_Topics to Encourage Prayer._
“Wrestling Jacob.
“Friend at midnight.
“The unjust judge.
“Satan fights neither with small nor great, save only with the spirit of prayer.
“An effort made in aridity, in wandering of thought, under a strong tendency to some other occupation, is more pleasing to God, and helps the soul forward in grace more than a long prayer without temptation.
“Whatever others do, let my life be a life of prayer.
“Get the King’s daughter, and you get all; the grace of devotion is the daughter of God.”
_Points of Self-denial._
“1. The passion for neatness, uniformity, and order in arrangement of things—in dress, in writing, in grounds.
“2. A disposition to suffer annoyance from little improprieties in the behavior and conversation of others.
“3. A desire to appear to advantage, to get honor and avoid shame. ‘_Come shame_, come sorrow,’ etc.
“4. A desire for personal ease and comfort, and a reluctance to suffer inconvenience.
“5. Unwillingness to bear contradiction.”
_Rules of Life._
“Rules adopted on Sunday, April 4, 1819, the era of commencing public ministrations among the Burmans; revised and re-adopted on Saturday, December 9, 1820, and on Wednesday, April 25, 1821:
“1. Be diligent in secret prayer, every morning and evening.
“2. Never spend a moment in mere idleness.
“3. Restrain natural appetites within the bounds of temperance and purity. ‘Keep thyself pure.’
“4. Suppress every emotion of anger and ill will.
“5. Undertake nothing from motives of ambition or love of fame.
“6. Never do that which, at the moment, appears to be displeasing to God.
“7. Seek opportunities of making some sacrifice for the good of others, especially of believers, provided the sacrifice is not inconsistent with some duty.
“8. Endeavor to rejoice in every loss and suffering incurred for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s, remembering that though, like death, they are not to be wilfully incurred, yet, like death, they are great gain.
“Re-adopted the above rules, particularly _the 4th, on Sunday, August 31, 1823_.
“Re-adopted the above rules, particularly _the 1st, on Sunday, October 29, 1826_, and adopted the following minor rules:
“1. Rise with the sun.
“2. Read a certain portion of Burman every day, Sundays excepted.
“3. Have the Scriptures and some devotional book in constant reading.
“4. Read no book in English that has not a devotional tendency.
“5. Suppress every unclean _thought_ and _look_.
“Revised and re-adopted all the above rules, particularly the second of the first class, on Sunday, March 11, 1827.
“God grant me grace to keep the above rules, and ever live to His glory, for Jesus Christ’s sake.