Quotes from Mark Batterson

We often think of prayer as nothing more than words spoken to God, but maybe it's more than that. Prayer is not a monologue; it's a dialogue. We speak to God with everything from words to groans to thoughts. And God speaks to us through dreams, desires, promptings, impressions, and ideas.

Have you ever noticed that when you pray, coincidences happen? And when you don't, they don't.

True spirituality is "the place where desperation meets Jesus.

The path of least resistance never gets us where we want to go. Shortcuts always end up being cul-de-sacs. The key to spiritual growth is the willingness to go out of your way for God. You will find God in uncomfortable places at inconvenient times. But if you go out of your way for God, God will go out of His way for you. Crash the party!

If you let fear dictate your decisions, you will live defensively, reactively, cautiously. Living by faith is playing offense with your life.

Goal setting is good stewardship. Instead of letting things happen, goals help us make things happen. Instead of living by default, goals help us live by design. Instead of living out of memory, goals help us live out of imagination.

The author gives an interesting naval etymology of the word "opportunity". It referred to days in which sailing ships had to wait outside a port for the appropriate tide, which then was their chance until the next tide.

When we enter into a covenant relationship with God, we tend to focus on the fact that we are legally and morally bound to God, but God is also legally and morally bound to us. The gospel demands that we give all of ourselves to God, but when we do, God gives all of Himself to us.

Prayer is asking God to do something, future tense; praise is believing that God has already done it, past tense.

Worship is forgetting about what's wrong with you and remembering what's right with God.

Jesus didn't die on the cross just to keep you safe. He died to make you dangerous--a threat to the enemy. He died so that you could make a difference for all eternity.

When we lose our sense of wonder, what we really lose is our soul. Our lack of wonder is really a lack of love.

The blessings of God will complicate your life, but unlike sin, they will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated.

Psychologists call this phenomenon the contrast effect. Simply put, how you see anything depends on your reference point. One way or the other, your focus will determine your reality.

Joy is not getting what you want. It's fully appreciating what you have. And it starts with the basics, like water.

There is nothing God loves more that keeping promises, answering prayers, performing miracles, and fulfilling dreams.

Jesus loved, praised, and rewarded one thing: desperation for God that superseded decorum.

You can't make a difference without making waves, and some people in the boat won't like it. So be it. Rock the boat anyway.

In essential things, unity. In nonessential things, freedom. In all things, love.

The Talmud teaches that there are four kinds of people in the world. The first person says, What's yours is mine. The second person says, What's yours is yours. The third person says, What's mine is mine. And the fourth person says, What's mine is yours. Which one are you?

If you aren't hungry for God, you are full of yourself. That's why God cannot fill you with His Spirit. But if you will empty yourself, if you will die to self, you'll be a different person by the time you reach the last page of this book.

We need the patience of the planter. We need the foresight of the farmer. We need the mindset of the sower.

And when you pray to God regularly, irregular things happen on a regular basis.

At the end of your life, your greatest regret won't be the things you did but wish you hadn't. Your greatest regret will be the things you didn't do but wish you had.