The Inner Life by Mrs Bramwell Booth

"Take heed concerning the secret inner life- in this lies the only surety against heart breaking personal failure. Strive for a strengthening and deepening of your spiritual life. There could be no outward manifestation of life in speech, sight, movement but for the hidden activity of beating heart, breathing lungs, guiding brain. Prayer links our life to him the giver of all life.

How about the hidden life in you, this prayer behind shut doors? What are you saying to yourself about it now? Have you confidence before God? Have you constant access to him in prayer? There is to be that in your experience which is between you and God only. Oh, if you are confessing yourself a weakling in prayer, have faith that the Holy Spirit will help you pray; (Romans 8:26)

We cannot live to please God without secret prayer; no indeed we cannot: and so the Devil will induce us to wear the cloak of religion whilst living and working without communion with God. He is securely binding some of our people with the chains of prayerlessness, enticing them to be content with empty service and to allow the hidden, secret life to starve and die, that he may brand them for himself. How satisfied he will be if he succeeds in inclining you to let your outward service in the Army swallow up the life of your soul ! Be on the watch for this snare. Guard against allowing that which is good in itself to take the place of this all important duty of secret prayer.

If you pray you cease to sin; if you sin you cease to pray"

God bless

Carol