due him. Again, one christian believes God sends death, and he thanks God for death, declaring him a wise God who through death draws his children towards-what? Eternal Life? That is what he believes, although death is the absence of Life, and Life is God. Another agrees with James that "Death is of the devil, not of God"; and he only prays to his God to stay the hand of death if such be his will, or, if it be not his will, to give him grace to meet it. Is it ever God's will for the devil to reign? Did not Jesus say he did the Father's will always, and destroyed every root which his Father had not planted, and that death was the last enemy to overcome? Did he not claim that his teaching, and that only, opened the way to eternal Life to them, and that with the spirit or understanding which he gave unto them, they could have power over all things, including death? Thus every one has imaged in his mind a differ ent God and he worships that image, knowing not what he worships.

Some, when asked to listen to ideas different from those which they already entertain, will say, they have their views regarding the Bible and Jesus, settled, and they do not wish to be disturbed or unsettled. That which can be shaken is not builded upon a good foundation; Christ is not the cornerstone, and the sooner it is thrown down and a new foundation laid, the better it will be. Not all the wisdom of the world could disturb Jesus: he said, "But I know him, and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you a liar: but I know him, and keep his word."

I have a God that I worship, and he is the God that the scriptures declare, but he is not like unto any of the gods I have mentioned. He is not an unknown God, but his children all know him from the least unto the greatest, and he hears their prayers and answers them, for they pray according to his Will or Understanding, and by their fruits they are known. When we pray and

receive, we know that we have the petition we asked for. God's open reward which is promised his children, is the healing of the sick, the destruction of sin and death, and an inheritance of eternal life. I not only believe in God, but know him and know that every prayer asked according to his will will be heard and answered, therefore, if I know his will, I need not ask amiss.

Some who call themselves followers of Jesus, pray and receive not; but let us see if they do not pray amiss. Earnest, sincere prayers were offered from thousands of sorrowful hearts for the restoration of President Garfield, yet he passed away; and they say it pleased God to take him. But let us see how they prayed; they asked God to heal him, or to bless the means used to heal him; these means are the inventions of man (the things of the world, not of God) and would not God bless man whom he made in his image and likeness, before he would bless. inert matter? Even Jesus said, “Father I

pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine"; "they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Then again, God is wiser than man, and how can man presume to advise God, or why should he ask an unchangeable Spirit to change its plans, to suit the ideas of finite minds? Spirit knoweth all things, and doeth all things well. It would be like asking the unchangeable principle of mathematics to work out our problem for us, or to change its rules. in order to make our incorrect answer, correct. The principle of mathematics will never change, neither will God change; and we must do our work ourself, through that immortal Understanding which is opened unto him who seeks it in earnest: it is free to all. Jesus showed his disciples the prayer of faith (understanding) that heals the sick, and even raises the dead, yet taught them nothing that the world. called prayer, until they asked him for a

form, when he gave them "The Lord's Prayer." And if that were uttered in spirit (understanding) and in truth, it would raise the dead to-day. We indeed have the words, but we can repeat them all day without the open reward which was promised for the prayer of faith; therefore we do not pray with the spirit or understanding, but pray amiss and receive not.

Had Jesus or one of his disciples been here and prayed for President Garfield, he would have recovered. Many healed who never saw Jesus; there were Paul's disciples who did great works. Paul never saw Jesus; he saw or perceived the Christ, which was the Understanding through which Jesus did his work, and worked by that Understanding, he said, "For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ."

Therefore, if we do not receive, it is because we pray amiss. I know that it is