n homes of
abundance, in ways of hardship than in ways of ease. We need only to
accept our task-work, our drudgery, our toil, in Christ's name, and the
glory of Christ will transfigure it and shine upon our faces.

CHAPTER IV.

THE POSSIBILITIES OF PRAYER.

"Ask and receive--'tis sweetly said;
Yet what to plead for know I not,
For wish is worsted, hope o'ersped,
And aye to thanks returns my thought.
If I would pray
I've naught to say,
But this, that God may be God still:
For time to live
So still to give,
And sweeter than my wish his will."
--DAVID A. WASSON.

We do not begin to realize the possibilities of prayer. There is no
limit, for example, to the scope of prayer. We may embrace in it all
things that belong to our life, not merely those which affect our
spiritual interests, but those as well which seem to be only worldly
matters. Nothing that concerns us in any way is matter of indifference
to God. One writes: "Learn to entwine with your prayers the small
cares, the trifling sorrows, the little wants of daily life. Whatever
affects you,--be it a changed look, an altered tone, an unkind word, a
wrong, a wound, a demand you cannot meet, a sorrow you cannot
disclose,--turn it into prayer and send it up to God. Disclosures you
may not make to man, you can make to the Lord. Men may be too little
for your great matters; God is not too great for your small ones. Only
give yourself to prayer, whatever be the occasion that calls for it."

We soon find, however, if we are really earnest, that our desires are
too great for words. We have in our hearts feelings, hungerings,
affections, longings, which we want to breathe out to God; but when we
begin to speak to him, we find no language adequate for their
expression. We try to tell God of our sorrow for sin, of our weakness
and sinfulness, then of our desire to be better, to love Christ more,
to follow him more closely, and of our hunger after righteousness,
after holiness; but it is very little of these deep cravings that we
can get into speech.

Language is a wonderful gift. The power of putting into words the
thoughts and emotions of our souls, that others may understand them, is
one of the most marvellous powers the Creator has bestowed upon us.
Thus we communicate our feelings and desires the one to the other. It
is a sore deprivation when the gates of speech are shut and locked, an