To be near unto God - pagina 439

thousand millions of living souls? There are a few mighty ones who feel, and must feel, that they are great in the world. Think of a Napoleon, or But there is nothing of this in of a Bismarck. the ordinary man who prays, whose name is scarcely known outside of his village or town. The mighty ones on earth have their own account with God. We can not reckon with them here. We deal here with the ordinary worshipper who is

scarcely

And what

known is

outside of his

such an one,

if

own

little circle.

he bends his knees

before the Most High God, the Almighty Creator, who maintains and governs this little world, and the many thousand suns and stars which sparkle in the heavens that endlessly spread themselves above us? In all true prayer, therefore, i. e. with such prayer with which in some measure at least the soul thinks of the majesty and greatness of God, he who prays can never be anything else than a nothing in his own esteem, and be deeply conscious that his prayer is but a passing breath, unless it pleases the Lord to incline his ear unto it. This need springs from the insignificance of the

and shine

human

from the immeasurable distance, and from the indispensableness of personal When we would inclination to him who prays. have prayer pierce the heavens, our voice is so much the acme of weakness, that it makes no difference whether a leader in the house of prayer raises his voice so as to make it resound through the arches, or whether a sick man on his bed breathlessly whispers his low prayer to God. Even where no sound of voice is heard at all, the silent

more

voice,

still

435

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