a
moment the best husband you ever knew any woman to have. Then remember
this that God is a husband; only He is an infinitely more thoughtful
husband than any you ever knew. And His will for your life is a husband's
will for his life's friend and companion.

Now, please, do not _you_ take one of these words, and say, "I like that";
and _you_ another and say, "That conception of God appeals to me," and
_you_ another. How we do whittle God down to our narrow conceptions! You
must take all five words, and think the finest meaning into each, and then
put them all together, to get a close up idea of God. He is all that, _and
more_.

You see God is so much that it takes a number of earth's relationships put
together to get a good suggestion of what He is. He is a father, a
mother, a friend, a lover, a husband. I have not brought book, and
chapter, and verse. But you know I could spend a long time with you
reading over the numerous passages giving these conceptions of God.

And God's will for us is the plan of such a God as that. It includes the
body, health and strength; the family and home matters; money and business
matters; friendships, including the choice of life's chief friend; it
includes service, what service and where; and constant guidance; it
includes the whole life, and the world of lives. All this He has thought
into, lovingly, carefully. Does a wise mother think of her child's needs
into the details, the necessities and the loving extras? That is God.

<u>The One Purpose of Prayer.</u>

Now, the whole thought in prayer is to get the will of a God like that
done in our lives and upon this old earth. The greatest prayer any one can
offer is, "Thy will be done." It will be offered in a thousand different
forms, with a thousand details, as needs arise daily. But every true
prayer comes under those four words. There is not a good desirable thing
that you have thought of that He has not thought of first, and probably
with an added touch not in your thought. Not to grit your teeth and lock
your jaw and pray for grace to say, "Thy will be _endured_: it is bitter,
but I must be resigned; that is a Christian grace; Thy will be
_endured_." Not that, please. Do not slander God like that. There is a
superficial idea among men that charges God with many misfortunes and ills
for which He is not at all responsible. He is continually doing the very
best that can be done under the circumstances for the best results. He