I heard this at BSF this week...i really like kate luther...
The great Christian reformer, Martin Luther, in fact, once spent three days in a black depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. “Who’s dead?” he asked her. “God,” she replied. Luther rebuked her, saying, “What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die.” “Well,” she replied, “the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!” (James Gallop - Sermon Central).
I used some of these in Joanne's blessing bunting...Please PRAY!
"The best prayers have often more groans than words."
~John Bunyan
"We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the one who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy."
~John Piper
"Christ was willing to suffer and be despised, and darest thou complain of anything?"
~Thomas a Kempis
5 comments:
Wonderful quotes, I love each one. Especially the Kempis one.
I am praying for Joanne too, all weekend, praying praying for a miracle.
I've read a biography of Mrs. Luther -- such a character, but such a strong woman of faith.
Suffering is such a mystery -- we dread it despite its benefits.
Got a chuckle out of that one. Love the story of Kate and Martin Luther! They were quite a pair, weren't they?
Like your quotes state, prayer is most effective when it's "fervent" ie. has an emotional charge. Often I find myself mumbling prayers, almost by rote. Good reminders!
The Luther quote gets me. Too often I live like I must believe God is dead. :-(
I love your blessing bunting. I can't imagine how much that will bless Joanne if she can wake up and see all those! Praying, praying for her...
I like the prayer one--about how the best prayers are more groans than words. Not that words aren't useful and important in prayer, but there are certainly times when all you can do is open your soul, with all it's groanings, before the Lord and trust Him to accomplish His purposes.
I can't even imagine what Toben and the girls must be going through--but I am certainly praying for them and for Joanne.
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