of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The right to become children of God, it says, is given to those who receive Christ and believe in His name. In a word, while God _is the_ Father of _all_, men become His sons only through Jesus Christ. _Possible_ sons all men are; but sonship becomes actual and real only in Jesus Christ. It is those who are in the home, who experience the father’s tenderness and care, who know what sonship means. The son who has wilfully left home, who has taken his life into his own hands, who has wandered into the far country, he cannot know what a father’s sympathy and love mean. He has deprived himself of the privileges of sonship. It is only the child who has remained at home who is obedient to the father’s commands—it is only he who can really be called a son at all. He alone knows the blessings of sonship. He alone knows the father’s affection and love. Christ came into the world to show us the Father, to seek lost children and bring them back again home. Those who receive Him into their hearts receive the spirit of adoption. They know what sonship means. They speak the name “Father” with a new accent. It becomes to them invested with a richer and fuller meaning. God is the Father of all men. Yes, but specially of them that believe. Now this new name, “Father,” Christ places at the very commencement of the model prayer. _This name is to be the very basis of our prayer._ To pray aright, certain things are required in him who prays. The Psalmist asked himself this question one day, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in His holy place?” Who has the right to worship God and pray to Him? That is the Psalmist’s question translated into present day speech. And he proceeds to answer the question he himself asks. And this is the answer he gives, “Who has the right to worship and pray? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully.” But the Psalmist’s answer is one of blank despair. For who is there whose hands are clean? Who is there whose heart is pure? Where is the man who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity? Brethren, when we look upon ourselves what do we see but sin! SIN! SIN! and the cry that breaks from our lips is the terrible cry of the leper of old—Unclean, unclean. If we have to wait till our hands are clean and our hearts pure we shall _never, never_ ascend unto the hill of the Lord or stand in His holy place. But thank God there are no impossible conditions of that kind to be fulfilled before you and I can pray. What right have I, sinful man, to pray? What warrant have I for coming boldly to the throne of grace? Well, brethren, I have no right but that which this name gives. I have no warrant save that which the name “Father” supplies. That is my right—not that I have clean hands or a pure heart, but that I am a son, and He, the Almighty God, is _my Father_. I have read a story somewhere