“We are not only made glad by work done far away, but workers are here with us—true hearts that love to do something for Jesus every day. Several have joined the Association this year; among them, Fong Bow, who is one of the class for whom I requested your prayers several months ago. He seemed to have much to hold him back; outside influence made it hard for him to decide. He has been a member of the school so long that we feel more than usually happy in his coming. May we not hope and still pray, in faith, for the other members of the class? This mission work is ever a source of comfort and pleasure to me, and I know I cannot remain away from it if blessed with health.” LOU QUONG, ON HEATHEN PRAYERS AND REAL PRAYER. Each Wednesday afternoon I meet the Chinese helpers in the schools of this city for a drill in Bible study, and to receive and remark upon the sketches of sermons, which they have prepared during the week. Here is one which Lou Quong brought in yesterday. James 5:16. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” My subject is all on prayer to-day, and it is very needful to all Christians, especially to those who really mean to be the followers of the Lord Jesus, and to be workers in the Master’s field. I will mention a few things of the heathen prayers, which were occasionally offered to the heathen gods in China as well as in this city. So far as I can judge there is no true prayer which was ever offered to their gods, and I, having been born in a heathen nation, therefore know them well. Each certain prayer belongs to a certain god. You cannot take one god’s prayer to pray to others; if you do, you will get no blessing, because you got the wrong prayer, their prayers not having to come from the heart, but being learned only from the history of a certain god, so they mostly repeat the words as near as they can remember. There is not a single prayer that really comes from the heart. They come only from the lips; and besides this, when they pray, they do not, like our Christian people, pray for bad and good, and even for our enemies, and for all nations; their prayers are only for a certain thing, a certain matter, for riches, for honors, and for glory, and to have more sons born than girls; for their father and mother, brothers and sisters, that they might have a long life. If they have any one which they do not like, they would pray their God to destroy his whole family. By this we know that such a prayer our true God will not hear, but rather punish them. I have a great deal more to say about the heathen prayer, but I have no time for it just now. So I must go on to the true prayer, which our Lord Jesus Christ taught his disciples to say. Yet even such a true and short prayer as that, which we have repeated every evening in our schools, many of us would forget before we go to bed at night. This won’t do, my Christian brethren. We must give all our hearts to God before we shut our eyes.