1 When fainting in the sultry waste,
And parch’d with thirst extreme,
The weary pilgrim longs to taste
The cool, refreshing stream;

2 Should, sudden, to his hopeless eye
A crystal spring appear,
How would th’ enlivening, sweet supply
His drooping spirits cheer !

3 So longs the weary, fainting mind,
Oppress’d with sins and woes,
Some soul-reviving spring to find,
Whence heavenly comfort flows.

4 Thus sweet the consolations are,
The promises impart,
Here flowing streams of life appear,
To ease the panting heart.

5 0 may I thirst for thee, my God,
With ardent, strong desire ;
And still through all this desert road,
To taste thy grace aspire.

6 Then shall my prayer to thee ascend,
A grateful sacrifice;
My plaintive voice thou wilt attend,
And grant me full supplies.

Anne Steele, Hymns, Psalms, and Poems

For this child I prayed.
1 Samuel 1:27

Devout souls delight to look upon those mercies which they have obtained in answer to supplication, for they can see God’s especial love in them. When we can name our blessings Samuel, that is, “asked of God,” they will be as dear to us as her child was to Hannah. Peninnah had many children, but they came as common blessings unsought in prayer: Hannah’s one heaven-given child was dearer far, because he was the fruit of earnest pleadings. How sweet was that water to Samson which he found at “the well of him that prayed!” Quassia cups turn all waters bitter, but the cup of prayer puts a sweetness into the draughts it brings. Did we pray for the conversion of our children? How doubly sweet, when they are saved, to see in them our own petitions fulfilled! Better to rejoice over them as the fruit of our pleadings than as the fruit of our bodies. Have we sought of the Lord some choice spiritual gift? When it comes to us it will be wrapped up in the gold cloth of God’s faithfulness
and truth, and so be doubly precious. Have we petitioned for success in the Lord’s work? How joyful is the prosperity which comes flying upon the wings of prayer! It is always best to get blessings into our house in the legitimate way, by the door of prayer; then they are blessings indeed, and not temptations. Even when prayer speeds not, the blessings grow all the richer for the delay; the child Jesus was all the more lovely in the eyes of Mary when she found him after having sought him sorrowing. That which we win by prayer we should dedicate to God, as Hannah dedicated Samuel. The gift came from heaven, let it go to heaven. Prayer brought it, gratitude sang over it, let devotion consecrate it. Here will be a special occasion for saying, “Of thine own have I given unto thee.” Reader, is prayer your element or your weariness? Which?

Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

“The Egyptians, in their hieroglyphics, expressed the unprofit
ableness of a solitary man by a single millstone, which, being alone,
grindeth no meal, though with its fellow it would be exceedingly
profitable for that purpose.”

Let this serve as a symbol to those unsociable Christians who endeavor to
walk alone, and refuse to enter into the fellowship of the saints. They are
comparatively useless. The Lord has made us dependent upon each other for
usefulness. Our attainments are not put to their right use till they supply
the deficiencies of others : this is one side of our necessity for fellowship—we
need to associate with the weak, that we may find a sphere in which to trade
with our talents, by helping them. On the other hand, our infirmities and
deficiencies are meant to draw us into association with stronger brethren,
from whom we may receive help and direction. Whether we be of the stronger or
the feebler sort, we have an equal reason for seeking Christian communion. It
is of the nature of the Lord’s people to assemble themselves together, and
live in companies : wild beasts may roam the woods alone, but sheep go in
flocks. David said, ” I am a companion of all them that fear thee,” and he
showed his piety not only by being select in his company, but in loving such
fellowship when he found it.

O thou who didst call thy disciples ” friends,” give me ever the friendly spirit,
and make me to love all those whom thou lovest.

Charles Spurgeon, “Illustrations and Meditations”