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 blind and  deaf  and  dumb. It is  evident  from  the  text that the  mute  of  to-day's  Gospel  had  at  one  time  enjoyed the  use  of  speech,  but  that,  having  through  accident or  sickness  lost  his  hearing,  he  had  become partially, if  not  wholly,  dumb. He is  a  perfect  figure of a  Christian  soul  in  sin,  and  his  miraculous  cure  is but  the  outward  form  of  those  innumerable  miracles of grace,  those  conversions  which  God  effects  in response  to  prayer. "They brought  to  Him  one  that was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  they  besought  Him  that  He would  lay  His  hand  upon  him." To my  mind,  the Gospel message  to-day  is  the  necessity  and  the proper method  of  prayer;  prayer  for  others  and prayer for  ourselves,  that  frequently  turning  aside with Jesus  from  the  multitudes,  our  eyes  may  be opened  to  see,  and  our  ears  to  hear,  and  our  tongues loosed, to  proclaim  the  wonderful  works  of  God.

Brethren, though  fasting  and  prayer  go  hand  in hand,  still  of  the  two,  prayer  is  the  more  important, for while  fasting  ceases  on  festivals,  prayer  becomes more insistent. And of  the  two  forms  of  prayer, oral and  mental,  the  latter  is  the  higher,  for  by  reason of  our  inconstancy,  oral  prayer  is  always  in  danger of  degenerating  into  lip  service,  whereby  men vainly seek  to  honor  God  while  their  hearts  are  far from Him. The brief,  but  fierce  and  noisy,  thunderstorm is  more  destructive  than  productive,  but  the silent, steady,  gentle  downpour  renews  the  face  of the  earth. Nothing is  more  insisted  on  in  Scripture than the  necessity  of  prayer:  "Let  nothing  hinder you  from  praying  always"  is  the  constant  cry  of  the