True prayer is an awareness of our helpless need and an acknowledgment of divine adequacy.
Ray StedmanTo see lonely, selfish, empty individuals transformed slowly but surely into warm, loving, wholesome, and happy people is to become aware of why Paul describes Christ as 'unsearchable riches'.
Ray StedmanGod designed it this way; He intended that His great power, wisdom, and love should become visible in very ordinary and otherwise inconsequential people.
Ray StedmanIt has always seemed unfair to me that many churches (and some individual Christians) keep careful records on how many converts they make to Christianity, but never keep any record of how many they drive away from Christ!
Ray StedmanAlthough God certainly knows all our needs, praying for them changes our attitude from complaint to praise and enables us to participate in Godโs personal plan for our lives.
Ray StedmanThe Psalms are much more than poetry. Many of them bear the title, Maskil, or teaching psalm. They are thus intended to instruct the mind as well as to encourage the heart. They are designed not only to reflect a mood, but to show us also how to handle that mood; how to escape from depression or how to balance exaltation with wisdom.
Ray Stedman