Prayer and discipline
Prayer is a practice that requires discipline, and discipline is the one thing I consistently seem to lack. It is an easy thing to fall into a habit of slack, infrequent prayer, and that’s lately what I’ve done.
“Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life.” - William Law, A Serious Call To A Devout And Holy Life
I am a pattern-oriented kind of guy, and if I don’t set a pattern, then I am not likely to follow through on anything, and I know this about myself. I need a set time and place where I engage in prayer every day, and I’ve let that practice slip.
On this particular topic I highly recommend the work that I’ve quoted above, A Serious Call To A Devout And Holy Life, by William Law. There is much of that particular work that I just don’t find helpful at all, but there is much that I have found very helpful. For instance, there is this quote:
“It is as much your duty to rise to pray, as to pray when you are risen. And if you are late at your prayers, you offer to God the prayers of and idle, lazy worshiper that rises to prayers as idle servants rise to their labor.”
