Brevity in Prayer

1895

"The late William Arnot tells us in his diary that, as he grew older, he grew more brief and simple in his closet devotions. He tersely says: 'I suppose there are two kinds of brevity in prayer — one, because you are far off, and one because you are far in.' This is pithily put, and contains a profound truth. No one can judge of another as to just how much time that other needs to spend on his knees. We cannot safely take the example of anybody else as an absolute guide in our own case. Many things need to be considered — our household duties, our business engagements, our special perplexities, our mastery of perpetual prayer. We must not, of course, let prayer be crowded out or crushed down through mere selfishness or worldly absorptions; but neither need we feel it always incumbent on us to spend just so much time in the exercise, or write ourselves down delinquent if we cannot pass whole hours in special supplication like some one we have read about. It is better certainly to be far in than far off, but the former must not despise the latter, nor the latter judge the former. Strength in prayer is better than length in prayer." — Zion's Herald.