- Don't get into bondage about place, or position of the body... sometimes, at least, [Our Lord] went into the open air to a hillside; to a garden... I have known some who could kneel hours by a chair, some walking up and down. Some go into their rooms and shut the door... Let the leaning of your mind lead you, a God-directed mind leans to what helps the spirit most.
- Don't be discouraged if at first you seem to get nowhwere... no command in the Bible [is] so difficult as to obey and so penetrating in power... [as] "Be still and know that I am God." Many have found this so...
- Dont feel it is necessary to pray all the time; listen... and read the Words of Life. Let them enter into you.
- Dont forget there is one other person interested in you-- extremely interested... there is no truer word than the old couplet: Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.
- Dont give up in despair if no thoughts and no words come, but only distractions and inward confusions. Often it helps to use the words of others...Psalm, hymn, song-- use what helps most.
- Dont worry if you fall asleep. "He giveth unto His beloved in sleep."
- And if the day ends in what seems failure, don't fret. Tell Him you're sorry. Even so, don't be discouraged. All discouragement is of the devil.
- We don't need to explain to our Father things that are known to Him.
- We don't need to press Him, as if we had to deal with an unwilling God.
- We don't need to suggest to Him what to do, for he Himself knows what to do.
"She noted 'the gates of access into the Father's presence are open continually. There is no need to push-- perhaps 'trying to pray' is sometimes a sort of pushing."
"There are many in our family who come to prayer meetings because it is the custom to do so, but who are not urged by a great desire. It is the lack of prayer-hunger that often makes a big united meeting difficult."
Do I have a "hunger" to pray? To come together with others to pray?
There were two separate instances in the book that stood out on pages near the above instructions of time set apart for prayer: "For two hours they prayed and sang--two minutes it seemed to Amy-- before a messenger came to tell them the result of the operation. ...The council requested three solid hours of prayer [for Amy's health to improve] by the Fellowship."
"Have we any prayer like 'use me, O Lord' in the Bible?... [No] I could not find any such prayer...[I] find every other verb occurring in prayer-- teach me, lead me, bless me, and so on-- but not this verb which we would naturally expect... The Captain will use the soldier if he be prepared for use; words of beseeching on the soldier's part are not required..."
