The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1919-09-18

man that he is q sinner simply be-
he has not accepted Christ as
his Savior. Sin is so subtle, and the
human heart so stubborn, that only
the Holy Spirit a make one see
that unbelief is the browning sin Of
all.
The common idea is that work is
the main business of the Christian,
and a little prayer is necessary to
help the work along. Christ's idea is
entirely different. In his thought
prayer is our chief business, with just
enough work to make a channel
through which the spiritual forces
generated by prayer may find an out
let.
Prayer is the bow that supplies the
force and work is the feather that
guides the arrow to its destination.
eff We shall ask will do" he says.
In other words, Christ is still doing
the work that he ''began to do" (Acts
1:1), and he invites us to help him
by prayer, whereas too many Chris
tians think that they are carrying on
the work, but need a little help from
him. What your idea is may best be
determined by estimating the amount
of time you spend in working for the
Lord and the amount spent in prayer.
Yes, we are ignorant, but thank
God we can all learn. Jesus has
opened a school of prayer in which,
if we will, we may learn the divine
art. And what a teacheri How pa
tfent, how long-suffering with dull
scholarsi And how much he knows
about the subject For eighteen hum
dred years this has been his constant
occupation, and now he invites us to
become his pupils, and offers to teach
us all he knows. GAIL things that /
have heard from my Father / have
made known unto you" (John Is :15).
The personal worker should Guilt
vate the habit of praying daily for all
men. This is not only a positive COM
mand Il Tim. 2:1), but the habit has
many obvious advantages. For in
stance, you never meet a person for
whom you have not prayed, and this
fact gives you a deeper interest and
a stronger faith than would otherwise
be possible. Sometimes it is well to
tell the person you are dealing with
that you have prayed for him scores
of times. Possibly he may ask, "Have
you ever seen me beforeY"
'Not to my knowledge"
"And yet you say that you have
prayed for me many timesY"
"Yes, SIR"
"I cannot understand that"
"Very likely. That is one Of the
mysteries of the Kingdom, and there
are many other strange things that
you cannot understand until you are
a Christian yourself"
It is well also to have a prayer list,
and daily remember by name those
whom God has especially laid on our
hearts. AS a rule it is easy to speak
to those for whom w have often
prayed. Gypsy Smith tells us that
when he was converted he Immediate
ly became anxious for the conversion
of his uncle. Among Gypsies it was
not considered proper for children to
address their elders on the subject of
duty; and so the boy just prayed, and
waited for God to open the way. One
day his uncle noticed a hole in his
trousers, and said, "Rodney, how is it
that you have worn the knees of your
pants so much faster than the rest
of them?"
"UncIe, I have worn them out pray
ing for you, that God would make yoc
a Christian and then the tears
came, of course.
Nothing more was said, but the
uncle put his arm around the boy and
drew him close TO his breast, and in
a little while was bending his knees
to the same Saviour. When we wear
our clothes thin in praying for 9th
ers, we shall not find it hard to speak
to them if the opportunity occurs.