"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

" Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." -Luke 18:1 [KJV] Then, there can be no room for despair; for prayer exports wants, and imports blessings. But our dear Lord knows, there is in us, at all times, a backwardness to prayer; this He would remove. It arises from fainting; this He would prevent. Therefore He opposes prayer to fainting; for fainting prevents praying. Have you not found it so? When weary and faint in your mind, when your spirits are oppressed, your frame low and languid, you have thought, This is not a time for prayer. Yea, but it is. Pray always. Now, sigh out the burden of your heart and the sorrows of your spirit; now, though in broken accents, breathe your complaints into your Father’s ear; now, cry to Him who loveth you, and careth for you with the love and care of the most affectionate parent.  What makes us faint? Do troubles and afflictions? here is a reviving cordial: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and th...

"Help, L ORD ; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." -Psalm 12:1 [KJV] My soul, art thou sometimes distressed in the recollection of the languishing state of Zion - are faithful men, faithful ministers, taken away from the evil to come! And dost thou sometimes, at a mercy-seat, feel thyself drawn out in fervent prayer, that the Lord would fill up the vacancies He is making by death, and raise up pastors after His own heart, and believers who love Zion, to supply their place? Take comfort, my soul; thy Jesus loves Zion; and she is still engraven on the palms of His hands, and her walls are continually before Him. Jesus must have a church in the earth as long as the sun and moon endure.   Remember, the reins of government are in Jesus' hands; and however the enemies of Zion, like wild horses, would ride over the children of Zion, Jesus puts His bridle in their jaws, and will turn them back by the way they came. Rememb...

"Shew me Thy ways, O L ORD ; teach me Thy paths." -Psalm 25:4 [KJV] To lie with a broken heart and contrite spirit at the footstool of mercy beseeching God to teach us, is indeed a blessed spot to be in. It is the evidence of a childlike spirit, and shows such simplicity, reality, and genuineness that it bears stamped upon it the indubitable marks of true discipleship. Wherever we see such a coming out of SELF, with a renunciation of our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness, such a putting aside of all creature religion, and such a real spirit of humility before God, we must receive it as something beyond and above nature. Nothing but the power of God seems able to bring a soul so completely out of the shell and crust of self-righteousness, and so to lay open its spiritual nakedness before Him .   Naturally there is something very sweet in seeing a docile, teachable disposition. And on the other hand, few things are more offensive than the pride of ignorance...