Wherever you may be, and in whatsoever trial you may be involved, the Lord will hear your cry and come to your help. If any soul here is, like Jonah, in the very belly of hell in feeling and apprehension, yet his cry will prevail with Heaven, and he shall know that "salvation is of the Lord." A poor man's cry will sound, through the telephone of Christ's mediation, in the ear of God, and He will respond to it.—SPURGEON.

Be Not Afraid to Pray.

Be not afraid to pray; to pray is right.
Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray,
Though hope be weak or sick with long delay;
Pray in the darkness if there be no light.
Whate'er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven,
Though it be what thou canst not hope to see.
Pray to be perfect, though material leaven
Forbid the spirit so on earth to be;

But if for any wish thou darest not pray,
Then pray to God to take that wish away.

HARTLEY COLERIDGE.

Prayer and Praise.

Let your prayers be composed of thanksgiving, praise, confession and petition, without any argument or exhortation addressed to those who are supposed to be praying with you. Adopt no fixed forms of expression, except such as you obtain from Scripture. Express your desire in the briefest and simplest form, without circumlocution. Hallow God's name by avoiding its unnecessary repeti

tion.

Adopt the simple devotional phrases of Scripture, but avoid the free use of its figures, and all quaint and doubtful application of its terms to foreign subjects. Pray to God and not to man.-F. ADDISON Alexander.

I Hear Thy Voice.

I hear Thy voice, dear Lord;

I hear it by the stormy sea,

When Winter's nights are black and wild.
And when, afright, I call to Thee

It calms my fears, and whispers me:
"Sleep well, my child."

I hear Thy voice, dear Lord,

In singing winds and falling snow,
The curfew chimes, the midnight bell;
"Sleep well, my child," it murmurs low;
"The guardian angels come and go.
O child, sleep well."

Speak on-speak on, dear Lord;

And when the last dread night is near,
With doubts and fears and terrors wild,
Oh, let my soul expiring hear

Only these words of heavenly cheer:

A Worker's Prayer.

Lord, speak to me, that I may speak
In living echoes of Thy tone;

As Thou hast sought, so let me seek
Thy erring children, lost and lone.

O lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet.
O feed me, Lord, that I may feed

Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.

O strengthen me, that while I stand Firm on the Rock and strong in Thee, I may stretch out a loving hand

To wrestlers with the troubled sea.

O teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious things Thou dost impart;
And wing my words, that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart.

O give Thine own sweet rest to me,
That I may speak with soothing power

A word in season, as from Thee,
To weary ones in needful hour.

O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord,
Until my very heart o'erflow

In kindling thought and glowing word

Thy love to tell, thy praise to show.

O use me, Lord! Use even me

Just as Thou wilt, and when and where,
Until Thy blessed face I see-

Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share.

FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.

A Scientist's Idea of Prayer.

Are we to suppose that the only being in the universe who can not answer prayer is that One who alone has all power at His command? The weak theology that professes to believe that prayer has merely a subjective benefit is infinitely less scientific than the action of the child who confidently appeals to a Father in Heaven. PROF. DAWSON.

A Prayer for Sight.
Lord, we sit and cry to Thee
Like the blind beside the way.
Make our darkened soul to see
The glory of Thy perfect day.
Lord, rebuke our sullen night
And give Thyself unto our sight.

Lord, we do not ask to gaze

On our dim and earthly sun,

But the light that still shall blaze

When every star its course has run

The glory of Thy best abode,

The uncreated light of God.

HENRY HART MILMAN.

Prayer a Bell-Rope.

Prayer pulls the rope below, and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with Heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.-SPURGEON.

Keep Us.

Here in Thy great world-garden, Lord, we stand.
Keep us, for here the blossoms blight so fast!
The fruit is flawed in turning from Thy beams
To the biting east-to folly and to sin.
And let all trees, the wildlings of the wood.
And grafts of rarest culture waft Thee praise!

LUCY LARCOM.

Prayer Is Communion.

Prayer is by no means a mere talisman through which we substitute our will for that of God, but it is more truly that communion of the mind with God through which our will becomes at last merged into His will.— F. W. ROBERtson.

God Answers Prayer.

God answers prayer; sometimes, when hearts are weak, He gives the very gifts believers seek.

But often faith must learn a deeper rest,

And trust God's silence, when He does not speak;