D. E. Hoste learned early that prayer is the true source of power and guidance. Speaking at a CIM conference when he was only 29 he said, "We must get to know God in secret - alone in the desert. It does seem to me that true spirituality lies in this - utter dependence on God for everything. We shall dread to do anything in our own wisdom. If a man can get down before God and get His plan of work for him, individually, that is what will make him irresistible."
The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty.
Pastor Hsi of China sometimes would spend days in his room in prayer waiting upon God
A source of spiritual weakness and defeat may be found in failure to jealously guard our time of secret prayer and study of God's Word
- from Live to be Forgotten by Patrick Fung (OMF) on the life of D. E. Hoste, Hudson Taylor's successor as General Director of the China Inland Mission 1900-1935.