Our prayers are often like those clay-birds. They do not rise. They are lifeless and dead. But how they would soar if only the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of childlike faith in God, were breathed into them! “Our Father,” the first words of the prayer, teach us the spirit in which we should pray. Is there anything we want more than faith, confidence, trust in God? If we are straitened at all, we are straitened not in Him, but in ourselves. If no mighty works are being done in our midst, it is not because God’s arm is shortened, it is because of our unbelief. We have not yet realised the meaning and the power of that word “Father.” We have not yet realised that He loves us with an everlasting love. We have not yet realised that He is willing to do for us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. So we are hungering when there is abundance within reach. We are weak when we might be strong. We are feeble when we might be resistless. We live at a poor, dying rate, when there is abundant life to be had for the asking. What do we need more than faith? A simpler trust in the power and love of God would make us irresistible. If we had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, we might say to the greatest mountain of difficulty, “Remove hence,” and it should remove, and nothing would be impossible unto us. This prayer is the Model Prayer. It is a pattern which we are to imitate. And the pattern Man of Prayer was Jesus Himself. Prayer was His vital breath. After the labours of the day were over, Jesus was accustomed to steal away to some lonely hill, where He would spend the night in quiet, loving fellowship with God. Days of toil were followed by nights of communion, nights of communion prepared Him for days of toil. The example of Jesus enforces the Apostolic precept, “Pray without ceasing.” And Jesus illustrates also the blessing of prayer. What great answers were given to His petitions. As He was praying at His baptism, the heavens opened. As He was praying on the Mount, His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and glistening, and there came to Him Moses and Elijah, to converse with Him and speak of His departure, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. As He was praying in the garden that last bitter night, there came an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. Yes; Jesus knew the comfort, the strength, the calm that only prayer can give! We may know them too. Let us be instant in prayer, and we, too, shall be brave and peaceful and strong, for it is as true to-day as it was when Isaiah penned the words, that they who wait upon the Lord renew their strength; they mount up with wings, as eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and are not faint. HEADLEY BROTHERS, PRINTERS, LONDON; AND ASHFORD, KENT. Works by Rev. J. D. JONES, M.A., B.D. THE GOSPEL OF GRACE. _Large crown 8vo. Cloth extra, 3s. 6d. net._