earth even as it is done in heaven, before we venture to ask for anything for ourselves; and, lastly, that although there is a possible and an impossible with God, because many of the things for which men in their blindness or agony are inclined to ask could not be granted consistently with His attributes of perfect goodness and wisdom and love, and because they have been really praying, without knowing it, for contradictory things, we must nevertheless remember that we are praying to a Being whose will is sure to be done sooner or later by everything which exists,"―already I can fancy some exclaiming, "If this is the relation in which we stand to God in respect to prayer, what is the use of praying to Him at all? If you tell us that God knows better than we do ourselves what we most require; that there is no resisting His will, for that it is sure to be done; that we must always pray that His will be done, nevertheless, and that it is only when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will that we can expect Him to hear us,-what, we repeat, is the use of saying so much about the duty of prayer, and what is the meaning of speaking of God as being 'more willing to hear than we to pray, and wont to give more than we can either desire or deserve'?"

It might almost be sufficient to say that we must continue to pray because we were made to pray, and because we cannot help it; but one great use of saying

so much about it is, that it makes all the difference between happiness and misery whether we have learnt to pray in the spirit of our Master or not. We cannot help aspiring and wishing and longing for all manner of things from the cradle to the grave, and for the promise of other things after the grave is past. Must it not make all the difference in the world to us, to our characters, tastes, and prospects, whether we allow ourselves to go on wishing and craving without stopping to consider whether the things we desire are really right and good and desirable, and such as our Creator intended us to obtain, or whether we take our desires and wishes and spread them before God, and ask Him to teach us for what things we ought to pray ? To wish for a thing is almost next door to praying for it; and surely, if the Being Who made us is a Being of infinite goodness and wisdom and power, and One Whom we believe to have revealed Himself as a Father, Whose love towards His children is shown not in laxity, but in an unfaltering purpose to make them all like Himself, surely, I repeat, it must make all the difference to the happiness of those children, to the facility with which they learn their Father's character, and the degree in which they will require to receive from Him the chastisement of suffering, whether they consecrate their lives to wishing and striving after the things which He wishes for them, and which are suited to their nature, or whether they

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waste their energies in beating the bars of their cage, fretting because they can't have this enjoyment and that, and in following their own desires and pleasures, just because it seems the pleasantest and easiest thing to do, although the self-indulgence is sure to produce a rich harvest of suffering.

If we can imagine ourselves beginning our lives over again, and that it was our vocation to help to navigate a steamship across the sea, would it not be our first desire to gain all the knowledge in our power about the principles of navigation, and the management of the machinery that was submitted to our control, and would it not make all the difference in the world, not only to our advancement, but in our personal safety and comfort, and the safety and comfort of all in the ship, whether it was the earnest wish of our hearts to master our business and attend to our duties, or whether we were bent upon our own pleasure, and left our duties to take their chance? Well, is it so very different with our vocation as Christian men? Is it not evident that our well-being and happiness must depend on the degree in which we pray and desire that Almighty God will be pleased "to direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and our bodies in the ways of His laws, and in the works of His commandments, that through His most mighty protection both here and ever we may be preserved in body and soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord"?

If a man cannot even properly attend to a steamengine without wishing to do his duty well, and in accordance with the intention of the maker of the machine, how can we expect to lead good and happy lives unless we earnestly desire to lead them in accordance with the will of our Creator, and constantly keep our spirits in touch with His Spirit, by ever praying for grace and strength to do His will? If a man thinks more of his own personal amusement than the requirements of his engine, he will stand a good chance of being dashed to pieces. If he thinks more of his own pleasure than of the will of God, he may fancy for some time that no harm has been the result; but though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small," and the time will arrive when he will discover that he is being allowed to eat of the fruit of his own ways, that from God's judgments he may learn righteousness, and that that fruit is extremely bitter.

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He does not succeed in resisting God's will; God is still, as before, bent like a Father upon imparting His own character to His child; but as the child has resisted the instruction, it must now be imparted through pain instead of pleasure, and it must be long before he can work round to the happiness of those who have all along sought and prayed to do God's will on earth, even as it is done in heaven. God may forgive His erring child, in the sense of being always

ready to hold out a helping hand to bring the wanderer back, but that will not save him the pain and trouble and damage he has sustained by wandering so far out of his course.

Do you still say, What is the use of praying, if God's will is sure to be done? I answer, How can we learn God's will without it—without constantly holding communion with Him, and asking Him to teach us for what things we ought to pray, and at what we should desire to aim? Prayer is sometimes called "incipient" action; it is the first stirring of the vital nerve-force which is eventually to be discharged in action. Accustom yourselves to think in a certain way, and it becomes easier and easier for the nerveforce to run along the familiar channel, and the moment the opportunity arrives for action, the brain is prepared to supply the will and power.

You know how, when a man stands on the edge of some dizzy height, he feels as if he could scarcely help throwing himself down-the situation is so suggestive of danger that the mind can think of nothing else; and as thought is next to action, some persons have dwelt upon it so much that they have no power of resistance left. Does not this teach us something about the danger of encouraging evil thoughts, and of the neglect of frequent prayer to God to cleanse us from our secret faults? A man cherishes some thought or desire which he knows to be opposed to