“ For years her faith was proved by her works; her daily example in the household, her watchings and waitings by the bedside of her helpless husband--poverty, sickness, perplexities of every sort, but made her hope the brighter, her hold the firmer. With no dependence for their daily bread but the benefactions of one and another person, sometimes entire strangers, they never knew what it was to suffer actual want, nor did Frances ever believe that her friend would forget her. ”

“ The future, to human view, was shrouded in uncertainty. In so important a matter, affecting his usefulness and happiness, there was nothing left, but to give himself to prayer. His faith in that promise, 'In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy Paths,' led him to pray without ceasing, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do.'"
On a certain day, when the burden lay heavily upon his heart, he retired as usual, to implore light and guidance. ”

“ A vessel was six months making the passage from Liverpool to Bermuda Island. Fogs enveloped it; winds sent it hither and thither; captain and mate lost their reckoning, lost their senses; and when, added to the rest, the vessel sprung a leak, gave up in despair. Crew and passengers were finally reduced to a few drops of water and one potato a day, and they merely waited death from starvation or drowning. All but one! One man; a minister, whose faith and belief in their final escape burned but brighter and brighter, as the others sank in the gloom of silent despair. ”

“ No physician saved him. Our tender care did not save him. Prayer saved our Ernnie. Precious baby! He is such a jolly, happy boy now, filling every heart and the whole house with his sunshine. How I love the little fellow. When I am here at his home, he always comes to Auntie for love and tenderness. When I am resting on the lounge, he comes every few moments to kiss me, giving and receiving real heart-love. We know God only lends these little treasures to their human friends. But oh, they bring so much love with them, it is hard to give them up. ”

“ An aged colored woman, lived that life of faith which shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Born a slave, on Long Island, she was never taught to read, never enjoyed any social privileges; but the God of the widow of Sarepta, who had neither "store-house nor barn," was her God, and brought her out of the house of spiritual bondage.
She outlived all her early associations; all her children and grandchildren, husband and brother passed on before, leaving her alone in poverty and sickness. ”

“ Every step was accomplished by the simple way of prayer; and, when I slept, late that night, in a cosy room at the Methodist parsonage in N.B., I could look back over the last few weeks, and thank God for the power of prayer. But the best of it all was the lesson I had learned--one which I shall never forget, while memory holds her magic power--to carry everything to God in prayer; to trust him in every matter, however small; and this is the whole secret of the power that lies in prayer. ”

“ Is it any objection to that faith to say, the age of miracles is past? If the mother, may call in a second physician, to suggest the cause and the cure, may she not call on God? What the doctor can do for a fellow-practitioner, cannot the Great Physician do? Though the doctor had often tried and thought, yet it was not till the last prayer and call on God, brought the remedy to his mind. ”

“ I have learned to trust and not be afraid, even though the clouds hang heavy, and I see no ray of light, the promise is there, and for me, 'I will never leave thee, or forsake thee.' I am so entirely dependent on Him for everything that sometimes, in little matters, my faith will, for a brief season, droop. ”

“ Bitter persecution prevailed with extraordinary power, and threatened every one. They were the dark days when faith could only cling. There were but few friends to the reformers, and these were of little strength. Their enemies were every where strong, proud, arrogant. But Luther relied on his God, and at this moment, with his favorite hymn in his heart, "A strong fortress is our God," he went to the Lord in prayer, and prayed that omnipotence would come to the help of their weakness. Long he wrestled alone with God in his closet, till like Jacob he prevailed. ”

“ The meaning of the Lord's blessing upon the work of Mr. Muller, is to make it a standing example and illustration to be adopted in every Christian home. "How God supplies our needs, how he rewards faith, how he cares for those who trust in Him. How he can as well take care of his children to-day as he did in the days of the Prophets, and how surely he fulfills his promise, even when the trial brings us to the extremities of circumstances seemingly impossible." ”

“ It were far more sensible for those who deny the fitness and necessity of prayer to take the ground of the atheist and say plainly "We do not pray, for there is no God to pray to," for to deny prayer, is practical atheism.
So in the very constitution of man's being there is the highest reasonableness in prayer. And, if the position of man in his relation to the earth he inhabits is recognized and understood, there is no unreasonableness in a God-fearing man looking to God for help and deliverance under any and all circumstances, in all the vicissitudes of life. The earth was made for man. ”

“ The tea-kettle was sending forth its cloud of steam, all ready for "the cup which cheers, but not inebriates," and a pitcher of milk, which had been sent in by a kind neighbor, was waiting for the bread so anxiously expected by the children. The sad father confessed his poverty, and his wife in tears begged him to make some effort to procure food for them before the Sabbath. He replied, "Let us ask God to give us our daily bread. Prayer avails with God when we ask for temporal good, as well as when we implore spiritual blessings." ”

“ And her answer, inexpressibly touching and instructive, as being the answer of assured faith, which could see as yet no signs of the coming of what it so anxiously sought, was,
"Yes, I believe that you will one day be as eminent as a Christian, and an instrument for good, as you have been eminent in sin, and an instrument for evil." ”

“ If there is ought in the doctrine that denies that Jesus is the Son of God, that derogates in the slightest degree from the merit of His atonement on the cross for our sins, or that takes the eye off from Him as the risen and coming Lord, the alone object of our faith and hope, or that dishonors in any way God's holy word, taking from or adding to it, then the more signs and wonders and manifestations of mysterious power that there may be connected with it, then the more certainly we may know that it is of Satan and not of God. ”

“ Let us go to God ourselves; and, Mary, if you have faith that God can and will cure you sometime, why not believe that He will cure you now?'
"She felt herself cast on God alone. All hope of human help was at an end. She had thought it, hitherto, enough patiently to wait His time. She saw that, after all, she must not dishonor God by limiting His power. Again her Bible opened to the familiar passages, 'the prayer of faith shall save the sick;' 'according to your faith be it unto you.' She felt that the time for testing her faith had come. She would dishonor the Lord no longer. ”

“ This circumstance occurring repeatedly proved a trial to my faith, and I said within my heart, 'Lord, why are we so hindered, and kept in this position?' Day after day we were held as if by an unseen force, until at length a change took place, and we went on our way. Reaching our port they inquired, 'Where have you been through the gale?' 'What gale?' we asked. 'We have seen no gale.' We then learned that a terrible hurricane had swept through that region, and that all was desolation. ”

“ A lady of East Cambridge writes, "For nineteen years I have been afflicted with neuralgia; added to this, of late years a combination of diseases has rendered life an intolerable burden, and baffled the skill of every physician to whom I have applied. By the prayer of faith I have been healed, both body and soul, and made to rejoice continually. ”

“ He never fails, no matter who else does. He knows I don't ask for no nonsense; only for the things we really need, and he has promised them all the time." "But, are there not times, auntie, for instance, when your son is sick, when you cannot see where rent and food is coming from?" "Don't want to see, honey! What's the use seein'? Believin's the thing! Believin's better than money." And so, all the revolving months, this relic of the last century walks by faith in the unseen. ”

“ The power of the Lord is learned only by those who in deep trouble have faithfully sought Him and seen his ways of deliverance.
None can ever understand the full power of prayer until they have learned the lesson of trust. It is only when for the first time in the Christian's own life of faith, it realizes the hand of God in his personal dealings with him, how near He is, or how clearly he feels the presence of that tremendous overruling Spirit which
"Turneth the heart whithersoever He will." ”

“ Sometimes I have to plead and plead over again some particular promises; but these times of waiting on Him only strengthen me for future conflicts. 'Wait on the Lord, and he shall renew thy strength,' comes in beautifully on such occasions. No human being to help me; no one but God. Sometimes, when I sit alone, such a flood of feelings come over me, I well nigh sink. ”

“ A missionary in India, passing one day through the school room, observed a little boy engaged in prayer, and overheard him say, "O, Lord Jesus, I thank thee for sending big ship into my country and wicked men to steal me and bring me here, that I might hear about Thee and love Thee. And now, Lord Jesus, I have one great favor to ask Thee. Please to send wicked men with another big ship, and let them catch my father and my mother, and bring them to this country, that they may hear the missionaries preach and love Thee." ”