shut thy
door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.--MATTHEW 6:6.

Prayer moves the hand that moves the universe.

Holy beginning of a holy cause,
When heroes, girt for freedom's combat, pause
Before high Heaven, and, humble in their might,
Call down its blessing on that coming fight.
--MOORE.

It is so natural for a man to pray that no theory can prevent him from
doing it.--JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

The Lord's Prayer contains the sum total of religion and morals.
--WELLINGTON.

It lightens the stroke to draw near to Him who handles the rod.
--WASHINGTON IRVING.

I desire no other evidence of the truth of Christianity than the
Lord's Prayer.--MADAME DE STAEL.

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words
without a heart.--BUNYAN.

Between the humble and contrite heart and the majesty of Heaven there
are no barriers. The only password is prayer.--HOSEA BALLOU.

Prayer is the peace of our spirit, the stillness of our thoughts, the
evenness of recollection, the seat of meditation, the rest of our
cares and the calm of our tempest: prayer is the issue of a quiet
mind, of untroubled thoughts; it is the daughter of charity and the
sister of meekness.--JEREMY TAYLOR.

Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the
one ascends, the other descends.--BISHOP HOPKINS.

Prayer is the voice of faith.--HORNE.

We should pray with as much earnestness as those who expect everything
from God; we should act with as much energy as those who expect
everything from themselves.--COLTON.

PREACHING.--That is not the best sermon which makes the hearers go
away talking to one another, and praising the speaker, but which makes
them go away thoughtful and serious, and hastening to be alone.--BURNET.

Be short in all religious exercises. Better leave the people longing
than loathing.--NATHANIEL EMMONS.

A good discourse is that from which one can take nothing without
taking the life.--FENELON.

We must judge religious movements, not by the men who make them, but
by the men they make.--JOSEPH COOK.

The world looks at ministers out of the pulpit to know what they mean
when in it.--CECIL.

I preached as never sure to preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.
--BAXTER.

Let all your preaching be in the most simple and plainest manner; look