Meditation on our need shows us that of ourselves we possess nothing which is spiritually good, and therefore, it teaches us to reject all faith in our own powers. It teaches us to flee to our only help, the divine mercy promised to us on account of Christ. When we consider all our many needs, our heart is raised to God. It asks Him to put to death the old man and to renew the new man. These works of God are needed daily by all those who have been reborn. This renovation consists of faith, hope, love, humility, patience, long-suffering, chastity, and the preservation and increase of all the other good qualities. We are to seek these from God with earnest prayers. Every day we are assaulted by the flesh, the world, and Satan. Every day our flesh incites us to love earthly things. Every day the world assaults us with its hatred, and Satan batters us with his plots. Therefore, we must pray daily to the Lord of Hosts, our highest Judge, to give us contempt for the world, denial of self, victory over the world, preservation in all difficult situations, true peace for the soul, victory in temptations, and preservation from the plots of the devil. Finally, since in the hour of death and judgment the help of God is needed by us above all else, we must humbly pray every day for a blessed end to this life and for a blessed resurrection unto eternal life. (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.55)