DING TIME FOR PRAYER.

We are anxious that these articles should be very practical, and that
our readers may be helped to practise their religion more definitely
from reading them. Most of us are very busy people, and often it will
seem as if there was no time for prayer. But we always make time to do
things we consider absolutely essential. Prayer is one of the absolute
essentials of the Christian life. You will notice that it was during
times of unusual pressure of duties that we are told that Our Lord
found time to pray. It was when the people thronged Him to listen to
His words, and to receive healing and comfort for body and soul, that
we read, "And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into the
mountain to pray; and He continued all night in prayer to God". And
again it was while "all the city was gathered at the door" that "in the
morning, a great while before day, He rose up and went out, and
departed into a desert place, and there prayed". He always found time
in the midst of His thronged ministry, when "many were coming and
going", and He had "no leisure so much as to eat", to go apart to enter
into communion with His Father. We, too, must find time to pray.

The important thing is not how long our prayers are or how short, but
that our spirits have come, if only for a moment, into contact with
Him, Who is Himself Spirit. This is the vital thing. This is that
which brings rest and refreshment to the soul and strengthens it in its
life on earth. Let me repeat, the great essential is to get into touch
with God, and to get into touch every day. Now it would seem as if the
morning, first thing in the morning, is the time especially to do this?
Before the distractions of the day have dulled the delicate perceptions
of the spirit, before the noonday sun has absorbed the early dew of
morning, is the time to open the door of the heart to God, and to lift
up the hands to Him. It was in the morning, "rising up a great while
before day", that the Son of Man prayed. So it should be the first
thing in the day with us. It need not be anything complicated or
involved. Indeed, it can be quite simple. Perhaps this simple
suggestion may be found helpful. When we get up in the morning, we
remember that it is God first. We must let the thought of the glory,
the power and the goodness of God take possession of our hearts. We
bow before Him, from Whom we came and to Whom we go, and say, "Glory be
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