Hillary Clinton has been reading daily devotionals since losing the election which teach her about 'being strong in the midst of unpredictability', her pastor has revealed.

The Rev Bill Shillady said that the former Democratic Presidential candidate's prayers have been about 'encouragement' as she grapples with her shock defeat to Donald Trump.

He said that Clinton has been finding 'strength and hope' in her Methodist faith as she tries to understand what went wrong.

Clinton has only touched briefly on the personal impact her defeat has had on her making Rev Shillady's disclosure a significant insight into her state of mind.

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Turned to prayer: Hillary Clinton is still seeking solace in her faith after her shock November defeat at the hands of Donald Trump, her pastor has revealed. She spoke about her defeat at BookExpo 2017 in New York last week

Daily prayer: The Rev Bill Shillady sent a devotional to Clinton at 5am every day during her campaign; it was the first thing she read

'Secretary Clinton found strength from these devotionals that I sent to her each day at 5am,' Rev Shillady told DailyMail.com.

She has not mentioned the importance of her faith in overcoming the defeat, but did say during her commencement speech at Wellesley College that she had taken long walks, reorganized her closets and joked: 'I won't lie, chardonnay helped a little, too.'

Rev Shillady said that Clinton 'reads her scripture and prays each and every day' and that was helping her to get through the darker days.

Rev Shillady has known the Clintons for more than a decade, and helped officiate at the wedding of their daughter Chelsea to her husband Marc Mezvinsky.

He also led the memorial service for Clinton's mother Dorothy Rodham in 2011.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the Methodist minister from New York said that he began sending Clinton daily devotions in Easter 2015 when she told him she was running for the Presidency.

They were the first thing she read each morning and gave her inspiration for her day.

He said: 'Secretary Clinton found strength from these devotionals that I sent to her each day at 5am.

'My team of writers and I used passages of scripture, a reflection on that passage, and a prayer to support her depending on the events that were taking place.

'I would write the devotional after reading the headlines of the day.'

Rev Shillady said that Clinton 'cares about people' and 'lives out her faith in her constant compassion and caring for the least, the last, and the lost'.

He said that he spoke to her a few days after election night and she encourages him to publish all the devotionals 'because they gave her strength in the midst of the loss'.

Recently he has been giving her devotionals about 'encouragement, being strong in the midst of unpredictability, he said.

He said: 'I know how important it is for me as a person of faith to rise each morning and center my day around prayer, meditation, and spiritual thinking.'

Some 365 of the 600 devotionals will be released in full in a book called 'Strong For A Moment Like This: The Daily Devotionals of Hillary Rodham Clinton', which is out in August, and being published by Abingdon Press.

They will be organized into 12 themes, such as Forgiveness, Doing Good, Courage, and Women.

They will show how much Mrs Clinton was inspired to use their lessons in her speeches like in a January 2016 interview with Buzzfeed in which she talked about 'love and kindness'.

Family relationship: Rev Shillady has known the Clinton since Chelsea started attending his church, and helped officiate at her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in 2010

Clinton also talked about how she was motivated to run for the Presidency because she wanted to inspire people to treat one another in a better fashion.

Rev Shillady had earlier sent her a daily devotional about the 'Love Commands' which talks about this very issue and quotes John 15:12.

One passage reads: 'Love each other just as I have loved you'.

Clinton was raised a Methodist in Park Ridge, Illinois where her mother taught Sunday school and raised money for charity, inspiring her daughter's interest in social justice.

Rev Shillady, the executive director the United Methodist City Society in New York, said that with Clinton religion has 'always been the foundation of her moral compass'.

She said: 'She finds strength and hope in the power of new life that her faith offers her each and every day.'