But is it always so? It is well for us that it is not. It is not usually the learner that makes the mistakes or meets with the accident, but the adept. It is when but little mental effort is required that the performer becomes careless and neglectful.

But however skilled we may become in the art of prayer, God will bring us face to face betimes, so that he might save us from neglect with difficulties and will hide his face from us resulting from a lack of anything upon which to exercise the mind and heart. If we become indolent and will not strive in prayer, then we shall become very feeble in prayer. This will be especially in secret prayer.

The apostle says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” Romans 15:30. “Agonize together with me.” -Rotherham. This earnestness, this agonizing was for Jesus’ sake and the love of the Spirit. We are not on unscriptural grounds when we exhort to fervency and labor in prayer. Listen to the prophet’s lament: “There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee.” It is by faith that we behold God. Yet the clearer the intellect, the more vivid will be our conceptions of him. There can be no profound feeling in our soul without vividness of thought in beholding the beauty of the Lord.

The apostle to the Gentiles, after recounting a number of the hardships of his Christian warfare, said, ‘Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.’ From the language used and the order it is in, we naturally conclude that the care of the churches, concerned him more than all his perils, persecutions and hardships. If he had such care for the churches, what. must have been his prayers for them? In his Colossian letter he tells us something of his conflict and agony in prayer. “Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for ‘them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” I wish you would read the above quotations over again carefully, and from them picture to your mind something of the earnestness of his prayer. It was no drowsy, droning prayer. In the Greek the labor and striving here is the same as in chap. 4:12, where Epaphras is spoken of as “laboring fervently.” It is the same also in Luke 22:44-And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” We have the same in Greek again in Luke 13 :24: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.” The thought here is a “struggle for the mastery-forcing one’s way in.” “Many will seek” in their half-hearted, slothful way and ‘not be able,” for none but “this violence” will ever take the kingdom of God.

Fervency in prayer is a good preventive of thought-wandering. Many persons are seriously troubled by the wandering of their thoughts. This very often is because of mental indolence and lack of earnest mental discipline. Be earnest and fervent in your prayers. Gird up the loins of your mind and center your thoughts on God.

Importunity is not only reiteration of the petition but also earnestness in the petition. In importuning the throne of grace each coming should be more pressing and earnest.

Fervency and perseverance make us conquerors over that which is otherwise unconquerable. In the parable of the widow and unjust judge. Jesus teaches us the value and the neenssitv of importunity. Do we get the full import of his teaching in this parable? The widow kept coming. She would not he denied. Wearied by her continual coming, the judge granted her request. If an unrighteous judge can he wearied into granting the request of a widow who was an ohject of contempt, can not the righteous Lord, whose name is Love, he persuaded to hear the prayers of those who cry unto him day and night? He can. See to it that you cry- “strong crying and tears,” and not sigh, a mere wish-and let the crying unto God be day and night. Though your prayer be seemingly rejected, do not cease your crying. Pray on until you get a definite answer. Jesus did not give the Syrophenician woman a positive refusal. He only said. “Let the children first be filled for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Mark 7:27. There was yet some hope for her. “There may he” she thought, “a crumb left after the children have been filled.” She was not denied this. Be will¬ing to take the answer in the most humiliating way. Your unwillingness to do so may be why he is seemingly deaf to your cry. Perhaps he wants you to become more humble and earnest.

Be willing for him to answer in his way. But pray on. The very fact that he has rot positively denied you is some hope that he will hear you. Only get more earnest and humble. The apostle Paul prayed three times before he received a definite answer. I think that he would have prayed many times more if it had been necessary.

The Spirit gives us heavenly visions. The vision may be the meekness, patience, tenderness, sympathy, or love of Jesus. Desire springs up in our hearts to possess that meekness or whatever it may be. lye vent to that desire; ask, seek, knock, strive, and wrestle for that excellence, and he will surely give it. But he will not bestow his graces where they are not longed for and eagerly sought.

“Longing is God’s fresh, heavenward will
With our poor earthward striving;
We quench it that we may be still
Content with merely living.
But would we learn that heart’s full scope
Which we are hourly wronging,
Our lives must climb from hope to hope
And realize our longing.”

In closing this chapter I will relate a story I read about an ant. A warrior was once forced to take shelter from his enemies in a ruined building, where he sat alone for many hours. To divert his mind from his hopeless con¬dition, he fixed his observation upon an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a wall. He numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground, but the insect persevered and the seventieth time it reached the top of the wall. May the Lord help his saints to be fervent and persevering in prayer. Pray until you get an answer.

Constancy in Prayer

Constancy in prayer implies a fixed principle of prayer in the life, an habitually devout spirit. It does not mean paroxyms of prayer or prayer at stated times, but it means to “pray without ceasing.”

There is a difference between constancy and fervency. By fervency we mean that earnest taking hold upon God for any specific object; by constancy we mean that habitual prayerful frame of spirit. Devoted men have said that “prayer is the breath of the soul.” Then let the soul never cease its breathing. Those who live in an atmosphere of prayer will love the place of secret prayer and the hour of public prayer. They will be glad when it comes time to go up to the house of prayer. To them it is a dear and sacred place. And oh, how they love the hour of private communion with God! He is the fairest and dearest of ten thousand to their souls. There is no companionship like his. No voice is so musical as his, no voice so tender and sweet.

Again we hear that excuse, “I have no time to pray.” You had as well say you do not love prayer. Somehow we will take time to do that which we love to do. Those who love the amusements of the world take time for them. You do not know how much you are saying when you say you have no time for prayer. No time to do that which we have such a relish for and find such enjoyment in!

David said, “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God.” There should be a constant reaching forth of the soul after God. Life should be one long, undivided prayer. There has been much com¬ment on the apostle’s words, ‘Pray without ceasing.” I believe them to mean that we should live in the spirit or temper of reverence and devoutness. We should have a continual spirit of prayer in our souls. This gives power to the life.

One who lives in a spirit of prayer is always ready to pray. I do not mean that he will always feel like praying, so far as emotions are concerned; but he feels like it, so far as a sense of duty and his will are concerned. One who lives a life of prayer is one who has stated times for prayer and observes them as strictly as propriety will admit. Besides this, he is often lifting his heart to God in petition or praise. When he sees a man doing evil, his first thought is to pray the Lord to have mercy upon him. When he sees a man prosper, he thanks God for His goodness to that person. He prays for those who despitefully use him. He gives thanks in everything: and as the giving of thanks is praying, he who lives a life of thanksgiving lives a life of prayer. We are to rejoice in the Lord always. A spirit of rejoicing in God is a spirit of prayer. A life of worry, anxiety, and care is not a life of believing prayer. God would have his children to be ever free and happy, and to he so they must live in intimate communion with him.

Dear restless heart, be still! don’t fret and worry so.
God bath a thousand ways his love and help to show.
Just trust and trust and trust until his will you know.

Dear restless heart, be still; for peace is God’s own smile.
His love can ever wrong and sorrow reconcile;
Just love and love and love, and wait a while.

Dear restless heart, be brave; don’t moan and sorrow so.
He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;
Just hope and hope and hope until you braver grow.

Dear restless heart, repose upon his heart an hour.
His heart is strength and life, his heart is bloom and flower;
Just rest and rest and rest within his tender power.

Dear restless heart, be still; don’t toil and hurry so.
God is the silent One, forever calm and slow;
Just wait and wait and wait, and work with him below.

Dear restless heart, be still; don’t struggle to be free.
God’s life is in your life; to him you may now flee;
Just pray and pray and pray till you have faith to see.

The Closet Prayer

Many beautiful things have been said about the closet hour, and many of them set our souls longing for deeper communion with God. Some have spoken of it in one way and some in another. In the chapter on Mental Prayer it is spoken of as the seclusion we may have with God in our hearts while in the crowded thoroughfare or anywhere else. This may he termed secret prayer, but here we desire to speak of it in the sense of being in a secluded place in converse with God.

Those who have loved prayer most and who have been most imbued with a spirit of prayer have been those who have resorted at stated times, circumstances permitting, to a quiet, secluded place. It is told of a certain devout man who had his stated time for retirement with God that while he was once entertaining some friends the hour came for his closet communion with God, and that not wishing to appear Pharisaical, he excused himself for a few moments, saying he had an important engagement with a very dear friend. We are not under bondage. We are free. We are just as free with our praying as we are with our eating. Just as we do not have to eat against our wishes, so we are not compelled to pray. But unless we do eat, we shall die physically, and unless we pray, we shall die spiritually.

We have our stated times for eating; why not for praying? People are not so neglectful and irregular in their eating. They make some effort to get to the table at meal-time. Why not be as prompt and regular and diligent in praying? Regularity in eating is good for the body, and, will you believe me? regularity in praying is good for the soul. ‘No’ says one, “I do not believe.” And what if some do not believe? Unbelief cannot alter a fact. Jesus was in the habit of departing into a “solitary” place to pray. He would sometimes go out a great while before day. He spent whole nights in prayer. If we look into his prayer-life, we conclude that he was a man of prayer. If he needed to pray long and often, how much more do we!

We repeat that those who have been most spiritual and eminently pious have been those who have had a private place for prayer. It may have been by a river-side, under a spreading tree in the leafy grove, in the garden, on the mountain, or in a private chamber of the home. They were so accustomed to visit those retired places that the other members of their families knew where these devout persons were when missing, hut did not care to disturb them.

We should pray even when laboring with our hands or on the crowded street, as we shall learn from the following chapter; but we should by all means have a certain place to which we resort and there on our knees pour out our hearts to God.

Talking with my Savior
In some quiet place,
Telling every secret,
Looking in his face.

What on earth is sweeter?
What more dear can be
Than to talk to Jesus,
have him talk to me?

When the morn is blushing,
In the secret place,
Talking there with Jesus,
Gath’ring stores of grace.

For the fiery trial,
Heated like the sun,
That may come upon me
Ere the day is done.

When the sun is setting
In the golden west,
A little talk with Jesus,
Leaning on his breast,

Rests the weary spirit,
Calms the heart within.
Oh. what joy and comfort,
Nestling close to him!

lu the secret closet
Hearing his sweet voice
Makes my life an Eden
Bids my heart rejoice.

In the secret closet
Talking there with him
Drives away the shadow,
Lets the sunshine in.

Mental Prayer

(Written by Mrs. Florence Roberts.)

When our thoughts as well as our words and deeds continuously incline toward our heavenly Father and his Son, our blessed Redeemer, we shall comprehend as never before the interpretation of Paul’s counseling us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Perhaps many of God’s children conceive the idea that we can pray only when on our knees. Were that the case, the heavenly Father would, T fear, receive very little of our time and attention. It is blessed to kneel often and pray audibly, but often this is not practicable.

Shortly after my conversion more than fifteen years ago, when I began to delight in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit deeply impressed me with the advice found in Matt. 6:6-8. I began to inquire as to the meaning of the “prayer-closet.” At first I supposed this scripture to have only a literal meaning-to retire to a room set apart for this one purpose and to lock one’s self in. This was seldom con¬venient for me. Whilst I was yearning for a private place for this purpose, the blessed Lord illuminated my mind by definitely revealing this: “The closet means the innermost recesses of the soul. Even when thou art in a crowded assembly, thou mayest enjoy secret communion with me.” ‘And it shall come to pass, that before thou callest, I will answer, and whilst thou art yet speaking, I will hear.”

Blessed assurance! blessed knowledge to the child of God that is surrounded in his home by mockers of prayer! We can be constantly in the spirit of prayer, holding, unknown to others, silent converse with the King of kings. Ofttimes the most effective prayers we can offer are the silent prayers known to none but the heavenly Father.

Time and again have I personally realized this. Our Father, who seeth in secret, has rewarded and will reward openly.

Dear reader, I beseech you in the name of Jesus to constantly hold mental conversation with God, the Giver of all good. lie is very liberal, never giving with stinted hand. He yearns to bestow upon his waiting child his very best. Carelessness in prayer grieves him. Alas! that guilt lies at the door of many. They request favor from God, but almost as soon as they cease praying they forget what they asked for; therefore they are greatly surprised if God answers.

Our heavenly Father knows and he cares. He yearns for us to be deeply, intensely, in earnest concerning our souls’ desires. “God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Nothing less will satisfy him; nothing less will bring answers to our prayers.

Reader, do you love him? Do you really, truly love him? If so, there is nothing that you will not do in order that you may have his perpetual smile upon your soul. As the bride centers her thoughts on her adored husband, so will your spiritual mind be focalized upon this wonderful Bridegroom of your soul, who delights in anticipating your requirements and not alone in granting your heart’s desires, but in lavishing upon you abundantly more than you could even ask or think.

Have you observed how much the thoughts are prone to wander while you are engaged in prayer? Of course you have, and so have I. We must watch and bring in our wandering thoughts and center our mind on God. This will require mental effort. Unless we use our will-power in the control of our thoughts, we shall drift on the dangerous shoals of vagrancy, coldness, and carelessness. It will then become most difficult to centralize our mind on God.

How blessed that we have a Father who never tires of our appealing to him! How very precious to know that he knows our yearnings, our desires whether uttered or unuttered! ‘No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.’ God knows your thoughts and hears your prayers. Keep your thoughts on God. The Psalmist prayed, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.” We pray with the heart and with the understanding also. such prayers are answered.

On one occasion when testimony to answered prayer was being given, a brother related that once when he needed a pair of shoes, he made his need known to God. He said, “The Lord gave me the shoes the moment I asked him, although I did not get them in possession for more than two weeks. They were mine from the moment I prayed, though they were on the shoemaker’s last or the merchant’s counter.” “Whatsoever things ye desire when you pray believe that ye do receive them, and ye shall have them.” “Lord, increase our faith.” Amen.

“When thou dost talk with God-by prayer I mean-
Lift up pure hands, lay down all lust’s desires,
Fix thoughts on heaven, present a conscience clean,
Since holy flame to mercy’s throne aspires.”

The Secret Prayer

The disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” It was not that they had never prayed; but when they heard Jesus pray, they felt their need of knowing better how to pray. Those who have been praying for years and have the closest intimacy with God have a desire to know still more about prayer. How little we yet know of God! It is true that he has taught us many glorious things of himself, and that we are learning more each day, but there is much more to learn.

“I am learning of my Savior
Precious lessons every hour,
How the soul which he has ransomed
May be kept by mighty power.

‘Learning more and more to love him,
Yielding all into his will;
While a joy beyond all utterance Thru’ and thru’ my soul doth thrill.

“I am learning how to trust him
With my life and for all things;
And my spirit, filled with glory,
In exceeding gladness sings.

“I am learning, I am learning,
Precious truths in Jesus’ Word;
I am learning, I am learning,
Of the lowly Lamb of God.”

“Go forward,” was the command of God to Israel, and that should be our Christian ensign. The apostle Paul said, “This one thing I do ... I reach forth to those things which are before.” Growing in grace and in the knowledge of God is the exhortation of the aggressive Saint Peter. We learn of God by associating with him in the spirit through prayer and by reading his Word. Devotionally reading the Bible is communing with God and is therefore prayer ~n its broader meaning. As two persons between whom there is affinity associate, they get deeper into the heart of each other and know better how to commune with each other. The more we pray, the better we know how to pray. Do not understand me to mean in form of words, but the inward prayer of the heart.

There is a secret prayer, and there is a secret in prayer. If you are a fervent whole-hearted Christian, you know more of prayer and can talk with God more intimately now than a few years ago, and you will know more of the secrets of prayer a few years hence if you “continue in prayer and watch in the same.” There are lessons for us to learn, relating to the Christian life. One way to learn them is through prayer. There is a secret pavilion, a secret place of the Most High, and ‘the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” The Lord has many secrets in prayer that he is eager to teach our hearts. The longer we live a life of sincere, fervent prayer, the better we shall know how to pray and the sweeter prayer will he to us.

In the secret of his presence,
Oh! such beauties there I see;
In the holy of the holies
There I learn still more of thee.

Brighter than the rosy morning
Or the ev’ning’s tint of gold,
In the inner court with Jesus
Wondrous things my eyes behold.
It hath never, never entered
Into heart of erring man,
The pure grandeur of his temple,
The perfection of his plan.

But to those who love sincerely
He will graciously unseal
Deepest mysteries of his kingdom,
Hidden things to them reveal.

Oh! the blessedness of living
In the sacred, holy place,
In the shadow’ of his presence,
Talking with him face to face.

The Supreme Motive in Prayer

We are not our own we are the Lord’s. He has bought us, and the price that he paid is an evidence that he greatly desired us. Sometimes while traveling we see by the wayside a poster in large letters, “WANTED.” In fancy we can see in large letters across the vault of heaven this word-”WANTED.” God wants souls. He considers. He looks at the soul; he sees its capability of bearing his image and reciprocating his love; he sees its eternity; he looks at the price necessary to ransom it. Oh! will he pay, or will he refuse? Listen while we softly and feelingly read--’ ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But why does he love us so? Because we are his. “Thou art mine,” he says: “I will redeem thee.” And why does he want us? He wants us to bear his image and to glorify him in our body and spirit. Whatsoever we do in word or deed we are to do to his glory. Life should be spent exclusively to the glory of God. All self should be left out. Self should be crucified and must be if we are to live for God. Not a breathing, not a pulse-beat, of a selfish life; not one word, one act, one thought, for the glory and praise of the creature -all, all for God. Man is unseen, but we see Him. Man is unknown-”we know no man.” What we do for our fellow men, we do it as unto Jesus; we give the cup of cold water out of love for Christ. Oh! it means much, but it is blessed.

Prayer, that it may make fragrant the atmosphere around the throne of God, must be unselfish. “Ye ask amiss” when ye ask from any selfish interest. The spirit of “thy will be done” must permeate every word of our prayers. Many prayers go unanswered because there is a slight selfish interest-just a little glory for the creature, a little self-gratification, a little ease, a little blessing for one’s own enjoyment, a little having of one’s way. Let us not be so selfish as the man who prayed:

“Lord, wilt thou be pleased to preserve me in health today. It is miserable to be sick; besides, I have so much to do. Keep all my family in health, for I need their help. Be pleased also, Lord, to protect my buildings from fire and storm; also, protect my stock from disease, and especially my horses, for I greatly need their service today. Wilt thou forbid that the bank fail and I suffer any loss I pray that thou wilt put it into the heart of Jones to pay me what he owes me. And wilt thou withhold the rain for a few days until I get my hay all in, and then thou mayest send a shower, as my corn will need it by that time. Now, Lord, do these things for me and all else that might be to my interest. Amen.”

We need to examine closely, lest we pray more for ourselves than for others and have too great an interest in self. Jesus prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” but immediately added, “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done,” and then gave himself up to death on the cross. Oh! why should man draw one selfish breath? Why should he have one thought of self and the flesh? Why should he ponder over earthly things and spend unnecessary thought upon the temporal side of life? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these temporal things shall be added unto you. We should, of course, pray for temporal blessings for ourselves, but only to glorify God with them. It is good to pray for a closer walk with God if we desire it only for God’s praise. If we desire it merely that we may enjoy it or that others may think us spiritual, our motive is not pure. Do not seek deliverance from trials so earnestly, but seek the good that God sends to you by them, so that he may be glorified. When trials discourage you, you do not yet know th~ Lord and his ways as you should, and it may be you are a little selfish. Trials are as good for you as showers are for the flowers-provided you make the proper use of your trials.

“It is raining, little flower!
Be glad of the rain;
Too much sun would wither thee.
‘Twill shine again.
The sky is very black, ‘tis true,
But just behind it shines the blue.

“Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain;
In sorrow sweetest things will grow
As flowers in rain.
God watches; and thou wilt have the sun
When clouds their perfect work have done.”

Pure love to God should permeate every prayer. God’s glory and pleasure should be kept uppermost in our mind. We should seek him, not so much because we want him, as because he wants us. A young man leaves the parental roof to go out into the world, and the parents’ hearts are saddened. They mourn for him and long for his return. After a time he decides to come back to his home. But why does he come? Does he desire the purple robe and the gold ring and the fatted calf? or is he coming to comfort and gladden the hearts of his parents? We should go to God, not so much for the good things he has to give and the enjoyment of companionship with him, as for the pleasure and delight it gives him to have us come.

Our prayer-life might take on a different phase if we better understand the nature of God. The more we study the Bible and the more we pray, the better we know him. “The prayer of the upright is his delight.” Do not pass too hurriedly by these words. If we comprehend the love that God has for communion with his saints, if we conceived the intense desire that he has for us to come to him, we should not be so neglectful of prayer. Surely, too, our hearts would thrill with joy if we, by an eye of faith. could see with what eagerness and delight he receives us when we come to him in prayer. It is the Bridegroom going out to meet his bride. Love is beating in his heart. In his love he gave his life for thee, and now thou hast stepped aside from the world for a time, purposely to be alone with him in some secluded place, and there talk with him and pillow thy head upon his bosom. It is his joy. His yearning heart awaiteth thee. Wilt thou go? Alas that traffic with the world engageth thee and giveth thee no time to be alone with God!

But how can our feeble prayers add anything to the happiness of the Lord? I can see why it is, and I pray the Lord to help me tell it so you also can perceive it. God created man for his glory and his pleasure. That God might delight himself with man, he created him in affinity with himself, so that he might have the most intimate communion with him. Now, God delights in us the moment we are redeemed, but prayer lifts us higher and higher into that life of close affinity with him for which we were created; consequently God rejoices to have us seek him alone in the closet, by the riverside, or in the solitary place, that the soul may be freed from the entanglements of material things and be enabled to soar aloft on the wings of holy prayer into the embrace of its Beloved.

The young wife may be weary and indisposed; but, knowing that her husband delights to have her meet him at the gate, she, for his sake, meets him there. The highest, purest motive in prayer is that God may be glorified and our hearts may be so surrendered that he can work in us to will and do of his own good pleasure.

Lord, I would live so very near to thee
As to be guided hourly by thine eye,
Nor miss one tender glance or warning look,
But follow closely as the days flit by.

“Lord, I would have my inward ear alert
To catch the softest whispers of thy love,
And quick to note the changing in its tone
When thou for some omission wouldst reprove.

“Lord, I would have my body, spirit, soul,
Attuned always to each soft touch of thine;
Now set each cord vibrating with thy breath
And fill my life with harmony divine.”