Sometimes a quote helps you understand a concept, ideal, or a cultural moment. A well-crafted turn of phrase can be memorable, making it easy to draw back to the forefront of your thinking when you need it. These quotes are linked from our Learn More resource page.
FASTING
“Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.”
Dallas Willard
GOD | MONEY | GENEROSITY
"Anything we keep, that's all we have. Anything you give away, God will multiply."
Katheryn Scott, Saddleback Worship Leaders Gathering
“We make a living out of what we get; we make a life by what we give.”
Unknown
"When human beings give their heartfelt allegiance to and worship that which is not God, they progressively cease to reflect the image of God. One of the primary laws of human life is that you become like what you worship; what’s more, you reflect what you worship not only to the object itself but also outward to the world around. Those who worship money increasingly define themselves in terms of it and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners, or customers rather than as human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat other people as actual or potential sex objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it and treat other people as either collaborators, competitors, or pawns. These and many other forms of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and of those whose lives they touch."
N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
GOD'S HOLINESS
"Holy means that God can never be less than He is; He will never act out of character. Holiness is the trait of God which tells us that God is complete in and of Himself. "
Jack Hayford, Explaining Worship
HEARING GOD
“To hear God’s voice, turn down the world’s volume.”
Unknown
HOW TO READ THE BIBLE
“It is not enough to own a Bible; we must read it. It is not enough to read it; we must let it speak to us. It is not enough for us to let it speak to us; we must believe it. It is not enough for us to believe it; we must live it.”
William A. Ward
PRAYER
"Our prayers may begin awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference."
Max Lucado
"God has instituted prayer so as to confer on his creature the dignity of being causes." -- Pascal
Meaning: "we are not merely passive set pieces in a pre-arranged cosmic drama. But we are active participants with God in the writing, directing, design, and action that unfolds. Prayer, therefore, is much more than asking God for this or that outcome. It is drawing into communion with him and therefore taking up our privileged role as his people. In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world." -- John Mark Comer, Intercessory Prayer Podcast
"Prayer is relaxing into God's goodness."
Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality
"To pray, does not primarily mean to think about God, in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God, instead of spending time with other people. Rather it means to think, and to live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put him in a pious niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings."
Henri Noreen, Clowning In Rome
"To pray in Jesus' name means that we enter into Jesus’ status in God's favor and evoke Jesus' standing with God. It’s to come before God, not as a beggar, but as a son and daughter adopted into the family. Take up your rightful place with shameless audacity and join God in running the world through prayer."
John Mark Comer, Intercessory Prayer Podcast
SABBATH
"If you don't take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You're doing too much, you're being too much in charge. You've got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you're not doing anything."
Eugene H. Peterson
"Sabbath is the time to receive silence and let it deepen into gratitude, to receive quiet into which forgotten faces and voices unobtrusively make themselves present, to receive the days of the just completed week and absorb the wonder and miracle still reverberating from each one, to receive our Lord's amazing grace."
Eugene H. Peterson, Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers
"On Sabbaths we are called to enjoy and delight in creation and its gifts. We are to slow down and pay attention to our food, smelling and tasting its riches. We are to take the time to see the beauty of a tree, a leaf, a flower, the sky that has been created with great care by our God."
Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It's Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature
WORSHIP
"When human beings give their heartfelt allegiance to and worship that which is not God, they progressively cease to reflect the image of God. One of the primary laws of human life is that you become like what you worship; what’s more, you reflect what you worship not only to the object itself but also outward to the world around. Those who worship money increasingly define themselves in terms of it and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners, or customers rather than as human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat other people as actual or potential sex objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it and treat other people as either collaborators, competitors, or pawns. These and many other forms of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and of those whose lives they touch."
N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
"Feelings are great liars. If Christians worshipped only when they felt like it, there would be precious little worship. We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it. But the wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship."
Eugene H. Peterson
"In worship, we bring what we have to God, not what we feel we ought to have."
Bill Dogterom
