Formula for Spiritual Growth

Behold a formula for spiritual growth through prayer:

But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.
--Alma 13:28-29

I see the following elements in this formula that apply to my life:

1. Humble myself. I must not wait to be compelled to be humble. I can choose to be humble. I can look for ways I am proud, resistant, and unteachable, and take positive steps voluntarily to surrender my pride and my weapons of rebellion.
2. Call upon God. This is more than trite prayer or a mindless postscript to an exhausting day. It is reaching deep into my soul to see what I am really made of and then offering it unto the Lord. It is acting as if I were coming into His presence.
3. Watch and pray continually. I must pay attention rather than drift mindlessly through the day on spiritual autopilot. Be thoughtful and deliberate in my actions, always guided by the Spirit, which shows me the Lord's will. And do things prayerfully. Undertake no task save in the first place I ask God to direct me and consecrate my actions for the benefit of my soul as well as the benefit of others. Just as calling upon God is a different level of prayer, praying continually is a different flow of prayer. There is no amen to a continuous prayer.
4. Let the Holy Spirit guide, which implies that I first ask for direction, then listen for it, note it when it comes, and obey it. Again, it is the surrendering of my will to God's and doing things His way.
5. Seek the following gifts of the Spirit: humility (teachable, open to direction, able to see and admit weakness, ready to accept help), meekness (accept others as they are and let them be right), submissiveness (give up my stubborn pride so I can follow the direction of the Spirit), patience (operate on God's timetable instead of insisting on my own), full of love and all long-suffering (care more about others than myself, bear with others' imperfections because I know they must bear with mine, see others through God's eyes).
6. Have faith on the Lord rather than in myself, knowing that I cannot save myself but am totally dependent on Christ as my Redeemer.
7. Have hope, which motivates me to continue in the face of constant and inevitable failure because I believe that in the end Christ will erase all sins, heal all wounds, and right all wrongs.
8. Have the love of God always in my heart. Be filled with charity, which is a gift from God for which I must pray diligently and with all my heart as if I were pleading for my very life—which, in fact, is exactly what I am doing.