"What may be the reason that prayer and intercession are not a greater joy and delight? And is there any way in which we may become fitted to make fellowship with God our chief joy, and as intercessors to bring down his power and blessing on those for whom we pray?"

There may be more than one answer to the question. But the chief answer is undoubtedly: We know God too little. In our prayer, his presence is not waited for as the chief thing on which our heart is set. And yet it should be so. We think mostly of ourselves, our need and weakness, our desire and prayer. But we forget that in every prayer God must be first, must be all. To seek him, to find him, to tarry in his presence, to be assured that his holy presence rests upon us, that he actually listens to what we say, and is working in us—it is this alone that gives the inspiration that makes prayer as natural and easy to us as is the intercourse of a child with his father.

And how is one to attain to this nearness to God and fellowship with him? The answer is simple: We must give God time to make himself known to us. Believe with your whole heart, that just as you present yourself to God as a supplicant, so God presents himself to you as the hearer of prayer. But you cannot realize this except as you give him time and quiet. It is not in the multitude or the earnestness of your words in which prayer has its power, but in the living faith that God himself is taking you and your prayer into his loving heart. He himself will give the assurance that in his time your prayer will be heard.