To know that Spirit, God, is ever near,
Perfect, unchangeable, the Father dear;
To know that He regards His children all
As equally beloved, their slightest call
The signal and response to every need—
Oh, this is interceding prayer indeed!
To know that Spirit, God, is All-in-all,
To know the answer is before the call,
To know that God, intelligence divine,
His gracious gifts bestowing all the time,
Is ever waiting, watching, tender, kind—
Oh, this is joy replete in prayer to find!
To know that God is substance, Love divine,
The living bread, the water, and the wine,
To know He will not fail, whate'er betide,
That right desire will prove Him at our side,
That we can never from His presence flee—
On, this is prayer that will from sense set free!
This is the prayer our Master voiced when he
Out of the amplitude of love set free
The weary, sick, and sinning, maimed and blind,
And taught a God of mercy, near and kind;
And this the prayer that we must humbly make,
If we would our great Master's footsteps take.
