to turn a deaf ear to our prayers. He sees not fit to answer them immediately. What did our Lord do when the woman of Canaan begged Him to heal her daughter ?

Selina. He answered her not a word.

Miss M. She might have felt that her prayers were useless, but what did she do? Read Matthew xv. 25. Jane reads. "Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."

Miss M. Was her prayer granted at last?

Susan. Yes.

Miss M. Now why was it that our Lord at first refused to listen to her ?

Ellen. To try her faith.

Miss M. Yes; He says to her, "O woman, great is thy faith:" for this then He heard her. So it may be with us; God may think fit to try us, to prove our faith what should we do then, when we find that our prayers do not receive the answer that we expected ? Kate. We should pray more earnestly.

Miss M. Quite right; we must not be discouraged, but we must trust to God's word, and believe that He will hear us in His good time, according to His holy will. We may not know His reason for delaying His answer, for "his thoughts are not as our thoughts; neither are his ways our ways." His purposes are beyond our comprehension. Then it is that we have need of faith to go on trusting in Him, even though He seem to have forsaken us. Now what does our Lord say in the 6th and 7th verses ?

Mary. "Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?"

Miss M. Here, then, you will see why our Lord makes use of this comparison. He says, "Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect? If one who was unjust granted the widow's prayer, how much more will God do so, who is "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. xxxii. 4. Who are God's elect?

Elizabeth. His chosen people.

Miss M. Yes; those who have entered into covenant with Him, who are His children, who belong to His family. What does He say that they do?

Anna. They cry day and night unto Him.

Miss M. Those, then, who are really His chosen, His faithful people, will be always praying to Him, going to Him in their troubles, casting all their care upon Him. It is not only at set times, and in set places that we may pray to God; there is no moment when, unknown to those around us, we may not pour out our hearts before Him, and He "who seeth in secret" will reward us openly. Remember that

"If 'tis here denied thee

In solitude to pray,

Let holy thoughts come o'er thee
When friends are round thy way.
E'en then the silent breathing
Of thy spirit raised above,
Will reach His throne of glory

Who is mercy, truth, and love."

I might say a great deal more about God's mercy, as well as His justice, and about the faith of which we read in the next verse, but we have had enough for to-day. I will only draw your attention to one more thing. In whose name did the widow pray?

Susan. In her own name.

Miss M. And in whose name may we pray?
Emily. In the name of Jesus Christ.

Miss M. Yes; we have then still further reason to hope that God will hear us, for His own Son is our Intercessor, that is, He prays the Father for us. Read Hebrews vii. 25.

Selina reads. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Miss M. Let us learn from this parable to put our whole trust in God, and also to "continue instant in prayer."

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.

Luke xviii. 9-14.

"AND he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that

exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Miss Morton. The last parable was intended to teach us the duty of perseverance and earnestness in prayer, this one the spirit in which we ought to pray. It is one of those in which there is not a hidden meaning: we see at once the lesson which it is meant to convey. To whom did our Lord speak it?

Mary. "To certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others."

Miss M. Those even who followed our Lord, and listened to His words, were over confident, and trusted too much to themselves. Which of the Apostles proved himself to be weaker than he thought he was? Elizabeth. St. Peter.

Miss M. He believed that nothing could ever make him betray his Lord: he said that if all the other disciples forsook Jesus and fled, he would yet remain faithful to Him: but was this the case?

Anna. No, he denied Him.

Miss M. At the first trial of his faith it failed: he was no sooner tempted than he yielded to the temptation: the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. In what did those to whom our Lord was speaking trust?

Jane. In their own righteousness.

Miss M. I have told you before that we are, even the best of us, but unprofitable servants in God's sight: we may find some proofs of it in the Bible. Read Psalm xiv. 3, 4.

Susan reads. "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God. But they

are all gone out of the way; they are altogether become abominable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Miss M. St. Paul quotes these words in his Epistle to the Romans, showing that they still applied to the people then, and I am afraid that they are but too true now. Look at what our Lord says in Matthew

xix. 17.

Selina reads. "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."

Miss M. What promise did God make to Abraham about the destruction of Sodom, when he pleaded to Him for the city?

Ellen. That He would not destroy it if ten righteous were found there.

Miss M. Was the city then preserved ?

Ellen. No; there were not ten righteous men in it. Miss M. We are all, if left to ourselves, and not assisted by God's Holy Spirit, ready to love darkness rather than light. We ought to be particularly careful not to trust in our own goodness, for it is then, when we think we stand, that St. Paul tells us we fall. We must now begin the parable. What do we read first?

Kate. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican."

Miss M. Let us see what were the characters generally of these two classes of people. The Pharisees formed the principal sect among the Jews, and were outwardly very religious: they observed strictly the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and they were for the most part very proud of these observances. They would pray in the streets, so that they might be