sions of the Spirit of God.

By an electric cable America is brought in touch with Europe. Were this
to become divided, communication would cease. Sin divided the
life-giving cable from the presence of God to the souls of men. In Jesus
the divided cable is taken up and united, and man brought into communion
with God. So cultured may become the sensibilities of the inner being,
and so thoroughly impregnated by God's enlivening power, that one empty
thought causing the slightest ebbing of life's current flow is keenly
felt. To keep in perfect touch with God is to live where there is a
soul-consciousness that he is pleased with every act of your life, and
where there is a clear, definite witnessing of the Spirit to your inmost
soul that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart are
acceptable unto him.

Useless thought makes the soul coarse, and difficult of impression by
good influences. Pure and holy meditations are an excellent means for
the refinement of your moral being. Praying to God is talking to him,
telling him the desires of the heart; whereas meditating upon God is
contemplating his goodness, love, mercy, greatness, and wonderful works.
Meditation prepares the heart for that deeper communion with God called
prayer. Whoever gives attention to his meditations, and has learned to
fix his mind upon God; to whom "day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night showeth knowledge;" to whom "the heavens declare the glory of
God," and who hears God's voice in nature and sees the goodness of his
hand in all creation,--finds no difficulty in drawing to God in prayer.
If you allow your mind to wander vaguely about upon the vanities of the
world, you will find prayer a difficult and rather an unpleasant task.
Learn, therefore, I beseech you, to stay your mind upon the Lord, and
great will be the peace and quietness of your soul. Precious moments
spent in idle chit-chat with your companions or indulging vagrant
thoughts are time worse than wasted. As your mind acts once, so it is
disposed to act again. The mind forms habits of thinking. Then, how
careful you should be to direct it in proper and useful channels.

[Illustration: THINKING OF THE LIFE BEYOND.]

Some people have found it difficult to prevent their thoughts from
wandering while they were reading the Bible or in secret prayer. The
wonderful works of God hardly awaken any admiration within them; they
can not elevate the soul into a profound awe