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prayer you should use? When the disciples asked Christ to teach them to pray, he gave them that prayer which is called the Lord's Prayer; and an excellent one it is, and one which should be frequently used. Still he did not mean that we should use no other; and for children there are others which are as simple and easy to be understood. You have some at the end of your catechisms which are very suitable, and perhaps your teachers have supplied you with others. Whatever prayers you use, let them be short and simple: 'Use not vain repetitions,' your Lord has said; for your Father in heaven is every where present; he knoweth what you are going to ask, before you ask it, and he will not hear you the more for your 'much speaking.'

The best times for praying are the night and the morning. In the evening, when you go to bed, you should kneel down and thank God fervently for the many mercies which he has bestowed upon you during the past day; you should entreat him to forgive you your sins, and help you to live better lives for the future; and you should entrust yourselves to his defence for the hours of darkness. So, too, in the morning, one of the first things which you do should be to express your thanks to that great and good Being who has watched over you, while you were lying asleep, and

who has caused you to awake in peace and safety. You ought to pray for his heavenly blessing upon you, that he may give you strength to overcome temptation, and resolution to perform in a proper manner all the duties of the day on which you are entering; and you ought also to remember in your prayers your father and mother and your other relatives, and all mankind. You should never omit to pray every morning and evening; but there are other times also when you should do this. When God has been especially gracious to you, and bestowed upon you some great and valuable blessing, wait not till the evening to thank him for it, but let your praises be offered up without delay. When you have committed some sin,and are brought to a sense of your own wickedness, wait not till the regular hour of prayer to ask for God's forgiveness, but do it directly. And so, too, when you feel yourselves weak and in want of God's assistance, pray to him for his grace, though it be not the hour when you usually pray.

To this let me add, that you should always choose a quiet place to say your prayers in. Do not say them where people are talking or making a noise about you; but go to your bedroom, or some other place, where there will be nothing to take off your attention from what you are saying. Our Lord, as I have already

mentioned to you, went apart into a mountain, and another time into the garden of Gethsemane, when he wished to pray.

to you.

If you pray in the manner I have now described, your heavenly Father will certainly listen to you, and grant you what you want. 'Ask,' says our Lord, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' Matt. vii, 7, 8. By this he did not mean to say that if you ask for this world's goods, they will certainly be given These things should hardly be mentioned in your prayers: you should pray only for so much of them as may be necessary for you, and trust in God's wisdom and goodness for giving you such a portion of them as is best. But with good dispositions of the mind it is different. If you pray for these in an earnest manner, God will grant them to you; he will grant you his heavenly aid to amend your lives, and to be more holy and righteous for the time to come.

Pray, then, to Almighty God frequently and reverently; and you will find the advantage of it. It will be a comfort to you in your troubles, and a help to you in your difficulties, and a spring of happiness as long as you live. Try, above all things, to make God your friend, and then all will be well with you,

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ADDRESS XVI.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

My dear young Friends,

You often hear people speak of God's providence, and I shall endeavor this afternoon to explain to you what is meant by this expression.

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Who is it, then, that makes the sun to rise every morning, to cheer us with his light? Who is it that brings on the darkness, that we may rest in peace? Who is it that makes the grass to grow for cattle, and herb for the service of man? Who is it that gives us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness?' Who is it that supplies us with air to breathe, and food to eat, and materials to work with? Is it not God who does all this for us? Yes! it is our kind Creator who does it. He not only brought us into being at first, but he constantly supplies us with every thing which renders our lives comfortable and happy. In him,' as the apostle says, ' we live, and move, and have our being;' whatever we have comes from him, and it is

because he watches over us, and provides for our wants, that we still continue to live.

Now this wise and kind care, which God perpetually takes of us,is called his Providence. And is it not pleasant to think that he does take this care of us? Is it not a comfort to know, that we have so kind and good a friend in heaven?-that there is so wise and powerful, so just and merciful a Being, who is always watching over us, and providing for our safety and our happiness? Truly we have great cause to rejoice that we have so excellent a friend, and that we and all our concerns are in his hands.

But many things befall us which are evil; there are losses, and troubles; there are pain, and sickness, and the death of friends;-and is God, you will ask, the cause of these things? Is it he who brings them upon us, is it he who gives us our comforts? Yes! it is he; it is he who brings on sickness, and causes us to meet with troubles;-it is he, in short, who causes every thing to happen to us which does happen, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. And perhaps you will ask, can he be a good God, if he does all this? Yes! my dear children, God is always good, although he does cause mournful events to happen to us; for in so doing, he does what is really to our advantage, though we may not see it to be so. Our earthly pa

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