lion and bear in the
secret forests before he faced the giant in the open. These disciples were
facing the giant in the open without the discipline in secret. "This kind
can be compelled to come out by nothing but by prayer," means this:--"this
kind comes out, and must come out, before the man who prays." This thing
which Jesus calls prayer casts out demons. Would that we knew better by
experience what He meant by prayer. It exerts a positive influence upon
the hosts of evil spirits. They fear it. They fear the man who becomes
skilled in its use.

There are yet many other passages in this Bible fully as explicit as
these, and which give on the very surface just such plain teaching as
these. The very language of scripture throughout is full of this truth.
But these four great instances are quite sufficient to make the present
point clear and plain. This great renegade prince is an actual active
factor in the lives of men. He believes in the potency of prayer. He fears
it. He can hinder its results for a while. He does his best to hinder it,
and to hinder as long as possible.

_Prayer overcomes him._ It defeats his plans and himself. He cannot
successfully stand before it. He trembles when some man of simple faith in
God prays. Prayer is insistence upon God's will being done. It needs for
its practice a man in sympathetic touch with God. Its basis is Jesus'
victory. It overcomes the opposing will of the great traitor-leader.

III. How to Pray

1. The "How" of Relationship.
2. The "How" of Method.
3. The Listening Side of Prayer.
4. Something about God's Will in Connection with Prayer.
5. May We Pray with Assurance for the Conversion of Our Loved Ones?

The "How" of Relationship

<u>God's Ambassadors.</u>

If I had an ambition to be the ambassador of this country to our
mother-country, there would be two essential things involved. The first
and great essential would be to receive the appointment. I would need to
come into certain relation with our president, to possess certain
qualifications considered essential by him, and to secure from his hand
the appointment, and the official credentials of my appointment. That
would establish my relationship to the foreign court as the representative
of my own country, and my right to transact business in her name.

But having gotten that far I might go over there and make bad mistakes. I
might get our diplomatic relations tangled up, requiring many
exp