Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
I cannot choose but adhere to the word of God, which has possession of my conscience; nor can I possibly, nor will I even make any recantation, since it is neither safe nor honest to act contrary to conscience! Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God! Amen.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a commitment to one's beliefs and conscience despite external pressures.
In this powerful statement, Martin Luther emphasizes the importance of adhering to one's convictions and beliefs, particularly in the face of adversity or opposition. He asserts that his faith and conscience are paramount, which drives him to stand firm in his views without recantation, highlighting the moral obligation to remain true to oneself and one's principles, even when it may be unsafe or unpopular to do so.
In practice
In a speech addressing the importance of integrity, one might quote Luther to emphasize standing firm against societal pressures.
Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. ...God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and wellbeing, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfiling the law of Christ.
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
In a mouse we admire God's creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies.
The world is full of cravens who pretended to be heroes.
Luckily, I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself.
Travel is not about money, it's about courage.
I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!
If you hold your fire until you see the whites of his eyes, you will never know what hit you.
No, you sort of have to put that out of your mind. There's always a possibility that you can have a catastrophic failure, of course. This can happen on any flight. It can happen on the last one as well as the first one. You just plan as best you can to take care of all these eventualities, and you get a well-trained crew, and you go fly.
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