Prayer

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" -Corrie Ten Boom


"Prayer is not preparation for a greater work, prayer is the greater work."
-Oswald Chambers

"It is with the heart well kept as it is with the eye; if a small dust get into the eye it will never cease twinkling and watering till it has wept it out: so the upright heart cannot be at rest till it has wept out its troubles and poured out its complaints before the Lord" -- John Flavel

If He Denies Us

The swarms of corrupt lusts, worldly affections,
and carnal desires, which are found with us—are
ever opposing the glory of Jesus, and exciting us
to seek that happiness in self, which can only be
found in the spiritual reign of Jesus, in the heart.

"The Lord bestows grace and glory; no good
thing does He withhold from those whose
walk is blameless." Psalm 84:11

The Lord delights in the prosperity of His people;
therefore withholds no good thing from them. Yet,
it is not our erring judgment—but His unfailing
wisdom—which must determine what is best for
us. We would pray to be in the height of earthly
comfort—and on the pinnacle of worldly joy. But
in love, God answers by keeping us in the safe
valley of humility and self-abasement. Granting
our requests, is not always the effect of love.

So kind and gracious is our dear Savior—that He
crosses our wills, and denies our requests—when
they are contrary to our spiritual interest. Thus in
love, He answers our prayers—by withholding what
we ask for! He gives what He knows is best for us.
If we ask what is harmful for us to receive—shall
we complain of God's love—if He denies us?

"Those who seek the Lord will not lack any good
thing." Psalm 34:10


William Mason, "A Spiritual Treasury")

Femininity

"Indeed, I have the most affectionate and jealous regard for every right that inheres in my dower of American womanhood. I claim and enjoy the right to be as cultured, as learned, as useful, and—if you please—as ornamental in society and at home as my individual limitations will permit. I have no wrongs, no grievances, no crying need to usurp lines of work that will break down the barriers God has set between men and women. I am not in rebellion against legal statutes, nor the canons of well-established decency and refinement in feminine usage, and, finally, I am so inordinately proud of being a well-born Southern woman, with a full complement of honorable great-grandfathers and blue-blooded, stainless great-grandmothers that I have neither pretext nor inclination to revolt against mankind."


Augusta Jane Evans, Devota

Repentance and Forgiveness

If we truly come to God for mercy, the greatness of our sin will be no impediment to pardon. ... The proper use of this subject is, to encourage sinners whose consciences are burdened with a sense of guilt, immediately to go to God through Christ for mercy. If you go in [this manner], the arms of mercy are open to embrace you. You need not be at all the more fearful of coming because of your sins, let them be ever so black. If you had as much guilt lying on each of your souls as all the wicked men in the world, and all the damned souls in hell; yet if you come to God for mercy, sensible of your own vileness, and seeking pardon only through the free mercy of God in Christ, you would not need to be afraid; the greatness of your sins would be no impediment to your pardon. Therefore, if your souls be burdened, and you are distressed for fear of hell, you need not bear that burden and distress any longer. If you are but willing, you may freely come and unload yourselves, and cast all your burdens on Christ, and rest in him.

Jonathan Edwards

Rebellion

It is altogether man's nature to seek praise for that which he did not render, to climb that which is not his own, to favor his own vain imagination and counsel, and to take pleasure in his own image.

sarah jones

His Purposes

God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He brings a death upon our feelings, wishes and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.

John Newton

Ecclesiastes 7:14

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other.

Christ's Comfort

During the past night I have again been called to
suffer much bodily affliction and very severe pain--
but was favored with such sweet comfort from my
precious Savior that it seemed light; nay, I thought
I could willingly bear a life of such suffering--if I
might constantly enjoy His presence!

Oh, how delightful was the hope of an eternity of
glory, and how sweet the thought that when life's
journey was ended, the veil would be drawn aside,
and no cloud ever again intervene to hide from my
soul, even for one moment, the lovely countenance
of my adorable Jesus!

Ten thousand thanks to you, dearest Savior, for this
love-glimpse! I long for more tokens of Your love,
and thirst for more constant communion with You!

Such is my frailty, that I am ever prone to sin. Come,
precious Jesus! chase away these thick clouds, and
let me behold Your lovely countenance, and be so
captivated with Your charms, that I may never more
give my heart to earthly objects!

Ruth Bryan

The chief good of the soul consists in resemblance to God; i.e.; when, by means of knowing him, she is wholly transformed into him."

John Calvin

Repentance's Companion

All the while that we walk by faith and not by sight, the tear of repentance glitters in the eye of faith.


C.H. Spurgeon