Quotations on Prayer and Spirituality
For a full list of quotes on this page which come from the Bible click here.
Subjects covered Change Community Compassion Discipleship Downward-Mobility Faith Fasting Forgiveness Godliness Goodness Grace Humility Intimacy Lifestyle Listening Love Patience Peace Prayer Pride Self-Knowledge Servanthood Seeing Silence Simplicity Solitude Spiritual-Hunger Spirituality Spiritual Maturity Suffering Thanksgiving Truth Weakness Wealth Wisdom
“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.’” Matthew 11 : 25
Change
We cannot change the world by a new plan, project or idea. We cannot even change other people by our convictions, stories, advice and proposals, but we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, to lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and to listen with attention and care to the voices in their own centre.
— Henry J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out
To pray is to change.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
— Jeremiah 7 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
— 1 Corinthians 15 : 51-53, Today’s NIV Bible
We cannot change the world by a new plan, project or idea. We cannot even change other people by our convictions, stories, advice and proposals, but we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, to lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and to listen with attention and care to the voices in their own centre.
— Henry J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out
To pray is to change.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
— Jeremiah 7 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
— 1 Corinthians 15 : 51-53, Today’s NIV Bible
Top of Page
Community
Hospitality…means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out
A friend of mine once defined community as the place where the one you least want to live with always lives.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Peace
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
Hospitality…means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out
A friend of mine once defined community as the place where the one you least want to live with always lives.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Peace
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
Top of Page
Compassion
Jesus’ compassion is characterised by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
— Psalm 86 : 15, Today’s NIV Bible
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4 : 32, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
Jesus’ compassion is characterised by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
— Psalm 86 : 15, Today’s NIV Bible
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4 : 32, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
Top of Page
Discipleship
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
Top of Page
Downward Mobility
Those who walk in the way of the Cross through lives of self-surrender become weak in the eyes of the world but capable of being freed and filled with a power the world does not possess. Faith is rooted in the paradox that God works his liberation through those who recognise their own weakness.
— Philip Sheldrake, Theology of the Cross
It is…not surprising that living out of the experience of faith, of Israel, of Jesus and of Paul we too are led to the crucible of vulnerability, and there in the place of our powerlessness and weakness, we discover the place par excellence of the encounter with God.
— Dermot Power, The Pain and Potential of Powerlessness
Jesus’ compassion is characterised by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
But who will be our robber when everything he wants to steal from us becomes our gift to him?
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Jesus, A Gospel
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
— Matthew 19 : 30, Today’s NIV Bible
Each one of us has to seek out his or her own descending way of love.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
To follow the poor life of St Francis of Assisi…does not mean that one must acquire sandals, a brown religious habit, and a rope for the waist. Such garb may well have been peasant wear in the thirteenth century but today such a costume might symbolise religion and not poverty.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
Those who walk in the way of the Cross through lives of self-surrender become weak in the eyes of the world but capable of being freed and filled with a power the world does not possess. Faith is rooted in the paradox that God works his liberation through those who recognise their own weakness.
— Philip Sheldrake, Theology of the Cross
It is…not surprising that living out of the experience of faith, of Israel, of Jesus and of Paul we too are led to the crucible of vulnerability, and there in the place of our powerlessness and weakness, we discover the place par excellence of the encounter with God.
— Dermot Power, The Pain and Potential of Powerlessness
Jesus’ compassion is characterised by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
But who will be our robber when everything he wants to steal from us becomes our gift to him?
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Jesus, A Gospel
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
— Matthew 19 : 30, Today’s NIV Bible
Each one of us has to seek out his or her own descending way of love.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
To follow the poor life of St Francis of Assisi…does not mean that one must acquire sandals, a brown religious habit, and a rope for the waist. Such garb may well have been peasant wear in the thirteenth century but today such a costume might symbolise religion and not poverty.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
Faith
Today, as much as at any time, we need men of great faith and men who are great in prayer. These are the two cardinal virtues which make men great in the eyes of God, the two things which create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the church.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
It is…not surprising that living out of the experience of faith, of Israel, of Jesus and of Paul we too are led to the crucible of vulnerability, and there in the place of our powerlessness and weakness, we discover the place par excellence of the encounter with God.
— Dermot Power, The Pain and Potential of Powerlessness
Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
— Matthew 21 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven.
— John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Today, as much as at any time, we need men of great faith and men who are great in prayer. These are the two cardinal virtues which make men great in the eyes of God, the two things which create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the church.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
It is…not surprising that living out of the experience of faith, of Israel, of Jesus and of Paul we too are led to the crucible of vulnerability, and there in the place of our powerlessness and weakness, we discover the place par excellence of the encounter with God.
— Dermot Power, The Pain and Potential of Powerlessness
Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
— Matthew 21 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven.
— John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Fasting
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
— Ezra 8 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
— Acts 14 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
— Ezra 8 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
— Acts 14 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Forgiveness
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4 : 32, Today’s NIV Bible
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4 : 32, Today’s NIV Bible
Godliness
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
— Psalm 18 : 24, Today’s NIV Bible
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;the LORD bestows favor and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
— Psalm 84 : 11, Today’s NIV Bible
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
— Matthew 5 : 48, Today’s NIV Bible
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
— Hebrews 5 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.
— Psalm 66 : 18-19, Today’s NIV Bible
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
— 1 John 3 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
— Proverbs 15 : 29, Today’s NIV Bible
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
— Galatians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
— Philippians 4 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
— Isaiah 1 : 15-17, Today’s NIV Bible
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
— Psalm 18 : 24, Today’s NIV Bible
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;the LORD bestows favor and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
— Psalm 84 : 11, Today’s NIV Bible
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
— Matthew 5 : 48, Today’s NIV Bible
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
— Hebrews 5 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.
— Psalm 66 : 18-19, Today’s NIV Bible
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
— 1 John 3 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
— Proverbs 15 : 29, Today’s NIV Bible
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
— Galatians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
— Philippians 4 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
— Isaiah 1 : 15-17, Today’s NIV Bible
Goodness
The mark of a good prayer life is not abundant consolation but growth in the virtues.
— Thomas H. Green SJ, When the Well Runs Dry
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Acquire the habit of prayer and it will be easy for you to do good.
— Unknown, The Way of a Pilgrim
Badness is only spoiled goodness.
— C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
The mark of a good prayer life is not abundant consolation but growth in the virtues.
— Thomas H. Green SJ, When the Well Runs Dry
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Acquire the habit of prayer and it will be easy for you to do good.
— Unknown, The Way of a Pilgrim
Badness is only spoiled goodness.
— C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
Grace
Grace is not the result of our own efforts and merits, but rather a gift from God, who can only give it to those who acknowledge their need and their impotence. Any trace of self-sufficiency makes us impermeable to the experience of the gratuity of grace.
— Eduardo Lopez Azpitarte SJ, From Guilt to Gratitude
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
So the Christian life is lived out in the tension between self-discipline and the free gift of grace.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
Grace is not the result of our own efforts and merits, but rather a gift from God, who can only give it to those who acknowledge their need and their impotence. Any trace of self-sufficiency makes us impermeable to the experience of the gratuity of grace.
— Eduardo Lopez Azpitarte SJ, From Guilt to Gratitude
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
So the Christian life is lived out in the tension between self-discipline and the free gift of grace.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
Humility
We must enter the future fields of freedom not proudly through guarded gates with our special passes, but humbly, on our knees, in a company of fellow failures, quite unable to believe how, in our sins, we are so undeservedly loved.
— Daniel O’Leary, The Tablet
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Humility means to live as close to the truth as possible.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
— Numbers 12 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Humility is nothing more than an accurate self-assessment , an awareness of oneself as one really is. And surely, anyone seeing himself for what he really is, must be truly humble.
— Unknown, The Cloud of Unknowing
He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God
— Micah 6 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.
— Isaiah 66 : 2b, Today’s NIV Bible
Perfect humility dispenses with modesty.
— C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
We must enter the future fields of freedom not proudly through guarded gates with our special passes, but humbly, on our knees, in a company of fellow failures, quite unable to believe how, in our sins, we are so undeservedly loved.
— Daniel O’Leary, The Tablet
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Humility means to live as close to the truth as possible.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
— Numbers 12 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Humility is nothing more than an accurate self-assessment , an awareness of oneself as one really is. And surely, anyone seeing himself for what he really is, must be truly humble.
— Unknown, The Cloud of Unknowing
He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God
— Micah 6 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
— Matthew 18 : 3, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.
— Isaiah 66 : 2b, Today’s NIV Bible
Perfect humility dispenses with modesty.
— C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Intimacy
From a biblical perspective, the motive for prayer is to enter the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is defined solely in terms of intimacy with God. Human beings were created to live in that intimacy. Why do we pray? Prayer is the doorway to that kingdom.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
From a biblical perspective, the motive for prayer is to enter the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is defined solely in terms of intimacy with God. Human beings were created to live in that intimacy. Why do we pray? Prayer is the doorway to that kingdom.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Lifestyle
At the end of the fourth century, the British monk Jovinian was excommunicated and anathematised for saying that, for progress in Christian life, marriage was an equally viable lifestyle with celibacy.
— Margaret R. Miles, The Image and Practice of Holiness
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
God asks the majority of us…to make our Christian journeys outside a monastic setting, in the ‘world’, with all its many and varied attractions, experiences, demands and influences. So if God wants us in some sense to be contemplatives, it is in the world and somehow by means of the world that this comes about.
— David Lonsdale, Contemplative in Everyday Life
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
— James 4 : 1-3, Today’s NIV Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
— 1 Peter 3 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
— Jeremiah 7 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
— Galatians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
— Philippians 4 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
At the end of the fourth century, the British monk Jovinian was excommunicated and anathematised for saying that, for progress in Christian life, marriage was an equally viable lifestyle with celibacy.
— Margaret R. Miles, The Image and Practice of Holiness
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
God asks the majority of us…to make our Christian journeys outside a monastic setting, in the ‘world’, with all its many and varied attractions, experiences, demands and influences. So if God wants us in some sense to be contemplatives, it is in the world and somehow by means of the world that this comes about.
— David Lonsdale, Contemplative in Everyday Life
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
— James 4 : 1-3, Today’s NIV Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
— 1 Peter 3 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
— Jeremiah 7 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
— Galatians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
— Philippians 4 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Listening
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
The less we are mesmerised by human voices, the more we are able to hear the Divine Voice. The less we are manipulated by the expectations of others, the more we are open to the expectations of God.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
We must silence every creature, we must silence ourselves, to hear in the deep hush of the whole soul the ineffable voice of the spouse. We must bend the ear, because it is a gentle and delicate voice, only heard by those who no longer hear anything else.
— Francis Fenelon, Christian Perfection
It is within the inner stillness, within this utter quietness, within this sweet solitude, that the Spirit of the living God speaks most clearly to our spirits. It is there, alone with him, that he makes himself real to us. It is there we ‘see’ him most acutely with the inner eyes of our awakened conscience. It is there he communes with us calmly through the inner awareness of his presence, speaking to us with ever-deepening conviction by his own wondrous word.
— W. Philip Keller, Solitude for Serenity and Strength
The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
— 1 Kings 19 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
The purpose of prayer can be summarized in the phrase, ‘Become what you are’. Become, consciously and actively, what you already are potentially and secretly, by virtue of your creation according to the divine image and your re-creation at Baptism. Become what you are: more exactly, return into yourself; discover him who is yours already, listen to him who never ceases to speak within you; possess him who even now possesses you.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.
— Job 33 : 31-33, Today’s NIV Bible
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
— Habakkuk 2 : 20, Today’s NIV Bible
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
The less we are mesmerised by human voices, the more we are able to hear the Divine Voice. The less we are manipulated by the expectations of others, the more we are open to the expectations of God.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
We must silence every creature, we must silence ourselves, to hear in the deep hush of the whole soul the ineffable voice of the spouse. We must bend the ear, because it is a gentle and delicate voice, only heard by those who no longer hear anything else.
— Francis Fenelon, Christian Perfection
It is within the inner stillness, within this utter quietness, within this sweet solitude, that the Spirit of the living God speaks most clearly to our spirits. It is there, alone with him, that he makes himself real to us. It is there we ‘see’ him most acutely with the inner eyes of our awakened conscience. It is there he communes with us calmly through the inner awareness of his presence, speaking to us with ever-deepening conviction by his own wondrous word.
— W. Philip Keller, Solitude for Serenity and Strength
The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
— 1 Kings 19 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
The purpose of prayer can be summarized in the phrase, ‘Become what you are’. Become, consciously and actively, what you already are potentially and secretly, by virtue of your creation according to the divine image and your re-creation at Baptism. Become what you are: more exactly, return into yourself; discover him who is yours already, listen to him who never ceases to speak within you; possess him who even now possesses you.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.
— Job 33 : 31-33, Today’s NIV Bible
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
— Habakkuk 2 : 20, Today’s NIV Bible
Love
Jesus came to lead us into a totally new order where the barriers would drop, where the poor, the marginalised and the broken hearts would be at the centre. To love someone is to reveal to them that they have a value, that they are beautiful, that there is a light shining in them.
— Jean Vanier, The Poor as a Source of Life
Prayer may then become less an effort to love God and more a matter of letting him love you. Relax, because he loves you. To be preoccupied with your unworthiness is not only pointless but obstructive. It is very humbling to be loved by someone who knows everything and still loves you, as Peter discovered on the lakeside after the resurrection. The love that knows us is creative, and so to let ourselves be known and loved in prayer is to allow ourselves to be changed.
— Maria Boulding, Marked for Life
We must enter the future fields of freedom not proudly through guarded gates with our special passes, but humbly, on our knees, in a company of fellow failures, quite unable to believe how, in our sins, we are so undeservedly loved.
— Daniel O’Leary, The Tablet
If you wish to learn the love of God, you have to begin by praying for your enemies.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
Each one of us has to seek out his or her own descending way of love.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
A mystic is one whose single minded love of God and love of neighbour leads to an awareness of the presence of God.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
— St John Vianney
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
— Psalm 86 : 15, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
— C.S. Lewis, Answers to Questions on Christianity
Jesus came to lead us into a totally new order where the barriers would drop, where the poor, the marginalised and the broken hearts would be at the centre. To love someone is to reveal to them that they have a value, that they are beautiful, that there is a light shining in them.
— Jean Vanier, The Poor as a Source of Life
Prayer may then become less an effort to love God and more a matter of letting him love you. Relax, because he loves you. To be preoccupied with your unworthiness is not only pointless but obstructive. It is very humbling to be loved by someone who knows everything and still loves you, as Peter discovered on the lakeside after the resurrection. The love that knows us is creative, and so to let ourselves be known and loved in prayer is to allow ourselves to be changed.
— Maria Boulding, Marked for Life
We must enter the future fields of freedom not proudly through guarded gates with our special passes, but humbly, on our knees, in a company of fellow failures, quite unable to believe how, in our sins, we are so undeservedly loved.
— Daniel O’Leary, The Tablet
If you wish to learn the love of God, you have to begin by praying for your enemies.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
Each one of us has to seek out his or her own descending way of love.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
A mystic is one whose single minded love of God and love of neighbour leads to an awareness of the presence of God.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
— St John Vianney
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
— Nehemiah 9 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
— Psalm 86 : 15, Today’s NIV Bible
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
— 1 Peter 3 : 8, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
— C.S. Lewis, Answers to Questions on Christianity
Patience
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
— Colossians 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
— Galatians 5 : 22, Today’s NIV Bible
Peace
Top of Page
Prayer
The spiritual director is confronted with the problem of helping people to the enjoyment of God when much of their past experience of prayer is one of labour, seriousness, brooding, and self-absorption.
— William A. Barry SJ, The Contemplative Attitude in Spiritual Direction
A person who is controlled by fear, anger, a fixed idea of his future, finds himself incapable of more than superficial prayer. When he begins to be freed of that control, he becomes capable of a deeper prayer.
— William J. Connolly SJ, Freedom and Prayer in Directed Retreats
He asked for strength that he might achieve;
he was made weak that he might obey.
He asked for health that he might do greater things;
he was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy;
he was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might have the praise of men;
he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.
He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
he was given life that he might enjoy all things.
He has received nothing that he asked for, but all that he hoped for.
His prayer is answered.
— Col. R. H. Fitzhugh, The Paradox of Prayer
Lord, it is my chief complaint
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love thee, and adore;
O for grace to love thee more!
— William Cowper
When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t pray, they don’t.
— William Temple
Prayer may then become less an effort to love God and more a matter of letting him love you. Relax, because he loves you. To be preoccupied with your unworthiness is not only pointless but obstructive. It is very humbling to be loved by someone who knows everything and still loves you, as Peter discovered on the lakeside after the resurrection. The love that knows us is creative, and so to let ourselves be known and loved in prayer is to allow ourselves to be changed.
— Maria Boulding, Marked for Life
The mark of a good prayer life is not abundant consolation but growth in the virtues.
— Thomas H. Green SJ, When the Well Runs Dry
Prayer is not simply to get things from God, but to make those things holy which already have been received from him. It is not merely to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing. Prayer makes common things holy and secular things sacred. It receives things from God with thanksgiving and hallows them with thankful hearts and devoted service.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
Today, as much as at any time, we need men of great faith and men who are great in prayer. These are the two cardinal virtues which make men great in the eyes of God, the two things which create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the church.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Much time spent with God is the secret of all successful praying.
— E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer
Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.
— E. M. Bounds, Prayer and Praying Men
If you wish to learn the love of God, you have to begin by praying for your enemies.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
God’s acquaintance is not made hurriedly. He doesn’t bestow his gifts on the casual or hasty comer and goer. Spending time with him is the secret to knowing him, and having influence with him.
— E. M. Bounds, The Best of E. M. Bounds on Prayer
The prayers of an understanding intercessor WILL create a meeting. And when the meeting comes to a close, something will have changed.
— Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer
We are ‘birthers’ for God. The Holy Spirit wants to ‘bring forth’ through us. Jesus said in John 7 : 38, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ ‘Innermost being’ is the word koilia, which means ‘womb’. We are the womb of God upon the earth. We are not the source of life, but we are carriers of the source of life. We do not generate life, but we release, through prayer, Him who does.
— Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer
St John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, once asked an old peasant whom he saw sitting in church each evening what he was doing. The farmer replied: ‘I look at the Good God and the Good God looks at me.’ That is about as good a description as one can articulate of this silent prayer, which so easily leads to contemplation.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
To pray is to change.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
We will discover that by praying we learn to pray.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
— St John Vianney
The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.
— Matthew 7 : 7-8, Today’s NIV Bible
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
— Luke 11 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
— Matthew 6 : 9-13, Today’s NIV Bible
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
— James 4 : 1-3, Today’s NIV Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
From a biblical perspective, the motive for prayer is to enter the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is defined solely in terms of intimacy with God. Human beings were created to live in that intimacy. Why do we pray? Prayer is the doorway to that kingdom.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying.
— Thomas Merton
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
— Colossians 4 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
— 2 Chronicles 7 : 14, Today’s NIV Bible
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
— Ezra 8 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
In prayer, the principle thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart, and to go on standing before Him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.
— Bishop Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology
To pray is to stand before God, to enter into an immediate and personal relationship with him; it is to know at every level of our being, from the instinctive to the intellectual, from the sub- to the supra-conscious, that we are in God and he is in us. To affirm and deepen our personal relationship with other human beings, it is not necessary to be continually presenting requests or using words; the better we come to know and love one another, the less need there is to express our mutual attitude verbally. It is the same in our personal relationship with God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
— Matthew 6 : 5-6, Today’s NIV Bible
Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
— Matthew 21 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’
— Luke 11 : 1, Today’s NIV Bible
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
— Acts 1 : 14, Today’s NIV Bible
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
— Acts 2 : 42, Today’s NIV Bible
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
— Acts 14 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
— Ephesians 6 : 18, Today’s NIV Bible
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
— Philippians 4 : 6, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
— 1 Peter 3 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
The purpose of prayer can be summarized in the phrase, ‘Become what you are’. Become, consciously and actively, what you already are potentially and secretly, by virtue of your creation according to the divine image and your re-creation at Baptism. Become what you are: more exactly, return into yourself; discover him who is yours already, listen to him who never ceases to speak within you; possess him who even now possesses you.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
— 1 Thessalonians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
That is what the world needs above all else: not people who ‘say prayer’ with greater or less regularity, but people who are prayers.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
— Romans 8 : 26-27, Today’s NIV Bible
Acquire the habit of prayer and it will be easy for you to do good.
— Unknown, The Way of a Pilgrim
According to Christian authors, prayer is the most central practice for the definition and exercise of a religious self. Although practices of prayer have taken a variety of forms, prayer, understood most broadly, is a habit of interior attentiveness, an activity that creates a formerly unknown self, a self neither imagined nor sought by secular culture.
— Margaret R. Miles, The Image and Practice of Holiness
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
— Isaiah 1 : 15-17, Today’s NIV Bible
When the fire of prayer goes out, the barrenness of busyness takes over.
— George Carey (former Archbishop of Canterbury)
In itself prayer is nothing else than a devout setting of our will in the direction of God in order to get good, and remove evil.
— Unknown, The Cloud of Unknowing
Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven.
— John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
The spiritual director is confronted with the problem of helping people to the enjoyment of God when much of their past experience of prayer is one of labour, seriousness, brooding, and self-absorption.
— William A. Barry SJ, The Contemplative Attitude in Spiritual Direction
A person who is controlled by fear, anger, a fixed idea of his future, finds himself incapable of more than superficial prayer. When he begins to be freed of that control, he becomes capable of a deeper prayer.
— William J. Connolly SJ, Freedom and Prayer in Directed Retreats
He asked for strength that he might achieve;
— Col. R. H. Fitzhugh, The Paradox of Prayer
he was made weak that he might obey.
He asked for health that he might do greater things;
he was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy;
he was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might have the praise of men;
he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.
He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
he was given life that he might enjoy all things.
He has received nothing that he asked for, but all that he hoped for.
His prayer is answered.
Lord, it is my chief complaint
— William Cowper
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love thee, and adore;
O for grace to love thee more!
When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t pray, they don’t.
— William Temple
Prayer may then become less an effort to love God and more a matter of letting him love you. Relax, because he loves you. To be preoccupied with your unworthiness is not only pointless but obstructive. It is very humbling to be loved by someone who knows everything and still loves you, as Peter discovered on the lakeside after the resurrection. The love that knows us is creative, and so to let ourselves be known and loved in prayer is to allow ourselves to be changed.
— Maria Boulding, Marked for Life
The mark of a good prayer life is not abundant consolation but growth in the virtues.
— Thomas H. Green SJ, When the Well Runs Dry
Prayer is not simply to get things from God, but to make those things holy which already have been received from him. It is not merely to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing. Prayer makes common things holy and secular things sacred. It receives things from God with thanksgiving and hallows them with thankful hearts and devoted service.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
Today, as much as at any time, we need men of great faith and men who are great in prayer. These are the two cardinal virtues which make men great in the eyes of God, the two things which create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the church.
— E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Much time spent with God is the secret of all successful praying.
— E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer
Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.
— E. M. Bounds, Prayer and Praying Men
If you wish to learn the love of God, you have to begin by praying for your enemies.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
The more you listen to God speaking within you, the sooner you will hear that voice inviting you to follow the way of Jesus.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus
God’s acquaintance is not made hurriedly. He doesn’t bestow his gifts on the casual or hasty comer and goer. Spending time with him is the secret to knowing him, and having influence with him.
— E. M. Bounds, The Best of E. M. Bounds on Prayer
The prayers of an understanding intercessor WILL create a meeting. And when the meeting comes to a close, something will have changed.
— Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer
We are ‘birthers’ for God. The Holy Spirit wants to ‘bring forth’ through us. Jesus said in John 7 : 38, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ ‘Innermost being’ is the word koilia, which means ‘womb’. We are the womb of God upon the earth. We are not the source of life, but we are carriers of the source of life. We do not generate life, but we release, through prayer, Him who does.
— Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer
St John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, once asked an old peasant whom he saw sitting in church each evening what he was doing. The farmer replied: ‘I look at the Good God and the Good God looks at me.’ That is about as good a description as one can articulate of this silent prayer, which so easily leads to contemplation.
— L. S. Cunningham & K. J. Egan, Christian Spirituality
To pray is to change.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
We will discover that by praying we learn to pray.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
— St John Vianney
The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.
— Matthew 7 : 7-8, Today’s NIV Bible
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
— Luke 11 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
— Matthew 6 : 9-13, Today’s NIV Bible
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
— James 4 : 1-3, Today’s NIV Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
— 1 Peter 3 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
From a biblical perspective, the motive for prayer is to enter the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that is defined solely in terms of intimacy with God. Human beings were created to live in that intimacy. Why do we pray? Prayer is the doorway to that kingdom.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Regardless of what we learn about prayer, regardless of how we discipline ourselves in prayer, any deepening of intimacy with God depends entirely on God’s grace and on his initiative. Christian prayer demands discipline, but there is no mechanistic guarantee of mystical insight or dramatic transformation.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying.
— Thomas Merton
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
— Colossians 4 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
— 2 Chronicles 7 : 14, Today’s NIV Bible
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
— Ezra 8 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
In prayer, the principle thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart, and to go on standing before Him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.
— Bishop Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology
To pray is to stand before God, to enter into an immediate and personal relationship with him; it is to know at every level of our being, from the instinctive to the intellectual, from the sub- to the supra-conscious, that we are in God and he is in us. To affirm and deepen our personal relationship with other human beings, it is not necessary to be continually presenting requests or using words; the better we come to know and love one another, the less need there is to express our mutual attitude verbally. It is the same in our personal relationship with God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
— Matthew 6 : 5-6, Today’s NIV Bible
Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
— Matthew 21 : 21-22, Today’s NIV Bible
Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
— Mark 11 : 22-26, Today’s NIV Bible
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’
— Luke 11 : 1, Today’s NIV Bible
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
— Acts 1 : 14, Today’s NIV Bible
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
— Acts 2 : 42, Today’s NIV Bible
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
— Acts 14 : 23, Today’s NIV Bible
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
— Ephesians 6 : 18, Today’s NIV Bible
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
— Philippians 4 : 6, Today’s NIV Bible
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
— James 5 : 13-16, Today’s NIV Bible
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
— 1 Peter 3 : 7, Today’s NIV Bible
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
The purpose of prayer can be summarized in the phrase, ‘Become what you are’. Become, consciously and actively, what you already are potentially and secretly, by virtue of your creation according to the divine image and your re-creation at Baptism. Become what you are: more exactly, return into yourself; discover him who is yours already, listen to him who never ceases to speak within you; possess him who even now possesses you.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
— 1 Thessalonians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
That is what the world needs above all else: not people who ‘say prayer’ with greater or less regularity, but people who are prayers.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
— Romans 8 : 26-27, Today’s NIV Bible
Acquire the habit of prayer and it will be easy for you to do good.
— Unknown, The Way of a Pilgrim
According to Christian authors, prayer is the most central practice for the definition and exercise of a religious self. Although practices of prayer have taken a variety of forms, prayer, understood most broadly, is a habit of interior attentiveness, an activity that creates a formerly unknown self, a self neither imagined nor sought by secular culture.
— Margaret R. Miles, The Image and Practice of Holiness
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
— Isaiah 1 : 15-17, Today’s NIV Bible
When the fire of prayer goes out, the barrenness of busyness takes over.
— George Carey (former Archbishop of Canterbury)
In itself prayer is nothing else than a devout setting of our will in the direction of God in order to get good, and remove evil.
— Unknown, The Cloud of Unknowing
Faith gives wings to prayer, and without it no one can fly upward to heaven.
— John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Pride
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
One of man’s strongest temptations is to identify his own limited perspective with universal truth.
— Valerie Saiving Goldstein, The Human Situation: A Feminine View
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
[God] is not proud…He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
One of man’s strongest temptations is to identify his own limited perspective with universal truth.
— Valerie Saiving Goldstein, The Human Situation: A Feminine View
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
[God] is not proud…He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Self Knowledge
We are not who we know ourselves to be, but who we are known to be by God.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Solidarity with the Human Family
For whatever else the religious life may be, it is the fountain of self-knowledge and disillusion, the safest form of psychoanalysis.
— C.S. Lewis, Review of English Studies
We are not who we know ourselves to be, but who we are known to be by God.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Solidarity with the Human Family
For whatever else the religious life may be, it is the fountain of self-knowledge and disillusion, the safest form of psychoanalysis.
— C.S. Lewis, Review of English Studies
Servanthood
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Giving of self is a discipline because it is something that does not come spontaneously. As children of the darkness that rules through fear, self-interest, greed, and power, our great motivators are survival and self-preservation. But as children of the light who know that perfect love casts out all fear, it becomes possible to give away all that we have for others.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal Son
Servanthood is God’s self-revelation.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
For those who want to proclaim God’s presence in the world, servanthood becomes a natural response.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
— Philippians 2 : 1-4, Today’s NIV Bible
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
That which brings the praying soul near to God is humility of heart. That which gives wings to prayer is lowliness of mind. That which gives ready access to the throne of grace is self-depreciation. Pride, self-esteem, and self-praise effectually shut the door of prayer. He who would come to God must approach him with self hid from his eyes. He must not be puffed-up with self-conceit, nor be possessed with an over-estimate of his virtues and good works.
— E. M. Bounds, The Essentials of Prayer
Giving of self is a discipline because it is something that does not come spontaneously. As children of the darkness that rules through fear, self-interest, greed, and power, our great motivators are survival and self-preservation. But as children of the light who know that perfect love casts out all fear, it becomes possible to give away all that we have for others.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal Son
Servanthood is God’s self-revelation.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
For those who want to proclaim God’s presence in the world, servanthood becomes a natural response.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Compassion
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
— Philippians 2 : 1-4, Today’s NIV Bible
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
— Philippians 2 : 5-8, Today’s NIV Bible
Seeing
We are called to be contemplatives, that is see-ers, men and women who see the coming of God.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Solidarity with the Human Family
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
We are called to be contemplatives, that is see-ers, men and women who see the coming of God.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Solidarity with the Human Family
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1 : 9-11, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence
We must silence every creature, we must silence ourselves, to hear in the deep hush of the whole soul the ineffable voice of the spouse. We must bend the ear, because it is a gentle and delicate voice, only heard by those who no longer hear anything else.
— Francis Fenelon, Christian Perfection
Progress in intimacy with God means progress towards silence.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
— 1 Kings 19 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.
— Job 33 : 31-33, Today’s NIV Bible
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
— Habakkuk 2 : 20, Today’s NIV Bible
We must silence every creature, we must silence ourselves, to hear in the deep hush of the whole soul the ineffable voice of the spouse. We must bend the ear, because it is a gentle and delicate voice, only heard by those who no longer hear anything else.
— Francis Fenelon, Christian Perfection
Progress in intimacy with God means progress towards silence.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
— 1 Kings 19 : 11-13, Today’s NIV Bible
Silence is not merely negative – a pause between words, a temporary cessation of speech – but, properly understood, it is highly positive: an attitude of attentive alertness, of vigilance, and above all of listening. The hesychast, the person who has attained hesychia, inner stillness or silence, is par excellence the one who listens. He listens to the voice of prayer in his own heart, and he understands that this voice is not his own but that of Another speaking within him.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
— Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, The Power of the Name
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.
— Job 33 : 31-33, Today’s NIV Bible
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
— Habakkuk 2 : 20, Today’s NIV Bible
Simplicity
I remembered reading an account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. ‘I hope your stay is a blessed one,’ said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. ‘If you need anything, let us know and we’ll teach you how to live without it.’
— Philip Yancey, Prayer – Does it make any Difference?
But who will be our robber when everything he wants to steal from us becomes our gift to him?
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Jesus, A Gospel
For what does the desire to possess, accumulate, do? It will fill up that inner void which keeps a person open to the experience of God.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
I remembered reading an account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. ‘I hope your stay is a blessed one,’ said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. ‘If you need anything, let us know and we’ll teach you how to live without it.’
— Philip Yancey, Prayer – Does it make any Difference?
But who will be our robber when everything he wants to steal from us becomes our gift to him?
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, Jesus, A Gospel
For what does the desire to possess, accumulate, do? It will fill up that inner void which keeps a person open to the experience of God.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
Solitude
We find that solitude gives us power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
It is within the inner stillness, within this utter quietness, within this sweet solitude, that the Spirit of the living God speaks most clearly to our spirits. It is there, alone with him, that he makes himself real to us. It is there we ‘see’ him most acutely with the inner eyes of our awakened conscience. It is there he communes with us calmly through the inner awareness of his presence, speaking to us with ever-deepening conviction by his own wondrous word.
— W. Philip Keller, Solitude for Serenity and Strength
We find that solitude gives us power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether.
— Richard Foster, Prayer – Finding the hearts true home
It is within the inner stillness, within this utter quietness, within this sweet solitude, that the Spirit of the living God speaks most clearly to our spirits. It is there, alone with him, that he makes himself real to us. It is there we ‘see’ him most acutely with the inner eyes of our awakened conscience. It is there he communes with us calmly through the inner awareness of his presence, speaking to us with ever-deepening conviction by his own wondrous word.
— W. Philip Keller, Solitude for Serenity and Strength
Spiritual Hunger
We pursue God because, and only because, he has first put an urge within us that spurs us on to the pursuit.
— A. W. Tozer, Pursuit of God
God thirsts to be thirsted after.
— St Augustine
We pursue God because, and only because, he has first put an urge within us that spurs us on to the pursuit.
— A. W. Tozer, Pursuit of God
God thirsts to be thirsted after.
— St Augustine
Spirituality
Grace is not the result of our own efforts and merits, but rather a gift from God, who can only give it to those who acknowledge their need and their impotence. Any trace of self-sufficiency makes us impermeable to the experience of the gratuity of grace.
— Eduardo Lopez Azpitarte SJ, From Guilt to Gratitude
The spiritual director is confronted with the problem of helping people to the enjoyment of God when much of their past experience of prayer is one of labour, seriousness, brooding, and self-absorption.
— William A. Barry SJ, The Contemplative Attitude in Spiritual Direction
Jesus came to lead us into a totally new order where the barriers would drop, where the poor, the marginalised and the broken hearts would be at the centre. To love someone is to reveal to them that they have a value, that they are beautiful, that there is a light shining in them.
— Jean Vanier, The Poor as a Source of Life
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
— Matthew 19 : 30, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
— Philippians 2 : 1-4, Today’s NIV Bible
So the Christian life is lived out in the tension between self-discipline and the free gift of grace.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Christian spirituality, then, is intensely practical, earthed, and real, for it is the way we live out our professed beliefs. It is a spirituality of relationship: not simply our relationship with God, but very human, embodied relationships in the here and now.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
Relationship with our own deepest self is also fundamental to Christian spirituality. To know ourselves and then to embrace that self as our true identity in Christ is a major, primary task of the individual Christian.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
To know the unknowable God is the impossible yet irresistible undertaking of a lifetime. To embark on that adventure is not to undertake a course in self-improvement or self-discovery (although both will inevitably occur). Rather, what we are about is the cultivation of attentiveness as we risk living into an openness to God. It is accepting the freedom that comes with letting go our defences and living into the questions.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
Grace is not the result of our own efforts and merits, but rather a gift from God, who can only give it to those who acknowledge their need and their impotence. Any trace of self-sufficiency makes us impermeable to the experience of the gratuity of grace.
— Eduardo Lopez Azpitarte SJ, From Guilt to Gratitude
The spiritual director is confronted with the problem of helping people to the enjoyment of God when much of their past experience of prayer is one of labour, seriousness, brooding, and self-absorption.
— William A. Barry SJ, The Contemplative Attitude in Spiritual Direction
Jesus came to lead us into a totally new order where the barriers would drop, where the poor, the marginalised and the broken hearts would be at the centre. To love someone is to reveal to them that they have a value, that they are beautiful, that there is a light shining in them.
— Jean Vanier, The Poor as a Source of Life
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
— Matthew 19 : 30, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
— Philippians 2 : 1-4, Today’s NIV Bible
So the Christian life is lived out in the tension between self-discipline and the free gift of grace.
— Kenneth Swanson, Uncommon Prayer – Approaching Intimacy with God
Christian spirituality, then, is intensely practical, earthed, and real, for it is the way we live out our professed beliefs. It is a spirituality of relationship: not simply our relationship with God, but very human, embodied relationships in the here and now.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
Relationship with our own deepest self is also fundamental to Christian spirituality. To know ourselves and then to embrace that self as our true identity in Christ is a major, primary task of the individual Christian.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
To know the unknowable God is the impossible yet irresistible undertaking of a lifetime. To embark on that adventure is not to undertake a course in self-improvement or self-discovery (although both will inevitably occur). Rather, what we are about is the cultivation of attentiveness as we risk living into an openness to God. It is accepting the freedom that comes with letting go our defences and living into the questions.
— Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
Spiritual Maturity
Spiritual maturity…often comes to those whose spirit grows through faithful forbearance of the circumstances God has given them. Rarely, if ever, is this particular path straightforward and undemanding.
— Andrew Clitherow, Prayer – the Embrace of Love
What characterises the final phase of spiritual development in this life are not ecstasies and raptures but a constant awareness of the Trinity dwelling within, coupled with total availability to the neighbour without.
— Steven Payne O.C.D., Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
— Philippians 4 : 12-13, Today’s NIV Bible
An unconcern about reputation and dignity is a sure sign – one of the few practically infallible signs in Teresa’s eyes – of spiritual maturity.
— Rowan Williams, Teresa of Avila
Spiritual maturity…often comes to those whose spirit grows through faithful forbearance of the circumstances God has given them. Rarely, if ever, is this particular path straightforward and undemanding.
— Andrew Clitherow, Prayer – the Embrace of Love
What characterises the final phase of spiritual development in this life are not ecstasies and raptures but a constant awareness of the Trinity dwelling within, coupled with total availability to the neighbour without.
— Steven Payne O.C.D., Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
— Philippians 4 : 12-13, Today’s NIV Bible
An unconcern about reputation and dignity is a sure sign – one of the few practically infallible signs in Teresa’s eyes – of spiritual maturity.
— Rowan Williams, Teresa of Avila
Suffering
If we want to understand the darkness of our world, we have to realise that the world continues to see suffering and death as ways to destruction to be avoided at all costs, and refuses to see them as ways to glory to be embraced without fear.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Peace
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
If we want to understand the darkness of our world, we have to realise that the world continues to see suffering and death as ways to destruction to be avoided at all costs, and refuses to see them as ways to glory to be embraced without fear.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Peace
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
— Romans 12 : 12, Today’s NIV Bible
Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.
— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Thanksgiving
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
— Colossians 4 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
— Philippians 4 : 6, Today’s NIV Bible
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
— 1 Thessalonians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
— Colossians 4 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
— Philippians 4 : 6, Today’s NIV Bible
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
— 1 Thessalonians 5 : 17, Today’s NIV Bible
Truth
One of man’s strongest temptations is to identify his own limited perspective with universal truth.
— Valerie Saiving Goldstein, The Human Situation: A Feminine View
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
One of man’s strongest temptations is to identify his own limited perspective with universal truth.
— Valerie Saiving Goldstein, The Human Situation: A Feminine View
There is…something appropriately subversive about responsible experiment, allowing ourselves to enter into the novel, the strange, even the threatening edges of our world, in order to open up the mystery and beauty of God’s creation and question the all too human tendency to presume to ‘know’ everything.
— Michael Barnes, The Public, the Private and the Personal
Weakness
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
— Romans 8 : 26-27, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
— Romans 8 : 26-27, Today’s NIV Bible
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
— 2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10, Today’s NIV Bible
Wealth
Have you never noticed that to be rich always means an impoverishment on another level?
— Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, School for Prayer
For what does the desire to possess, accumulate, do? It will fill up that inner void which keeps a person open to the experience of God.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
Spiritual growth does not come from condemning this world as bad but from seeing it as God-given, and therefore so precious that we must rigorously discipline ourselves to be non-possessive about it.
— John Dalrymple, Simple Prayer
Have you never noticed that to be rich always means an impoverishment on another level?
— Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, School for Prayer
For what does the desire to possess, accumulate, do? It will fill up that inner void which keeps a person open to the experience of God.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
Spiritual growth does not come from condemning this world as bad but from seeing it as God-given, and therefore so precious that we must rigorously discipline ourselves to be non-possessive about it.
— John Dalrymple, Simple Prayer
Wisdom
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
There is a close connection between fruitfulness and stability, and no monk can grow in love if he does not sink his roots in his community. The tree planted by the waters of wisdom will bring forth fruit if we give it time, if we keep silence, if we have the humility to see that we cannot do everything ourselves.
— Esther De Waal, The Way of Simplicity
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11 : 2, Today’s NIV Bible
Entries (RSS)