Old Stuff

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Exhort yourself, force yourself, to prayer and every good work, however contrary be your inclination. As a lazy horse, driven by a whip, is compelled by man to walk and to trot, even so must we coerce ourselves into performing every kind of labor, and how much the more, to pray. God, beholding your efforts and your labor, will grant you zeal and inclination. Habit of itself creates the inclination and, it might be said, attracts us towards prayer and good deeds. Learn to acquire this habit, and it will draw you to prayer and good deeds.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in A Treasury of Russian Spirituality by George Fedotov