"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you " (Matt. 7:7).

Watching unto prayer " is one of the greatest needs in the Christian life. It is the actual need of the day in which we live-the need to live in the spirit and habit of prayer. If only the Church of Christ could be impelled to prayer, there would be an end of barrenness and failure.

It is the lack of prayer that lies at the root of all our troubles, and there is no remedy but in prayer.

The spirit of worldliness will never be broken by strong and fiery words of censure. Spiritual destitution and moral laxity are the order of the day, but they will never be better till prayer is restored to its true place in the individual believer's life. Why do we not set ourselves to prayer ? The remedy is sure and simple, the need is urgent and acknowledged. Why is it so slow in getting to work?

1. – "Seek, and ye shall find." The remedy is not so simple as it seems. The command to ask seems simple enough." If ye have not, it is because ye ask not,"says Jas. 4:2. What could be simpler than that? And yet the Scripture speaks of it as toil and labor. Prayer demands earnestness of mind and heart. Our Lord Jesus wrought many mighty works without any sign of effort. There was in His marvelous works the ease of omnipotence, but of His prayers it is said, "He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears." There was no visible strain in healing diseases, in raising the dead, and stilling the tempest; but in prayer we read of real labor and agony and the sweat of blood.

All who have shared His intercession, have found it a real labor and travail (Col. 4:12). Great saints have always been mighty in prayer, and their triumphs have been the outcome of travail in prayer until they had prevailed (Mark n :24).

Now-a-days, in the open life of the Church, and in the fellowship of believers there is seemingly little power in prayer. There is a marked absence of travail. There is much phrasing, but little pleading. The powerlessness of the Church needs no other explanation, and we need seek no other cause. To be prayerless is to be both passionless and powerless.

2.-"Watch and Pray." The New Testament links Watching with Prayer. Twice our Lord commanded His disciples to watch and pray.

The instruction is, to "watch unto prayer" (1 Pet. 4:7). St. Paul exhorts the Colossians to "continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving,"and in the warfare against evil powers he instructs the Ephesians to be alert "with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication," not only for ourselves but "for all saints" (Eph. 6:18).

It is the watcher that prays and prevails. The command to watch is linked with the command to pray, and prayer is regulated by the exercise of watching. Peter slept while Jesus prayed, because he failed to watch.

Prayer is the only medium by which we can prevail in spiritual things. The word of God reveals its mysteries to prayer; and prayer lays hold of God and prevails. Prayer turns our thoughts into petitions, and facts into arguments for supplication; then prayer turns into praise.

3.-The Hindrance to Prayer. A prayerful life is absolutely simple, but it is by no means easy. The devil sees to that. He sentinels the gateway of prayer. Andrew Bonar has left it on record that he never entered into a season of pure prayer without a battle at the threshold.

Satan dreads nothing as prayer. He knows he cannot frighten saints with hideous features, or overcome them by coarse enticements. He stands at the portal of prayer. If he does not attack, he diverts.

Christians that lack prayer are often full of good works. Activities are multiplied that devotion and meditation may be ousted; and organizations are increased that prayer may have no chance. Souls maybe lost in good works, as surely as in evil ways. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. But how often earthly concerns, material interests, commercial enterprises, domestic affairs, and everything else hold the right of way to the divine Presence! Therefore we are weak when we might be strong. It is to this the apostle Peter refers in his first epistle, chap. 4:7.

4.- The Effects of Prayer. What serenity and confidence would come to worried and distracted men if they "watched unto prayer!" Nothing saves time like time spent with God. An hour's spiritual thinking, true communion, patient waiting, would save both time and worry as well as keep hearts young and tempers sweet.

Prayers illumines and transforms. God teaches men that pray. He opens their eyes, and they see things in His light; He touches their hearts, and they feel as He feels. "Watching unto prayer" gives wisdom. The more we wait upon God, the more shall we truly know the joy and sweetness of abiding rest. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."

If prayer is the supreme need of the Church, why do not people begin to pray ?

The frivolous cannot pray. Real prayer demands honesty, moral sincerity and spiritual resoluteness.

The proud cannot pray. Drawing near to God requires lowliness of mind, simplicity of heart, and a teachable spirit (Isaiah 59:i-3).

The worldling cannot pray. In true prayer the soul submits all things to the standards of Heaven, seeks the judgment of God, and lives in the unseen.

Prayer that stops short of obedience is mockery. -Extracted from a sermon