IT will be useful to any seeker after God to examine the agencies which have helped those whose prayers have been conspicuously answered. Among the many helps which, seemingly, have had especial potency in developing or awakening a devout spirit there is none so general in use as the Bible. The petitions which have been preserved from the ancient Fathers often quote the Scriptures; and when they do not quote directly, the language used shows a close familiarity with the Sacred Word. The Gospel truth is wonderfully condensed in this prayer of Thomas à Kempis:
O, Most merciful Lord, grant me thy grace, that it may be with me, and labor within me, and persevere with me, even to the end. Grant that I may always desire and will that which is to thee most acceptable, and most dear. Let thy will be mine, and my will ever follow thine and agree perfectly with it. Grant to me, above all things that can be desired, to rest in thee, and in thee to have my heart at peace. Thou art the true peace of the heart, thou its only rest; out of thee all things are hard and restless. In this very peace, that is, in thee the one Chiefest Eternal Good, I will sleep and rest.
Amen.
The following prayer by St. Augustine is a good example of the influence of the Bible on the trend of his thought:
O, thou full of compassion, I commit and commend myself unto thee, in whom I am, and live, and know. Be thou the goal of my pilgrimage, and my rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of thy wings; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in thee, O God. Thou bounteous giver of all good gifts, give to him who is weary refreshing food; gather our distracted thoughts and powers into harmony again; and set the prisoner free. See, he stands at thy door and knocks; be it opened to him, that he may enter with a free step, and be quickened by thee. For thou art the wellspring of life, the light of eternal brightness, wherein the just live who love thee. Be it unto me according to thy word. Amen.
When looking outside of the local list of petitioners to which this volume is so closely confined it can be seen clearly that those whose petitions were the most surely answered were familiar with the Bible. It is also interesting to notice the quotations which were used as mottoes or the favorite extracts from the Bible by the most saintly of the heroes, martyrs, and victors in the Christian Church. Out of many hundreds of Scripture quotations the following are selected with the hope that some one of them may be of especial helpfulness to some one who desires to pray successfully:
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer (Psalm iv:1).
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up (Psalm v:3).
The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer (Psalm vi:9).
Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication (Psalm lv:1).
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm cxli:2).