November 15

“Importunity is the essence of successful prayer . . . and importunity means, not dreaminess, but sustained work. It is through prayer especially that ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force’.
“It was a saying of the late Bishop Hamilton, of Salisbury, that ‘No-one was likely to do much good in prayer who did not begin by looking upon it in the light of a work, to be prepared for and persevered in with all the earnestness which we bring to bear upon subjects which are, in our opinions, at once most interesting and most necessary.’”

Canon LIDDON

“I would, with much solicitude, urge the habit of stated prayer. The heart is so apt to slide from under its intentions, if not compacted by the regularity of habit, that it is hardly safe to trust them; every hour brings its hindrances, and so often in the shpe of all but needful business, that ‘the path to the bush’ will, in most cases, be overgrown, if not trodden at the stated periods.”

ANN TAYLOR