“…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…” Ephesians 6:18

We should try to believe as we pray, think as we pray, feel as we pray and act as we pray. Prayer must not be a solitary, independent exercise but inseparably connected with our lives and what we do. Prayer is an incentive to useful living but not a substitute for it.

The person whose heart has been set in motion by prayer, and whose spiritual pulse quickened by Scripture, has work to do.

He has a responsibility to feed the poor, comfort the sad, help the distressed, teach the ignorant and soothe the depressed. At home, he has his family to teach, watch over and be an example to.

But his most difficult work will be on himself. He has to watch against all sorts of sins, errors and temptations which he will find heavier in weight and more in number the more closely he looks at them: against prejudice; against impatience when his wisely thought out plans are defeated; against cold and heartless prayer; against over-anxiety about things. He has to watch because he finds that he does not show, as clearly as he might, in his life, the attitude that he has when on his knees before God; that his best obedience is incomplete; that his faith, though sincere, often lacks energy; that it is difficult to ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

He may have to watch against the fear of man, as he may he may find it easier to endure the cross than to despise the shame; or against an eager desire for popularity; to watch in order to keep himself unspotted from the world—to hold the things of the world with a loose hand—and to achieve consistency of character.

He will want to walk with God—not merely bow down before him at stated intervals, or address him ceremoniously on great occasions and then retreat and live at a distance, but walk with him communicate intimately, naturally and continually with him.

H. More, T. Cadell