Meditating on the Word Quotes

“The person who waits upon moods in impoverished. If the painter only wanted to paint when in the mood for it, he would not get very far. In religion, as in art and science, along with the times of high excitement, there are times of sober work and practice. We must practice our communion with God, otherwise we will not find the right tone, the right word, the right language, when God surprises us with his presence.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

“The first moments of the new day are not the time for our own plans and worries, not even for our zeal to accomplish our own work, but for God’s liberating grace, God’s sanctifying presence.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

“Before the heart unlocks itself for the world, God wants to open it for himself; before the ear takes in the countless voices of the day, it should hear in the early hours the voice of the Creator and Redeemer. God prepared the stillness of the first morning for himself. It should remain his.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

“Why do I meditate? Because I am a Christian. Therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon the firm ground of the Word of God. And, as a Christian, I learn to know the Holy Scripture in no other way than by hearing the Word preached and by prayerful meditation.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

“Prayer is not a free-will offering to God; it is an obligatory service, something that he requires.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

“In a letter to Karl Barth in 1936, Bonhoeffer wrote: “The kind of questions serious young theologians put to us are: How can I learn to pray? How can I learn to read the Bible? Either we can help them to do this, or we can’t help them at all. Nothing of all this can be taken for granted.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word