=August 11th.= _They that wait upon the Lord shall change their strength. Isa. xl. 31. (R. V.)_ Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take! What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel--and all around us seems to lower. We rise--and all the distant and the near Stand forth in sunny outline, brave and clear. We kneel--how weak: we rise--how full of power. Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong Or others--that we are not always strong; That we are ever overborne with care; That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, while with _us_ is prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with _Thee_? --_Archbishop Trench._ =August 12th.= _As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. Deut. xviii. 14._ What a stepping-stone! We give thanks, often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our spiritual mercies _positive_; but what an almost infinite field there is for mercies _negative_! We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us _not_ to do, _not_ to be.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._ =August 13th.= _Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick. . . . And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come He was there alone. Matt. xiv. 14, 23._ Do we, like Him, combine the two great elements of human character? Are our _public_ duties, the cares, and business, and engrossments of the world, finely tempered and hallowed by a _secret_ walk with God? If the world were to follow us from its busy thoroughfares, would it trace us to our family altars and our closet devotions? Action and meditation are the two great components of Christian life, and the perfection of the religious character is to find the two in unison and harmony.--_Macduff._ =August 14th.= _Leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps. 1 Pet. ii. 21. (R. V.)_ I have long since ceased to pray, "Lord Jesus, have compassion on a lost world!" I remember the day and the hour when I seemed to hear the Lord rebuking me for making such a prayer. He seemed to say to me, "I have had compassion upon a lost world, and now it is for you to have compassion."--_A. J. Gordon._ =August 15th.= _Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex. xx. 3._ If you find yourself beginning to love any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than your Bible, any house better than God's, any table better than the Lord's, any person better than your Savior, any one better than your soul, a present indulgence better than the hope of heaven--take alarm!--_Guthrie._ =August 16th.=