The First Rule

“[The pastor] must maintain regular habits of communion with God, in prayer. The lettered Christian is more liable to neglect this duty and privilege than the unlettered, because his mind is constantly conversant with divine truth, and he is exposed to the temptation of substituting this for the direct expression of desires and wants. But in order to grow in religion, it is not enough for him to meditate upon the divine character and religious doctrines; he must actually address God in supplication.” — Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, 289–90.