Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, May I thy consolations share, Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height, I view my home, and take my flight: This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise To seize the everlasting prize; And shout, while passing thro’ the air, Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer

Here’s a contrasting set of prayer examples which remind us that the blessing and benefit to be derived from prayer often depends on the spirit with which we carry it out. If we approach prayer as a privilege to be relished rather than as a duty to be discharged, we’re far more likely to have greater enjoyment and profit in it.

About the main characters in these contrasting examples: Amy Carmichael grew up in Ireland, then served as a Christian missionary in India for fifty-six years. Her fruitful ministries to over 2,500 orphans were marked by great faith and compassion. Betsie and Corrie ten Boom were sisters from Haarlem, Holland, who were imprisoned in a German concentration camp for sheltering Jews from the Nazis during World War 2. While Betsie died there, for three decades after the war Corrie carried the message of God’s love and forgiveness to more than sixty countries around the world.

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