Do you often feel like parched ground, unable to produce anything worthwhile? I do. When I am in need of refreshment, it isn't easy to think of the needs of others. But I have found that if, instead of praying for my own comfort and satisfaction, I ask the Lord to enable me to give to others, an amazing thing often happens - I find my own needs wonderfully met. Refreshment comes in ways I would never have thought of, both for others, and then, incidentally, for myself.
Interpretation
Focusing on others' needs can lead to personal fulfillment and refreshment.
This quote expresses the idea that during times of personal drought or struggle, it is difficult to prioritize the needs of others. However, by shifting the focus from self-serving prayers for comfort to a desire to support and uplift others, one can often find that their own needs are also met in unexpected ways, leading to a sense of renewal and satisfaction.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a motivational speech about philanthropy.
We are not asked to SEE," said Amy. "Why need we when we KNOW?" We know--not the answer to the inevitable Why, but the incontestable fact that it is for the best. "It is an irreparable loss, but is it faith at all if it is 'hard to trust' when things are entirely bewildering?
Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer.
What sort of world might it have been if Eve had refused the servants offer and had said to him instead, “let me not be like God. Let me be what I was made to be - let me be a woman'?
Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship ''in spirit and in truth.'' Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them.
Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.
If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.
I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship.
Everything you need to know is within you. Listen. Feel. Trust the body's wisdom.
Prejudice and self-sufficiency naturally proceed from inexperience of the world, and ignorance of mankind.
To prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
The purpose of the guru is not to weaken your will. It is to teach you secrets of developing your inner power, until you can stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds.
Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it's the time when they most need to think.
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