es but increased my devotion, and the greater my difficulty the
greater the increase of my devotion. Praise His Name.

ON PRAYER

(1) _The Price of Prayer_.--O Thou Lord of my soul, and my Eternal Good,
why is it that when a soul resolves to follow Thee, and to do her best to
forsake all for Thee,--why is it that Thou dost not instantly perfect Thy
love and Thy peace within that soul? But I have spoken unadvisedly and
foolishly, for it is we who are at fault in prayer, and never Thee. We
are so long and so slow in giving up our hearts to Thee. And then Thou
wilt not permit our enjoyment of Thee without our paying well for so
precious a possession. There is nothing in all the world wherewith to
buy the shedding abroad of Thy love in our heart, but our heart's love.
If, however, we did what we could, not clinging with our hearts to
anything whatsoever in this world, but having our treasure and our
conversation in heaven, then this blessedness would soon be ours, as all
Thy saints testify. God never withholds Himself from him who pays this
price and who perseveres in seeking Him. He will, little by little, and
now and then, strengthen and restore that soul, till at last it is
victorious. If he who enters on this road only does violence enough to
himself, with the help of God, he will not only go to heaven himself, but
he will not go alone: he will take others with him. God will give him,
as to a good leader, those who will go after him. Only, let not any man
of prayer ever expect to enjoy his whole reward here. He must remain a
man of faith and prayer to the end. Let him resolve, then, that whatever
his aridity and sense of indevotion may be, he will never let himself
sink utterly under his cross. And the day will come when he will receive
all his petitions in one great answer, and all his wages in one great
reward. For he serves a good Master, who stands over him watching him.
And let him never give over because of evil thoughts, even if they are
sprung upon him in the middle of his prayer, for the devil so vexed the
holy Jerome even in the wilderness. But all these toils of soul have
their sure reward, and their just recompense set out for them. And, I
can assure you, as one who knows what she is saying, that one single drop
of water out of God's living well will both sustain you and reward you
for another day and another night of your life of life-long prayer.

(2) _Sin spoils Prayer_.--Now I saw