It is easy work to pray when we are grounded, as to our desires, upon God's own promise. How can he who gave the word refuse to keep it? Immutable veracity cannot demean itself by a lie, and eternal faithfulness cannot degrade itself by neglect. God must bless His Son, his covenant binds him to it. That

which the Spirit prompts us to ask for Jesus, is that which God decrees to give Him. Whenever you are praying for the kingdom of Christ, let your eyes behold the dawning of the blessed day which draws near, when the Crucified shall receive His coronation in the place where men rejected him.

Look at a pool of water when it stands still—it is mantled over with weed, stagnant and defiled! Give it vent, and let it run down yonder brook among the stones; leaping in little cascades on its way down to the river. It is alive now, and see how pure

it grows, refining as it flows, because of its motion and life. So it must be with us: holy activity and progress are essential to purity.