ong in
meditation and closed in most intimate fellowship and communion with
his Father. Under all circumstances, whether it be the raising of
Lazarus from the dead, or the breathing in of the very spirit of God so
essential to him in his earthly ministry, he prayed; and because he was
a man of prayer himself, he could speak to his disciples with authority
concerning this subject.

If we ourselves would know how to pray there are certain great
principles which must be remembered when we come to him.

First: _We must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them
that diligently seek him_. If one has hazy or mystical ideas of Christ
then from the very nature of the case prayer is impossible.

Second: _We must believe his word_. Mr. Spurgeon's statement that when
he went to God he always went pleading a promise is the secret of his
great success as a man of prayer. Earthly parents are not insensible
to the pledges they make to their children and surely God cannot be.

Third: _We must confess and forsake our sins_. To confess sin is to
arraign before us those sins of which we know ourselves to be guilty,
and when they appear before us in solemn and awful procession we must
heartily renounce them. If we do not we cannot pray. In another place
in God's word we read, "Ye ask and receive not, because, . . ." and
while in the verse the rest of the sentence is "Ye ask amiss," we might
finish by saying, "We ask and receive not, because our lives are not
right in God's sight."

Fourth: _We must exercise our faith_. The little child who prayed for
rain and then wanted to carry an umbrella with her when the sun was
shining is an oft repeated illustration, but such faith as this is what
every child of God must practice.

The text is exceedingly broad. "If ye shall ask anything in my name I
will do it." It is broad enough to include temporal blessing and
spiritual power, comprehensive enough to lead us to believe that God
will direct our lives if we ask him and will bear our burdens even
though they be almost insignificant in their weight. Thank God for the
"anything" in the text!

It may be stated truly that God's promises to Israel are especially
concerning temporal blessing and that his promises to the church have
particular reference to spiritual possessions; and they both, the
history of Israel and the history of the church, prove that God will
give to us temporally as well as spiritually. These blessi