The prayer meetings of Grace Baptist Church are characterized by a cheery, homelike atmosphere that appeals forcibly and at once to any one who may chance to enter, inclining him to stay and enjoy the service, be he the utmost stranger. But underneath this and soon felt, is the deep spiritual significance of the meeting, which lays hold on men's hearts, inspiring, uplifting, sending them home with a sense of having "walked with God" for a little while. The large prayer meeting hall is usually crowded, the attendance including not only members of the church but hundreds who are not members of any church. It is no unusual sight to see all the various rooms of the Lower Temple thrown into one by the raising of the sashes, and this vast floor packed as densely as possible, while a fringe of standers lines the edges. People will come to these prayer meetings though they cannot see the platform, though they must lose much of what is said. But the spirit of the meeting flows into their hearts and minds, sending them home happier, and with a strengthened determination to live a more righteous life. Frequently Dr. Conwell arrives ten or fifteen minutes before the time for the service to begin. As he walks to the platform, he stops and chats with this one, shakes hands with another, nods to many in the audience. At once all stiffness and formalism vanish. It is a home, a gathering of brothers and sisters. It is the meeting together of two or three in His name, as in the old apostolic days, though these two or three are now counted by the hundreds. When Dr. Conwell thus arrives early, the time is passed in singing. Often he utilizes these few minutes to learn new hymns. So that when the real prayer meeting is in progress, there will be no blundering through new tunes or weak-kneed renditions of them. The singing, Dr. Conwell wants done with the spirit. He will not sing a verse if the heart and mind cannot endorse it. After singing several hymns in this earnest, prayerful fashion, every one present is fully in tune for the services to follow. Prayer meeting opens with a short, earnest prayer. Then a hymn. It is Dr. Conwell's practice to have any one call out the number of a hymn he would like sung. And it is no unusual thing to hear a perfect chorus of numbers after Dr. Conwell's "What shall we sing?"