Waiting on bended knee;
Behold, in solitude, a worm,
That dares approach to Thee,
To me the heavenly gift impart,
Thy Holy Spirit send;
To fill and sanctify my heart,
And bid its wand'rings end.
Then health or sickness let me share,
As wills eternal love;
For all is well, if Thou art near,
Thy creature to approve.
My grateful thanks for ease I bring,
And every comfort given;
Nor less for sorrows, sent to wing
My grov'lling soul to heaven.
Great God! to Thee my wishes flow,
Who dost my life prolong;
Thy witness let me live below,
Thy statutes be my song.

"Ere the day broke, the Lord broke in upon my soul with the words,
'Thy sun shall no more go down, nor Thy moon withdraw itself, for
the Lord shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended.' Such light shone upon the whole chapter, as filled
my soul with gratitude for the rich promises given to the people of
God.--Called to see a man and his wife, both sick, to whom the Lord
has blessed affliction. The man was rejoicing in the Lord, and the
woman is resolved not to rest short of salvation. While we united in
prayer she received some encouragement."

XIV.

POWER WITH GOD.

"FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG."--2 Cor. xii. 10.

Do you ever receive answers to your prayers? We do not speak to those,
who look upon prayer simply as an act of homage done to a superior
being; _they_ do not expect any: but to those, who believe that prayer
has power with God. Why are so many prayers ineffectual, even of those
who really expect an answer? Some lack _earnestness_; they are too
diffusive, like the letter of the young maiden, in which she asks a
hundred questions, which are forgotten as soon as she has attached the
seal. Others want warmth; they are too formal, like a petition to a
sovereign; which may, or may not, receive a gracious and condescending
reply. Others are importunate, and earnest enough, like the beggar's
appeal for relief, but without much hope of success. But how few,
like the cry of a child, who runs to his father with his one, for
the moment, all-absorbing request, never dreaming of a refusal, and
importunately urged till he succeeds. Yet such is the spirit of filial
affection and confidence we are privileged to use before God. For
"This is the confidence we have in Him; that if we ask any thing
according to His will, He heareth us; and if we know that He