Newton's five pillars of an 'Inner conversation'

'Newton had his own ideas of what an inner conversation was like. In his biography of Newton, Jonathan Aitken describes how Newton reduced the core of his spiritual life into five principles he believed would guide him in his leadership with people and his walk with God. He determined

• to begin and end every day with God;
• to peruse Scripture with diligence and attention suited to the dignity of the subject;
• to spend the Sabbath entirely with the Lord
• to choose for my companions only good people from whom I may derive some improvement; and 
• to become all things to all men in order than I may save some'

Gordon MacDonald in The Road We Must Travel, Page 13