The Life of Prayer — great and sacred theme! It leads us into the Holy of Holies and the secret place of the Most High. It is the very life of the Christian, and it touches the life of God Himself.

We enter the sacred chamber on our knees. We still our thoughts and words, and say, “Lord, teach us to pray. Give us Thy holy desires, and let our prayer be the very echo of Thy will. Give us Thy Spirit as our Advocate within. Open our eyes to see our Great High Priest and Advocate above, and help us so to abide in Him, and to have His Word so abiding in us, that we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us.”And as in ignorance and weakness we venture to speak and think upon this vital theme, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”And may every true word and thought of this little volume be a living experience to him who speaks and to all who hear, and so minister to the life of prayer in all our lives, that it shall bring, in some humble measure, an answer to the greatest of all prayers, and the prayer with which this opening chapter begins and to which this book is dedicated, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” — A. B. Simpson