From Alexander Cumming

Some thoughts on prayer, well worth the read:

"...and yet so prone is he to lose sight of his Creator, and to transfer to the creature or to secondary causes the honour to which his holy name should be invested, that unless prayer had been instituted, the crown would have been snatched from the head of God."

"When we persist in the exercise of prayer, notwithstanding all discouragement, we do honour to that loving kindness which will not frustrate the anticipations that are formed upon the basis of his written declarations; and the longer the perseverance is maintained, and the more unpromising the symptoms against which it is upheld, the greater is the lustre reflected upon his character."

"When the two disciples were traveling to Emmaus, our Saviour met them, and unfolded to them the full lustre of the Scripture promises that related to his sufferings, till an expansive glory of heavenly emotion was diffused over their souls; but he did not discover himself as their risen Redeemer till their ardor for communion with him was severely tasked. He made as though he would have gone farther; and when they urged him to take shelter during the night, in their abode, he seemed to repel their kindness, till it is said they constrained him to turn aside with them; then he made himself know in the breaking of bread; and this in exact harmony with the way in which the Saviour acts in every age; he heaps many blessings even on his feeblest saints, who soar not to the sublime height of holy confidence which prompts the Jacob-like wrestlings of others; he makes their hearts burn within them by gilding some cheering promises with a ray of celestial brightness; but it is to those who by their unconquerable ardor and inflexible perseverance, compel him to turn aside, that he gives the sweetest glimpses of his reconciled countenance.... If benefits of vast magnitude are to be bestowed, they must therefore be preceded by prayers of fervid pathos; and God often delays an answer to supplication, not that he despises the anxious voice of our humble entreaty, but because he waits till our desires gain an accession of strength, and are somewhat commensurate to the vastness of the mercy that is stored up for us; and for this purpose he sometimes encircles us with an array of troubles, that they may enhance the frequency and earnestness of our addresses to the throne of grace."

Pray for me as I strive to learn to pray like this!