e conflict are all His creatures. He is just in His dealings
with the devil and this splendid host of evil spirits even as with all His
creation. He is long-suffering that no unfairness shall be done in His
dealings with these creatures of His. Yet at the same time He is doing His
best to bring the conflict to a speedy end, for the sake of His loyal
loved ones, and that right may prevail.

The upshot of the parable is very plain. It contains for us two
tremendous, intense truths. First is this: _prayer concerns three_, not
two but three. God to whom we pray, the man on the contested earth who
prays, and the evil one against whom we pray. And the purpose of the
prayer is not to persuade or influence God, but to join forces with Him
against the enemy. Not towards God, but with God against Satan--that is
the main thing to keep in mind in prayer. The real pitch is not Godward
but Satanward.

The second intense truth is this:--the winning quality in prayer is
_persistence_. The final test is here. This is the last ditch. Many who
fight well up to this point lose their grip here, and so lose all. Many
who are well equipped for prayer fail here, and doubtless fail because
they have not rightly understood. With clear, ringing tones the Master's
voice sounds in our ears again to-day, "always to pray, _and_ not to
faint."

<u>A Stubborn Foe Routed.</u>

That is the parable teaching. Now a look at a plain out word from the
Master's lips. It is in the story of the demonized boy, the distressed
father, and the defeated disciples, at the foot of the transfiguration
mountain.[29] Extremes meet here surely. The mountain peak is in sharpest
contrast with the valley. The demon seems to be of the superlative degree.
His treatment of the possessed boy is malicious to an extreme. His purpose
is "to destroy" him. Yet there is a limit to his power, for what he would
do he has not yet been able to do. He shows extreme tenacity. He fought
bitterly against being disembodied again. (Can it be that embodiment eases
in some way the torture of existence for these prodigal spirits!) And so
far he fought well, and with success. The disciples had tried to cast him
out. They were expected to. They expected to. They had before. They
failed!--dismally--amid the sneering and jeering of the crowd and the
increasing distress of the poor father.

Then Jesus came. Was some of the transfiguring glory still lingering in
that great face? It would seem