_All difficulties can be encountered, and many overcome by prayer._--How true and weighty is this remark. Remembrance of this would guard and govern aright the actions of Christians, and deliver them from all unprofitable and injudicious murmurings. It suggests the only true antidote for the ills of life. A pleasant path to tranquillity of mind is prayer. Whether amid the crowded city or in the quiet hamlet, on land or on sea, at home or abroad, no matter where we are, God's ear is always open to the cry of His children. Prayer is the divinely appointed means to the attainment of peace. It lifts the soul above the cares and vicissitudes of life. Its effect is nearness to God. Earth's sighs are numerous. The tears flow thick and fast. Tears of affright. The enemy comes in like a flood, but the Lord lifts up a standard against them all; and the blest remembrance of the promise, "Cast thy burden by prayer on the Lord, and He will sustain thee," imparts fresh courage amid the conflict. The man who forgets to pray in the hour of trial is like one who has lost his way on a dark, stormy night; he is, indeed, a benighted traveller on a lonesome, dreary road. But let us thank God that-- From every stormy wind that blows, From every swelling tide of woes, There is a calm, a sure retreat; 'Tis found beneath the Mercy Seat. _I feel more and more the blessedness of the privilege I enjoy, in being permitted to labor for Christ in the salvation of so many poor souls._--When we labor with an eye to the glory of God, and the exaltation of the name of Jesus in the salvation of lost sinners, it always imparts perpetual pleasure. It was for the joy that was set before Jesus that He endured the Cross. Pure pleasure springs from the motive of doing good. This was the standard from which Christ labored. His compensation consisted in clarifying the natural and spiritual vision of those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. This is the true explanation of His mysterious patience with those who frequently repelled His teachings and doings, when they were attributed to the power of the Prince of the Air. But the incarnate Son of God fainted not in His work, until He exclaimed, "It is finished." It is even so with all faithful missionaries. They feel it to be an unspeakable privilege to be co-workers with Christ; recognizing the fact that it is not their work but God's, and while they acknowledge their utter inability to save a single soul, yet, doubtless, their joy and satisfaction in all their work springs from the sacred consciousness that there is not only rejoicings and gladness of heart experienced on earth, but "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."