The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says 'Amen' and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of listening to God rather than just speaking to Him in prayer.
Frank Laubach highlights a common pitfall in prayer: many people speak their thoughts and requests to God but fail to take the time to listen for His responses. The quote suggests that genuine communication with the divine requires patience and the willingness to hear what God might convey rather than solely focusing on our own ideas.
In practice
In a sermon about the importance of prayer, one could use this quote to encourage congregants to take time to listen.
The sun shines equally on diamond and charcoal, but the former has developed qualities that enable it to reflect the sunlight brilliantly, while the latter is unable to reflect the sunlight. Emulate the diamond in your dealings with people. Brightly reflect the light of God's love.
Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.
Throughout all history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement. We become what we think about
He wrapped himself in quotations - as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.
Advice is unfriendly to learning, especially when it is sought. Most of the time when people seek advice, they just want to be heard. Advice at best stops the conversation, definitely inhibits learning, and at worst claims dominance.
It's not that, living in Pakistan, I feel an enormous constraint on how I can write and what I can say; rather, I recognize that one has to navigate these things... Am I aware of things that one could say that would be risky or that could be dangerous? Certainly I'm aware of those things.
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