The man lives, for he _breathes_, and the breath in him is the
unmistakable sign of life.

How then shall I know if my soul lives? Does it breathe? That is the
all-important question. But what is the breath of the soul? The breath
of the soul is prayer. As the old hymn says--

'Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air.'

Saul of Tarsus, with all his outward religion, was a dead soul, till the
Lord met him and gave him life. What then is the first thing we find
Saul doing? 'Behold he prayeth.' As soon as he is alive, he breathes, he
prays.

Here then is the test for us to apply to our own souls. Do I know
anything of real prayer? Do I love to hold communion with my God? Am I
ever lifting up my heart to Him? If I live in the atmosphere of prayer,
then I am alive unto God; if, on the other hand, I feel prayer a
weariness, and know not what it is for my heart to hold unseen
intercourse with my Lord, then indeed I am dead in sin, having no
breath, and I have consequently no life.

Nehemiah, the great Rab-shakeh, was a living soul, for he loved to pray.
No sooner had he heard the sad news about Jerusalem, than he went to his
private apartments in the palace, and began to plead with God. He feels
that all the trouble that has come upon his nation has been richly
deserved, so he begins with a humble confession of sin.

'Let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest