We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided.
Phillips BrooksRead
Prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven, but getting God's will done on earth. It is not overcoming God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Prayer is about aligning oneself with divine will rather than making demands.
This quote emphasizes that the essence of prayer lies not in seeking to impose human desires upon the divine but rather in harmonizing with God's intentions for the world. It underlines the importance of understanding that prayer is an act of connection to God's willingness and purpose, rather than a mechanism to push against divine reluctance.
Themes
PrayerDivineWillingnessFaithAlignment
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon, to illustrate the nature of effective prayer.
Similar quotes
If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: "God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled." When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage.
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There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.
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Without God's Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God's kingdom. Without God's Spirit, the church simply can't be the church.
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In these days there is no time to pray; but without time, and a lot of it, we shall never learn to pray.
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You pray best when the mirror of your soul is empty of every image except the Image of the Invisible Father.
Thomas MertonRead