Introduction
To PRAY means to commune with God — to converse with God. This is why we have chosen for the
present work the main title, "With God."
Discussing the question: Is Mental Prayer Easy? a spiritual writer says :
"In order to pray with fruit and without distraction it is very useful and in most cases necessary to spend some time in meditation or pious thought on some definite subject, and from this fact, as before stated, the whole exercise is often called mieditation. instead of mental prayer. This often misleads people into imagining that meditation, that is, the use of the intellect in thinking on a holy subject, is the main end to be aimed at, whereas in fact it is only a means to the end, which is prayer or conversation with God. Meditation furnishes us with the matter for conversation, but it is not itself prayer at all. When thinking and reflecting the soul speaks to itself, reasons with itself; in prayer it speaks to God."
Our sub-title reads: Book of Prayers and Reflections," and accurately describes the purpose of this work, which is to aid not any particular class, but the faithful in general, in those precious hours when they turn away from the distracting occupations and pleasures of life to give attention to " the one thing necessary," their one real business here below, the salvation of their immortal souls, by reflecting on the eternal truths, by uplifting their hearts to heaven and communing with God in prayer, so as to secure His grace now, and eventually that ever-
