A gift without a heart behind it is a bribe. God asks for our heart, not our gifts.
Samuel ChadwickRead
The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul.
Interpretation
True prayer comes from deep emotional anguish rather than mere words or gestures.
This quote emphasizes that genuine prayer goes beyond superficial expressions; it arises from profound suffering and heartfelt yearning. Samuel Chadwick suggests that authentic communication with the divine is rooted in the struggles and brokenness of the human experience, highlighting the profound connection between emotional turmoil and spiritual expression.
In practice
During a church sermon about the power of heartfelt prayer.
A gift without a heart behind it is a bribe. God asks for our heart, not our gifts.
Great grief prays with great earnestness. Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is love if it be not fiery? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers... _x000D_ βThe prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul.
Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.
In these days there is no time to pray; but without time, and a lot of it, we shall never learn to pray.
Men ablaze are invincible. Hell trembles when men kindle. The stronghold of Satan is proof against everything but fire. The Church is powerless without the flame of the Holy Ghost. Destitute of fire, nothing else really counts; possessed of fire, nothing else really matters. The one vital need is fire. Without the flame and fervour of the Holy Ghost the Church will never accomplish its mission.
Compassion costs. It is easy enough to argue, criticize and condemn, but redemption is costly, and comfort draws from the deep. Brains can argue, but It takes heart to comfort.
What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow. But what you know today cannot affect what you did yesterday.
Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, But vaster.
The hunger of passions is the greatest disease.
To make astute people believe one is what one is not is, in most cases, harder than actually to become what one wishes to appear.
Nor deem the irrevocable Past _x000D_ As wholly wasted, wholly vain, _x000D_ If, rising on its wrecks, at last _x000D_ To something nobler we attain.
Please don't retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.