when she came with her earnest request, "he answered her not a word." She pressed the matter still further, and the disciples told him to send her away. Then he repeatedly gave her words that would apparently seem discouraging. This was done in order to show her faith and confidence in him. But she would in no wise be turned away without her request being granted. Then Jesus said, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. her daughter was made whole from that very hour." When anything that is promised in the word of God is brought to him in confidence, and left to his will in the matter, it will be speedily done; it does not take long to get an answer. A leper once came to Jesus and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." And We are to believe the Word, then act on that belief, and the answer will be speedily given. THE PRAYER OF FAITH. It is useless to offer up any other kind of prayer than the prayer of faith. to move God to answer. It takes just such a prayer that it is hoping against hope, as it was with Abraham. At other times it may seem as if God was against what he had promised to do But wherever. we have a promise in his Word we can rest assured that he will fulfill it if we hold him to the Word by the prayer of faith. He is a God who is touched by our infirmities, and by our earnest appeals for aid. A beautiful illustration of clinging to the promise of God is found in Numbers 14:11-20. God had promised to be with Moses and to lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. There came a time when they did that which was wrong in the sight of the Lord; so the Lord intended to disinherit them for it, and raise up a nation that would be mightier than they, because they were disobedient. But Moses feared that the Egyptians would hear about it, and have reason to believe that God was not able to deliver them, so he offered up a prayer, saying: "And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, (and by no means clearing the guilty,) visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." Now here Moses offered the prayer of faith because he had the promise from God, and he believed that God would fulfill his promise; therefore he prayed earnestly. And what did the Lord do? When Moses asked for the pardon of those people he said, "I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." In James 5:15 we read that the "prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." Now this is done upon conditions that he will obey the word of God as given in this chapter. But without meeting the conditions of the word of God a person is not profited himself, though he may have great faith. "Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."-1 Cor. 13:2. Charity here means the real love, or grace of God in the soul; and unless the one who exercises the faith has that, his faith will profit him nothing, even though it may benefit some one else. Now when we ask God for anything which is in accordance with his word, we should believe, not only that he hears, but that he grants us that for which we have asked. "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." -Mark 11:24. One version of the Bible reads, "Believe ye have received." This makes it very positive and strong. But remember when Jesus prayed for the raising of Lazarus from the tomb, he thanked the Father that he had heard his prayer, even before the work was done. As he lifted up his eyes, he said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me." Yet Lazarus had not been raised. But Jesus knowing that the prayer of faith had been offered, knew that his heavenly Father heard his prayer. So it is with us. We can put such implicit confidence in God, when we know that all conditions are met, that we know that he hears us. It is often the case that people have a wrong idea concerning faith, and imagine it some monstrous thing almost too big for them to have anything to do with, or that it is just beyond their reach; and conclude that a person must be wonderfully favored of God above almost all common people in order to pray the prayer of faith. They forget that it is merely taking the word of God and believing it. We are to go to the Lord like a little child to its mother, and ask expecting to receive. Instead of being something just beyond our reach it is one of the most simple things we can imagine. In order to show the childlike simplicity of the prayer of faith we will give you an incident which took place about two years ago. Two little girls, the elder being three and one-half years old, and the other eighteen months old, were at home. one Sunday morning. It was winter time. On Wednesday night before tnere came a snow-storm, and from that time until Sunday the wind and snow were blowing furiously without. There was a brick wall under the house for a foundation. In some way a cat had gotten under the house the night of the snowstorm, and no doubt the hole where it got through was closed up by snow, although we never could tell how the cat got under the house, whether through some hole under the ground, or from the attic between the rafters. However, it was there, and during the remainder of the week was pitifully crying out, and was cold and hungry. On Sunday morning as the remainder of the family had gone to meeting, these little girls came to their mother very much troubled, and told her all about how the poor kitty was hungry and cold, and was crying for help. Finally the older one said, "Can't the Lord get the kitty out?" "Yes," was the reply, "if you will go and pray, and ask him to do it." She called her little sister, and they ran into the other room, and got down with their faces in their hands, down upon the floor, and said, "O dear heavenly Father, bless the kitty. O dear heavenly Father, make a hole; dig the snow away, and let the cat out. Amen." Thus ended their prayer. Rising quickly to their feet they stood a moment as if waiting to know what to do next, then immediately started for the window, and pressed their faces tightly against the window pane, and watched intently for a few moments to see the cat come; nor were they disappointed. Scarcely had a minute passed by until they began to leap and shout, and cry out, "It's a coming! it's a coming!" Sure enough! there was the cat coming jumping through the deep snow toward them. And they were very thankful to the Lord to know that he had made a |