Quotes from Richard J. Foster

Goals are discovered, not made.

It is in the everyday and the commonplace that we learn patience, acceptance, and contentment.

Fasting reminds us that we are sustained by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Food does not sustain us; God sustains us.

..the true test of spirituality [is] in the freedom to live among people compassionately....Prayer frees us to be controlled by God.

Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.

The discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find Him at all.

God's heart is the most sensitive and tender of all. No act goes unnoticed, no matter how insignificant or small.

If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this leads us to prayer.

In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer.

Each activity of daily life in which we stretch ourselves on behalf of others is a prayer in action.

Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love.

Prayer involves transformed passions. In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after Him: to desire the things He desires, to love the things He loves, to will the things He wills.

Prayer is more than thoughts and feelings expressed in words. It is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being to God our Abba Father. It is Divine Union.

Prayer is the human response to the perpetual outpouring of love by which God lays siege to every soul.

Prayer is - listening for the still small voice of God. Listening with the "ear of our hearts."

Prayer is - loving conversation with the One who has invited us into His embrace.

Submission reaches the end of its tether when it becomes destructive.

Simplicity enables us to live lives of integrity in the face of the terrible realities of our global village.

God's blessing is not for personal aggrandizement, but to benefit and bless all the peoples of the earth. To understand the distinction makes all the difference in the world. The theology of wealth says, 'I give so that I can get.' Christian simplicity says, 'I get so that I can give.' The difference is profound.

True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it. — William Penn

Freedom in the Gospel does not mean license. It means opportunity.

Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon Him in yourself. —TERESA OF ÁVILA

To use good things to our own ends is always a false religion

If we are a people rich in social relationships, we are rich indeed. Whenever we develop significant friendships with those who are not like us culturally, we become broader, wiser persons.