y react on the person who prays. They draw the attention of the
Angels, of the disciples working outside the body, who are ever seeking
to help the bewildered mind, and counsel, encouragement, illumination,
are thrown into the brain-consciousness, thus giving the answer to
prayer in the most direct way. "And he kneeled down and prayed ... and
there appeared an Angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him."[302]
Ideas are suggested which clear away an intellectual difficulty, or
throw light on an obscure moral problem, or the sweetest comfort is
poured into the distressed heart, soothing its perturbations and calming
its anxieties. And truly if no Angel were passing that way, the cry of
the distressed would reach the "Hidden Heart of Heaven," and a messenger
would be sent to carry comfort, some Angel, ever ready to fly swiftly on
feeling the impulse, bearing the divine will to help.

There is also what is sometimes called a subjective answer to such
prayers, the re-action of the prayer on the utterer. His prayer places
his heart and mind in the receptive attitude, and this stills the lower
nature, and thus allows the strength and illuminative power of the
higher to stream into it unchecked. The currents of energy which
normally flow downwards, or outwards, from the Inner Man, are, as a
rule, directed to the external world, and are utilised in the ordinary
affairs of life by the brain-consciousness, for the carrying on of its
daily activities. But when this brain-consciousness turns away from the
outer world, and shutting its outward-going doors, directs its gaze
inwards; when it deliberately closes itself to the outer and opens
itself to the inner; then it becomes a vessel able to receive and to
hold, instead of a mere conduit-pipe between the interior and exterior
worlds. In the silence obtained by the cessation of the noises of
external activities, the "still small voice" of the Spirit can make
itself heard, and the concentrated attention of the expectant mind
enables it to catch the soft whisper of the Inner Self.

Even more markedly does help come from without and from within, when the
prayer is for spiritual enlightenment, for spiritual growth. Not only do
all helpers, angelic and human, most eagerly seek to forward spiritual
progress, seizing on every opportunity offered by the upward-aspiring
soul; but the longing for such growth liberates energy of a high kind,
the spiritual longing calling forth an answer from