corded teaching on the subject of prayer. They give us some
wonderful first glimpses into the world of prayer. The Father
_seeks_ worshippers: our worship satisfies His loving heart and
is a joy to Him. He seeks _true worshippers_, but finds many not
such as He would have them. True worship is that which is _in
spirit and truth_. _The Son has come_ to open the way for this
worship in spirit and in truth, and teach it us. And so one of
our first lessons in the school of prayer must be to understand
what it is to pray in spirit and in truth, and to know how we can
attain to it.

To the woman of Samaria our Lord spoke of a threefold worship.
There is, first, the ignorant worship of the Samaritans: 'Ye
worship that which ye know not.' The second, the intelligent
worship of the Jew, having the true knowledge of God: 'We worship
that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews.' And then the
new, the spiritual worship which He Himself has come to
introduce: 'The hour is coming, and is now, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth.' From
the connection it is evident that the words 'in spirit and truth'
do not mean, as is often thought, earnestly, from the heart, in
sincerity. The Samaritans had the five books of Moses and some
knowledge of God; there was doubtless more than one among them
who honestly and earnestly sought God in prayer. The Jews had the
true full revelation of God in His word, as thus far given; there
were among them godly men, who called upon God with their whole
heart. And yet not 'in spirit and truth,' in the full meaning of
the words. Jesus says, '_The hour is coming, and now is_:' it is
only in and through Him that the worship of God will be in spirit
and truth.

Among Christians one still finds the three classes of
worshippers. Some who in their ignorance hardly know what they
ask: they pray earnestly, and yet receive but little. Others
there are, who have more correct knowledge, who try to pray with
all their mind and heart, and often pray most earnestly, and yet
do not attain to the full blessedness of worship in spirit and
truth. It is into this third class we must ask our Lord Jesus to
take us; we must be taught of Him how to worship in spirit and
truth. This alone is spiritual worship; this makes us worshippers
such as the Father seeks. In prayer everything will depend on our
understanding well and practising the worship in spirit and
truth.

'God is _a Spirit_ a