LIFE CHANGING PRAYER compiled by Debra Maffett

spontaneous eloquence is the result. With this we are pleased, and
this ready flow we are ready to impose on ourselves as genuine piety.
On the other hand, when the mind is dejected, the physical strength
low, the thoughts confused, when appropriate words do not readily
present themselves — we are apt to accuse our hearts of lack of
fervor, to lament our weakness, and to mourn that, because we have
no pleasure in praying, our prayers have, therefore, not ascended to
the throne of mercy.
In both cases we perhaps judge ourselves unfairly. These unready
accents, these faltering praises, these ill-expressed petitions — may
find more acceptance, than the ornate talk with which we were so
self-satisfied. The latter consisted, it may be, of shining thoughts
floating on the imagination, eloquent words dwelling only on the
lips. The former, it may be, was the sighing of a contrite heart,
abased by the feeling of its own unworthiness, and awed by the
perfections of a holy and heart-searching God. The heart is
dissatisfied with its own dull and tasteless repetitions, which, with
all their imperfections — infinite goodness may perhaps hear with
favor.
We may not only be elated with the fluency, but even with the
fervency of our prayers. Vanity may grow out of the very prayers,
and we may begin to feel proud at having humbled ourselves so
eloquently.
There is, however, a strain and spirit of prayer equally distinct from
that facility and copiousness for which we certainly are never the
better in the sight of God — and from that constraint and dryness
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