because He Himself has put them into my heart
not to mock me, not to disappoint me--not to make me wretched with the
sight of noble graces and virtues to which I cannot attain, but to fulfil
His work in me. What He has begun in me He will carry on in me. He has
sown the seed in me, and He will make it bear fruit, if only I pray to
Him, day by day, for strength to do what I know I ought to do, and cry
morning and night to Him, the fount of life, Stir up my will, O Lord,
that I may bring forth the fruit of good works, for then by Thee I shall
be plentifully rewarded.

So the man gains hope and heart for himself, and so, if he will but think
rationally and humbly, he may gain hope and heart for this poor sinful
world. For what has come true for him may come true for any man. Who is
he that God should care more for him than for others? Who is he that God
should help him when he prays, more than He will help His whole church if
it will but pray? He says to himself, all this knowledge of what is
right; all these good desires, all these longings after a juster, purer,
nobler, happier state of things; there they are up and down the world
already, though, alas! they have borne little enough fruit as yet. Be it
so. But God put them into my heart. And who save God has put them into
the world's heart? It was God who sowed the seed in me; surely it is God
who has sowed it in other men? And if God has made it bear even the
poorest fruit in me, why should He not make it bear fruit in other men
and in all the world? All they need is that God should stir up their
wills, that they may do the good they know, and attain the blessedness
after which they long.

And then, if the man have a truly human, truly reasonable heart in him--
he feels that he can pray for others as well as for himself. He feels
that he must pray for them, and cry,--Thou alone canst make men strong to
do the right thing, and Thou wilt make them. Stir up their wills, O
Lord! Thou canst not mean that all the good seed which is sown about the
world should die and wither, and bring no fruit to perfection. Surely
Thy word will not return to Thee void, but be like the rain which comes
down from heaven, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
Oh, strengthen such as stand, and comfort and help the weak-hearted, and
raise up them that fall, and, finally, beat down Satan and all the powers
of evil under our feet, and