DEVOTIONAL COLUMN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 September 1927, Page 3

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN.

PRAYER. Humbly, O Lord, we come to thee to-day, asking that thou wouldst show us how to use our life and property for thee, that each may win thy smile of approval! Deliver us from ostentation and pride, and so grant us the sense of thine acceptance and approval that our hearts may glow within us with love and joy!—Amen. THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembr-. ance, whatsoever I have said unto you. —John 14:26.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. —John 16:8. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. —Rom. 8:9. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. —John 3:5. The Spirit itself bearcth witness with our spirit, that, we are the children of God. —-Rom. 8:16.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what «we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.—Rom. 8:26.

The Spirit speakelh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. —I Tim. 4:1.

THE POWER OP THE SCRIPTURES. From.an address by Dr. S. M. Zivcmer at a meeting of the B. and F. Bible Society.)

May I dose with a pathetic, illustration of how even the boys of the streets are beginning to read the Bible in Cairo? It was a cold day in November, when I left my boarding-house to go to the American Mission, and early in the morning, at half-past seven, there sat three street urchins huddled together with a robe over them against the rain. I thought they were gambling or smoking, so I stopped to speak to them. When I lifted their garment the middle boy was just reading. “And God said to Abraham: Get thee out of thy country.” I said: “What is your name?” “Ah,” “Muhammad,” “Hassan.” “What are you doing here?” “Reading; we have not begun our work yet. ”•“When do you come together?” “Every morning.” “Can you read?” “No.” “Can you read?” “No; but the middle boy reads to us from the book he bought at the depot of the British and Foreign Bible Society.” The Bible Society in a real sense is a John the Baptist preparing the way of God, the pioneer, the bridgebuilder, the road-maker, for all the societies that gladly follow in its wake. Among all the societies born of the Holy Catholic Church there is none greater, none more important than this pioneer Society. Because it is a pioneer Society it needs to ask God that it may continue to have the patience of the saints, the perseverance of the dauntless, the vision of the pioneer, to see the glory of the impossible, to hear the music of the inaudible, and the ’call of the invisible in regions beyond the programme of every other society, and to share the masterjoy of that John the Baptist who was the pioneer. THE BREATH OF LIFE.

Breath is one of the signs of life. After God had created Adam’s body from the dust of the ground, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). When the physical breath leaves the body, death is only a matter of minutes unless some drastic first aid measures are taken, and these are not always certain in their results. In a very real sense prayer is the breath of the spiritual life of the Christian, and he begins to “breathe” the moment he is born again, A missionary, Avfitii/g to a friend who "had asked the secret of her prayer life, says: “I do not know how to write about mj'’ praying. There is nothing to say. So far as I know it is just being with the Lord, turning to him instinctively, knowing he cares. It has no name, this life with him. It is too simple for definition. Sometimes, when a big battle is on, there has to be a closing down of everything, and a shutting up of oneself to prayer. But far oftener that is impossible. I think it is just living with him; and prayer is the breath of that life. I think we have within us a quiet cell into which, as it were, we can retire any time, anywhere .

“One hearkening, even, cannot know When I have crossed the threshold o‘er. For He alone who hears my prayer Has heard the shutting of that door. ”

But in the rush and bustle of daily life are not Christians in danger of voluntary spiritual suffocation? Yet, just as we stand before an open window and drink in great draughts of fresh air the first in the morning, sending the lifeblood tingling through the body, so, in his presence, we may drink in great spiritual draughts at the beginning of each day and be conscious of our Lord’s life flooding our being with new vigor and strength. ■ And shall we not look to him to teach us also how to “breathe” normally, moment by moment, throughout each day, in fulfillment of his command to “pray without ceasing”?