Prayer Is The Soul’s Sincere Desire

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
[Luke 18:1]

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
     uttered or unexpressed,
the motion of the hidden fire,
     that trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
     the falling of a tear,
the upward glancing of an eye,
     when none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
     that infant lips can pray;
prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
     the Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
     the Christian’s native air;
his watchword at the gates of death:
     He enters heav’n with prayer.

O thou by whom we come to God,
     the Life, the Truth, the Way!
The path of prayer thyself has trod:
     Lord, teach us how to pray!

          – James Montgomery, 1771-1854

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