The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer

Chapter 15

Chapter 1515,538 wordsPublic domain

The Coming Revival

"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"--PS. lxxxv. 6.

"O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--HAB. iii. 2.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. cxxxviii. 7.

"I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. lvii. 15.

"Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He will revive us."--HOS. vi. 1, 2.

_The Coming Revival_--one frequently hears the word. There are teachers not a few who see the tokens of its approach, and confidently herald its speedy appearance. In the increase of mission interest, in the tidings of revivals in places where all were dead or cold, in the hosts of our young gathered into Students' and other Associations or Christian Endeavour Societies, in doors everywhere opened in the Christian and the heathen world, in victories already secured in the fields white unto the harvest, wherever believing, hopeful workers enter, they find the assurance of a time of power and blessing such as we have not known. The Church is about to enter on a new era of increasing spirituality and larger extension.

There are others who, while admitting the truth of some of these facts, yet fear that the conclusions drawn from them are one-sided and premature. They see the interest in missions increased, but point out to how small a circle it is confined, and how utterly out of proportion it is to what it ought to be. To the great majority of Church members, to the greater part of the Church, it is as yet anything but a life question. They remind us of the power of worldliness and formality, of the increase of the money-making and pleasure-loving spirit among professing Christians, to the lack of spirituality in so many, many of our churches, and the continuing and apparently increasing estrangement of multitudes from God's Day and Word, as proof that the great revival has certainly not begun, and is hardly thought of by the most. They say that they do not see the deep humiliation, the intense desire, the fervent prayer which appear as the forerunners of every true revival.

There are right-hand and left-hand errors which are equally dangerous. We must seek as much to be kept from the superficial Optimism, which never is able to gauge the extent of the evil, as from the hopeless Pessimism which can neither praise God for what He has done, nor trust Him for what He is ready to do. The former will lose itself in a happy self-gratulation, as it rejoices in its zeal and diligence and apparent success, and never see the need of confession and great striving in prayer, ere we are prepared to meet and conquer the hosts of darkness. The latter virtually gives over the world to Satan, and almost prays and rejoices to see things get worse, to hasten the coming of Him who is to put all right. May God keep us from either error, and fulfil the promise, "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." Let us listen to the lessons suggested by the passages we have quoted; they may help us to pray the prayer aright: "Revive Thy work, O Lord!"

1. "_Revive Thy work, O Lord!_"--Read again the passages of Scripture, and see how they all contain the one thought: Revival is God's work; He alone can give it; it must come from above. We are frequently in danger of looking to what God has done and is doing, and to count on that as the pledge that He will at once do more. And all the time it may be true that He is blessing us up to the measure of our faith or self-sacrifice, and cannot give larger measure, until there has been a new discovery and confession of what is hindering Him. Or we may be looking to all the signs of life and good around us, and congratulating ourselves on all the organisations and agencies that are being created, while the need of God's mighty and direct interposition is not rightly felt, and the entire dependence upon Him not cultivated. Regeneration, the giving of Divine life, we all acknowledge to be God's act, a miracle of His power. The restoring or reviving of the Divine life, in a soul or a Church, is as much a supernatural work. To have the spiritual discernment that can understand the signs of the heavens, and prognosticate the coming revival, we need to enter deep into God's mind and will as to its conditions, and the preparedness of those who pray for it or are to be used to bring it about. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets." It is God who is to give the revival; it is God who reveals His secret; it is the spirit of absolute dependence upon God, giving Him the honour and the glory, that will prepare for it.

2. "_Revive Thy work, O Lord!_"--A second lesson suggested is, that the revival God is to give will be given in answer to prayer. It must be asked and received direct from God Himself. Those who know anything of the history of revivals will remember how often this has been proved--both larger and more local revivals have been distinctly traced to special prayer. In our own day there are numbers of congregations and missions where special or permanent revivals are--all glory be to God--connected with systematic, believing prayer. The coming revival will be no exception. An extraordinary spirit of prayer, urging believers to much secret and united prayer, pressing them to "labour fervently" in their supplications, will be one of the surest signs of approaching showers and floods of blessing.

Let all who are burdened with the lack of spirituality, with the low state of the life of God in believers, listen to the call that comes to all. If there is to be revival,--a mighty, Divine revival,--it will need, on our part, corresponding whole-heartedness in prayer and faith. Let not one believer think himself too weak to help, or imagine that he will not be missed. If he first begin, the gift that is in him may be so stirred that, for his circle or neighbourhood, he shall be God's chosen intercessor. Let us think of the need of souls, of all the sins and failings among God's people, of the little power there is in so much of the preaching, and begin to cry every day, "Wilt Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?" And let us have the truth graven deep in our hearts: every revival comes, as Pentecost came, as the fruit of united, continued prayer. The coming revival must begin with a great prayer revival. It is in the closet, with the door shut, that the sound of abundance of rain will be first heard. An increase of secret prayer with ministers and members, will be the sure harbinger of blessing.

3. "_Revive Thy work, O Lord!_"--A third lesson our texts teach is that it is to the humble and contrite that the revival is promised. We want the revival to come upon the proud and the self-satisfied, to break them down and save them. God will give this, but only on the condition that those who see and feel the sin of others take their burden of confession and bear it, and that all who pray for and claim in faith God's reviving power for His Church, shall humble themselves with the confession of its sins. The need of revival always points to previous decline; and decline was always caused by sin. Humiliation and contrition have ever been the conditions of revival. In all intercession confession of man's sin and God's righteous judgment is ever an essential element.

Throughout the history of Israel we continually see this. It comes out in the reformations under the pious Kings of Judah. We hear it in the prayer of men like Ezra and Nehemiah and Daniel. In Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as well as in the minor prophets, it is the keynote of all the warning as of all the promise. If there be no humiliation and forsaking of sin there can be no revival or deliverance: "These men have set up their idols in their hearts. Shall I at all be inquired of by them?" "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word." Amid the most gracious promises of Divine visitation there is ever this note: "Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O House of Israel."

We find the same in the New Testament. The Sermon on the Mount promises the kingdom to the poor and them that mourn. In the Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians the religion of man, of worldly wisdom and confidence in the flesh, is exposed and denounced; without its being confessed and forsaken, all the promises of grace and the Spirit will be vain. In the Epistles to the seven churches we find five of which He, out of whose mouth goes the sharp, two-edged sword, says, that He has something against them. In each of these the keyword of His message is--not to the unconverted, but to the Church--Repent! All the glorious promises which each of these Epistles contain, down to the last one, with its "Open the door and I will come in"; "He that overcometh shall sit with Me on My throne," are dependent on that one word--Repent!

And if there is to be a revival, not among the unsaved, but in our churches, to give a holy, spiritual membership, will not that trumpet sound need to be heard--Repent? Was it only in Israel, in the ministry of kings and prophets, that there was so much evil in God's people to be cleansed away? Was it only in the Church of the first century, that Paul and James and our Lord Himself had to speak such sharp words? Or is there not in the Church of our days an idolatry of money and talent and culture, a worldly spirit, making it unfaithful to its one only Husband and Lord, a confidence in the flesh which grieves and resists God's Holy Spirit? Is there not almost everywhere a confession of the lack of spirituality and spiritual power? Let all who long for the coming revival, and seek to hasten it by their prayers, pray this above everything, that the Lord may prepare His prophets to go before Him at His bidding: "Cry aloud and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression." Every deep revival among God's people must have its roots in a deep sense and confession of sin. Until those who would lead the Church in the path of revival bear faithful testimony against the sins of the Church, it is to feared that it will find people unprepared. Men would fain have a revival as the outgrowth of their agencies and progress. God's way is the opposite: it is out of death, acknowledged as the desert of sin, confessed as utter helplessness, that He revives. He revives the heart of the contrite one.

4. "_Revive Thy work, O Lord!_"--There is a last thought, suggested by the text from Hosea. It is as we return to _the Lord_ that revival will come; for if we had not wandered from Him, His life would be among us in power. "Come and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, He will heal us: He hath smitten; He will bind us up: _He will revive us_, and we shall live in His sight." As we have said, there can be no return to the Lord, where there is no sense or confession of wandering. _Let us return to the Lord_ must be the keynote of the revival. Let us return, acknowledging and forsaking whatever there has been in the Church that is not entirely according to His mind and spirit. Let us return, yielding up and casting out whatever there has been in our religion or along with it of the power of God's two great enemies--confidence in the flesh or the spirit of the world. Let us return, in the acknowledgment of how undividedly God must have us, to fill us with His Spirit, and use us for the kingdom of His Son. Oh, let us return, in the surrender of a dependence and a devotion which has no measure but the absolute claim of Him who is the Lord! Let us return to the Lord with our whole heart, that He may make and keep us wholly His. He will revive us, and we shall live in His sight. Let us turn to the God of Pentecost, as Christ led his disciples to turn to Him, and the God of Pentecost will turn to us.

It is for this returning to the Lord that the great work of intercession is needed. It is here the coming revival must find its strength. Let us begin as individuals in secret to plead with God, confessing whatever we see of sin or hindrance, in ourselves or others. If there were not one other sin, surely in the lack of prayer there is matter enough for repentance and confession and returning to the Lord. Let us seek to foster the spirit of confession and supplication and intercession in those around us. Let us help to encourage and to train those who think themselves too feeble. Let us lift up our voice to proclaim the great truths. The revival must come from above; the revival must be received in faith from above and brought down by prayer; the revival comes to the humble and contrite, for them to carry to others; if we return to the Lord with our whole heart, He will revive us. On those who see these truths, rests the solemn responsibility of giving themselves up to witness for them and to act them out.

And as each of us pleads for the revival throughout the Church, let us specially, at the same time, cry to God for our own neighbourhood or sphere of work. Let, with every minister and worker, there be "great searchings of heart," as to whether they are ready to give such proportion of time and strength to prayer as God would have. Let them, even as in public they are leaders of their larger or smaller circles, give themselves in secret to take their places in the front rank of the great intercession host, that must prevail with God, ere the great revival, the floods of blessing can come. Of all who speak or think of, or long for, revival, let not one hold back in this great work of honest, earnest, definite pleading: Revive Thy work, O Lord! Wilt Thou not revive us again?

Come and let us return to the Lord: He will revive us! And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord. "_His going forth_ is sure as the morning; and _He shall come unto us_ as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth." Amen. So be it.

NOTES

NOTE A, Chap. VI. p. 73

Just this day I have been meeting a very earnest lady missionary from India. She confesses and mourns the lack of prayer. But--in India at least--it can hardly be otherwise. You have only the morning hours, from six to eleven, for your work. Some have attempted to rise at four, and get the time they think they need, and have suffered, and had to give it up. Some have tried to take time after lunch, and been found asleep on their knees. You are not your own master, and must act with others. No one who has not been in India can understand the difficulty; sufficient time for much intercession cannot be secured.

Were it only in the heat of India the difficulty existed, one might be silent. But, alas! in the coldest winter in London, and in the moderate climate of South Africa, there is the same trouble everywhere. If once we really felt--_intercession is the most important part of our work_, the securing of God's presence and power in full measure is the essential thing, this is our first duty--our hours of work would all be made subordinate to this one thing.

May God show us all whether there indeed be an insuperable difficulty for which we are not responsible, whether it be only a mistake we are making, or a sin by which we are grieving Him and hindering His Spirit!

If we ask the question George Muller once asked of a Christian, who complained that he could not find time sufficient for the study of the Word and prayer, whether an hour less work, say four hours, with the soul dwelling in the full light of God, would not be more prosperous and effective than five hours with the depressing consciousness of unfaithfulness, and the loss of the power that could be obtained in prayer, the answer will not be difficult. The more we think of it the more we feel that when earnest, godly workers allow, against their better will, the spiritual to be crowded out by incessant occupation and the fatigue it brings, it must be because the spiritual life is not sufficiently strong in them to bid the lever stand aside till the presence of God in Christ and the power of the Spirit have been fully secured.

Let us listen to Christ saying, "_Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's_"--let duty and work have their place--"and unto God the things that are God's." Let the worship in the Spirit, the entire dependence and continued waiting upon God for the full experience of His presence and power every day, and the strength of Christ working in us, ever have the first place. The whole question is simply this, Is God to have the place, the love, the trust, the time for personal fellowship He claims, so that all our working shall be God working in us?

NOTE B, Chap. VII. p. 89

Let me tell here a story that occurs in one of Dr. Boardman's works. He had been invited by a lady of good position, well known as a successful worker among her husband's dependents, to come and address them. "And then," she added, "I want to speak to you about a bit of bondage of my own." When he had addressed her meeting, and found many brought to Christ through her, he wondered what her trouble might be. She soon told him. God had blessed her work, but, alas, the enjoyment she once had had in God's word and secret prayer had been lost. And she had tried her utmost to get it back, and had failed. "Ah! that is just your mistake," he said. "How that? Ought I not to do my best to have the coldness removed?" "Tell me," he said, "were you saved by doing your best?" "Oh, no! I tried long to do that, but only found rest when I ceased trying, and trusted Christ." "And that is what you need to do now. Enter your closet at the appointed time, however dull you feel, and place yourself before your Lord. Do not try to rouse an earnestness you do not feel; but quietly say to Him that He sees how all is wrong, how helpless you are, and trust Him to bless you. He will do it; as you trust quietly, His Spirit will work."

The simple story may teach many a Christian a most blessed lesson in the life of prayer. You have accepted of Christ Jesus to make you whole, and give you strength to walk in newness of life; you have claimed the Holy Spirit to be in you the Spirit of Supplication and Intercession; but do not wonder if your feelings are not all at once changed, or if your power of prayer does not come in the way you would like. It is a life of faith. By faith we receive the Holy Spirit and all His workings. Faith regards neither sight nor feeling, but rests, even when there appears to be no power to pray, in the assurance that the Spirit is praying in us as we bow quietly before God. He that thus waits in faith, and honours the Holy Spirit, and yields himself to Him, will soon find that prayer will begin to come. And he that perseveres in the faith that through Christ and by the Spirit each prayer, however feeble, is acceptable to God, will learn the lesson that it is possible to be taught by the Spirit, and led to walk worthy of the Lord to all well pleasing.

NOTE C, Chap. IX. p. 111

Just yesterday again--three days after the conversation mentioned in the note to chap. vii.--I met a devoted young missionary lady from the interior. As a conversation on prayer was proceeding, she interposed unasked with the remark, "But it is really impossible to find the time to pray as we wish to." I could only answer, "Time is a quantity that accommodates itself to our will; what our hearts really consider of _first importance_ in the day, we will soon succeed in finding time for." It must surely be that the ministry of intercession has never been put before our students in Theological Halls and Missionary Training Homes as the most important part of their life-work. We have thought of our work in preaching or visiting as our real duty, and of prayer as a subordinate means to do this work successfully. Would not the whole position be changed if we regarded the ministry of intercession as the chief thing--_getting the blessing and power of God_ for the souls entrusted to us? Then our work would take its right place, and become the subordinate one of really dispensing blessings which we had received from God. It was when the friend at midnight, in answer to his prayer, had received from Another as much as he needed, that he could supply his hungry friend. It was the intercession, going out and importuning, that was the difficult work; returning home with his rich supply to impart was easy, joyful work. This is Christ's divine order for all thy work, my brother: First come, in utter poverty, every day, and get from God the blessing in intercession, go then rejoicingly to impart it.

NOTE D, Chap. X. p. 123

Let me once again refer my readers to William Law, and repeat what I have said before, that no book has so helped me to an insight into the place and work of the Holy Spirit in the economy of redemption as his ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.[2]

The way in which he opens up how God's one object was to dwell in man, making him partaker of His goodness and glory, other way than by himself living and working in him, gives one the key to what Pentecost and the sending forth of the Spirit of God's Son into our hearts really means. It is Christ in God's name really regaining and retaking possession of the home He had created for Himself. It is God entering into the secret depths of our nature there to "work to will and to do," to "work that which is pleasing in His sight in Christ Jesus." It is as this truth enters into us, and we see that there is and can be no good in us but what God works, that we shall see light on the Divine mystery of prayer, and believe in the Holy Spirit as breathing within us desires which God will fulfil when we yield to them, and believingly present them in the name of Christ. We shall then see that just as wonderful and prevailing as the intercession and prayer passing from the Incarnate Son to the Father in heaven is our intercourse with God; the Spirit, who is God, breathing and praying in us amid all our feebleness His heaven-born Divine petitions: what a heavenly thing prayer becomes.

The latter part of the above-mentioned book consists of extracts from Law's letters. These have been published separately as a little shilling volume.[3] No one who will take the time quietly to read and master the so simple but deep teaching they contain, without being wonderfully strengthened in the confidence which is needed, if we are to pray much and boldly. As we learn that the Holy Spirit is within us to reveal Christ there, to make us in living reality partakers of His death, His life, His merit, His disposition, so that He is formed within us, we will begin to see how Divinely right and sure it is that our intercessions in His name must be heard; his own Spirit maintains the living union with Himself, in whom we are brought nigh to God, and gives us boldness of access; what I have so feebly said in the chapter on the Spirit of Supplication will get new meaning; and, what is more, the exercise of prayer a new attractiveness; its solemn Divine mystery will humble us, its unspeakable privilege lift us up in faith and adoration.

[2] _The Power of the Spirit: An Address to the Clergy._ By WILLIAM LAW. With additional Extracts and an Introduction by Rev. A. M. James Nisbet & Co. 2s. 6d.

[3] _The Divine Indwelling._ Selections from the Letters of William Law. With Introduction by A. M. James Nisbet & Co.

NOTE E, Chap. XI. p. 136

There is a question, the deepest of all, on which I have not entered in this book. I have spoken of the lack of prayer in the individual Christian as a symptom of a disease. But what shall we say of it, that there is such a widespread prevalence of this failure to give a due proportion of time and strength to prayer? Do we not need to inquire, How comes it that the Church of Christ, endued with the Holy Ghost, cannot train its ministers and workers and members to place first what is first? How comes it that the confession of too little prayer, and the call for more prayer, is so frequently heard, and yet the evil continues? The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Supplication and Intercession, is in the Church and in every believer. There must surely be some other spirit of great power resisting and hindering this Spirit of God. It is indeed so. The spirit of the world, which under all its beautiful and even religious activities is the spirit of the god of this world, is the great hindrance. Everything that is done on earth, whether within or without the Church, is done by either of these two spirits. What is in the individual the flesh, is in mankind as a whole the spirit of the world; and all the power the flesh has in the individual is owing to the place given to the spirit of this world in the Church and in Christian life. It is the spirit of the world is the great hindrance to the spirit of prayer. All our most earnest calls to men to pray more will be vain except this evil be acknowledged and combated and overcome. The believer and the Church must be entirely freed from the spirit of the world.

And how is this to be done? There is but one way--the Cross of Christ, "by which," as Paul says, "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." It is only through death to the world that we can be freed from its spirit. The separation must be vital and entire. It is only through the acceptance of our crucifixion with Christ that we can live out this confession, and, as crucified to the world, maintain the position of irreconcilable hostility to whatever is of its spirit and not of the Spirit of God; and it is only God Himself who, by His Divine power, can lead us into and keep us daily dead to sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus. The cross, with its shame and its separation from the world, and its death to all that is of flesh and of self, is the only power that can conquer the spirit of the world.

I have felt so strongly that the truth needs to be anew asserted, that I hope, if it please God, to publish a volume, _The Cross of Christ_, with the inquiry into what God's word teaches as to our actual participation with Christ in His crucifixion. Christ prayed on the way to the cross. He prayed Himself to the cross. He prayed on the cross. He prays ever as the fruit of the cross. As the Church lives on the cross, and the cross lives in the Church, the spirit of prayer will be given. In Christ it was the crucifixion spirit and death that was the source of the Intercession Spirit and Power. With us it can be no otherwise.

NOTE F, Chap. XIV. p. 177

I have more than once spoken of the need of training Christians to the work of intercession. In a previous note I have asked the question whether, in the teaching of our Theological Halls and Mission Training Houses, sufficient attention is given to prayer as the most important, and in some senses the most difficult part of the work for which the students are being prepared. I have wondered whether it might not be possible to offer those who are willing, during their student life, to put themselves under a course of training, some help in the way of hints and suggestions as to what is needed to give prayer the place and the power in our ministry it ought to have.

As a rule, it is in the student life that the character must be formed for future years, and it is in the present student world that the Church of the future must be influenced. If God allows me to carry out a plan that is hardly quite mature yet, I would wish to publish a volume, THE STUDENT'S PRAYER MANUAL, combining the teaching of Scripture as to what is most needed to make men of prayer of us, with such practical directions as may help a young Christian, preparing to devote his life to God's service successfully, to cultivate such a spirit and habit of prayer as shall abide with him through all his coming life and labours.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

HELPS TO INTERCESSION

PRAYING ALWAYS WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT AND WATCHING THEREUNTO WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL SAINTS AND FOR ME

I EXHORT THAT FIRST OF ALL SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSIONS GIVING OF THANKS BE MADE FOR ALL MEN FOR KINGS, AND ALL THAT ARE IN AUTHORITY

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER

_These "Helps" are issued as a separate Tract by Messrs. Nisbet &. Co., price 2d._

_Anyone is at liberty to have the Tract reprinted, with such modifications as may be desired._

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Helps to Intercession

=Pray without Ceasing.=--Who can do this? How can one do it who is surrounded by the cares of daily life?--How can a mother love her child without ceasing? How can the eyelid without ceasing hold itself ready to protect the eye? How can I breathe and feel and hear without ceasing? Because all these are the functions of a healthy, natural life. And so, if the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural.

=Pray without Ceasing.=--Does it refer to continual acts of prayer, in which we are to persevere till we obtain, or to the spirit of prayerfulness that should animate us all the day? It includes both. The example of our Lord Jesus shows us this. We have to enter our closet for special seasons of prayer; we are at times to persevere there in importunate prayer. We are also all the day to walk in God's presence, with the whole heart set upon heavenly things. Without set times of prayer the spirit of prayer will be dull and feeble. Without the continual prayerfulness the set times will not avail.

=Pray without Ceasing.=--Does that refer to prayer for ourselves or others? To both. It is because many confine it to themselves that they fail so in practising it. It is only when the branch gives itself to bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit, that it can live a healthy life, and expect a rich inflow of sap. The death of Christ brought Him to the place of everlasting intercession. Your death with Him to sin and self sets you free from the care of self, and elevates you to the dignity of intercessor--one who can get life and blessing from God for others. Know your calling; begin this your work. Give yourself wholly to it, and ere you know you will be finding something of this "_Praying always_" within you.

=Pray without Ceasing.=--How can I learn it? The best way of learning to do a thing--in fact the only way--is _to do it_. Begin by setting apart some time every day, say ten or fifteen minutes, in which you say to God and to yourself, that you come to Him now as intercessor for others. Let it be after your morning or evening prayer, or any other time. If you cannot secure the same time every day, be not troubled. Only see that you do your work. Christ chose you and appointed you to pray for others.

If at first you do not feel any special urgency or faith or power in your prayers, let not that hinder you. Quietly tell your Lord Jesus of your feebleness; believe that the Holy Spirit is in you to teach you to pray, and be assured that if you begin, God will help you. God cannot help you unless you begin and keep on.

=Pray without Ceasing.=--How do I know what to pray for? If once you begin, and think of all the needs around you, you will soon find enough. But to help you this little tract is issued, with subjects and hints for prayer for a month. It is meant that we should use it month by month, until we know more fully to follow the Spirit's leading, and have learnt, if need be, to make our own list of subjects, and can dispense with it. In regard to the use of these helps a few words may be needed.

=1. How to Pray.=--You notice for every day two headings--the one =What to Pray=; the other, =How to Pray=. If the subjects were only given, one might fall into the routine of mentioning names and things before God, and the work become a burden. The hints under the heading =How to Pray= are meant to remind of the spiritual nature of the work, of the need of Divine help, and to encourage faith in the certainty that God, through the Spirit, will give us grace to pray aright, and will also hear our prayer. One does not at once learn to take his place boldly, and to dare to believe that he will be heard. Therefore take a few moments each day to listen to God's voice reminding you of how certainly even you will be heard, and calling on you to pray in that faith in your Father, to claim and take the blessing you plead for. And let these words about =How to Pray= enter your hearts and occupy your thoughts at other times too. The work of intercession is Christ's great work on earth, intrusted to Him because He gave Himself a sacrifice to God for men. The work of intercession is the greatest work a Christian can do. Give yourself a sacrifice to God for men, and the work will become your glory and your joy too.

=2. What to Pray.=--Scripture calls us to pray for many things: for all saints; for all men; for kings and all rulers; for all who are in adversity; for the sending forth of labourers; for those who labour in the gospel; for all converts; for believers who have fallen into sin; for one another in our own immediate circles. The Church is now so much larger than when the New Testament was written; the number of forms of work and workers is so much greater; the needs of the Church and the world are so much better known, that we need to take time and thought to see where prayer is needed, and to what our heart is most drawn out. The Scripture calls to prayer demand a large heart, taking in all saints, and all men, and all needs. An attempt has been made in these helps to indicate what the chief subjects are that need prayer, and that ought to interest every Christian.

It will be felt difficult by many to pray for such large spheres as are sometimes mentioned. Let it be understood that in each case we may make special intercession for our own circle of interest coming under that heading. And it is hardly needful to say, further, that where one subject appears of more special interest or urgency than another we are free for a time day after day to take up that subject. If only time be really given to intercession, and the spirit of believing intercession be cultivated, the object is attained. While, on the one hand, the heart must be enlarged at times to take in all, the more pointed and definite our prayer can be the better. With this view paper is left blank in which we can write down special petitions we desire to urge before God.

=3. Answers to Prayer.=--More than one little book has been published in which Christians may keep a register of their petitions, and note when they were answered. Room has been left on every page for this, so that more definite petitions with regard to individual souls or special spheres of work may be recorded, and the answer looked for. When we pray for all saints, or for missions in general, it is difficult to know when or how our prayer is answered, or whether our prayer has had any part in bringing the answer. It is of extreme importance that we should prove that God hears us, and to this end take note of what answers we look for, and when they come. On the day of praying for all saints, take the saints in your congregation, or in your prayer-meeting, and ask for a revival among them. Take, in connection with missions, some special station or missionary you are interested in, or more than one, and plead for blessing. And expect and look for its coming, that you may praise God.

=4. Prayer Circles.=--There is no desire in publishing this invitation to intercession to add another to the many existing prayer unions or praying bands. The first object is to stir the many Christians who practically, through ignorance of their calling, or unbelief as to their prayer availing much, take but very little part in the work of intercession; and then to help those who do pray to some fuller apprehension of the greatness of the work, and the need of giving their whole strength to it. There is a circle of prayer which asks for prayer on the first day of every month for the fuller manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit throughout the Church. I have given the words of that invitation as subject for the first day, and taken the same thought as keynote all through. The more one thinks of the need and the promise, and the greatness of the obstacles to be overcome in prayer, the more one feels it must become our life-work day by day, that to which every other interest is subordinated.

But while not forming a large prayer union, it is suggested that it may be found helpful to have small prayer circles to unite in prayer, either for one month, with some special object introduced daily along with the others, or through a year or longer, with the view of strengthening each other in the grace of intercession. If a minister were to invite some of his neighbouring brethren to join for some special requests along with the printed subjects for supplication, or a number of the more earnest members of his congregation to unite in prayer for revival, some might be trained to take their place in the great work of intercession, who now stand idle because no man hath hired them.

=5. Who is sufficient for these things?=--The more we study and try to practise this grace of intercession, the more we become overwhelmed by its greatness and our feebleness. Let every such impression lead us to listen: =My grace is sufficient for thee=, and to answer truthfully: =Our sufficiency is of God=. Take courage; it is in the intercession of Christ you are called to take part. The burden and the agony, the triumph and the victory are all His. Learn from Him, yield to His Spirit in you, to know how to pray. He gave Himself a sacrifice to God for men, that He might have the right and power of intercession. "He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Let your faith rest boldly on His finished work. Let your heart wholly identify itself with Him in His death and His life. =Like Him=, give yourself =to God= a sacrifice for men: it is your highest nobility, it is your true and full union to Him; it will be to you, as to Him, your power of intercession. Beloved Christian! come and give your whole heart and life to intercession, and you will know its blessedness and its power. God asks nothing less; the world needs nothing less; Christ asks nothing less; let nothing less be what we offer to God.

FIRST DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Power of the Holy Spirit

="I bow my knees unto the Father, that He would grant you that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit."=--EPH. iii. 16.

="Wait for the promise of the Father."=--ACTS i. 4.

"The fuller manifestation of the grace and energy of the Blessed Spirit of God, in the removal of all that is contrary to God's revealed will, so that we grieve not the Holy Spirit, but that He may work in mightier power in the Church, for the exaltation of Christ and the blessing of souls."

God has one promise to and through His exalted Son; our Lord has one gift to His Church; the Church has one need; all prayer unites in the one petition--the power of the Holy Spirit. Make it your one prayer.

HOW TO PRAY.--As a Child asks a Father

="If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"=--LUKE xi. 11, 13.

Ask as simply and trustfully as a child asks bread. You can do this because ="God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying, Abba, Father."= This Spirit is in you to give you childlike confidence. In the faith of His praying in you, ask for the power of that holy Spirit everywhere. Mention places or circles where you specially ask it to be seen.

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SECOND DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Supplication

="The Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us."=--ROM. viii. 26.

="I will pour out the Spirit of Supplication."=--ZECH. xii. 10.

"The evangelisation of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men--ay, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life--is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer."

Every child of God has the Holy Spirit in him to pray. God waits to give the Spirit in full measure. Ask for yourself, and all who join, the outpouring of the Spirit of Supplication. Ask it for your own prayer circle.

HOW TO PRAY.--In the Spirit

="With all prayer and supplication, praying at all seasons in the Spirit."=--EPH. vi. 18.

="Praying in the Holy Spirit."=--JUDE 20.

Our Lord gave His disciples on His resurrection day the Holy Spirit to enable them to wait for the full outpouring on the day of Pentecost. It is only in the power of the Spirit already in us, acknowledged and yielded to, that we can pray for His fuller manifestation. Say to the Father, it is the Spirit of His Son in you is urging you to plead His promise.

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THIRD DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For all Saints

="With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all saints."=--EPH. vi. 18.

Every member of a body is interested in the welfare of the whole, and exists to help and complete the others. Believers are one body, and ought to pray, not so much for the welfare of their own church or society, but, first of all, for all saints. This large, unselfish love is the proof that Christ's Spirit and Love is teaching them to pray. Pray first for all and then for the believers around you.

HOW TO PRAY.--In the Love of the Spirit

="By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."=--JOHN xiii. 35.

="I pray that they all may be one, that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me."=--JOHN xvii. 21.

="I beseech you, brethren, by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me."=--ROM. xv. 30.

="Above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves."=--1 PET. iv. 8.

If we are to pray we must love. Let us say to God we do love all His saints; let us say we love specially every child of His we know. Let us pray with fervent love, in the love of the Spirit.

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FOURTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY,--For the Spirit of Holiness

God is the Holy One. His people is a holy people. He speaks: I am holy: I am the Lord which make you holy. Christ prayed: Sanctify them. Make them holy through =Thy Truth=. Paul prayed: "God establish your hearts unblamable in holiness." "God sanctify you wholly!"

Pray for all saints--God's holy ones--throughout the Church, that the Spirit of holiness may rule them. Specially for new converts. For the saints in your own neighbourhood or congregation. For any you are specially interested in. Think of their special need, weakness, or sin, and pray that God may make them holy.

HOW TO PRAY.--Trusting in God's Omnipotence

The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. When we think of the great things we ask for, of how little likelihood there is of their coming, of our own insignificance. Prayer is not only wishing, or asking, but believing and accepting. Be still before God and ask Him to give you to know Him as the Almighty One, and leave your petitions with Him who doeth wonders.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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FIFTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--That God's People may be kept from the World

="Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, as I am not of the world."=--JOHN xvii. 11, 15, 16.

In the last night Christ asked three things for His disciples: that they might be kept as those who are not of the world; that they might be sanctified; that they might be one in love. You cannot do better than pray as Jesus prayed. Ask for God's people that they may be kept separate from the world and its spirit; that they, by the Holy Spirit, may live as those who are not of the world.

HOW TO PRAY.--Having Confidence before God

="Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."=--1 JOHN iii. 21, 22.

Learn these words by heart. Get them into your heart. Join the ranks of those who, with John, draw nigh to God with =an assured heart=, that =does not condemn= them, =having confidence toward God=. In this spirit pray for your brother who sins (1 John v. 16). In the quiet confidence of an obedient child plead for those of your brethren who may be giving way to sin. Pray for all to be kept from the evil. And say often, ="What we ask, we receive, because we keep and do."=

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SIXTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Love in the Church

="I pray that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and Thou in Me; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me ... that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."=--JOHN xvii. 23.

="The fruit of the Spirit is love."=--GAL. v. 22.

Believers are one in Christ, as He is one with the Father. The love of God rests on them, and can dwell in them. Pray that the power of the Holy Ghost may so work this love in believers, that the world may see and know God's love in them. Pray much for this.

HOW TO PRAY.--As one of God's Remembrancers

="I have set watchmen on thy walls, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest."=--ISA. lxii. 6.

Study these words until your whole soul be filled with the consciousness, I am appointed intercessor. Enter God's presence in that faith. Study the world's need with that thought--it is my work to intercede; the Holy Spirit will teach me for what and how. Let it be an abiding consciousness: My great life-work, like Christ's, is intercession--to pray for believers and those who do not yet know God.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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SEVENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Power of the Holy Spirit on Ministers

="I beseech you that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me."=--ROM. xv. 30.

="He will deliver us; ye also helping together by your supplication on our behalf."=--2 COR. i. 10, 11.

What a great host of ministers there are in Christ's Church. What need they have of prayer. What a power they might be, if they were all clothed with the power of the Holy Ghost. Pray definitely for this; long for it. Think of your own minister, and ask it very specially for him. Connect every thought of the ministry, in your town or neighbourhood or the world, with the prayer that all may be filled with the Spirit. Plead for them the promise, ="Tarry till ye be clothed with power from on high." "Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you."=

HOW TO PRAY.--In Secret

="But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy inner chamber, and having shut to thy door, pray to the Father which is in secret."=--MATT. vi. 6.

="He withdrew again into the mountain to pray, _Himself alone_."=--MATT. xiv. 23; JOHN vi. 15.

Take time and realise, when you are alone with God: Here am I now, face to face with God, to intercede for His servants. Do not think you have no influence, or that your prayer will not be missed. Your prayer and faith will make a difference. Cry in secret to God for His ministers.

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EIGHTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit on all Christian Workers

="Ye also helping together on our behalf; that for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many on our behalf."=--2 COR. i. 11.

What multitudes of workers in connection with our churches and missions, our railways and postmen, our soldiers and sailors, our young men and young women, our fallen men and women, our poor and sick. God be praised for this! What could they accomplish if each were living in the fulness of the Holy Spirit? Pray for them; it makes you a partner in their work, and you will praise God each time you hear of blessing anywhere.

HOW TO PRAY.--With definite Petitions

="What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?"=--LUKE xviii. 41.

The Lord knew what the man wanted, and yet He asked him. The utterance of our wish gives point to the transaction in which we are engaged with God, and so awakens faith and expectation. Be very definite in your petitions, so as to know what answer you may look for. Just think of the great host of workers, and ask and expect God definitely to bless them in answer to the prayers of His people. Then ask still more definitely for workers around you. Intercession is not the breathing out of pious wishes; its aim is, in believing, persevering prayer, to receive and bring down blessing.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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NINTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on our Mission Work

"The evangelisation of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men--ay, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life, is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer."

="As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul. Then when they had fasted and prayed, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed."=--ACTS xiii. 2, 3, 4.

Pray that our mission work may all be done in this spirit--waiting on God, hearing the voice of the Spirit, sending forth men with fasting and prayer. Pray that in our churches our mission interest and mission work may be in the power of the Holy Spirit and of prayer. It is a Spirit-filled, praying Church will send out Spirit-filled missionaries, mighty in prayer.

HOW TO PRAY.--Take Time

="I give myself unto prayer."=--PS. cix. 4.

="We will give ourselves continually to prayer."=--ACTS vi. 4.

="Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God."=--ECCLES. v. 2.

="And He continued all night in prayer to God."=--LUKE vi. 12.

Time is one of the chief standards of value. The time we give is a proof of the interest we feel.

We need time with God--to realise His presence; to wait for Him to make Himself known; to consider and feel the needs we plead for; to take our place in Christ; to pray till we can believe that we have received. Take time in prayer, and pray down blessing on the mission work of the Church.

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TENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on our Missionaries

"What the world needs to-day is, not only more missionaries, but the outpouring of God's Spirit on everyone whom He has sent out to work for Him in the foreign field."

="Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth."=--ACTS i. 8.

God always gives His servants power equal to the work He asks of them. Think of the greatness and difficulty of this work,--casting out Satan out of his strongholds,--and pray that everyone who takes part in it may receive and do all his work in the power of the Holy Ghost. Think of the difficulties of your missionaries, and pray for them.

HOW TO PRAY.--Trusting God's Faithfulness

="He is faithful that promised." "She counted Him faithful who promised."=--HEB. x. 23, xi. 11.

Just think of God's promises to His Son, concerning His kingdom; to the Church, concerning the heathen; to His servants, concerning their work; to yourself, concerning your prayer; and pray in the assurance that He is faithful, and only waits for prayer and faith to fulfil them. ="Faithful is He that calleth you"= (to pray), "who also will do it" (what He has promised).

Take up individual missionaries, make yourself one with them, and pray till you know that you are heard. Oh, begin to live for Christ's kingdom as the one thing worth living for!

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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ELEVENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For more Labourers

="Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth labourers into His harvest."=--MATT. ix. 38.

What a remarkable call of the =Lord Jesus= for help from His disciples in getting the need supplied. What an honour put upon prayer. What a proof that God wants prayer and will hear it.

Pray for labourers, for all students in theological seminaries, training homes, Bible institutes, that they may not go, unless He fits them and sends them forth; that our churches may train their students to seek for the sending forth of the Holy Spirit; that all believers may hold themselves ready to be sent forth, or to pray for those who can go.

HOW TO PRAY.--In Faith, nothing Doubting

="Jesus saith unto them, Have faith in God. Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith shall come to pass, he shall have it."=--MARK xi. 22, 23.

=Have faith in God!= Ask Him to make Himself known to you as the faithful, mighty God, who worketh all in all; and you will be encouraged to believe that He can give suitable and sufficient labourers, however impossible this appears. But, remember, in answer to prayer and faith.

Apply this to every opening where a good worker is needed. The work is God's. He can give the right workman. =But He must be asked and waited on.=

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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TWELFTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit to convince the World of Sin

="I will send the Comforter to you. And He, when He is come, will convict the world in respect of sin."=--JOHN xvi. 7, 8.

God's one desire, the one object of Christ's being manifested, is to take away sin. The first work of the Spirit on the world is conviction of sin. Without that, no deep or abiding revival, no powerful conversion. Pray for it, that the gospel may be preached in such power of the Spirit, that men may see that they have rejected and crucified Christ, and cry out, What shall we do?

Pray most earnestly for a mighty power of conviction of sin wherever the gospel is preached.

HOW TO PRAY.--Stir up yourself to take hold of God's Strength

="Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me."=--ISA. xxvii. 5.

="There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth himself to take hold of Thee."=--ISA. lxiv. 7.

="Stir up the gift of God which is in thee."=--2 TIM. i. 6.

First, take hold of God's strength. God is a Spirit. I cannot take hold of Him, and hold Him fast, but by the Spirit. Take hold of God's strength, and hold on till it has done for you what He has promised. Pray for the power of the Spirit to convict of sin.

Second, stir up yourself, the power that is in you by the Holy Spirit, to take hold. Give your whole heart and will to it, and say, =I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me=.

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THIRTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Burning

="And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion shall be called holy: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning."=--ISA. iv. 3, 4.

A washing by fire! a cleansing by judgment! He that has passed through this shall be called holy. The power of blessing for the world, the power of work and intercession that will avail, depends upon the spiritual state of the Church; and that can only rise higher as sin is discovered and put away. Judgment must begin at the house of God. There must be conviction of sin for sanctification. Beseech God to give His Spirit as a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning--to discover and burn out sin in His people.

HOW TO PRAY.--In the Name of Christ

="Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do. If ye shall ask Me anything in My name, that will I do."=--JOHN xiv. 13, 14.

Ask in the name of your Redeemer God, who sits upon the throne. Ask what He has promised, what He gave His blood for, that sin may be put away from among His people. Ask--the prayer is after His own heart--for the spirit of deep conviction of sin to come among His people. Ask for the spirit of burning. Ask in the faith of His name--the faith of what He wills, of what He can do--and look for the answer. Pray that the Church may be blessed, to be made a blessing in the world.

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FOURTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Church of the Future

="That the children might not be as their fathers, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."=--PS. lxxviii. 8.

="I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."=--ISA. xliv. 3.

Pray for the rising generation, who are to come after us. Think of the young men and young women and children of this age, and pray for all the agencies at work among them; that in association and societies and unions, in homes and schools, Christ may be honoured, and the Holy Spirit get possession of them. Pray for the young of your own neighbourhood.

HOW TO PRAY.--With the Whole Heart

="The Lord grant thee according to thine own heart."=--PS. xx. 4.

="Thou hast given him his heart's desire."=--PS. xxi. 2.

="I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord."=--PS. cxix. 145.

God lives, and listens to every petition with His whole heart. Each time we pray the whole Infinite God is there to hear. He asks that in each prayer the whole man shall be there too; that we shall cry with our whole heart. Christ gave Himself to God for men; and so He takes up every need into His intercession. If once we seek God with our whole heart, the whole heart will be in every prayer with which we come to this God. Pray with your whole heart for the young.

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FIFTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For Schools and Colleges

="As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord: My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever."=--ISA. lix. 21.

The future of the Church and the world depends, to an extent we little conceive, on the education of the day. The Church may be seeking to evangelise the heathen, and be giving up her own children to secular and materialistic influences. Pray for schools and colleges, and that the Church may realise and fulfil its momentous duty of caring for its children. Pray for godly teachers.

HOW TO PRAY.--Not Limiting God

="They limited the Holy One of Israel."=--PS. lxxviii. 41.

="He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."=--MATT. xiii. 58.

="Is anything too hard for the Lord?"=--GEN. xviii. 14.

="Ah, Lord God! Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power; there is nothing too hard for Thee. Behold, I am the Lord: is there anything too hard for Me?"=--JER. xxxii. 17, 27.

Beware, in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in his glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ, and expect great things.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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SIXTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Power of the Holy Spirit in our Sabbath Schools

="Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."=--ISA. xlix. 25.

Every part of the work of God's Church is His work. He must do it. Prayer is the confession that He will, the surrender of ourselves into His hands to let Him, work in us and through us. Pray for the hundreds of thousands of Sunday-school teachers, that those who know God may be filled with His Spirit. Pray for your own Sunday school. Pray for the salvation of the children.

HOW TO PRAY.--Boldly

="We have a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace."=--HEB. iv. 14, 16.

These hints to help us in our work of intercession--what are they doing for us? Making us conscious of our feebleness in prayer? Thank God for this. It is the very first lesson we need on the way to pray the effectual prayer that availeth much. Let us persevere, taking each subject boldly to the throne of grace. As we pray we shall learn to pray, and to believe, and to expect with increasing boldness. Hold fast your assurance: it is at God's command you come as an intercessor. Christ will give you grace to pray aright.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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SEVENTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For Kings and Rulers

="I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving, be made for all men; for kings, and all that are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity."=--1 TIM. ii. 1, 2.

What a faith in the power of prayer! A few feeble and despised Christians are to influence the mighty Roman emperors, and help in securing peace and quietness. Let us believe that prayer is a power that is taken up by God in His rule of the world. Let us pray for our country and its rulers; for all the rulers of the world; for rulers in cities or districts in which we are interested. When God's people unite in this, they may count upon their prayer effecting in the unseen world more than they know. Let faith hold this fast.

HOW TO PRAY.--The Prayer before God as Incense

="And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire upon the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunder, and voices, and lightning, and an earthquake."=--REV. viii. 3-5.

The same censer brings the prayer of the saints before God and casts fire upon the earth. The prayers that go up to heaven have their share in the history of this earth. Be sure that thy prayers enter God's presence.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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EIGHTEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For Peace

="I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplication be made for kings and all that are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."=--1 TIM. ii. 1-3.

="He maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth."=--PS. xlvi. 9.

What a terrible sight!--the military armaments in which the nations find their pride. What a terrible thought!--the evil passions that may at any moment bring on war. And what a prospect the suffering and desolation that must come. God can, in answer to the prayer of His people, give peace. Let us pray for it, and for the rule of righteousness on which alone it can be stablished.

HOW TO PRAY.--With the Understanding

="What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding."=--1 COR. xiv. 15.

We need to pray with the spirit, as the vehicle of the intercession of God's Spirit, if we are to take hold of God in faith and power. We need to pray with the understanding, if we are really to enter deeply into the needs we bring before Him. Take time to apprehend intelligently, in each subject, the nature, the extent, the urgency of the request, the ground and way and certainty of God's promise as revealed in His Word. Let the mind affect the heart. Pray with the understanding and with the spirit.

SPECIAL PETITIONS

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NINETEENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit on Christendom

="Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."=--2 TIM. iii. 5.

="Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead."=--REV. iii. 1.

There are five hundred millions of nominal Christians. The state of the majority is unspeakably awful. Formality, worldliness, ungodliness, rejection of Christ's service, ignorance, and indifference--to what an extent does all this prevail. We pray for the heathen--oh! do let us pray for those bearing Christ's name, many in worse than heathen darkness.

Does not one feel as if one ought to begin to give up his life, and to cry day and night to God for souls! In answer to prayer God gives the power of the Holy Ghost.

HOW TO PRAY.--In deep Stillness of Soul

="My soul is silent unto God: from Him cometh my salvation."=--PS. lxii. 1.

Prayer has its power in God alone. The nearer a man comes to God Himself, the deeper he enters into God's will; the more he takes hold of God, the more power in prayer.

God must reveal Himself. If it please Him to make Himself known, He can make the heart conscious of His presence. Our posture must be that of holy reverence, of quiet waiting and adoration.

As your month of intercession passes on, and you feel the greatness of your work, be still before God. Thus you will get power to pray.

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TWENTIETH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Heathen

="Behold, these shall come from far; and these from the land of Sinim."=--ISA. xlix. 12.

="Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands to God."=--PS. lxviii. 31.

="I the Lord will hasten it in His time."=--ISA. lx. 22.

Pray for the heathen, who are yet without the word. Think of China, with her three hundred millions--a million a month dying without Christ. Think of Dark Africa, with its two hundred millions. Think of thirty millions a year going down into the thick darkness. If Christ gave His life for them, will you not do so? You can give yourself up to intercede for them. Just begin, if you have never yet begun, with this simple monthly school of intercession. The ten minutes you give will make you feel this is not enough. God's Spirit will draw you on. Persevere, however feeble you are. Ask God to give you some country or tribe to pray for. Can anything be nobler than to do as Christ did? Give your life for the heathen.

HOW TO PRAY.--With Confident Expectation of an Answer

="Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and will shew thee great things and difficult, which thou knowest not."=--JER. xxxiii. 3.

="Thus saith the Lord God: I will yet be inquired of, that I do it."=--EZEK. xxxvi. 37.

Both texts refer to promises definitely made, but their fulfilment would depend upon prayer: God would be inquired of to do it.

Pray for God's fulfilment of His promises to His Son and His Church, and expect the answer. Plead for the heathen: plead God's Promises.

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TWENTY-FIRST DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Jews

="I will pour out upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and Supplication; and they shall look unto Me whom they pierced."=--ZECH. xii. 10.

="Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved."=--ROM. x. 1.

Pray for the Jews. Their return to the God of their fathers stands connected, in a way we cannot tell, with wonderful blessing to the Church, and with the coming of our Lord Jesus. Let us not think that God has foreordained all this, and that we cannot hasten it. In a divine and mysterious way God has connected His fulfilment of His promise with our prayer. His Spirit's intercession in us is God's forerunner of blessing. Pray for Israel and the work done among them. And pray too: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

HOW TO PRAY.--With the Intercession of the Holy Spirit

="We know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."=--ROM. viii. 26.

In your ignorance and feebleness believe in the secret indwelling and intercession of the Holy Spirit within you. Yield yourself to His life and leading habitually. He will help your infirmities in prayer. Plead the promises of God even where you do not see how they are to be fulfilled. God knows the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Pray with the simplicity of a little child; pray with the holy awe and reverence of one in whom God's Spirit dwells and prays.

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TWENTY-SECOND DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For all who are in Suffering

="Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are evil entreated, as being yourselves in the body."=--HEB. xiii. 3.

What a world of suffering we live in! How Jesus sacrificed all and identified Himself with it! Let us in our measure do so too. The persecuted Stundists and Armenians and Jews, the famine-stricken millions of India, the hidden slavery of Africa, the poverty and wretchedness of our great cities--and so much more: what suffering among those who know God and who know Him not. And then in smaller circles, in ten thousand homes and hearts, what sorrow. In our own neighbourhood, how many needing help or comfort. Let us have a heart for, let us think of the suffering. It will stir us to pray, to work, to hope, to love more. And in a way and time we know not God will hear our prayer.

HOW TO PRAY.--Praying always, and not fainting

="He spake unto them a parable to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint."=--LUKE xviii. 1.

Do you not begin to feel prayer is really the help for this sinful world? What a need there is of unceasing prayer? The very greatness of the task makes us despair! What can our ten minutes of intercession avail? It is right we feel this: this is the way in which God is calling and preparing us to give our life to prayer. Give yourself wholly to God for men, and amid all your work, your heart will be drawn out to men in love, and drawn up to God in dependence and expectation. To a heart thus led by the Holy Spirit, it is possible to pray always and not to faint.

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TWENTY-THIRD DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit in your own Work

="I labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily."=--COL. i. 29.

You have your own special work; make it a work of intercession. Paul laboured, striving according to the working of God in him. Remember, God is not only the Creator, but the Great Workman, who worketh all in all. You can only do your work in His strength, by Him working in you through the Spirit. Intercede much for those among whom you work, till God gives you life for them.

Let us all intercede too for each other, for every worker throughout God's Church, however solitary or unknown.

HOW TO PRAY.--In God's very Presence

="Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you."=--JAS. iv. 8.

The nearness of God gives rest and power in prayer. The nearness of God is given to him who makes it his first object. "Draw nigh to God"; seek the nearness to Him, and He will give it; "He will draw nigh to you." Then it becomes easy to pray in faith.

Remember that when first God takes you into the school of intercession it is almost more for your own sake than that of others. You have to be trained to love, and wait, and pray, and believe. Only persevere. Learn to set yourself in His presence, to wait quietly for the assurance that He draws nigh. Enter His holy presence, tarry there, and spread your work before Him. Intercede for the souls you are working among. Get a blessing from God, His Spirit into your own heart, for them.

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TWENTY-FOURTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit on your own Congregation

="Beginning at Jerusalem."=--LUKE xxiv. 47.

Each one of us is connected with some congregation or circle of believers, who are to us the part of Christ's body with which we come into most direct contact. They have a special claim on our intercession. Let it be a settled matter between God and you that you are to labour in prayer on its behalf. Pray for the minister and all leaders or workers in it. Pray for the believers according to their needs. Pray for conversions. Pray for the power of the Spirit to manifest itself. Band yourself with others to join in secret in definite petitions. Let intercession be a definite work, carried on as systematically as preaching or Sunday school. And pray, expecting an answer.

HOW TO PRAY.--Continually

="Watchmen, that shall never hold their peace day nor night."=--ISA. lxii. 6.

="His own elect, that cry to Him day and night."=--LUKE xviii. 7.

="Night and day praying exceedingly, that we may perfect that which is lacking in your faith."=--1 THESS. iii. 10.

="A widow indeed, hath her hope set in God, and continueth in supplications night and day."=--1 TIM. v. 5.

When the glory of God, and the love of Christ, and the need of souls are revealed to us, the fire of this unceasing intercession will begin to burn in us for those who are near and those who are far off.

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TWENTY-FIFTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For more Conversions

="He is able to save completely, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession."=--HEB. vii. 25.

="We will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.... And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied exceedingly."=--ACTS vi. 4, 7.

Christ's power to save, and save completely, depends on His unceasing intercession. The apostles withdrawing themselves from other work to give themselves continually to prayer was followed by the number of the disciples multiplying exceedingly. As we, in our day, give ourselves to intercession, we shall have more and mightier conversions. Let us plead for this. Christ is exalted to give repentance. The Church exists with the Divine purpose and promise of having conversions. Let us not be ashamed to confess our sin and feebleness, and cry to God for more conversions in Christian and heathen lands, of those too whom you know and love. Plead for the salvation of sinners.

HOW TO PRAY.--In deep Humility

="Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs.... O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt."=--MATT. xv. 27, 28.

You feel unworthy and unable to pray aright. To accept this heartily, and to be content still to come and be blest in your unworthiness, is true humility. It proves its integrity by not seeking for anything, but simply trusting His grace. And so it is the very strength of a great faith, and gets a full answer. "Yet the dogs"--let that be your plea as you persevere for someone possibly possessed of the devil. Let not your littleness hinder you for a moment.

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TWENTY-SIXTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit on Young Converts

="Peter and John prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost; for as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus."=--ACTS viii. 15, 16.

="Now He which establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."=--2 COR. i. 21, 22.

How many new converts who remain feeble; how many who fall into sin; how many who backslide entirely. If we pray for the Church, its growth in holiness and devotion to God's service, pray specially for the young converts. How many stand alone, surrounded by temptation; how many have no teaching on the Spirit in them, and the power of God to establish them; how many in heathen lands, surrounded by Satan's power. If you pray for the power of the Spirit in the Church, pray specially that every young convert may know that he may claim and receive the fulness of the Spirit.

HOW TO PRAY.--Without Ceasing

="As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."=--1 SAM. xii. 23.

It is sin against the Lord to cease praying for others. When once we begin to see how absolutely indispensable intercession is, just as much a duty as loving God or believing in Christ, and how we are called and bound to it as believers, we shall feel that to cease intercession is grievous sin. Let us ask for grace to take up our place as priests with joy, and give our life to bring down the blessing of heaven.

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TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--That God's People may Realise their Calling

="I will bless thee; and be thou a blessing: _in thee_ shall _all the families of the earth_ be blessed."=--GEN. xii. 2, 3.

="God be merciful _unto us_, and bless _us_; and cause His face to shine _upon us_. That Thy way may be known _upon earth_, Thy saving health _among all nations_."=--PS. lxvii. 1, 2.

Abraham was only blessed that he might be a blessing to all the earth. Israel prays for blessing, that God may be known among all nations. Every believer, just as much as Abraham, is only blessed that he may carry God's blessing to the world.

Cry to God that His people may know this, that every believer is only to live for the interests of God and His kingdom. If this truth were preached and believed and practised, what a revolution it would bring in our mission work. What a host of willing intercessors we should have. Plead with God to work it by the Holy Spirit.

HOW TO PRAY.--As One who has Accepted for Himself what he Asks for Others

="Peter said, What I have, I give unto thee.... The Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.... God gave them the like gift, as He gave unto us."=--ACTS iii. 6, xi. 15, 17.

As you pray for this great blessing on God's people, the Holy Spirit taking entire possession of them for God's service, yield yourself to God, and claim the gift anew in faith. Let each thought of feebleness or shortcoming only make you the more urgent in prayer for others; as the blessing comes to them, you too will be helped. With every prayer for conversions or mission work, pray that God's people may know how wholly they belong to Him.

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TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--That all God's People may know the Holy Spirit

="The Spirit of truth, whom the world knoweth not; but ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you."=--JOHN xiv. 17.

="Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?"=--1 COR. vi. 19.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God for the salvation of men. He only works as He dwells in the Church. He is given to enable believers to live wholly as God would have them live, in the full experience and witness of Him who saves completely. Pray God that every one of His people may know the Holy Spirit!--That He, in all His fulness, is given to them! that they cannot expect to live as their Father would have, without having Him in His fulness, without being filled with Him! Pray that all God's people, even away in churches gathered out of heathendom, may learn to say: I believe in the Holy Ghost.

HOW TO PRAY.--Labouring fervently in Prayer

="Epaphras, who is one of you, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."=--COL. iv. 12.

To a healthy man labour is a delight; in what interests him he labours fervently. The believer who is in full health, whose heart is filled with God's Spirit, labours fervently in prayer. For what? That his brethren may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God; that they may know what God wills for them, how He calls them to live, and be led and walk by the Holy Ghost. Labour fervently in prayer that all God's children may know this, as possible, as divinely sure.

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TWENTY-NINTH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Intercession

="I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you."=--JOHN xv. 16.

="Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name. In that day ye shall ask in My name."=--JOHN xvi. 24, 26.

Has not our school of intercession taught us how little we have prayed in the name of Jesus? He promised His disciples: In that day, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, ye shall ask in My name. Are there not tens of thousands with us mourning the lack of the power of intercession? Let our intercession to-day be for them and all God's children, that Christ may teach us that the Holy Spirit is in us; and what it is to live in His fulness, and to yield ourselves to His intercession work within us. The Church and the world need nothing so much as a mighty Spirit of Intercession to bring down the power of God on earth. Pray for the descent from heaven of the Spirit of Intercession for a great prayer revival.

HOW TO PRAY.--Abiding in Christ

="If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done to you."=--JOHN xv. 7.

Our acceptance with God, our access to Him, is all in Christ. As we consciously abide in Him we have the liberty, not a liberty to our old nature or our self-will, but the Divine liberty from all self-will, to ask what we will, in the power of the new nature, and it shall be done. Let us keep this place, and believe even now that our intercession is heard, and that the Spirit of Supplication will be given all around us.

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THIRTIETH DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit with the Word of God

="Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance."=--1 THESS. i. 5.

="Those who preached unto you the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven."=--1 PET. i. 12.

What numbers of Bibles are being circulated. What numbers of sermons on the Bible are being preached. What numbers of Bibles are being read in home and school. How little blessing when it comes "in word" only; what Divine blessing and power when it comes "in the Holy Ghost," when it is preached "with the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven." Pray for Bible circulation, and preaching and teaching and reading, that it may all be in the Holy Ghost, with much prayer. Pray for the power of the Spirit with the word in your own neighbourhood, wherever it is being read or heard. Let every mention of "The Word of God" waken intercession.

HOW TO PRAY.--Watching and Praying

="Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; withal praying for us also, that God may open for us a door for the word."=--COL. iv. 2, 3.

Do you not see how all depends upon God and prayer? As long as He lives and loves, and hears and works, as long as there are souls with hearts closed to the word, as long as there is work to be done in carrying the word--=Pray without ceasing. Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving. These words are for every Christian.=

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THIRTY-FIRST DAY

WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit of Christ in His People

="I am the Vine, ye are the branches."=--JOHN xv. 5.

="That ye should do as I have done to you."=--JOHN xiii. 15.

As branches we are to be so like the Vine, so entirely identified with it, that all may see that we have the same nature, and life, and spirit. When we pray for the Spirit, let us not only think of a Spirit of power, but the very disposition and temper of Christ Jesus. Ask and expect nothing less: for yourself, and all God's children, cry for it.

HOW TO PRAY.--Striving in Prayer

="That ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me."=--ROM. xv. 30.

="I would ye knew what great conflict I have for you."=--COL. ii. 1.

All the powers of evil seek to hinder us in prayer. Prayer is a conflict with opposing forces. It needs the whole heart and all our strength. May God give us grace to strive in prayer till we prevail.

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

=Bold= and _italic_ words in the original text have been marked in this version with equals signs and underscores respectively.

Minor errors and inconsistencies in punctuation and hyphenation have been silently corrected.

On page 6, the original text had "we the trust in our own diligence".

On page 93, "WHAT THE HEALTH THAT JESUS OFFERS." is as in the original.

As explained in the section on "Answers to Prayer", on each daily page in the tract "Pray Without Ceasing", several lines are ruled to leave room for the reader's "SPECIAL PETITIONS". In this version, these are represented by six lines of underscores.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Ministry of Intercession, by Andrew Murray