To pray really, to pray till Hell feels the ponderous stroke, to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened, till the mountains of obstacles are removed, till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted, and the sunshine of a cloudless day brightens - this is hard work, but it is God's work and man's best labor. Never was the toil of hand, head, and heart less spent in vain than when praying. It is hard to wait and press and pray, and hear no voice, but stay till God answers. The joy of answered prayer is the joy of a travailing mother when a child is born into the world, the joy of a slave whose chains have been burnt asunder and to whom new life and liberty have just come.
E.M. Bounds
