“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).
“He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honour him” (Psa. 91:15).
I see more than ever that those who are given up to God in continual prayer, are men of business, both for earth and Heaven; they go through the world with composure, are resigned to every cross, and make the greatest glory of the greatest cross. On the other hand, if not given up to God in prayer, every cross brings the greatest perplexity and robs them of the little love and patience they enjoy. To be all alive to God is, as it were, two heavens; to be unstable and not a whole Christian, is two hells.—William Bramwell.
Not one step more, Heavenly Father,
Would I take without Thy call;
Prone to race and rush—oh, rather
At Thy feet now would I fall!
Eyes, be blind, for God to view it;
Feet, be stopp’d, leave Him the road;
Hands can only touch to rue it;
Soul, be still, know He is God!
—J. Robertson and R. F. Beveridge.
I suspect I have been allotting habitually too little time to religious exercises as private devotion, religious meditation, Scripture reading, etc. Hence I am lean, cold, and hard. God would perhaps prosper me more in spiritual things if I were to be more diligent in using the means of grace. I had better allot more time, say two hours or an hour and a half, to religious exercises daily, and try whether by so doing I cannot preserve a frame of spirit more habitually devotional, a more lively sense of unseen things, a warmer love to God, and a greater degree of hunger and thirst after righteousness, a heart less prone to be soiled with worldly cares, designs, passions, and apprehension, and a real undissembled longing for Heaven, its pleasures and its purity.—William Wilberforce.