Streams in the Desert January 19 Daily Devotional

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 make
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.