Anything I cannot thank God for the sake of Christ, I may not thank God for at all; to do so would be sin. … We cannot rightly acknowledge the gifts of God unless we acknowledge the Mediator for whose sake alone they are given to us.
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer –
Prayer is where the action is.
– John Wesley –
True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.
– Charles Spurgeon –
Unless we have invested a great deal of time in our secret ministry to the Lord then the shallowness of our public ministry will be very evident. Today it is abundantly clear that not enough time is spent ministering to the Lord, and way too much time is spent ministering to people; hence, most of what is done in the name of ministry is performed in a fleshly, human way which never bears any lasting fruit.
– Chip Brogden –
He who kneels the most, stands the best.
– DL Moody –
Pray to God for patience. Patience is a flower of God’s planting. Pray that it may grow in your heart, and send forth its sweet perfume.
– Thomas Watson –
from The Godly Man’s Picture, 1666
If you cannot pray as you would, nor as you should, pray as well as you can.
– Thomas Brooks –
1608-1680
Prayer, like the root of a tree, seeks for and finds nutriment; praise, like the fruit, renders a revenue to the owner of the vineyard. Prayer is for ourselves; praise is for God. Let us never be so selfish as to abound in the one and fail in the other.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from Spurgeon on Praise
The very soul of prayer lies in the pouring out of a man’s soul before the Lord, though it be but in sighs, groans, and tears. One sigh and groan from a broken heart is better pleasing to God than all human eloquence.
– Thomas Brooks –