Jesus' pattern prayer, which is both crutch, road, and walking lesson for the spiritually lame like ourselves, tells us to start with God: for God matters infinitely more than we do.
J. I. PackerThere are ministers who never speak of repentance or self-denial. Naturally they are popular, but they are false prophets.
J. I. PackerWe meet God through entering into a relationship both of dependance on Jesus as our Saviour and Friend and of discipleship to Him as our Lord and Master.
J. I. PackerThere are two sorts of sick consciences, those that are not aware enough of sin and those that are not aware enough of pardon.
J. I. PackerChrist had no interest in gathering vast crowds of professed adherents who would melt away as soon as they found out what following Him actually demanded of them. In our own presentation of Christ's gospel, therefore, we need to lay a similar stress on the cost of following Christ and make sinners face it soberly before we urge them to respond to the message of free forgiveness. In common honesty, we must not conceal the fact that free forgiveness in one sense will cost everything.
J. I. Packer