Thursday, January 18, 2007

Thursday Thirteen: Great Quotes from my current read

I'm reading Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Phillip Yancey right now. I have to admit, I was pleased when I opened it for the first time and saw that it was by no means going to be a light-hearted treatment of the subject. This being my first Yancy title, I was also immediately impressed by his humility. He writes, not as a studied authority (although it's obvious he has studied) but rather as a student, or as he calls himself, a pilgrim on the same journey.

Anyways, it's chock full of one-liners that make me grab my pencil and underline things. I've only just finished Chapter 3, but I thought I'd give you sneak preview in the form of a few snippets. In these first few chapters, Yancey establishes the ideas that 1) God is in control, and 2) prayer is much about coming to God just as we are.

  1. In prayer I shift my point of view away from my own selfishness. (p. 29)
  2. Prayer is the act of seeing reality from God's point of view. (p.29)
  3. I begin with confession not in order to feel miserable, rather to call to mind a reality I often ignore. . . Confession simply establishes the ground rules of creatures relating to their creator. (p. 31)
  4. Truth hurts. Yet I cannot receive healing unless I accept God's diagnosis of my wounded state. (p. 32)
  5. . . . humbling was no end to itself, but a necessary step to the healing. (p. 33)
  6. Asking for help lies at the root of prayer: the Lord's prayer itself consists of a string of such requests. Prayer is a declaration of dependence upon God. (p. 34)
  7. Humility . . . means rather, that in the presence of God I gain a glimpse of my true state in the universe, which exposes my smallness at the same time it reveals God's greatness. (p. 37)
  8. Prayer allows a place for me to bring my doubts and complaints - in sum, my ignorance - and subject them to the blinding light of a reality I cannot comprehend but can haltingly learn to trust. (p. 40)
  9. More than anything, God wants your authentic self. (p. 41)
  10. "We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us," wrote C.S. Lewis. To put it another way, we must trust God with what God already knows. (p. 42)
  11. Prayer invites me to bring my whole life into God's presence for cleansing and restoration. (p. 42)
  12. Self-exposure is never easy, but when I do it I learn that underneath the layers of grime lies a damaged work of art that God longs to repair. (p. 42)
  13. Foolishly, I hide myself in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God most.
I'm looking forward to future chapters (19 more!) with titles such as Ask, Seek and Knock; Tongue-Tied, and What to Pray For. If you're lingering between books right now, I highly recommend this one.

11 comments:

petunia said...

I'm going to have to get this one. I really enjoyed Yancey's "The Jesus I Never Knew" too.

Growing up Catholic I always thought when Jesus said..."this is how you pray, Our Father, who art in heaven..." - I needed to memorize this prayer. But now i realize it's all about the HOW you pray not the actual memorized words.

Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication---so simple.

Tami said...

This book is sitting on my nightstand waiting as I finish another (I'm a one book at a time kinda girl.). I am anxious to get to it. It will be my first time with a Yancey book also. Thanks for the motivation to get to it!

Kelly said...

Ooo . . .these are good! A lot of think about. The truth of #2 really resonated with me.

TaunaLen said...

Wow. I really needed to read this today. Thank you for encouraging me with your post. I think I need to add Yancey to my pile.

~TaunaLen

Katrina @ Callapidder Days said...

Wow - lots of great stuff in there to think about. That book is on my "I want it someday" list. It sounds like a real mark-it-up kind of book.

Deidre said...

Oh, wow, I love those 'one-liners'. I just taught my SS class on this subject this past Sunday. I think I need this book.

Oh, and thanks so much for visiting my blog and commenting. Very nice.

gail@more than a song said...

Such good stuff there Dianne....#2 and 10 really spoke to me.

Susanne said...

That book sounds great. I love reading quotes like this, it's almost like reading someone's sermon notes or study notes.

Girl Raised in the South said...

I love #9 - authenticity. We have this on the shelves of the store, and I havent even picked it up. But I will. I've read some of his stuff, and none of it is light. We keep him on the "spiritual growth" shelves. Read them and you WILL grow. xoox

Anonymous said...

I read this book a while ago, and it was such an encouragement for me. Prayer is an area I have always struggled with, and Yancey helped resolve some of that in my mind.

JHS said...

Love your blog design and I have to order that book. Thanks for the suggestion.