A little boy prayed loudly: ‘Please God, bring me a train set for my birthday.’ To which his mother answered, ‘There is no need to shout, dear! God isn’t deaf.’ Back came the reply, ‘No, but Grandpa is, and he is in the next room!’ When we pray, it is not to others, or to ourselves, but to God.

Nicky Gumbel, Alpha: Questions of Life, 2007, Eastbourne: Kingsway, p.68

A little boy prayed loudly: ‘Please God, bring me a train set for my birthday.’ To which his mother answered, ‘There is no need to shout, dear! God isn’t deaf.’ Back came the reply, ‘No, but Grandpa is, and he is in the next room!’ When we pray, it is not to others, or to ourselves, but to God.

Nicky Gumbel, Alpha: Questions of Life, 2007, Eastbourne: Kingsway, p.68