On John Calvin's views on prayer:
“For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline.
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1. The first rule is a heartfelt sense of reverence.
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2. The second rule is a heartfelt sense of need and repentance.
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3. The third rule is a heartfelt sense of humility and trust in God.
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4. The final rule is to have a heartfelt sense of confident hope.”
From John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology: Burk Parsons