[Dr. Arthur H. Wurtele, as quoted in the Times, Los Angeles, California]

The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane shows an acceptance of the divine will. Our Master prayed, "Not my will, but thine, be done." The difficulty with many persons today is that they want God to do their will, rather than that His will should be done through them. Prayer is more than talking to God, it is living as He wills us to live. The happiest men are those who have learned to pray, trust, and love.

Prayer can open the eyes to see spiritual visions as wonderful as those revealed to St. John on the Isle of Patmos. When any man prays he acknowledges his need of God and his dependence upon God's love, and in so far as, in return, he will co-operate with God, can he find new hope, comfort, and spiritual strength. In all problems, including the current difficulty of unemployment, it is evident that the efforts of many have not succeeded, but with God's help all things are possible, and with new hope and united effort, strengthened by prayer, the clouds will pass away.

[J. L. Newland, in the Frederick Leader, Oklahoma]

A deep and abiding faith has been at the bottom of all the world's progress. It has sent men and women forth to do marvelous things which their incredulous neighbors have declared impossible. It has furnished leadership to the wavering, comfort to the sorrowing. It has given "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

Let faith shine into the darkened thought, and all the world takes on a lovely aspect, friends multiply, and we are able to go forth to our tasks, ready to give such a measure of enlightened service that wonders are performed.

Thus the thing we greatly hoped for comes to pass, for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

[From the Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada]

However history has been burdened with its sorrows and its wrongs, there has been running through it like a thread of gold the influence of a beneficent power, one of infinite value in its gracious ministry to the world. It is a power that refuses to be satisfied with the things of time and sense; it is what inspires the realization that humanity is made for something more, something to which faith alone can offer an answer. Not to exercise that power is to stunt moral development, to thwart affections, to turn aside from the highest motives of service to others. In these matters unbelief is bankruptcy; he who will not exercise the power of faith has nothing wherewith to meet the last account of life. . . .

The moral of Christianity, with its keynote of divine guidance, is emphasized in this day and age when politically and socially there is so much bluster, egoism, and self-sufficiency. Governments everywhere are attempting to set the world right, without divine guidance. They are leaning on themselves and failing to lean upon God. There is, indeed, in the example of some governments an illustration of "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not. that I do." Human failure, where reliance is placed upon self alone, is evident on all hands. What the world in the world's affairs, as well as in the affairs of the hereafter, needs is God's guidance for a working philosophy of life, for one that needs no technical terminology, for a creed that can be verified when put to the test of personal practice. . . . By divine guidance each man . . . can fashion himself as a fellow worker with God through God's grace. The faith with which he is imbused enables him to rise to the true dignity of life; it means a transformation of manhood through which testimoney is given of the strength of Christian character by its recognition of dependence on the divine Spirit. There is the soul of righteousness; there is consciousness of God of love with whom it is possible to live in constant communion and in entire confidence. This is the truest of wisdom in a way of living; it is the path the Christian follows, and in doing so wins the reward of character development and the desire to make a real contribution to the highest interests of his fellow men.

[Orion W. Fifer, in the Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio]

The Bible is the great encyclopedia of faith. Its pages are luminous with examples. The various types of faith are represented by living characters. Job is argumentative, bold, but submissive. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Habakkuk is enduring and retains a capacity for joy. "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Paul is . . . persevering. "None of these things move me . . . so that I might finish my course with joy." Jesus is the chief witness for triumphant faiths. . . .

The faith in God as a creator, ruler, and Father with loving, intelligent will, has kept human minds confident before the peril of chaos and ruin. The faith in God as a heavenly Father has kept religion burning warm as a fire upon the home hearthstone. The faith in the ultimate victory of righteousness over wrong has kept men of the cross from failure and despair. The faith in fellowship and brotherhood had animated the crusades against war and inspired increasing millions to demand opportunity and protection for all persons for whom Jesus died. The faith by man in himself that he had inherent privilege to be a son of God, has made him free from kinship with clod and ox and restored the "sunlight to his brain and heart."

Such faiths are the heritages of Christian fellowship and experience, and gain the victories which overcome the world.

[From the Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona]

Lately we read of the man whose small son had wandered away from the place where the family was camping and had been lost for thirty hours before being found by the father. He stated that a few minutes before he found him, he dropped to his knees and prayed that he might find the lost child. To him, at least, his prayer was answered. Who among us can say differently? . . . We have always chosen to think of prayer as the thing which gives buoyancy to our spirits, especially when they are at low ebb and the future seems rather uncertain. We like to think of prayer as the act that gives us courage to carry on in the face of adversity, the medium that brings us a little closer to the Father. . . .

We pray largely that we may have the divine blessing upon all that we do and that our efforts may be rewarded. To get that blessing, we must bestir ourselves. Prayer, we think, is one of the most important phases of one's religion, and it is regretted that in the majority of homes throughout this nation, prayer is almost unknown and is seldom heard.

There was once a time in the history of the nation when prayers were offered at stated periods in nearly every home. No undertaking was started without the offering of a word of prayer, the beseeching of divine blessing and help in the matter about to be undertaken. Several million children in the nation today know scarcely anything about prayer, and most of them were never taught to pray by their parents.

[R. A. S. Ward, in the North Leeds News, Leeds, Yorkshire, England]

To any thoughtful man it is self-evident that the natural man must cultivate the spiritual life that can be his if he seeks its power, its influence . . . But our rebellious nature turns at the discipline of the cross. . . . The fact is, our places of worship are regarded far too much as social institutions. We are losing sight of the fact that they are houses of prayer. When we do realize that as we ought, and remember that it is only by prayer man can spiritually grow and become a Christian in word and deed, we shall find what a great asset Christianity is in our national life. But we must realize a Christian cannot forever be pleasing himself or herself. No man or woman with a high sense of duty will so live, let alone a Christian.

[Rev. J. C. DeVries, in the Times Observer, Clinton, Wisconsin]

Lawrence of Arabia brought several native chieftains with him to the Paris Peace Conference. These sons of the desert were amazed at many things, but nothing else astonished them so much as the running water in their hotel rooms. They knew the scarcity of water, and its value; yet here it was, to be had by turning on a tap, free and exhaustless. When they were preparing to leave Paris, Lawrence found them trying to detach the faucets, so that, out in their native deserts, they might have water. Lawrence had great difficulty in explaining to them that behind the flowing of the water there must be vast reservoirs of water. Without the reservoir the faucets were of little use.

Before we smile at such simplicity, we might ask if we do nothing similar and less excusable. Do we not try to give without first getting? Do we not try to perform tasks without adequate spiritual preparation; to speak comfort without personal experience? Do we not try to practice Christian ethics without developing Christian faith as a prerequisite?

Today, there is an overemphasis in religion on activity. Do something! Put every Christian to work! Invent a place for them! But how much inconsistency in Christian practice, how much moral tension, frustration, and defeat, is due to the lack of spiritual preparation? We must have before we can give. The mystical and the practical aspects of personal faith must balance. And in the long run they do balance. Not only does each develop and sustain the other, but neither will ever develop much beyond the other. The fruits of Christian justice, honesty, and chastity wait on the growing roots of Christian faith. To have lofty ideals . . . does not meet the complete requirement. If anything, it puts heavier demand on reserve powers. The higher one's ideals, the greater one's resources must be to sustain them.

Surely divine supplies are adequate to all our needs. No man. not even Christ Jesus himself, has ever exhausted the vast ocean of God's love.

[Rev. Franklyn Cole Sherman, in the Cleveland Press, Ohio]

The characteristic attitude of religion—the very heart of religion—is to see the invisible. You are living in the unseen world now. Heaven is here about you. Peace, serenity of soul, vigor, vitality, come . . . of putting yourself in touch with the great world of the unseen.