A prayer for another will react upon the mind that prays, its light will grow, will shine the brighter. And, prayer in its perfect idea being a rising up into the will of the Eternal, may not the help of the Father become one with the prayer of the child, and for the prayer of him he holds in his arms, go forth for him who does not yet will to be lifted to his embrace? To his bosom God himself cannot bring his children at once, and not at all except through his own suffering and theirs. But will not any good parent find some way of granting the prayer of the child who comes to him, saying, “Papa, this is my brother’s birthday; I have nothing to give him, and I do love him so! Could you give me something to give him, or give him something for me?”

It may be asked: Could not God have given the gift without the prayer? Why should the good of anyone depend on the prayer of another? I can only answer with the return question, why should my love be powerless to help another? If in God we live and move and have our being; if the very possibility of loving lies in this, that we exist in and by God himself, we must then be nearer to each other, we must by prayer come closer to each other, than by any bodily proximity or interchange of help. Surely, in the Eternal, hearts are never parted! Surely, through the Eternal, a heart that loves and seeks the good of another, must hold that other within reach!
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