I stretch forth my hands - This is a natural action. All in distress, or under the influence of eager desire, naturally extend their hands and arms, as if to catch at help and obtain succor.

As a thirsty land - Parched and burned by the sun, longs for rain, so does my thirsty soul for the living God.

stretch forth

Psalm 44:20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;

Psalm 88:9 My eye mourns by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily on you, I have stretched out my hands to you.

Job 11:13 If you prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward him;

my soul

Psalm 42:1,2 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God...

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land...

Psalm 84:2 My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.

Isaiah 26:8,9 Yes, in the way of your judgments, O LORD, have we waited for you; the desire of our soul is to your name...

Isaiah 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay...

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink.

Tell Me, O Thou whom My Soul Loveth, Where Thou Feedest, Where Thou Reposest at Midday, Lest I Should Begin to Wander after the Flocks of Thy Companions.
O Thou whom my soul loveth! exclaims this poor affianced one, thus obliged to leave the sweet employment within, to be engaged about external matters of the lowest description; O Thou, whom I love so much the more as I find my love more thwarted; ah, show me where Thou feedest Thy flocks, and with what food Thou satisfiest the souls that are so blessed as to be under Thy care! We know that when Thou wert upon earth, Thy meat and drink was to do the will of Thy Father (John iv. 34), and now Thy meat …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished; …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3