My goal is GOD HIMSELF. Not joy, not peace, not even blessing but HIMSELF...my GOD.
Leonard RavenhillRead
Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle!
Interpretation
Prayer is not just a precursor; it is the essence and main act of engaging in spiritual warfare.
This quote emphasizes the importance of prayer in confronting life's challenges, suggesting that prayer itself is the core action rather than merely a preparatory step. It highlights the belief that through prayer, one actively participates in the struggle against difficulties and adversities, making it a fundamental aspect of spiritual life and resilience.
In practice
In a sermon about overcoming adversity, one could quote, 'Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle!' to emphasize the active role of faith.
My goal is GOD HIMSELF. Not joy, not peace, not even blessing but HIMSELF...my GOD.
Everyone recognizes that Stephen was Spirit-filled when he was performing wonders. Yet, he was just as Spirit-filled when he was being stoned to death.
I find it most intriguing to contemplate the fact that while men are considering what place to give Jesus Christ in history, He has already decided what place to give them in eternity.
The tragedy in our colleges and seminaries right now is that we turn men out who know the word of God. That is never going to turn the world._x000D_ The question is not whether they know the Word of God...._x000D_ The question is......Do they know the God of the Word?
Some women will spend thirty minutes to an hour preparing for church externally (putting on special clothes and makeup, etc.). What would happen if we all spent the same amount of time preparing internally for church—with prayer and meditation?
The church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to failure. A ministry that is college-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles.
And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would not build on another man's foundation.
Death smells like homemade apple sauce as it cooks on the stove. It is not the strangling sense of illness. It is not fear. It is freedom.
The mechanism that directs government cannot be virtuous, because it is impossible to thwart every crime, to protect oneself from every criminal without being criminal too; that which directs corrupt mankind must be corrupt itself; and it will never be by means of virtue, virtue being inert and passive, that you will maintain control over vice, which is ever active: the governor must be more energetic than the governed.
Words are coin. Words alienate. Language is no medium for desire. Desire is rapture, not exchange.
If imperialism is not banished from the country, China will perish as a nation. If China does not perish, then imperialism cannot remain.
And as the years have passed, the time has grown longer. The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too needed ten, then thirty, then a full minute - like shadows lengthening at dusk. Someday, I suppose, the shadows will be swallowed up in darkness.
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