Do you wonder at your lack
of power over the diseases of the soul? "This kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer." Now, this suggestive answer is very appropriate
for our consideration at the present time when we are approaching the
season of Lent, which has been observed century after century as a
special season of fasting, prayer, and penitence for sin, through all the
Christian Church.

When we think of these weeks, it is reasonable to believe that such
observance, so universal, so long continued, must have satisfied some
deep need of the heart, especially as it is not based on any particular
dogma. And this incident in the Saviour's life, and these emphatic words
of His, may help us to a clearer understanding of the value of such
times. They declare to us the principle of the spiritual harvest, that,
in the spiritual life as in all else, we reap as we sow. They are
intended to convey to us this plain lesson, that if any of us give little
thought, attention, or effort to that side of our life which we speak of
as the spiritual, if there is in our daily habit and practice little real
prayer or self-denial, or devotion, little communing with God, little
endeavour to live in the spirit of Christ, and if, this being so, we find
ourselves weak or vacillating in our struggle against sin or evil,
whether in our own life or in society, there is nothing surprising in
such a result.

It is in our religious life just as in everything else--spiritual
carelessness or neglect must mean spiritual weakness. In all other
matters we look for results in some proportion to our efforts. As we sow
we expect to reap.

Here, for instance, in your daily life, if you wish to excel in any
particular game or pursuit, you practise it with diligence. You know
that, without such practice or concentration of effort upon it, any
expectation of excellence is simply foolish.

In your school work you recognise the same conditions. Intellectual
growth may seem sometimes to come slowly, in spite of all your efforts;
but it comes with certainty if you persevere, and it is equally certain
that it hardly ever comes at all to those who use no effort.

If, then, you look for progress or distinction, you know that you must
fix your thoughts upon your work, and practise industry, and, above all,
that you must cultivate a love of learning, so that your mind lingers
over it with some sense of enjoyment.

You do not expect a harvest where yo