“He who aims at inward and spiritual things must, with Jesus, turn aside from the crowd.”
“Grant me, oh most merciful Jesus, Your grace, that it may be with me, and labor with me, and abide with me even to the end. … Let there be between You and me but one will, so that I may love what You love, and abhor what You hate; and let me not be able to will any thing which You do not will, nor to dislike any thing which You do will.”
“Let no pride or self-seeking, no impure motive or unworthy purpose, no little ends or low imagination stain my spirit, or profane any of my words and actions.”
I re-read C.S. Lewis′ book Miracles earlier this year (you can read my full book review by clicking here). As you may have noticed, after reading and reviewing books on this blog, I also like to share some quotes that caught my attention. This particular quote is fairly long in itself, but I think you will understand the context within the quote—
“When we are praying about the result, say, of a battle or a medical consultation the thought will often cross our minds that (if only we knew it) the event is already decided one way or the other. I believe this to be no good reason for ceasing our prayers. The event certainly has been decided—in a sense it was decided ‘before all worlds.’ But one of the things taken into account in deciding it, and therefore one of the things that really cause it to happen, may be this very prayer that we are now offering. Thus, shocking as it may sound, I conclude that we can at noon become part causes of an event occurring at ten a.m. (Some scientists would find this easier than popular thought does.) The imagination will, no doubt, try to play all sorts of tricks on us at this point. It will ask, ‘Then if I stop praying can God go back and alter what has already happened?’ No. The event has already happened and one of its causes has been the fact that you are asking such questions instead of praying. It will ask, ‘Then if I begin to pray can God go back and alter what has already happened?’ No. The event has already happened and one of its causes is your present prayer. Thus something does really depend on my choice. My free act contributes to the cosmic shape. That contribution is made in eternity or ‘before all worlds’; but my consciousness of contributing reaches me at a particular point in the time-series.”
“I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone.”
“Use me, my Savior, for whatever purpose and in whatever way You may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel: fill it with Your grace. Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken it and refresh it with Your love. Take my heart for Your abode; my mouth to spread abroad the glory of Your name; my love and all my powers for the advancement of Your believing people; and never allow the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate.”
“If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.”
“What a gracious thing for us that Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been! He always thinks about what we are going to be.” —A.W. Tozer
“So seldom does God find a Christian whose only goal in life is to know and to do His will—as Jesus did—and who never says, ‘God, where are You?’ but instead prays, ‘God, where am I in this matter of obedience and dependence?’” —David Wilkerson
“Remember Luther, Knox, Calvin, Wycliffe, Bradford, Latimer, and many others! Under God these men owed their liberty of speech and liberty of conscience to the fact that the world thrust them out from all hope of its favor, and so loosed their bonds.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Lay not fast hold upon the things of earth. He who is but a lodger in an inn must not live as though he were at home.” —Charles Spurgeon
“I set you down as nearer akin to a devil than to a saint, if you can go your way and look into the face of your friend or child, and know him to be on the downward road, and yet never pray for him nor use any means for his conversion.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters
“A person morally incapable of doing evil would be, by the same token, morally incapable of doing good. A free human will is necessary to the concept of morality.” —A.W. Tozer
“Remember that sin must be punished. Any theology which offers the pardon of sin without a punishment, ignores part of the character of God. God is love, but God is also just, as severely just as if He had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if He had no justice. To gain a just view of the character of God you must perceive all His attributes as infinitely developed; justice must have its infinity acknowledged as much as mercy. … Sin must be punished, or God must cease to be. The testimony of the gospel is not that the punishment has been mitigated or foregone, or that justice has had a sop given it to close its mouth. The consolation is far more sure and effectual. Christ has for His people borne all the punishment which they deserved; and now every soul for whom Christ died may read with exultation, ‘The punishment of her iniquity is accomplished’ [Lamentations 4:22].” —Charles Spurgeon
“I think it wise, if possible, to move one’s main prayers from the last-thing-at-night position to some earlier time: give them a better chance to infiltrate one’s other thoughts.” —C.S. Lewis
“This Spirit-filled, last-days Church will not hide, but will be on the front lines, fighting a good fight and bringing in a harvest of souls.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post On The Front Lines.
Some powerful quotes from Martin Luther on prayer—
“Behold, Lord, and empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust You altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in You.”
“Almighty God, grant us grace to hear Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bread, preached throughout the world and truly to understand Him. May all evil, heretical and human doctrines be cut off, while Your Word as the Living Bread be distributed.”
“Lord God, You have placed me in Your church. You know how unsuitable I am. Were not for Your guidance I would long since have brought everything to destruction. I wish to give my heart and mouth to Your service. I desire to teach your people, and long to be taught Your work. Use me as Your work man, dear Lord. Do not for sake me; for if I am alone I show bring all to naught.”
“Go to bed seasonably, and rise early. Redeem your precious time… that not one moment of it may be lost. Be much in secret prayer. Converse less with man, and more with God.” —George Whitefield
“Lord, let me not live to be useless.” —John Wesley
Jon Bloom looks at narcissism in a different way: Beware The Mirror.
“To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.” —A.W. Tozer
“Confession isn’t a punishment for sin; it’s an isolation of sin so it can be exposed and extracted.” —Max Lucado
“We must learn to tell ourselves the truth on the basis of God’s Word.” —Oswald Chambers
“I must pray for the strength and courage to be truly obedient to Jesus, even if He calls me to go where I would rather not go.” —Henri Nouwen
“One of the greatest mercies God bestows upon us is His not permitting our inclinations and opportunities to meet. Have you not sometimes noticed that when you had the inclination to a sin there has been no opportunity, and when the opportunity has presented itself you have had no inclination towards it? satan’s principal aim with believers is to bring their appetites and his temptations together….” —Charles Spurgeon
“This is not Predestination: your will is perfectly free: but all physical events are adapted to fit in as God sees best with the free actions He knows we are going to do.” —C.S. Lewis
[VIDEO] John Maxwell has some good insight on dealing with skeptics, even if the skeptic is you!
“The begging in ministries today is a result of men doing good things without being sent by God’s voice. Their own desires are being mistaken for God’s bidding.” David Wilkerson shred 4 ways to know you are correctly hearing the voice of God.
“The heart knows so much more than the mind.” —Henri Nouwen
“Lord, grant we may always keep between the two extremes of distrusting or tempting Thee.” —George Whitefield
“The principle virtue of music is a means of communication with God.” —Igor Stravinsky
“Where would you have been but for grace? To repeat the old saying of John Bradford, when he saw a cartful of men going off to Tyburn to be hanged, ‘There goes John Bradford but for the grace of God.’ When you see the swearer in the street, or the drunkard rolling home at night, there are you, there am I, but for the grace of God. Who am I? What should I have been if the Lord, in mercy, had not stopped me in my mad career?” —Charles Spurgeon
“There can be no such thing as chance from God’s point of view. Since He is omniscient His acts have no consequences which He has not foreseen and taken into account and intended.” —C.S. Lewis
[VIDEO] This short film is based on a true story from the front lines of a World War I battlefield on Christmas Eve 1914…
Some great quotes from Thomas á Kempis on prayer—
