An intensive practice of prayer undergirded and transmuted all that Charles Simeon was and did. After his conversion he arose every morning at 4 a.m. to spend four hours praying and meditating on Scripture, conquering his predilection for bed by deciding to throw a guinea into the Cam if he slept on. He did it only once and was cured of sloth. He introduced morning and evening prayers in his family home, and when in Cambridge prayed earnestly with his own servant at those hours. When in company he interceded silently for others, and once on horse­back when asked by a young atheist Dutch companion who saw his lips moving what he was doing he replied, 'I am praying for my friend'. The remark touched the man's heart and later led to his conversion and witness for Christ.

To an unknown correspondent in deep mental turmoil he wrote that it was sufficient for him to hear from 'a fellow sinner in distress, for he could then pray for him, and request prayer in return as one who needed it much'.

His secret repository of prayer was the attic roof over his college rooms. Here he walked, knelt, repented, confessed his sins, and adored his Saviour where only God could see him.

I find, he said, that an exceeding close walk with God is necessary for the maintaining of fervour in intercession ... but it is scarcely ever that we can intercede with fervour unless we enjoy habitual nearness to God.

In prayer he found spiritual strength from One of whom he knew that 'His power is mighty, his mercy is rich, his ways mysterious, his promises sure'. And in face of this,

The depths of the human heart are never more disposed than when a man comes into the presence of his Maker. Then he opens all his wants, and supplicates relief for all his necessities.

The ultimate ground of his prayers was the majesty and sovereignty of God. 'One of the most endearing qualities of a monarch', he judged, 'is a readiness to listen to the petitions of his subjects, and to relieve to the utmost of his power their necessities'. But, he admitted, no sovereign can hear all his people or supply their needs.

Only God can do this, for 'With him there is no weariness, nor any defect either of inclination or of power. To him all may go at all times and under all circumstances, for he is near to them, whether our cries are unpremeditated or our desires unexpressed'.

Thus, frequent use of prayer was to Simeon the antidote to afflictions and trouble. He saw that in prayer the needy 'seeks God's effectual help, and much more, the communications of his grace, and the manifestations of his glory'.

The effect of such prayer is 'stability in God's ways, and everlasting enjoyment of his favour, and therefore is no reason for despondency, and little ground for self-glory'.

It was his abiding conviction that the way to maintain a close walk with God was by a constant meditation on his goodness, the punishment sins deserve, our vileness and unworthiness; 'and while we continue in this spirit of self-denigration everything else will go easily'. Spiritual advancement, sense of God's presence, experience of his love, enjoyment of his favour and hope of glory is then known.

Meditation, he believed, is the grand means of our growth in grace; without it prayer itself is an empty service. You often feel your prayers rarely reach the ceiling; but, oh, get into the humble spirit by considering how good the Lord is, and how evil you all are, and then prayer will mount on wings of faith to heaven.

It was for him vitally essential that Christians 'should never rest until the soul evidences that it is the Lord's, for "While our interest in his favour is doubtful, what happiness can we enjoy? It is not the sense of outward prosperity that we are to desire, but that inward light by which we can claim our adoption into his family, and our title to his glory"'. Because God invites man to pray, he confessed himself amazed how people could live without prayer, and thought it lamentable that those who pray should get discouraged in its exercise. It was in his view an indispensable duty to praise God. He pointed out that 'Wherever a superior being is acknowledged, there a tribute of prayer and praise is considered as due to him'. Praise is the external expression whereby a soul, filled with admiration and gratitude, gives vent to its feelings towards its heavenly Benefactor. Thus, even the non-Christians should praise and adore God for the greatness of his sparing and redeeming mercy which in itself is an encouragement to prayer. But to live and die without prayer will only in the end bring bitter reproach. As to the Christian, his duty is to praise God for knowledge of his kindness and love, and the joy of being made lovely in his sight, and this should express itself in delight in God, fighting his battles, and singing his praises.

He deserves every imaginable praise from his creatures, Simeon states, whether heathens or Christians, and the more men praise him the greater will be their happiness.

He held that every attribute of God deserved, all imaginable praise from his creatures: his goodness, mercy, lovingkindness, truth, faithful­ness, justice. Above all he must be contemplated in his Son, who should be praised for assuming our nature, and expiating our sins by his own blood upon the cross, and as becoming the living Head of all his believing people, and, as finally, engaged to "perfect that which concerneth them", and to preserve them blameless to his heavenly kingdom.

When we remember all that Christ has done for a ruined world, and all he has promised to do for those who trust in him, 'then say whether the tongues of men and of angels be sufficient to declare his goodness, or whether eternity will suffice to utter all his praise'.

From Simeon's example and prayer counsels countless numbers of people were encouraged in their own devotion to Christ and, if ministers, conveyed his thoughts to others.

'The Bible first' to be daily studied and meditated upon was a major principle of Simeon's life that he wished other Christians might accept. 'We must search in them (the Scriptures) for hid treasures, and lay up in our inmost souls the glorious truths which they unfold to our view'. They have 'an authority and integrity as the divine Word in itself'.

He had learned, he remarked, 'that I must take the Scriptures with the simplicity of a little child and be content to receive on God's testimony what he has revealed ... As God's revelation and his directory for man it is suffi­cient'.

Accepting that the law of God means the whole revealed will of God, Christians must love the Bible, 'as a mirror of truth, a revelation of mercy, and a rule of life'. Those who do, 'will find in it happiness of mind, and stability in their goings'. But it must be loved 'universally, in everything it requires, and supremely, above all that the world can give or take away'. That 'The great argument of Scripture is the glory of God's own name' governed his own approach to the Bible. Accepting the inspiration and infallibility of the whole Book, he saw in its words Christ speaking to man through the Holy Spirit, and therefore to obey the Bible was to obey Christ. The same Spirit that animated Jesus had spoken to Noah, taught Israel in the wilderness, inspired the prophets, and pre­dicted Jesus' passion, death, and subsequent glory.

He held firmly the view that brokenness of heart was the key to the Scriptures; nor can they be 'a well of salvation' until the soul has 'tasted' the Redeemer's love. Hence, it is a sealed book to the non-believer. Promulgating that 'We know nothing from God except by revelation', he made a direct attack on the Age of Reason that gave birth to Deism. He counselled all Christians to read the Bible morning and evening and meditate upon it and inculcate every truth precisely in the way and to the extent that it is set forth in the inspired volume. Thus, he refused to hold strong views on anything that Scripture does not clearly define.

Simeon's utter and simple biblicism was the seed ground of his spiritual life. The principles by which he lived had no tinge in them of neo-Platonism, contemplative idealism, mystical romanticism, or pietistic Quietism. His was a stern, practical holiness founded upon the doctrines of grace. As a moderate Calvinist his beliefs were more those of Whitefield, Newton, and the Venns than those of the extreme Toplady. He rooted himself unashamedly in the Genevan tenets of the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles that set forth the great points of revelation as expressed in the Reformed Faith. The sovereignty of grace gripped and animated his entire life. In his words, 'It assigns to the divine mercy THE WHOLE praise of every salvation'.

Although disliking ultra-Calvinism he did not hesitate to say,

God has not chosen us because we were holy, or because he foresaw we should become holy, but in order that we might be holy: he has chosen us to holiness as the means, as well as to glory as the end.