PRAYER THE ART OF BELIEVE

PRAYER is an art and requires practice. The first requirement is a controlled
imagination. Parade and vain repetitions are foreign to prayer. Its exercise
requires tranquility and peace of mind, “Use not vain repetitions,” for prayer
is done in secret and “thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly.”

The ceremonies that are customarily used in prayer are mere superstitions
and have been invented to give prayer an air of solemnity. Those who do
practice the art of prayer are often ignorant of the laws that control it.
They attribute the results obtained to the ceremonies and mistake the letter
for the spirit.

The essence of prayer is faith; but faith must be permeated with
understanding to be given that active quality which it does not possess when
standing alone.

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