1 KINGS viii.37-53.
Yes, indeed, what space has |the stranger| in my supplications? Has he any place at all? Are my intercessions private enclosures, intended only for the select among my friends? Do I ever open the door to anyone outside my family circle? Are my ecclesiastical sympathies large enough to include |outsiders| from afar? What do I do with |the stranger|?
There is nothing which keeps prayer sweet and fresh and wholesome like the letting in of |the stranger|! To let a new guest sit down at the feast of my intercession is to give my own soul a most nutritious surprise. It is a most healthy spiritual habit to see to it that we bring in a new |stranger| every time we pray. Let me be continually enlarging the circle of hospitality! Let some new and weary bird find a resting-place in the branches of my supplications every time I hold communication with God.
A prayer which has no room for |the stranger| can have little or no room for God.