tion," the grace for
supplication. He was sent forth into our hearts as "the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." He enables us to say, in true
faith and growing apprehension of its meaning, Our Father which art in
heaven. "He maketh intercession for the saints according to God." And as
we pray in the Spirit, our worship is as God seeks it to be, "in spirit
and in truth." Prayer is just the breathing of the Spirit in us; power
in prayer comes from the power of the Spirit in us, waited on and
trusted in. Failure in prayer comes from feebleness of the Spirit's work
in us. Our prayer is the index of the measure of the Spirit's work in
us. To pray aright, the life of the Spirit must be right in us. For
praying the effectual, much-availing prayer of the righteous man
everything depends on being full of the Spirit.

There are three very simple lessons that the believer, who would enjoy
the blessing of being taught to pray by the Spirit of prayer, must know.
The first is: _Believe that the Spirit dwells in you_ (Eph. i. 13). Deep
in the inmost recesses of his being, hidden and unfelt, every child of
God has the Holy, Mighty Spirit of God dwelling in him. He knows it by
faith, the faith that, accepting God's word, realises that of which he
sees as yet no sign. "We receive the promise of the Spirit by faith." As
long as we measure our power, for praying aright and perseveringly, by
what we feel, or think we can accomplish, we shall be discouraged when
we hear of how much we ought to pray. But when we quietly believe that,
in the midst of all our conscious weakness, the Holy Spirit as a Spirit
of supplication is dwelling within us, _for the very purpose of enabling
us to pray in such manner and measure as God would have us_, our hearts
will be filled with hope. We shall be strengthened in the assurance
which lies at the very root of a happy and fruitful Christian life, that
_God has made an abundant provision for our being what He wants us to
be_. We shall begin to lose our sense of burden and fear and
discouragement about our ever praying sufficiently, because we see that
the Holy Spirit Himself will pray, is praying, in us.

The second lesson is: _Beware above everything of grieving the Holy
Spirit_ (Eph. iv. 30). If you do, how can He work in you the quiet,
trustful, and blessed sense of that union with Christ which makes your
prayers well pleasing to the Father? Beware of grieving Him by sin, by
unbelief, by se