God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, 'I love you.'
Billy GrahamRead
Before prayer changes others, it first changes us.
Interpretation
Prayer has the power to transform our own hearts and minds before it influences others.
This quote by Billy Graham emphasizes the transformative power of prayer, suggesting that its primary effect is on the person who prays. Before attempting to change the world or others through our requests to a higher power, prayer first prompts self-reflection, personal growth, and a change in perspective, leading to profound internal shifts that can ultimately influence external circumstances and relationships.
In practice
In a sermon addressing the congregation about the power of prayer.
God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, 'I love you.'
The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance.
Don't ever hesitate to take to [God] whatever is on your heart. He already knows it anyway, but He doesn't want you to bear its pain or celebrate its joy alone.
God will not force himself upon us against our will. If we want his love, we need to believe in him. We need to make a definite, positive act of commitment and surrender to the love of God. No one can do it for us.
Success in God's eyes is faithfulness to His calling.
Heaven doesn't make this life less important; it makes it more important.
Prayer is no fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice which goes into God's ear, and it lives as long as God's ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God's heart is alive to holy things.
A child of God should be a visible beatitude for joy and happiness, and a living doxology for gratitude and adoration.
God is at the tip of our scalpels, our screwdrivers, our computer terminals, our dust rags, our vacuum cleaners, our pencils and pens. He is with us in our wheelchairs, or on our hospital beds, when all we can do is sit or lie flat. When we envision Him and His purpose in what we do, then we begin to grow aware of His presence in the middle of it. We are able to engage in our inward conversation with Him as we work, naturally, without strain. He becomes our partner, our collaborator.
When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.
Seek to be made holier every day; pray, strive, wrestle for the spirit, to make you like God. Be as much you can with God. I declare to you that I had rather be one hour with God than a thousand with the sweetest society on earth or in Heaven. All other joys are but streams; God is the fountain.
It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.
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