"DEVOTIONAL PERIOD”

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 5, 1 June 1948, Page 3

"DEVOTIONAL PERIOD”

“More things arc wrought "Ly prayer than this world dreams of.” —Tennyson. 9 Hymn 36: “O Blessed Life!" Scripture Reading: James V, 13:16. “Prayer to many of us is like an emergency call. It is not sent up until we are in peril or difficulty or trouble or distress. And then it is more in the nature of a panic-stricken utterance than a real prayer. VVe have largely lost the sense of the true meaning, value and importance of prayer. Prayer, in the first place, is not petition nor supplication nor even intercession. It is communion. How many of us spend an hour a day in communion with God? If more time were spent in sufh manner, and the Spirit ot God were allowed to take possession of heart, mind and life, we should find ourselves with an increasing burden for the souls of men. We should find our prayer interest widening considerably. VVe should find that five hurried minutes a day will not suffice. VVe should find that before a soul is born again, someone has to travail for it. Prayer is not to be measured by time dimension, but by its intensity. Wh«i we really begin to feel the desperate need of a sinstricken world and a lost soul, we shall pray with fervent desire that will burn us up. May God lead us so to pray." —“The Challenge."