Many years ago a good clergyman wrote a tiny prayer, so short that no one could help remembering it if they once heard it. God seemed to set that little prayer "upon wheels," so that it might run everywhere. It was printed on large cards and hung up, and it was printed on small ones and kept in Bibles and pocket-books. It was taught to classes and schools and whole congregations, and now thousands upon thousands pray it constantly. It is a prayer which must be heard, because it asks for what God has promised to give; and it asks for this through Him whom the Father heareth always. It is this: "O God, give me Thy Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." Will you not pray it too? Begin this morning, and go on, not just _saying_ it, but _praying_ it, till you get a full answer. For you are quite sure to get it; here is God's own promise, "I _will_ put my Spirit within you;" and He has promised it over and over again in other places. Perhaps you will not know at first when the answer comes. Can you see the dew fall? No one ever saw a single drop come down, and yet as soon as the sun rises, you see that it has come, and is sparkling all over the fields. It came long before you saw it, falling sweetly and silently in the twilight and in the dark. So do not fancy God is not hearing you because you have not felt anything very sudden and wonderful. He is hearing and answering all the time. You would not go on asking unless the dew of His Spirit were already falling upon your heart, and teaching you to pray. The more He gives you of His blessed Spirit, the more you will ask for; and the more you ask, the more He will give.
"Thou gift of Jesus, now descend, And be my Comforter and Friend; O Holy Spirit, fill my heart, That I from Christ may ne'er depart!
"Show me my soul all black within, And cleanse and keep me pure within; Oh, show me Jesus! let me rest My heart upon His loving breast!"
16. Sixteenth Day.
How to Conquer.
"The Lord shall fight for you."--Ex. xiv. 14.
How glad the children of Israel must have been when Moses said these words to them on the shores of the Red Sea! For when they "lifted up their eyes, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid."
The Egyptians had been cruel masters to them; and they had horses and chariots to pursue them with; and there was the sea close before them, and no boats! Perhaps some of the Israelites thought it was no use trying to escape, they would only be overtaken and conquered and be worse off than before.
And so, left to themselves, they would have been; but God fought for them in a way they never thought of. For "the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore."
What about your Egyptians?--the angry tempers or sulky looks, the impatient words, the vain and foolish thoughts, the besetting sins that master you so often. Have you tried so often to fight against them, and failed, that it seems almost no use, and you do not see how to conquer them or to escape them? Are you very tired of fighting, and "sore afraid" of being always overcome just the same as ever? Now hear God's true, strong promise to you. "The Lord shall fight for you!" "Will He really?" Yes, really, and He will conquer for you too, if you will only believe His Word and trust the battle to Him, and _let_ Him fight for you.
How? First, watch! and then the very instant you see the enemy coming, look up and say, "Come, Lord, and fight for me;" and keep on looking up and _expecting_ Him to fight for you. And _you will find_ that He does fight for you and gives you the victory; and you too will be "saved that day," and will see "the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore." Try Him, and trust Him; and you, even you, will be "more than conqueror through Him that loved you."
"So, when you meet with trials, And know not what to do; Just cast the care on Jesus, And He will fight for you. Gird on the heavenly armor Of faith, and hope, and love; And when the conflict's ended, You'll reign with Him above."
17. Seventeenth Day.
The Master's Voice.
"I will watch to see what He will say unto me."--Hab. ii. 1.