phoning. Every boy who understands how he can snatch from the skies, by the wireless instrument in his attic at home, the messages sent broadcast from a station a thousand miles off, just because his receiver, tuned to exactly the right vibrations, has been synchronized to the transmitter many miles away, should have no difficulty in believing in the power of God's radiophone which Jesus called prayer. Just get your will in harmony with his, your life synchronized with his, and the wings of faith will carry the very whispers of your spirit straight to the listening heart of your heavenly Father.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. In Jesus' day what four things did people do to show that they were religious? Why do you think they wanted to get a reputation for being pious? Do you think there are such people now?

2. Discuss what Jesus said about counterfeit praying in public places for the sake of applause. What advice did he give his friends about how they should pray?

3. Why do you think Jesus got in the habit of praying on the mountain back of his Nazareth home? In his public ministry why did he especially need to pray? What wonderful results from prayer did his friends notice in his life?

4. Why did his disciples ask him to teach them to pray? Do you find he had said much about prayer as a duty? Discuss the original form of the Lord's Prayer as Luke gives it. Show the elements of a true prayer in it.

5. Discuss what prayer meant to Abraham Lincoln. Explain how his prayer life made him grow. What is a "superman"? How can God's power get into your life except through prayer?

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

6. Use a Bible concordance and find out Jesus' attitude toward almsgiving, fasting, and Temple sacrifices. Did he ever give cash to the poor? Did he offer burntofferings? Can you explain his reasons? What did he teach about fasting? What is the use of it?

7. Study the chapter on prayer, "Our Way to God and His to Us," in Fiske's Finding the Comrade God. Then explain why prayer is such a common custom and how it brings power into a person's life.

8. Study the wonderful processes of the wireless telegraphy and radiophone. Then compare these modern miracles with the way thought-power passes between God and the Christian who prays.

CHAPTER X

THE CHALLENGE TO LEADERSHIP IN SERVICE

EVERY healthy-minded youth in middle teens is ambitious. Whether at work or in high school, he naturally thinks often of his own future and wonders whether his future place in life will be great or small. What his lifework will be is still a problem. Perhaps he changes his mind rather often on this subject; but whatever his ultimate vocation may prove to be, he wants his life to count in the world for all it is worth. That is, if he is not too lazy or selfish to think of anything but personal indulgence.

Your friends too are wondering what your life will bring forth. As they look you over from month to month, they welcome every new sign of promise, every evidence of talent, every fresh proof of real ability. If you grow into young manhood clean and strong, with high ideals and a winsome personality, your friends at home will thank God. They will rely more and more upon your growing usefulness and dream of your promising future. Every boy who appreciates his home knows what a stiff challenge it is to live up to the hopes of his friends. Their faith in him gives him faith in himself. It makes him want to grow into strong, efficient manhood, into real leadership in his chosen work, whatever it may prove to be. Selfish ambition is never beautiful, but to long for the largest possible growth in usefulness is always proper and right. The goal of growth is leadership in some sort of human service, though the cost of leadership is so

high that only the patient, persistent workers attain it. It is out of the reach of the rest.

The foolishness of selfish ambition.-Many people fancy that getting a big opportunity in life is just a matter of luck and a pull. If no fine chance comes their way, they bewail their sad luck, but never blame themselves for not working hard to prepare for it. It is a strange egotism when a person thinks himself equal to any task good luck may bring him, and then watches every chance to get "a pull with the management"! Such people forget that to win a position of trust which they do not deserve and cannot live up to, is a real misfortune. Apparently, two of the young men with Jesus had overlooked this hard fact.

Presently James and John, Zebedee's sons, came to Jesus and said, "Master, we wish you would do for us whatever we might ask." "What would you have me do for you?" he asked. "Give us two the honor," they said, "of sitting on your right and left, in your glory."

But Jesus said to them: "You don't know what you are asking. Can you suffer what I must suffer? Can you share my flood of troubles?" "We can," they replied.

"You shall indeed share my sufferings, but to sit at my right or left is an honor only my Father can grant." And when the other ten heard this, they were at first very angry with James and John.

-Matthew 20; Mark 10.

No wonder their selfish ambition and request for undeserved honors disgusted the other disciples. Yet how kindly Jesus rebuked their foolishness! He practically told them God grants no special favors; honors in his kingdom must be earned; no pull will get for any man

what he does not deserve. But he said these plain truths in a very gentlemanly way.

That was many centuries ago; but it is just as true to-day that selfish ambition is pure folly. An undeserved honor is an empty honor. To climb over worthier rivals to a coveted goal costs more than it comes to, even when it succeeds. To covet wealth, fame, position, or power, selfishly and undeservedly, brings moral failure even in success. Woe to him who does not deserve his honors!

The road to leadership.-After Jesus had for some time been doing all alone the work of the Kingdom, he felt lonesome and oppressed by the burden of it. He felt compassion for the crowds of needy people who flocked to him like shepherdless sheep. The opportunity for a noble campaign of organized kindness reminded him of a great harvest-field golden with ripening wheat, but with very few reapers to gather it. Then he exclaimed, "O that the Master of the harvest would draft reapers for his harvest field!"

It was then he brought the challenge to twelve choice young men to undertake with him the work of leadership. It was not to be a selfish leadership, nor did it lead to social position, political honors, wealth, or a life of luxury. It was to make them leaders in the service of men. To be sure, answering the challenging call of Jesus gave these Galilæans deathless fame and saved their humble names from being entirely forgotten centuries ago; but their road to leadership was the same road Jesus himself was traveling, the way of self-denying service.

Follow me . . . Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Fear not, from now on you

shall capture men.-Matthew 4: 19.

With these words he dared the young fisherman and