If men knew, as the seers know, how wide a gulf lies between established, organized religions and true religion itself, they would understand why the prayers of such religions, whether for national or individual objects, so often fail to reach God and get no response. On May 26, 1940, there was a mass appeal to God from every house of worship throughout England and the British Empire. The British Government declared it a National Day of Prayer for this purpose. But within a few days Belgium surrendered, and within a month France collapsed. Britain was left to fight alone. Was this the answer to her prayer? Religious prayer, when neglected at other times and resorted to only when material benefit is sought, is the greatest example of wishful thinking the world has ever known. If the response of the Almighty Deity is to be in direct ratio to the volume of the prayers He receives, if He is to be amenable only when these incantations reach a certain figure, then the Tibetan prayer-wheel deserves to be manufactured in the West by mass-production methods!
-- Notebooks Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 2 : Prayer > # 85
