determined," and therefore to that list of things which cannot be conceived of as alterable in consideration of prayer. But it

is forgotten that the predetermination referred to, if a reality, must be either conditional or unconditional. If conditional, then prayer may be, in truth, the very condition that was, in multitudes of cases, pre-contemplated. But if unconditional, then the very same principle in virtue of which it is maintained that there is no room and scope for prayer, must be further extended, and it must be contended that there is no place for freedom in reference to what men may utter physically with their mouths, or do physically with their hands.

man.

JAMES MORISON, D.D., in The Expositor, October, 1877.

Prayer for Others.-Imagine, if you can, a universal practice established limiting prayer to spiritual blessings for oneself, or rather (if our reformers are to be logically consistent) not limiting prayer at all, but (since there are laws of spiritual as well as of material nature) destroying prayer, and substituting for it meditation on God's nature and the relations between God and What would have been the influence of such a practice upon your lives? . . . . We are frequently reproached, and not altogether without reason, for the spiritual selfishness said to be inherent in religious people: is it then a likely cure for religious selfishness to make self-love instead of love of others the fountainhead of prayer, to sever us as soon as we enter into communion with God the Father, from the communion of men our brethren, to make us say "My Father," where Christ has taught us to say "Our Father ;" and, while we are encouraged to work for the benefit of others, to discourage us from praying for anybody but ourselves? If it be so, surely there is no proportion between the two parts of Christian duty, and the less of prayer and the more of work the better.

E. A. ABBOTT, D.D., Cambridge Sermons, pp. 111, 112.

Prayer for Relatives.-On our first coming to realise the blessedness and peace of prayer, it seems most natural to us to think chiefly of our own kindred. The family tie is strong. It

'See "Intercession," etc.

was made strong, no doubt, to this end. Even the rich man in torment had not broken these bonds; and in that prayerless world he evinces anxiety for the conversion of his ungodly brethren.

Hence we pray, first, for any of whom we may stand in doubt among those who are near and dear to us ;-for the son, who may be frittering away his sweet hour of prime in hurtful or unprofitable pursuits; for the parent, who may be growing gray in utter forgetfulness of God; for a brother or a sister, running heedlessly and without pause in that way "which seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death;" for the husband or the wife, living together in all affection in this life, and yet destitute of those marks of the renewed mind, which we feel there must be, if this union is to be eternal. And, in many of these cases, prayer for our friends is the only way in which we can do them good. Continents may interpose their vast space between us, or want of sympathy in relation to holy things may separate us more than intervening seas; our several spheres of duty may lie too far apart for them to be influenced by our example; and some may be too much our seniors in years to be willing to take from us either counsel or reproof. Often, therefore, all we can do, whether for the relatives who are bound to us by the closest ties, or for the friends with whom we are thrown together in the common intercourse of life; for the amiable in their unconverted excellences, or for the upright in their pure but unavailing moralities, is to make intercession for them,night and day bearing them on our hearts before the throne.

Rev. DANIEL MOORE, M.A., Aids to Prayer, pp. 29-31.

Responsibility attaching to Prayer for Relatives. The awful thing is that your zeal and your struggle go always with what you pray for. You often pray for something, and God, through a thousand indications, says to you, "Ye know not what ye ask.” But you will not listen, your proud heart says, "I do know what I ask for. There may be danger in these things, but only let me have this granted for my child, and I will try and avoid evil following from it. Thou, O God, canst give me the thing I pray for, and let it do my child no harm." Has not that been the thought of many a mother, and then she has clutched at the thing in spite of God's whispered remonstrance, and she has got it, and

satisfied herself with the false thought that God gave it. Now, Christ's answer to Salome is a great lesson for such. God will not -shall we not say in the Master's words, God cannot ?—give either the result without that through which it is to be attained, or the thing without the result. There is no use in asking God to give your child poison, and to take all its deadliness out of it.

Mothers of England, this is a terrible responsibility that rests with you. How many of you set before you for your children nothing but what is intensely, solely earthly, and then strive proudly in all defiance of God's will for that! Oh! as you love your children, as you value their true peace and joy on earth, as you desire for them places near their Lord in His eternal kingdom, never dare to pray for a single thing for them save in the words, "Not my will, O God, but Thine be done." Think of your daughter, in days to come surrounded by all earthly wealth and splendour (but only amid the wreck and desolation of a shattered love!) in what, in bitter mockery, we call her "home," all the joy, the purity, the truth of life sacrificed for ever, and saying in her now cold and weary heart, "This is what my mother has won for me; this is what she even dared to pray for !"

Such things have been said on earth. We dare not even think of what it may be hereafter. These are solemn, awful thoughts. May God guide all you who have children, with their future so immensely under your influence and control, to desire nothing for them in comparison with their soul's welfare, with the best interests of their spiritual life.

Rev. T. TEIGNMOUTH SHORE, M.A., Some Difficulties of Belief, pp. 69-72.

Sick to be Prayed for.-A late physician of much celebrity used to ascribe much of his success to three maxims of his father, the last and best of which was, "Always pray for your patients." Memoir of James Hope, M.D., p. 51, quoted in Dr. HAMILTON'S Mount of Olives, p. 144.

Praying for Temporal Blessings.-There is nothing God's people make so many mistakes in as in praying for temporal things. God's greatest saints have failed in this. Moses was a mighty man of prayer. He had often talked to God face to face;

yet when he asked to be permitted to enter the goodly land it was denied, for God had something better in store for him. There was Elijah, a powerful man of prayer. He prayed, and God shut up the very heavens; and yet when he was in personal trouble he broke down like a little child, and prayed that he might die under the juniper tree. God did not hear that prayer. Again, Paul was a mighty man of prayer; and yet, when he prayed to have the thorn removed, God did not hear him. He had to learn the lesson, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Yet even as a rich father will give his children anything he can, so will our Heavenly Father, if we only let Him choose for us.

D. L. MOODY, Life Words, pp. 117, 118.

Temporal Gifts may be Prayed for.—The faith in which we are nearest to the living God is that which we exercise in meeting God in the Inspiration of the Divine Life; and the highest measure of this faith belongs to this dispensation of the Spirit. But we may not, therefore, make little account of trust in the living God in a lower region or earlier dispensation. The history of "the cloud of witnesses" is referred to as help to us in running with patience the race which is set before us, and help not superfluous, even while we are “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” We know also that while our highest intercourse with God as the hearer and answerer of prayer-both as to ourselves and in prayer for others-belongs to the eternal life, we are not called to shut out from our minds in such intercourse the lower interests of existence which it is natural, and not sin, to feel. No interest which it is right for us to cherish is to be held, in this view, "common or unclean." "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

"2

JOHN MCLEOD CAMPBELL, D.D., Thoughts on Revelation, pp. 173, 174.

1 Hebrews xii. 1.

2 Philippians iv. 6, 7.

XVI.

How to Pray.

1. Prayer should be offered with Humility and Penitence. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.—Genesis xviii. 27.

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin.—2 Chron. vii. 14.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, . for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.-Luke xviii. 13, 14.

2. With Faith.

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.--Matthew xxi. 22.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.-Hebrews xi. 6.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.—James i. 6, 7.

Have faith in God. . . . Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.-Mark xi. 22, 24.

3. As part of a Holy Life.

But

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.—Mark xi. 25, 26.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.-Psa. lxvi. 18. The Lord is far from the wicked; but He heareth the prayer of the righteous.-Proverbs xv. 29.

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.-John xv. 7.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James v. 16. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

I John iii. 22.

4. With Resignation to the Divine Will. And this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask anyth according to His will, He heareth us.-I John v. 14.