I would first of all call your attention to the circumstances of the origin of this prayer. My text sets these forth. Jesus Christ had been praying. He was a man of prayer. His favourite temple was the mountain top. Away from the noise and bustle of the town, in the solitude of the mountain summit, in the solemn hush and silence of the night, Jesus Christ prayed. No one can talk much with God without bearing about with him visible results of that high fellowship. Moses, after he had been on the mount with God, came down with a countenance that had caught and retained some of the divine glory. His face shone. John G. Paton, the heroic missionary, tells in his autobiography how his saintly father would withdraw every day to talk with God, and as children he and his brother used to notice with wonder and awe the beautiful light upon their father’s face when he came forth from that interview. Do not think me fanciful when I say that I believe that the Master’s face in the morning used to proclaim plainly in what sacred communion He had been spending the night. The halo of the old painters may be fancy, but I am sure that there would be a radiance about the Saviour’s face, an aspect of such unruffled serenity and calm upon His countenance, as would proclaim to all that Jesus had been spending the night in holy fellowship with God. There were many things to try our Lord in life—the malignant hatred of the Pharisees, the persistent blundering of the disciples; and often when Jesus left the mountain He was tired, worn, weary, but after His night of prayer Jesus always came down from the mountain peaceful, calm and strong. And I cannot help thinking that His disciples must often have noticed that expression of calm and peace on their Master’s face after His nights of prayer. It quickened within them the desire to pray as their Master prayed, that they too might enjoy the like peace and strength. And that leads me to remark in passing that people are to be convinced of the supreme value of prayer—not by tracts about prayer, not by eloquent and clever sermons which profess to explain away all the difficulties connected with prayer, _but by seeing in us the effects of prayer_. When they see us calm, happy, and strong in the midst of the difficulties and worries and cares of life, they will want to know the secret, and so they too will be led to pray. Was it not so with these disciples? Jesus had gone apart to pray. And when He ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, “Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.” They wanted to be in command of the secret of peace. They wanted to be in possession of the key to God’s storehouse of power. “Teach us to pray.” And it was in answer to that request that Jesus gave to them the “Pearl of Prayers.” Now, looking at this request of the disciples for a moment, will you notice that it is: