Jerusalem by the spirit of burning."

JUNE The Twenty-eighth

_THE WAITING LIGHT_

2 CORINTHIANS iv. 1-6.

I can shut out the sweet light of the morning. I can refuse to open the
shutters and draw up the blinds. And I can shut out the Light of life. I
can draw the thick blinds of prejudice, and close the impenetrable
shutters of sin. And the Light of the world cannot get into my soul.

And I can let in the waiting light of the morning, and flood my room with
its glory. And the Light is "a gracious, willing guest." No fuss is
needed, no shouting is required. Open thy casement, and the gracious guest
is in! And my Lord has no reluctance in His coming; we have not to drag
Him to our table. Open thy heart, and the Lord is in!

And when the light is within there will be radiance at the windows. And
when the Lord is shining in our hearts there will be a witness in the
life. Men will see that we are "with Jesus," because we are "light in the
Lord."

Good Lord, deliver me from "the god of this world" lest I be blinded and
become unable to see Thee! I open my heart to Thee! Shine in, Thou light
of life, and make my soul the radiant witness of Thy grace.

JUNE The Twenty-ninth

_EFFECTUAL PRAYERS_

"_The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much._"
--JAMES v. 13-20.

Or, as Weymouth translates it, "The heartfelt supplication of a righteous
man exerts a mighty influence." Prayer may be empty words, with no more
power than those empty shells which have been foisted upon the Turks in
their war with the Balkan States. Firing empty shells! That is what many
professed prayers really are; they have nothing in them, and they
accomplish nothing. They are just forged upon the lips, and they drop to
the earth as soon as they are spoken. Effectual prayers are born in the
heart; they are stocked with heart-treasure, with faith, and hope, and
desire, and holy urgency, and they go forth with power to shake the world.

What are my prayers like? _If I were God, could I listen to them?_ Are
they mere pretences at prayer, full of nothing but sound? Is there any
reasonable ground for assuming that they can accomplish anything? Or are
my prayers weighted with sincere desire? Do they comprehend my brother's
good as well as my own? Are they spoken in faith? Do they go forth in
great expectancy? Then do they surely "exert a mighty influence," and they
become fellow-labourers with all God's ministries of gra