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But it has been 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 soul’s 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 
