Let us try to get to the root of the matter.

There are two chief derivations of the word religion. One comes from the
verb which means "to go through, or over again, in reading, speech, or
thought." Hence religion is the regular or constant habit of revering
the gods, and would be represented by the word devotion--an aspect most
important to bear in mind.

The other derivation, and the more usual, derives religion from the idea
of binding together, and tells of communion between man and God. For us
Christians this thought finds its highest ideal and fulfilment in the
Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The great characteristic action of religion is prayer; varying in its
methods and degrees from merely mechanical performances, like the
praying wheels of the Chinese up to the heart devotion of the Christian,
poured out when commemorating, in the Holy Communion, the death and
resurrection of His Lord.

The first essential of any prayer which is to be of value in the
discipline of the spirit is regularity. No words can exaggerate the
importance of morning prayer. Yet, alas! tens of thousands of professing
Christians are content with evening prayer alone. The one who goes forth
in the morning prayerless is just as ill-equipped to do his duty, and
meet his temptations, as the foodless man is to perform physical work.

The whole story of the saintly life, alike in the Old Testament, the New
Testament, and the Church, is that of diligence in prayer. It was to
promote that spirit that the Church of Christ, following on the lines of
the Jewish Church, from very early days adopted special hours for stated