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But it has beeu said by some, if God foresees all, and directs 

 everything to an end, which, though not pre-ordained, is yet 

 over-ruled, and controlled to a certain extent independently of 

 us, — what is the use of prayer ? 



It is a grand instinct, however, which prompts a feeble, 

 finite being to draw near to the Author of its own and the 

 world's existence. We are ready to admire the silent law of 

 gravitation, which draws every atom of matter to its appointed 

 place, — the hidden force which enables us to flash our wishes 

 (in a few minutes) half across the globe, — and can we not admire 

 the souPs effort to return to the fount of life, and to enter again 

 into spiritual communion with its Creator ? 



One cause that has tended to throw discredit upon prayer, 

 and bring it into disrepute, is the numberless perversions of 

 which it has been the subject, at the hands of Buddists, 

 Thibetans, and others, who even in Europe have imagined its 

 force lay in repetitions mechanically performed, and valuable 

 only from their frequency, — forgetting that no human father 

 would require such a homage, and that God asks the heart, and 

 that prayer, to be worth anything, must be an act of the soul. 

 What then is its use? Most men, however sceptical, admit its 

 action, but on whom is it exercised ? Is it confined to ourselves, 

 or does it extend to God ? They tell us it is wrong to expect 

 to modify the course of nature, and that the great use of prayer 

 is to teach us resignation to the actual state of things. 



But if prayer is valuable only by virtue of its reflex action, 

 why, in times of danger either to ourselves or others, should 

 we offer up prayer ? Let us appeal to mankind not when spoiled 

 by sophistry, but when they pray from the first outpouring 

 impulse of the heart. Is it only to raise himself nearer to God, 

 and learn resignation, that the shipwrecked mariner lifts his 

 anguished eye to heaven, and calls for mercy in imploring 

 tones ? — that the mother, watching by her dear one's couch, 

 makes her agonized appeal to God to spare that loved one's 

 life ? — that the starving father prays for his craving little 

 ones ? — or that the sinner wrestling with a strong temptation 

 prays that help may be sent down to him ? Do none of these 

 expect to influence the Divine Will ? Do all believe that there 

 is none that can answer, nor any able to save? No one can say 

 so, — the veriest unbeliever in prayer, can only say, — such are the 

 victims of illusion. It is strange, however, that the illusion 

 should be universal, and that no education or influence can 

 eradicate it ; and that in the various crises of the history of 

 each individual it ever re-appears. 



We argue then, that the feeling must have been implanted 

 by God ! and God could never have created a hunger He never 



