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.
Your past is important but it is not nearly as important to your present as the way you see your future.
Is detachment the answer to freedom? No, because detachment is negative - it is to be without. The answer must be positive - I must replace what I have with something better.
When you think about growing and being empowered yourself, it is what you've been able to do for other people that leaves you the fullest.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
When workmen strive to do better than well, they do confound their skill in covetousness.
Something I try to instill in others is to just be a good person. It's a decision you make a million times a day. But if you just keep trying, good stuff comes to you in an ordained way.
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