Precept and Practice – DECEMBER 3 – Prayer

So we are taught by Christ…..   to pray for many things that we may perhaps not obtain, for all things that may seem to us demanded by the necessities of our physical, mental, and moral welfare, – in a word, for everything which may seem to us the daily bread of life.   And we are to pray thus in the belief that by our prayers we shall either obtain our desires, or finding our desires inconsistent with God’s will, we shall desire no longer.   Our conclusion is that prayer is the expression of the desires of the heart to God, as to a Father;  that whatever may be lawfully desired in His presence may be lawfully prayed for;  that by prayer we may conceivably co-operate with God as we co-operate with Him by action.

(E. A. Abbott)

We should pray with as much earnestness as those who expect everything from God;  we should act with as much energy as those who expect everything from themselves 

(Colton)

Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking hold of God’s willingness.

(Bishop Phillips Brooks)

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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice

The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.

The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;-  with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;-  with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.

CONSTANCE  M. WHISHAW