1. All are called to Prayer

All men are capable of prayer; therefore it is a dreadful misfortune that as a general rule nearly everyone imagines that they are not called to prayer. But we are all called to prayer, just as we are all called to salvation.

Prayer is nothing other than applying our hearts to God; it is the inward exercise of love. Paul enjoins us to “pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. And our Lord said, “I say to you all, watch and pray.” Mark 13:33, 37. All, then, are able to pray, and all ought to pray. But I admit that not all can form fine intellectual prayers—to which few are fitted. It is not the prayer of the intellect that God requires, nor which we desire of you. My dearest brethren, whosoever would be saved, come therefore to pray! You ought to live by prayer, as you ought to live by love. “I counsel you to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich.” Revelation 3:18. It is most easy for you to obtain it, yea, more so than you can imagine. Come all you who are thirsty, to these living waters (John 7:37-38) and don’t waste your time by hewing out cisterns—broken cisterns that hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13. Come, all hungry hearts, who find nothing that can satisfy you, and you shall be fully satisfied! Come, poor afflicted ones, oppressed with trouble and sorrows, and you shall be comforted! Come, you who are sick, to your Physician, and fear not to approach Him because you are weighed down with maladies; lay open to Him all your diseases, and you shall be healed! Come, children, to your Father, and He will receive you with arms of Love! Come, poor wandering and struggling sheep; draw nigh to your Shepherd! Come, sinners, near to your Savior! Come, dull and ignorant ones, you are all fit for prayer; for you who think yourselves incapable are most of all fitted for it! Come, all of you, without exception; Jesus Christ calls you all! Yet let not those come who have no heart for it, for they only are excused from coming; for there must be a heart to love. But who is without heart? O come then, and give your heart to God; yea, learn how to give your heart! All who desire to pray can easily do so with the assistance of God’s grace and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are accessible to all Christians.

Prayer is the key of perfectness and of supreme well-being. It is the effectual means of delivering us from all vices, and of acquiring all the virtues: for, the great means of becoming perfect is to walk in the presence of God. This He said Himself, “Walk in My presence, and be perfect!” Genesis 17:1. It is prayer alone that can bring you into this presence and keep you there continually.

Therefore you must learn a kind of prayer that can be made at all times, which does not divert from outward activities and which princes, kings, magistrates, soldiers, children, craftsmen, laborers, women, and the sick may all perform. This is not the prayer of the head, but the prayer of the heart. It is not a prayer of thought only, because the mind of man is so bound that while he thinks on one thing he cannot think on another; but it is the prayer of the heart, which is not at all interrupted by all the occupations of the mind. Nothing but inordinate affections can interrupt the prayer of the heart; and it is almost impossible for the soul, once having tasted God and the sweetness of His love, to relish anything else but Him.

There is nothing easier than to have God and to taste (or delight in) Him. He is more in us than we ourselves. He desires more to give Himself to us than we desire to possess Him. Everything depends upon seeking Him in the right manner, which is as easy and natural as breathing. And even you who consider yourselves so dull as to be good for nothing—you, I say, may live by prayer, and by God Himself, as easily and as continually as you live by the air that you breathe. Would it not then be highly criminal not to do so? But doubtless you will do it when you have learned the way.