Prayer Quotes

“The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.”
― Richard Foster, Prayer - Finding The Heart's True Home

“Your prayer must be turned inwards, not towards a God of Heaven nor towards a God far off, but towards God who is closer to you than you are aware.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Simple Prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretense in Simple Prayer. We do not pretend to be more holy, more pure, or more saintly than we actually are. We do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God—or ourselves. And in this posture we pour out our heart to the God who is greater than our heart and who knows all things (1 John 3:20).”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“obedience has a way of strengthening rather than depleting our resources. If we obey in one small corner, we will have power to obey elsewhere. Obedience begets obedience.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“frequently we hold on so tightly to the good that we do know that we cannot receive the greater good that we do not know.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Try to live one entire day in utter thanksgiving. Balance every complaint with ten gratitudes, every criticism with ten compliments.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“We pass from thinking of God as part of our life to the realization that we are part of his life.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“But when we pray, genuinely pray, the real condition of our heart is revealed. This is as it should be. This is when God truly begins to work with us. The adventure is just beginning.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“God wants us to be present where we are. He invites us to see and to hear what is around us and, through it all, to discern the footprints of the Holy. Actually,”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. That puts us in the “on-top” position, where we are competent and in control. But when praying, we come “underneath,” where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“We today yearn for prayer and hide from prayer. We are attracted to it and repelled by it.”
― Richard Foster, Prayer - Finding The Heart's True Home

“It is important to recognize this fact and be easy with yourself. This time will pass—sooner than you think. Rather than trying to pray in some fanciful isolation that you will never find, discover God in your times with your baby. God will become real to you through your baby.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“I want to mention one other reason why we shy away from commitment. It is, very simply, the fear that we will not be able to fulfill our covenant. We may have made commitments in the past that we were not able to fulfill—perhaps a marriage vow or a promise to our children. Or it could have been something far more simple—a pledge to be diligent in devotional reading, for example.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“we hold on so tightly to the good that we do know that we cannot receive the greater good that we do not know. God has to help us let go of our tiny vision in order to release the greater good he has in store for us.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Martin Luther declares that the life of the Christian should be one of daily repentance. Daily we confess, daily we repent, daily we “turn, turn, ’til we turn ’round right.” The Prayer of Tears is the primary aid to our turning.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“God wants us to be present where we are. He invites us to see and to hear what is around us and, through it all, to discern the footprints of the Holy.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Learn that trust precedes faith. Faith is a little like putting your car into gear, and right now you cannot exercise faith, you cannot move forward. Do not berate yourself for this. But when you are unable to put your spiritual life into drive, do not put it into reverse; put it into neutral. Trust is how you put your spiritual life in neutral. Trust is confidence in the character of God.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Darkness is a definite experience of prayer. It is to be expected, even embraced.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“For now, do not worry about “proper” praying, just talk to God. Share your hurts, share your sorrows, share your joys—freely and openly. God listens in compassion and love, just like we do when our children come to us.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Prayer is a little like that. With simplicity of heart we allow ourselves to be gathered up into the arms of the Father and let him sing his love song over us.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Precious Savior, why do I fear your scrutiny? Yours is an examen of love. Still, I am afraid…afraid of what may surface. Even so, I invite you to search me to the depths so that I may know myself—and you—in fuller measure.  —Amen.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“Catherine Marshall writes, “Resignation is barren of faith in the love of God…. Resignation lies down quietly in the dust of a universe from which God seems to have fled, and the door of Hope swings shut.”2”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“the teaching of the Lord is life and light.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“As Saint John Chrysostom notes, “Find the door of your heart, you will discover it is the door of the kingdom of God.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“We pray, we listen, we worship, we carry out the duty of the present moment.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“In my youthful enthusiasm I was expecting God to intervene by some divine fiat when what was needed was a simple action on my part.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

“In time, however, we find that solitude gives us power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether.”
― Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home