Attitude for Prayer

“Let us consider who this glorious Being is, that invites us to this fellowship with himself; how awful in majesty! how terrible in righteousness! how irresistible in power! how unsearchable in wisdom! how all-sufficient in blessedness! how condescending in mercy! Let us again consider, who are we that are invited to this correspondence: How vile in our original! how guilty in our hearts and lives! how needy of every blessing! how utterly incapable to help ourselves! and how miserable for ever, if we are without God! And if we have sincerely obeyed the call of his gospel, and have attained to some comfortable hope of his love; let us consider, how infinite are our obligations to him, and how necessary, and how delightful it is to enjoy his visits here, with whom it will be our happiness to dwell for ever. When we feel our spirits deeply impressed with such thoughts as these are, we are in the best frame, and most likely way to pray with grace in our hearts.”

—Isaac Watts, A Guide to Prayer.

The Hardest Time of All

But at last we learn the lesson
That God knows what is best;
For with wisdom comes patience,
And of patience comes rest;
Yea—a golden thread is shining
Through the tangled woof of fate;
And our hearts shall thank Him meekly,
That He taught us how to wait.

—from The Hardest Time of All by Sarah Doudney