October 10

"Men ought always to pray and not to faint."—Luke 18:1.

ALWAYS: it was the Master's word. Always, morning and noon and night, men ought to pray and not to faint. It is the only word which fits one dowered with a nature like mine, dwelling in a world like mine, dogged by enemies like mine.

There are the constantly recurring temptations of my life. I am beset by perils, more fatal because they approach me unseen and unheard. I spend my days in the midst of incitements to sin. My adversary the devil goeth about. I must live "with belted sword and spur on heel." Yes, my prayer should be unbroken.

There are the solemn crises of my life. At any instant the ordinary and monotonous routine may be interrupted, and I may find myself face to face with emergency—with a duty, an experience, a sacrifice, such as I never encountered before. I shall do valiantly in the hour of testing only if I breathe the atmosphere of prayer. Otherwise the noble chance will reveal an ignoble and panic-smitten knight.

There are the little cares of my life. It is full of distractions, of worries, which may draw me away from God. Pascal lamented that in certain moods he could not endure the lighting of a fly on his face without irritation. But if I make my history a continuous prayer, I shall cease to be troubled. Then, as one has said, "my voice will be as sweet as the murmur of a brook and the rustle of the corn."

So Christ's Always is the only right word. As I would consult my own welfare, I dare not exchange it for any other—I must not weaken its binding force and its universal scope.