“Bid war and faction cease,
Bring in the reign of peace:
Lord Jesu, Come!
Set every captive free;
Let all men brothers be;
Heal earth’s long malady:
Lord, quickly come!
“Assert thy right divine;
O’er all the nations shine:
Lord Jesu, come!
Then earth like heaven shall sing,
With hallelujahs ring,
And hail her rightful King”
Lord, quickly come!”
The answers to some prayers come at once. Even while we are speaking to God the thing we ask for is laid in our hands. The answers to other prayers, however, are delayed. Sometimes the delay is for the schooling of the suppliant’s faith, or for the discipline of patience. Sometimes the answer is one which in its very nature could not be given at once. If in the early summer, as the first buds are appearing, one kneels in his orchard and pray that his trees may bring forth abundant and luscious fruit, his prayer could not be answered till the later summer or autumn. Fruits must have time to ripen.
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