The importance of this practice in the cultivation of the spiritual life can really be hardly exaggerated. To begin with the beginning. We read that the first effect of the Fall upon the mind of our first parents was to make them shun God, and hide themselves from the Divine Presence among the trees of the garden. Now Grace is corrective of the mischief done by the Fall; and its operations are the very reverse of those of our corrupt nature. As sin therefore drives man to screen himself by diversions, or by business, from God’s Presence, so it is one of the first instincts of Grace to seek God’s Face. We may do so now with the utmost confidence through the Blood of Our Lord, knowing that Justice itself has nothing to allege against us when we come before God with that plea; and the oftener we do so amidst the occupations, hurry, and cares of daily life, the holier and the happier shall we be.—Next; this is the only real method of fulfilling the great New Testament Prayer-precept; “Pray without ceasing.” We must not fritter away the meaning of those sacred words, by representing them to our minds as a rhetorical form of saying, “_Pray very often_.” To pray is to seek God’s Face—is it not? Then if a state of mind could be more or less realized, in which the soul is always conscious of being under God’s Eye, would not that be prayer without ceasing? And this state is not to be attained except by constant momentary reminiscences of God’s neighbourhood, and fervent breathings of the heart towards Him. When attained, it does not really interfere with occupations, though it might seem that in any mental work it would be a distraction to turn the mind away. For the state is a consciousness of God’s Presence. Now consciousness of the human presence is quite compatible with vigorous exercise of the mind. I am thinking at present of the subject on which I am speaking to you, and how I am to prosecute it; yet not for a moment do I lose the consciousness that your eye is upon me. Again; say that I am walking to a certain place, and that in doing so, I am engaged in earnest conversation with a friend. We are both thinking of our arguments, and how we shall meet what is advanced by one another; but all the while, the consciousness is present to us that we are making the right turns, and really advancing to the place for which we are bound. But I should wrong the sense of the Divine Presence, if I said only that it need be no interference with our occupations; I should rather say that it is the greatest furtherance to them. For every work needs energy to be done well; and what secret of energy is comparable to the refreshment of spirit which may be derived from the thought that we are under God’s Eye, working for Him, and with the encouragement of His smile? The thought is as like a breath of sweet air sweeping across a wayside dusty heather.—Once again; Faith is the great principle of the renewal of our character. Without Faith there is no