them so much that they must find their place in our prayers. Indeed,
they are so important that they must have _their own place_. And their
own place is second. So in all our praying let us remember it is God
first, ourselves second. But we go further than that. It would seem
as if we were not in a position to know our real needs sufficiently
well to pray about them with intelligence, unless first of all we have
allowed the light that comes from thinking about God, adoring His Name,
and falling down before the majesty of His purpose and His will, to
shine upon our life's needs. Yes, we are indeed to pray for our varied
needs and those of others, but we cannot know our real needs unless God
is first in our prayer, and we have prayed, "Our Father, Hallowed be
Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done".[3]

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

It would seem to be perfectly clear from the teaching of the Bible and
the Church, and from the experience of those who really pray, that men
and women can live lives of power, peace, and usefulness, whatever
their lot may be, if they would but pray. There it is before us. It
is the challenge of prayer. If you pray, you can do great things for
God and man.

There the challenge stands. "But", someone says, "I personally have
found it very difficult to pray, possibly my gifts lie in other
directions." This is often said as if the speaker thought he were
unique. He is quite right about one thing,--it is difficult to
pray,--but he is wrong in thinking he is unique. Prayer is one of the
hardest things to do. This is one of the reasons we shirk it. Do not
be surprised if you find it hard. "It is hard," someone has said,
"because it is high". Most things that are very well worth doing are
things we find hard, especially at first, to learn to do.

Now let these facts stand very clear before us. God asks us to pray to
Him. Of all the things we do, there is nothing that can be more worth
while doing. If we will do it, we most certainly will grow into better
and nobler and more useful men and women. But we shall find it hard to
do. Now let us be quite clear about the problem of the hardness of
prayer; there is only one thing to do about this subject of prayer, and
that is to pray. The only way to solve the problem of praying is by
praying. Nothing will do instead. In spite of the difficulties, in
spite of distractions, of weariness, of failure, of moods, of
coldness,--we pra