Quotes from Richard J. Foster

Real prayer is life creating and life changing.

To believe that God can reach us and bless us in the ordinary junctures of daily life is the stuff of prayer.

What freedom corresponds to submission? It is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way. The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today.

The understanding of God's Word demands our whole attention, and even then there is ongoing need for the traditions of the Church, and the Holy Spirit. And although the hearing of Scripture can be a disturbing event, the ultimate result for obedient and careful listeners is joy. Joy is not to be equated with momentary happiness; rather, biblical joy is a deep sense of peace that all is well with one's soul.

John Wesley says, "God does nothing but in answer to prayer

accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart, as Mary did. That is all. That is meditation." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Way to Freedom5

it is the trees that capture my attention the most, and they lead me into complete silence. It's the patience of the quiet, laden with snow. The trees give me a glimpse into the cosmic patience of God. There among the trees I behold the Lord, the Creator of the trees.

It is that we should learn to pray even while we are dwelling on evil. Perhaps we are waging an interior battle over anger, or lust, or pride, or greed, or ambition. We need not isolate these things from prayer.

Lord God, you deserve my best. Forgive me for the times I have offered you only the dregs, whether it be half-heartedly muttered prayers or only the money I know I can do without. Help me to remember that there is no better resting place for my heart and indeed all my possessions than with you. Help me to trust and obey you more each day. In your name I pray. Amen.

So the evangel, the good news of the gospel, is that we enter into life in Christ as his disciple right now. It is not that we believe now, enrolling as his disciple at some later point if we are so inclined (as if it were possible to believe without being his disciple). Believing in Jesus and discipleship to Jesus are part of the same action.

The story is not about the singular virtues of the one being called. The story is about a risk-taking, bold sort of God who reaches in and calls people for divine service, giving them what they need for that service.

You see, by dint of will people can make a good showing for a time, but sooner or later there will come that unguarded moment when the "careless word" will slip out to reveal the true condition of the heart.

If we are full of compassion, it will be revealed; if we are full of bitterness, that also will be revealed. It

The handiwork of the Creator can speak to us and teach us if we will listen. Martin Buber tells the story of the rabbi who went to a pond every day at dawn to learn "the song with which the frogs praise God."1

God-with-us" is the essence of deliverance regardless of the specific circumstance. As

God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. The

You must not, however, be controlled by the absurd political clichés and propaganda fed us today. Actually, newspapers are generally far too shallow and slanted to be of much help. We would do well to hold the events of our time before God and ask for prophetic insight to discern where these things lead. Further, we should ask for guidance for anything we personally should be doing to be salt and light in our decaying and dark world.

The truth is that there are no "masters" in the spiritual life. Mature and wise teachers, yes. But fundamentally we are all beginners receiving and giving on our knees before God and with open hands before one another. In this business no one "lords it over" another. Pay

There is one major difference that has occurred in the past forty years that does indeed impinge upon the spiritual life. I can state it in one word: distraction.

For our sins, He suffered beneath the burden of that unanswered prayer."1 Here

Watch, for example, how much of our speech is aimed at justifying our actions. We find it almost impossible to act and allow the act to speak for itself.

Absolute freedom is absolute nonsense! We gain freedom in anything through commitment, discipline, and fixed habit.

We sing, 'Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to Thee.' But we must flesh out that consecration in specific ways, which is why the next line of the hymn says, 'Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.' We consecrate ourselves by consecrating our money.

We must always remember that the path does not produce the change; it only places us where the change can occur. This is the path of disciplined grace. There