JESUS told Martha that there was one thing needful. "Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her Martha, Martha, thou are careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

      We see that the one thing needful was to sit at Jesus' feet and hear His word. In our own busy lives with so many demands, duties, and distractions there is one thing needful and this is it. In our hearts there is an undeniable longing to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His word for us.

      Although we sense in a vague way that this is our desperate need, we know to our shame, that this is the one thing we do not find time to do. In our church life we frequently find the same sad failure. We are so very busy leading clubs, teaching scholars, attending committees, organizing entertainment that the one thing needful is not done.

Forgive our Foolishness.

      We know that we are being foolish, because without the one thing needful our efficiency in other spheres is of very little value to the Kingdom of God. Again and again our own hearts condemn us for again and again we have resisted the call of Jesus to be alone with Him and to talk with Him. We trust that others in the church do find time. We do not tell people we fail here, because we are ashamed of the fact that when Jesus tells us to do above all else this one thing, that is just the thing we so often do not do.

Our Neglect is Evident

      It is true that there is no need to tell people that we do not pray regularly, for such neglect becomes written in everything about us--our appearance, our words, our silences, our gestures do all betray us. It is appalling to realise that to people with any spiritual insight, our spiritual poverty is strikingly evident.

      Our poor stunted little spirits cannot be hidden by a cloak of church going. Our failures to be Christlike, our jealous and resentful feelings, our uncharitable actions, our glaring inconsistencies are an effect of the lack of prayer.

      P. T. Forsyth tells us that "we are left by God, for lack of seeking Him". All this carries over into the life of the community of believers, the Church. The Church can be efficiently busy, running not much more than a merry-go-round. It is the body of Christ, but His Spirit does not fill it, and we all know what state a body is in, without a spirit.

      Many a good church member would be shocked to see that more often than not, they are plugs and not channels of God's Spirit. That's a good question to think about. When am I a plug, and when am I a channel?

Our Faithfulness is Evident

      To the person who finds time in every day to do the one thing needful there comes quietly and powerfully the fulness of the Spirit of Christ. Into their dedicated lives comes a power, and a peace so sadly lacking in our world today, and because these people are so rare, when we meet them they impress us tremendously.

      De Caussade writes, "God gives a certain virtue to their silence, their detachment, their words, and their gestures, which operates in the hearts of others without their own knowledge. It is God who works in them often when they know it not; in such a way that these souls are like Jesus from whom there went forth a virtue which healed others. This influence is like a hidden balm which emits its fragrance all unconsciously." Do you know someone like that? A rare few, but God means us all to be like that.

      The true success of our own personal living, and the true success of the Church in hallowing the name of our God and extending His Kingdom can be traced not to any brilliance of intellect or talents, or methods, but to the quiet times spent with Jesus.

      P. T, Forsyth sums it up, "The deeper we go into things the more do we enter a world where the mastery and the career is not to talent but to prayer". That sentence is well worth reading again and again.

How is our Faith?

      We say "Yea" to all this and yet we still find it very difficult to find a place for regular private devotions. Satan knows that if he can beat us here, in the one thing needful, he can beat us all along the line. We need to ask ourselves; "Do we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God who has conquered death and who lives near to us all?" We need to ask ourselves; "Do we really believe the tremendous thing Jesus did, the staggering things that Jesus said, and the amazing things He promised?" If we have to reply; "Not very well do I believe, but I'm willing to believe, and yearn to believe," then we have made wondrous progress.

      When Jesus returned to Nazareth He could do no mighty work there because of unbelief. Look at your life and the life of the Church to which you belong and ask, "Are there any mighty works going on?" The tragedy about those people of Nazareth was not so much their unbelief, but their lack of desire to believe.

      Perhaps our first step is to pray for faith, pray that the Spirit may so illumine our minds that we will see and know Jesus. Pray that His Spirit may awaken our hearts and minds to the tremendous power that is available to us in Christ, a power that will accomplish in and through our lives far beyond anything that we would dare to dream or imagine.

Oh! The Difference it Makes

      Knowing desperately our need let us vow that above all else we will be men and women of prayer. We will be men and women who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His word. We cannot help ourselves more, we cannot help the people about us more, we cannot help the Church more, than by being men and women of prayer.

      Read these words of encouragement from the pen of Evelyn Underhill, "A real man or woman of prayer, then, would be a live wire, a link between God's grace and the world that needs it. In so far as you have given your lives to God, you have offered yourselves, without conditions, as transmitters of His saving and enabling love: and the will and love, the emotional drive, which you thus consecrate to God's purposes, can do actual work on supernatural levels for those for whom you are called upon to pray."

      One human spirit, can, by its prayer and love, touch and change another human spirit; it can take a soul and lift it into the atmosphere of God. This happens, and the fact that it happens is one of the most wonderful things in the Christian life.

      "All your prayers, and far more than that, all your generous and loving desires, trials, sufferings, fatigues and renunciations--and of course there is no real life of prayer without all these--can avail for these persons and causes you to seek to help. To all of them you are, or should be agents or transmitters of the transforming, redeeming power of God; and the most real work you ever do should be that which you do secretly and alone."

      Now read that again quietly and slowly, and now think about it.

Meeting the Need

      How are we to go about meeting the need for these times apart with God? Here are a few suggestions.

A Time and Place

      It is helpful to choose some time of the day, and some favourite spot for this quiet waiting upon God. For some it may mean getting out of bed thirty minutes earlier (a sacrifice, but what of value is gained without sacrifice?), for some it may mean staying up later at night, for others there may be some opportune time during the day.

      A lad with one hour for lunch found that thirty minutes of it, spent in a nearby church, brought an unbelievable transformation to his life. Pick the time and place and stick to it. We must be very stern with ourselves in this matter. The growth of our spirits is dependent upon it. Perhaps it may mean giving up something we like doing. If so, give it up for the treasure to be gained is not to be measured.

      A lady with a little family once surprised and delighted her friends by playing the piano beautifully. The friends asked her how she kept up her practices, for her playing was proof of long practice. The woman replied that it was just a matter of "studied neglect. In the mornings when the children have gone to school," she said, "I could dust the lounge, or polish the furniture, but I don't. I sit down and practise." That's an idea: that's studied neglect.

      Be persistent is a good rule; for most of us go at our prayer times in fits and starts. If we are to keep on being used of God as channels of His Holy Spirit this fitfulness will not do. If we are living the Christian life as we ought, we must be continually taking in from God.

      W. H. Elliott reminds us that we must be "still and know that I am God", but the trouble is, as he points out, we won't be still, and therefore we don't know. It is still true that "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and riot be weary; and they shall walk and not faint".

Chinks of Time

      There are many spare moments in a day that we can use for prayer. Ten seconds is enough to lift someone in need to God, or to beseech Him for His strength and guidance. Frank C. Laubach, in his book "Prayer", tells us of such moments--upon awakening in the morning, in the bath, dressing, leaving the house, riding or walking to work, preparing for lunch, falling asleep. It is Dr. Laubach who suggests that we talk to Jesus out loud, and talk back to ourselves the kind of things we know Jesus would say.

Realise God's Presence

      Right at the beginning of our prayer time it is helpful to wait until we realise that God is near to us. We know that He is always near but our minds get so taken up with other things that it is good to wait for this assurance of His Presence. The reading of a Psalm or just thinking about the greatness of God, and that all His children are very precious to Him may help toward this end. Let all remember the Holy Presence of God and the quiet time will be of great value.

      An old saint has said, "most of the faults committed by good people arise from their not sufficiently keeping a steadfast recollection of the presence of God". If we bustle into the presence of God, and bustle out again, it is very likely that we will catch nothing of the glory and majesty of our God. Jesus, we know, spent at least one whole night in prayer. Surely this suggests to us that the long reverent approach to God can bring us great riches.

The Bible

      Bible study and prayer should go together, and surely we should turn again and again to the Gospel stories. It is good to read a little then pause to think about it. Try to imagine the circumstances and then ask questions. What does this mean for me today? What is God telling me in this? What is His word to me? If our portion of scripture is Luke 6:12, "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God".

      This is what may get written down in your notebook. (Some find it very helpful to keep a little notebook and in times when it is hard to pray, a few minutes' reading from it lifts them into the atmosphere of prayer.)

      In these days--days full of demands and opposition. Jesus sought the solitude of the hills. What a long prayer--all night--after He chose the twelve--all night under the sky out there in the quiet hills.

      The long reverent approach to God brings rich reward. Such a strong communion with God demands time and sacrifice. I must make the sacrifice and find the time. Solitude is needed--wait upon God before deciding upon large questions. After prayer get on with the job. In my busy life I must find time for solitude--for hills and stars and God.

      Every one of us can use our Bibles like that, and the Holy Spirit is our eager, loving Teacher.

Intercession

      Much of our praying will be for others--for the sick, for the troubled for the lonely, for our pupils, for our Church officers, our preacher.

      Do not hurry these prayers. To pray "Bless our Sunday School tomorrow" is good but there is a better way.

      If you are a teacher, take each one of your pupils and lift them to God. Look into their faces and lift them to God. Remember all you know about them, the weak places in their characters and the strong places. The circumstances in which they live. In imagination see them turning to Jesus and loving Him.

Books of Prayer

      Many find it helpful to have a book of prayers, and there are many admirable books of prayers for sale in church book rooms. We may commence to read a prayer and before long we are praying our own prayer.

Result.

      To those who regularly wait upon God comes power and peace. There is about their lives a strength and charm that is the strength and charm of Christ, our great Lord and Loving Friend.

      To the church that finds time for prayer comes the power of the Holy Spirit, and mighty works are wrought.

      And Jesus said, "One thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part . . ."

      Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word.

LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

      This Department shall be entrusted with the publication and distribution of Literature designed for:

      1. The spreading of the Gospel;

      2. The deepening of the spiritual life of the church;

      3. The promotion of the aims of the Restoration Movement.

(Victorian-Tasmanian Constitution.)