Quotes About Faith

God is working, always working, to form us and conform us and transform us into the image of Christ. God is intent upon this forming, conforming, transforming process. And God invites us to participate in this process by means of interactive relationship.

Praying with frequency gives us the readiness to pray again as needed from moment to moment. The more we pray, the more we think to pray, and as we see the results of prayer—the responses of our Father to our requests—our confidence in God's power spills over into other areas of our life." —Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines4

Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Discipline is to present us before grace, it does not produce grace to make sense.

God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures—I wish no more than this, O Lord."6

In fact, the common experience of those who walk with God is one of being given images of what can be.

It is important when we have a need to go to God in prayer. I know, whenever I have prayed earnestly, that I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for. God sometimes delays, but He always comes." —Martin Luther, "What a Great Gift We Have in Prayer"9

Father God, you sent your Son to this earth that we may be one, and yet we fail so miserably. We look out for our own interests first and put your work last. We allow ourselves to be separated by jealousy and bitterness and misunderstanding. Forgive us for our failures. Teach us to hold Jesus before us always, with the knowledge and understanding that only through him can our fellowship work and magnify your name. Amen.

Our prayer is to be like a reflex action to God's prior initiative upon the heart.

There is no place where God is not, wherever I go, there God is. Now and always he upholds me with his power and keeps me safe in his love. —Anonymous

As Foster writes, "If our spiritual vitality seems low, if Bible study produces only dusty words, if prayer seems hollow and empty, then perhaps a prescription of lavish and joyful giving is just what we need."5

Reading the Bible for spiritual transformation is not a one-sided endeavor: it is a dialogue of human spirit and Holy Spirit.

remember these practices earn us nothing in the economy of God. Nothing. Their only purpose is to place us before God. That is all.

One more thing: this way of living is not confined to people in religious orders or those who have special skills in spiritual matters. No, this life is also for ordinary people. People who work in the high-pressure jobs of information technology and finance. People who are constantly dealing with the stresses of raising children and balancing the family budget. People who teach school and work in hospitals and provide social services and so much more. In short, people just like you and me.