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「常禱告，不可灰心。」（聖經路加福音十八章 1 節）
他墨蘭（Tammerlane）常喜歡向他的朋友述說早年的軼事。
他說：「我有一次被仇敵追逼，不得已藏在一所破屋中，我在那裡獨自坐了幾個鐘頭。那時萬念俱灰，再也沒有志氣和勇敢去幹前面的事業了。
在絕望中我看見一隻小小的螞蟻，背著一粒比牠大數倍的食物盡力向牆上拖走。牠跌下來多次，但是每一次牠仍舊努力向上。
我曾數過牠跌下來了六十九次；可是牠並不灰心氣餒，第七十次牠到達了高牆的頂上。那時我得了奮興，我終身不能遺忘這個教訓。」── 譯自君王的軼事
我們如果看以前很多禱告都得不著答應，因此就有點灰心，我告訴你，那就不是信心的禱告了。信心的禱告看以前沒有得到答應的禱告是一種鼓勵、一種證據，暗示我們神的答應的來到是更近了，就在前面了。
從起初到末了，主的教訓和榜樣都告訴我們：應當常常禱告，不可灰心；懇求的禱告若是沒有得到答應，就該集中以前所有的力量，繼續求神，直等到神給你應許，或是成就。如果神已經聽了你的禱告，這並不是說，禱告可以中止了，仍該繼續，只是懇求的禱告應當改為讚美和感謝的禱告。 ── 亞塞（Wm. Arthur）
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“Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1.)
Go to the ant.” Tammerlane used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. “I once,” he said, “was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours. Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top. This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson. --- The King’s Business.
Prayer which takes the fact that past prayers have not been answered as a reason for languor, has already ceased to be the prayer of faith.
To the prayer of faith the fact that prayers remain unanswered is only evidence that the moment of the answer is so much nearer. From first to last, the lessons and examples of our Lord all tell us that prayer which cannot persevere and urge its plea importunately, and renew, and renew itself again, and gather strength from every past petition, is not the prayer that will prevail. --- William Arthur.
Rubenstein, the great musician, once said, “If I omit practice one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it; if three days, the public notice it.” It is the old doctrine, “Practice makes perfect.” We must continue believing, continue praying, continue doing His will. Suppose along any line of art, one should cease practicing, we know what the result would be. If we would only use the same quality of common sense in our religion that we use in our everyday life, we should go on to perfection.
The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, “I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose.” By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.
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