The idea that because of national days of prayer the war took a different course than it might otherwise have taken is one that must be questioned. Since the most ancient times, nations have had such days whenever they found themselves in trouble and usually they consisted of nationwide requests that the trouble be taken from them. Merely making such a request cannot of itself alter the course of Destiny, nor influence God. True prayer should be something more, something deeper than that. There must be true repentance and not merely an attempt to escape a situation toward which one has contributed by one's own wrong thinking and wrong actions. How few are the nations who have genuinely repented; once out of trouble they have quickly resumed the same old course. One may have the greatest faith in the value and power of prayer, but in order for it to be effectual, it must be genuine and it must be practised correctly.
-- Notebooks Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 2 : Prayer > # 87
