THE ROLE OF PRAYER: Page 130

ing desire of the soul to achieve inner wisdom. Prayer is the earnest strain upwards of the intelligence to pierce the dark penetralia of Ignorance. Prayer is the ceaseless pressure upon the Superconscious mind-the Divine part of ourselves-to expand our sphere of insight. Prayer is the deepening of the intellect and the expansion of the Heart. Prayer is the triumphant conjunction of Reason with Intuition. Prayer is the cry of the purified and expanded soul for power and Wisdom to help and uplift, to purify and ennoble, to exalt and strengthen those towards whom it may feel itself drawn by the bond of spiritual affinity. Prayer is the longing of the son to co-operate with his father; to lift on his own shoulders a little of the heavy Karma of this world. Prayer is the struggle of the soul to free its wings; the flutter of the heart through the awe of lofty Idealism; the instinctive leaning on our secret selves; the drawing inwards for more light and life. Prayer is the concentration of the spirit on the Problems of the Divine life; the turning of the search-light of the Super-conscious-self upon the riddles of existence. Prayer is the filling of inner vision with positive light-light that rends asunder the veils of Darkness and Maya. Prayer is the souler-ascent up the magnetic chain of Evolution. Prayer is the meditation on the Infinite in the silence. Prayer is the faith of the seer in his visions ; in his contemplation of the facts of life, inner and outer, subjective and objective, from the highest standpoint, in the utmost trust that he reposes in the Infinite;