If meditation and prayer do not make you feel some warmth, light, strength, joy or wonder, you should find out why

"Meditation and prayer are not commonplace activities; they ought to make you experience sensations of a particular kind. If meditation and prayer do not make you feel some warmth, light, strength, joy or wonder, you should find out why.
Occasionally, when you strike a match, it fails to light, because either it or the box is damp. And if a cigarette lighter will not light, it is because there is no oil in it or the flint is worn. In spiritual practice, as on the material plane, there is always a reason for failure, and you should find out what it is. The mind must never be damp, and the heart must never be dry. The heart should be damp and warm, and the mind should be dry and cold. A dried out heart becomes selfish, and if it is cold it lacks love. If you warm the mind, it goes to sleep, and if you make it too moist it rots. These simple, clear images should help you solve the difficulties in your inner life."