as I will, but as thou wilt. God is infinitely wise. He knows what is for our good. He is ready to give good gifts, but he is the judge. To ask evil things, or to ask in impatience, or to demand our own way rather than his, is not true prayer. "This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us."

True prayer is always the prayer of faith. If ye shall ask anything, believing, it shall be done. Faith is not merely the belief that the particular petition will be granted. It is confidence in God that he is, and is that rewarder of them a diligently seek him, and that he will hear and answer, giving or withholding according to his wisdom and our need.

Prayer is to be in the name of Christ. He has opened a way of approach to God. By him we have access to the Father; without him the heavens are shut up, and God is afar off. His promise is, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

The spirit of prayer is humble and thankful. He who approaches God is conscious of and must confess his sin. Job

said, "Now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." No matter how good one is, God's holiness reminds him of his sin. Hence it is that prayer, both public and private, so generally begins with confession. Hence, too, confession is followed by thanksgiving. With those who worship God in spirit and in truth, the sense of sin and of pardon are inseparable. "Against thee and thee only have I sinned." "There is forgiveness with thee, and thou mayest be feared." No one can pray aright who does not realize that God so loved the world as to give his Son to die for sinners; and no one can realize this without thanksgiving.

True prayer recognizes God as the source of all good. He is the creator, preserver and benefactor of men-the giver of every good gift. With Christ, he freely gives his people all things, but bids them seek these things in prayer, with thanksgiving and confidence. "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

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He bids them be importunate. There is difference between importunity and

"much speaking." Importunate prayer is the expression of real désire. It may be repeated over and over again. What Christ said about much speaking condemns no one who speaks from the heart. He who truly prays, whether in a few words or many, will be accepted and blessed.

HINDRANCES TO PRAYER.

If "prayer is the Christian's vital breath," it is certainly important to pray, and to pray freely and naturally. Of course, if one does not breathe, he can not live. If he does not pray, he has no spiritual life. If his breathing is hindered, either by defects in his organs or by lack of air, his vitality is reduced. There is sound philosophy in the exhortation of Peter to so live "that your prayers be not hindered."

A little thing may obstruct one's breath, and so a little sin may hinder prayer. One who, for five years, had only a name to live, confessed that his spiritual declension began when he took an unfair advantage in trade, and that the first effect was an indisposition to pray. Every attempt brought up his sin, and he gave up trying. His revival began when he visited his old home, and in the old room where he had twenty years before given himself to Christ, he fell on his knees and confessed his sin, and promised God to make repara( 212 )

tion. Then his spiritual breath came naturally, and he became strong again.

There was a man of quick temper who, if irritated in the morning, omitted family prayers. He could not pray while angry, and confessed with shame that he "got angry oftener and oftener." He had grace enough to know his danger, and to determine that he "would keep in a good humor until after worship." Of course the worship helped him to keep in a good humor all day.

Peter exhorts husbands and wives to love and cherish each other, and as a reason adds, "that your prayers be not hindered." Household strife is a hindrance to prayer. The husband and wife are not only separated in heart from each other, but both are separated from God. Love, peace and the consciousness of duty performed prepare husband and wife to worship with a pure heart, while anger and neglect are of a different spirit and unfit the soul for any religious service. The same is true in other relations of life, though no strife is so evil as that between husband and wife, because no relation is so tender. Strife between a brother and sister, or