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creatures offend us: yet He spares
us, if we humbly confess our sins,
and ask for pardon. But how can
we say to God, “ Forgive us our
trespasses,” if we do not “forgive
them that trespass against us ?”

“And lead us not into tempta-
tion, but deliver us from evil.” This
world is full of sin; and our own
wicked hearts, and our great enemy
Satan, are always leading us into
what is wrong. Jesus, knowing our
weakness, has taught us to seek
help from God. Every morning,
_ before we begin the work of the
day, we ask Him to “lead us not
into temptation ;” not to let us go
anywhere, nor do anything, which
might bring us into sin. But we
must not only pray to be kept from
temptation, we must watch against
it too; and we must try, in God’s
strength, to overcome it.

There is evil in the world too;
sorrow and trouble, as well as sin.
These evils must sometimes come
upon us all. And who can comfort
us then? OnlyGod; He can make
us happy even in sorrow; or He

THE LORD’S PRAYER.

can, if He so please, take the Sor-
row away. He says, “Call upon
me in the day of trouble, and I wi,
deliver thee.” Psalms 1. 15.

“For thine is the kingdom, and
the power, and the glory, for ever,
Amen.” All belongs to God, noth.
ing can happen without His will,
And if he is so powerful and 0
gracious, then we may trust to Him
for whatever we want. He can
help us in our greatest difficulties,
because He is so powerful: and He
will feel for us in all our sorrows,
because He is so kind.

The last word in this beautiful
prayer is “Amen.” This word
means, “so be it;” it means that
we really believe, and feel, and wish,
all that we say and ask for in that
prayer. If not we pray like the
Pharisees and hypocrites, with the
lips, but not with the heart; and
God will never answer nor attend to
such hypocritical prayers. Let us be
thankful for this prayer, and try not
only to remember it in our minds,
but to feel it in our hearts.