The purpose of religion is not so much to get us into heaven, or to keep us out of hell, but to put a little bit of heaven into us, and take the hell out of us. This has always been the greatest responsibility of religion.
E. Stanley JonesRead
When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of prayer in maintaining spiritual strength and power.
E. Stanley Jones conveys that the vitality of one's spiritual life is directly proportional to the practice of prayer. As prayer diminishes, so does the individual's spiritual power; hence, consistent engagement in prayer practices is essential for sustaining a strong spiritual connection and influence.
In practice
In a sermon about the importance of maintaining one's spiritual life.
The purpose of religion is not so much to get us into heaven, or to keep us out of hell, but to put a little bit of heaven into us, and take the hell out of us. This has always been the greatest responsibility of religion.
A Johns Hopkins doctor says that 'we do not know why it is that the worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.' But I, who am simple of mind, think I know we are inwardly constructed, in nerve and tissue and brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. Therefore, the need of faith is not something imposed on us dogmatically, but it is written in us intrinsically. We cannot live without it. To live by worry is to live against Reality.
Worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.
An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost, the other a corpse.
To implant fear in the minds of children is a crime. If parents try to rule the child by fear, then fear rules the child.
Prayer is commission. Out of the quietness with God, power is generated that turns the spiritual machinery of the world. When you pray, you begin to feel the sense of being sent, that the divine compulsion is upon you.
Praise is the 'breath' which gives us life, because it is intimacy with God, an intimacy that grows through daily praise.
In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.
However one might pray - in any verbal way or completely without words - is unimportant to God. What matters is the heart's intent.
It is Godβs passionate pursuit of us that calls us to prayer.
Prayer might not change things, but it will change my perspective of things. Prayer might not change the past, but inevitably, it changes the present.
None of us feels the true love of God till we realize how wicked we are. But you can't teach people that - they have to learn by experience.
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