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and people, and those in which he pledges himself to answer prayer for such blessings. Now faith is the full confidence that God will fulfil these promises. With reference to the former a scriptural faith implies a proper understanding of their import and extent, and an unhesitating conviction that, according to that import and extent, God will fulfil them. As to the latter, we have seen already that they do not contain a pledge that each particular blessing desired shall be conferred; but only that all believing prayer shall be answered in that way which seems to infinite wisdom the best; and shall prevail in obtaining the particular blessing, if that be not on other grounds inconsistent with the divine will. The faith which is required in prayer, therefore, implies no more that an assurance of this, as it cannot warrantably go beyond the import of the pledge on which it is founded. And, indeed, who that seeks his own well-being could wish to go beyond such a pledge, which stops just at that point where our own true advantage terminates? Who could desire to possess a further power, which would

only be an instrument for obtaining loss, injury, or ruin to himself, or to others for whom it might be employed ?

But our sin and our loss is, that we do not rely upon the assurances of the divine word according to their extent. The necessity of faith to acceptance in prayer arises out of the very nature of the case. The truth of that divine record which is the source of all hope towards God is inseparably linked with that of the promises which it contains. With the efficacy of prayer, Christianity stands or falls; and he does not trust his soul to its provisions as the discovery of divine mercy to a lost world, who has not, at least in some measure, confidence in those declarations concerning prayer which form a part of its blessed message. Nor can doubting prayer be considered prayer to the true God at all; for he is a God of immutable faithfulness to all his promises. Doubt implies either ignorance of his character, or does him the actual dishonor of denying to him those perfections of his nature which constitute his glory. We need not wonder, then, at the place which faith is represented in the New Testament as

holding in prayer, nor that Christ should say to us as he did to the blind men whom he healed, According to your faith be it unto you.

And may we not here also find a reason of the little success granted to our petitions? Must we not confess that often when we approach the presence of the Most High, we are as if we hardly believed the existence of the spiritual realities of which we speak, and of that glorious Being to whom we address ourselves? What a spirit of obstinate distrust of the power and the word of God besets us! We cannot persuade ourselves but that we are left to the control of sensible things, of second causes, of accident, of the will of human creatures like ourselves. We cannot bring ourselves to believe that God really governs his own world, and will act to us and to all who seek him according to the principles by which his word declares that he conducts his administration. When we present our requests before him, how unwilling are we to believe that he will even be as faithful to his promise as we hold many of our fellow-creatures to be! When we ask him to do for us or for his cause according to his declarations, do we not rather look around us upon appearances, difficulties, probabilities, as what shall regulate our expectations, than trust with implicit reliance to the mighty arm which fainteth not nor is weary, to the wisdom of Him who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working? With what confidence do we presume to decide on the course of future events from the narrow conclusions of our own sagacity, forgetful of His supreme control who never has directed his procedure by the rules of man -who has done great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number, in times pastand whose purpose still is to make his power known in all the earth, and to hide pride from man. If, instead of our distrust of God, we imitated the father of the faithful, who staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but against hope believed in hope, knowing that what God had promised he was also able to perform -if we in prayer committed our way to God, assured that he can bring it to pass-we should much oftener have experience of the truth that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men. But if the contrary of this hold in most of our approaches to his throne, and we hardly allow that he has the power and the willingness to fulfil his own word-the failure of our petitions, instead of being inconsistent with the divine faithfulness, is in fullest harmony with it-instead of discrediting the divine veracity, is a confirmation of it. Oh what need have we of presenting, often and earnestly, the prayer of the disciples, Lord, increase our faith !

3. Our ground of dependence in prayer may be something different from that with which alone God has connected acceptance, -the merits of the Mediator.

To pray in the name of Christ does not consist in merely mentioning his name at the close of our petitions, or even in a general acknowledgement of the truth that we are accepted through his righteousness. It implies a realizing and present conviction of this truth in our approaches to the mercy-seat; it implies that our spirit be pervaded with the renunciation of self and reliance on the Surety; that we specially apply our convictions to the mercies we at the time request; and derive our pleas and ar

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