R E not afraid to pray, for prayer Is right, • L ' Pray if thou canst with hope; but ever pray, Though hope be faint, or sick with long delay; Pray in the darkness, if there be no light."
The Rest Cure PEAR that with most of us there are times when we are in no mood for praying. When we do not lean toward the mercy .seat, and prayer seems an irksome task. There may be no sense of wilful sin deterring us, and yet a cloud separates us from the Father's Face. It is good then if custom and duty drive us to prayer. We often shrink from other duties, which at other times we discharge with gladness; our affections are often dull toward earthly friends whom we dearly love and trust. We are creatures of moods; and physical and mental conditions rule the feelings. At such chill times we must remember that behind the clouds the love-lit Face still smiles as ever. Go, pray in the shadow. On the other hand, I trust, The cloud will b r e a k , a n d
Come thou a p a rt and rest awhile, I heard my Savior say; So sweet his tones, so fond His smile, I turned aside to pray. He led me to a place apart, F a r f r om the busy way; He gently drew me to His heart And whispered let us pray. He seemed so like a son of man, As on His breast I lay, That I, with burning heart, began, Lord, teach me how to pray; 'Tis thine to intercede for me, For grace f r om day to day; And help, in mine infirmity, Thy sinful child to pray. "My dove," He said, "my undeflled, Thy sins a re put awa y; In me beloved, my F a t h e r 's child, D r aw boldly near and pray; Thy God, thy heavenly F a t h er dear, Doth hear my prayer alway; And loves His children's voice to hear, When one with me they pray." So oft I gladly seek the place, • F a r from t he busy way, And boldly, at the throne of grace, I meet with Him to pray.
that, with all of us there are fre- q u e n t t i m e s when the mood steals upon us, and we seem to hear the voice of our Beloved; and drawn, as by the chords of love, we follow as He says,"Come thou apart and rest awhile." Martha was not in that frame the day she murmured at her sweet sister, but Mary was; and hers was the "better part," for she could say, "Oh how precious are the lessons w h i c h I learn at Jesus' feet."
through the rift light stream up- on us; or, as we climb the ascent of praise and con- ffession we shall rise above the cloud and stand forth in the brightness of His presence. Murray McCheyne s a i d "A great portion of my time is spent in getting my heart ready for prayer." And Bradford tells us that he "would never cease pray- ing, or praising, till he found his heart wholly en- gaged in it." It is at such times that we
learn how "A little talk with Jesus, seems to smooth the rugged road: How it seems to help us onward, when we struggle with our load." They are not the happy and helpful brethren, who do not know this. Of such as these a devout and bed-ridden negro woman said, to my friend T. C. Horton and myself, as we sat at her bedside, "'Pears lak dey neber saw de Lawd Jesus Face t' face." "God gives," says one, "the sweet flowers of Paradise to His People when they are upon their knees." In these times when we are so busy about the King's Business, tye lose many of the lessons, much of the sweetness, and most of tha rest that Mary found at His feet, and John on His bosom. How much we all need The Rest Cure!
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