Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.
Interpretation
Prayer and praise are essential tools for gaining a deeper understanding of faith.
In this quote, Charles Spurgeon emphasizes the importance of prayer and praise as the means through which an individual can navigate their spiritual journey towards knowing Christ more intimately. Just as oars guide a boat through waters, these practices enable one to explore and deepen their relationship with the divine, leading to a richer, more profound understanding of their faith.
In practice
In a sermon about spiritual growth, one might use this quote to encourage the congregation to engage in regular prayer and praise.
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
Television is bubble-gum for the mind.
It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like Homer Simpson than Superman. So from this perspective it is rather depressing. But at the same time there is also a silver lining. There are free lunches!
I like feeling my way into different minds and experiences. It comes naturally and always has.
We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
The trouble is that not enough people have come together with the firm determination to live the things which they say they believe.
Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.