Prayer Quotes

"...I would suggest that in the beginning it is wise to strive for uneventful prayer experiences. Divine revelations and ecstasies can overwhelm us and distract us from the real work of prayer. Our approach needs to be more like that of the Psalmist, who sought to avoid, "marvels beyond my scope. Enough for me to keep my soul tranquil and quiet like a child in its mothers arms" Ps.131:1-2,JB). Besides, if we are unaccustomed to it, just slipping quietly into the presence of God can be so exotic and fresh that it delights us enormously."
- Richard Foster

"Through the Prayer of Tears we give God permission to show us our sinfulness and the sinfulness of the world at the emotional level. As best I can discern, tears are God's way of helping us descend with the mind into the heart and there bow in perpetual adoration and worship...The most rock-bottom reality for the Prayer of Tears is that we are sinners. I do not mean that we commit sins - thought I am quite sure that is true, too. I am giving not a moralistic judgment on our activities but a theological judgment on our separation from God. We are not sinners because we commit sinful acts; rather, we commit sinful acts because we are sinners." - Richard Foster

"The Spirit teaches me to yield my will entirely to the will of the Father. He opens my ear to wait in great gentleness and teachablenes of soul for what the Father has day by day to speak and teach. He discovers to me how union with God's will is union with God Himself; how entire surrender to God's will is the Father's claim, the Son's example, and the true blessedness of the soul."
- Andrew Murray

"Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness."
- William Carey

"None of us will keep up a life of prayer unless we are prepared to change. We will either give it up or turn it into a little system that maintains the form of godliness but denies the power of it - which is the same thing as giving it up."
- Richard Foster