Here we pray for something which it is far more difficult to "stir up"--our own wills. We are not sufficiently in earnest; the might and the mercy of God are there waiting to help us, but we have not the energy nor the desire to receive them. We weaken our wills by yielding to temptation, by deliberately going into occasions of sin, by allowing ourselves to be careless about rules and resolutions, by letting things drift and contenting ourselves with a low standard. Advent is a time to rectify all this, to pull ourselves up and make a fresh start, and if we are in earnest, we shall gladly join in the prayer: "Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord," stir up _my_ will. It is not a prayer to be said lightly for it means much--a will stirred up to "seek after the fruit of good works" means constant and continued effort; it means mortification, suffering, death to self; it means a determination to do or suffer _anything_ rather than run the _least_ risk of committing the _least_ sin; it means constant unremitting attention to little things--to the smallest duties, the least prickings of conscience; it means hard work. _Dare_ I say this prayer? If I am _really_ anxious for "the fruit of good works," I shall dare anything. Fruit is impossible without hard work either in the natural or the spiritual world. "Who is sufficient for these things?" Certainly I am not, but the consolation is that the work is _co-operative_. As soon as I pray: Stir up my will, O God, because I want to bring forth fruit to Thy glory; He will be there giving me "_more abundant helps_" from His mercy. God does not expect me to work alone, nor to suffer alone, nor to make efforts alone. What He wants is a good will. He is coming "to men of good will," and nothing can prove that I am one of them, better than a fervent prayer that my will may be stirred up, cost what it may. The "abundant helps" will immediately be at my service; and when it seems sometimes as if, in spite of all my efforts, the day is going to be lost, I will hold on still, remembering that the help is "_more_ abundant" when the need is greater. The stores of His mercy are infinite and He ever gives _more_ to the generous soul. POINT III. OUR HEARTS. "Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thy only-begotten Son: that by His Coming we may be worthy to serve Thee with purified minds." (The "Collect" for the 2nd Sunday of Advent).