PRAYER

All who call on God in true faith,

earnestly from the heart will certainly be heard,

and will receive what they have asked and desired.

                                       …… Martin Luther

All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

                                            …..Mathew

Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find,

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

                                  ……. Mathew

The sovereign cure for worry is prayer.

                              ….. William James.  

Prayer is not only worship; it is also an invisible emanation of man’s worshiping spirit- the most powerful form of energy that one can generate. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of a secreting glands. Its results can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina, and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships.

If you make a habit of sincere prayer, your life will be very noticeably and profoundly altered. Prayer stamps with its indelible mark on our actions and demeanor. A tranquility of bearing a facial and bodily repose, are observed in those whose inner lives are thus enriched. Within the depths of consciousness a flame kindle. And man sees himself. He discovers his selfishness, his silly pride, his fears, his greeds, his blunders. He develops a sense of moral obligation intellectual humility. Thus begins a journey of soul towards the realm of grace. 

Prayer is a force as real as terrestrial gravity. As a physician I have seen men, after all other therapy has failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the serene effort of prayer. It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so called “Laws of Nature”; the occasions on which prayer has dramatically done this have been termed as “miracle”. But a constant quieter miracle takes place hourly in the hearts of men and women who have discovered that prayer supplies them with a steady flow of sustaining power in their daily lives.

Too many people regard prayer as a formalized routine of works, a refuge for weaklings, or a childish petition for mental things. We sadly undervalue prayer when we conceive it in the terms, just as we should underestimate rain by describing it as something that fills the bird bath in our garden. Properly understood, prayer is a mature activity indispensible to the fullest development of personality – the ultimate integration of man’s highest facilities. Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body mind and spirit which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strength.

                                                         By : Alexis Carrel