We, Jesus' followers, are the agents assigned to carry out God's will on earth. Too easily we expect God to do something for us when instead God wants to do it through us.
Philip YanceyGod formed an alliance based on the world as it is, full of flaws, whereas prayer calls God to account for the world as it should be.
Philip YanceyJesus did not give the parables to teach us how to live. He gave them, I believe, to correct our notions about who God is and who God loves.
Philip YanceyPrayer is not a means of removing the unknown and predictable elements in life, but rather a way of including the unknown and unpredictable in the outworking of the grace of God in our lives.
Philip Yancey