Prayer is the incense of a holy heart

Rising to God from bruised and broken things,

When kindled by the Spirit's burning breath

And upward borne by faith's ascending wings.

Prayer is the perfume of the plants of grace,

The flowers of patience, faith, and suffering love;

Treasured in "vials full of odors sweet,"

God breathes their fragrance in His courts above.

Prayer is th' ascending vapor which supplies

The showers of blessing, and the stream that flows

Through earth's dry places, till on every side

"The wilderness shall blossom as the rose."

Prayer is the heavenly telephone that brings

The distant near, till heaven to earth comes down,

And in our Father's ear and heart we may

Our burdens tell and all our sorrows drown.

Prayer is the wireless telegraph that sends

Its heart throbs on the ether waves of heaven;

It finds the heart of God, and back to earth

The answering thrill to faith and love are given.

Prayer is the golden pipes the Spirit fills,

Which feed the lamps of God with oil divine,

And, as with one accord we wait and pray,

The Spirit fills, the lamps with brightness shine.

Prayer is the mightiest force of earth and heaven,

Prayer is the very dynamite of God;

It moves the hand that all things moves, and turns

The living wheels that sweep through earth abroad.

Teach us to pray! Move on our hearts, O Lord,

Till Thine own passion all our being move!

Teach us! Pray in us, till our prayer shall be

Christ in us praying to the Christ above!

Teach us to pray! Reveal Thy will to us,

Till Thine own purpose all our being move!

Teach us! Pray in us, till our prayer shall be

God in us answering to the God above!