quiet contemplation of Him

"It is not necessary to maintain a conversation when we are in the presence of God. We can come into His presence and rest our weary souls in quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him."

--O. Hallesby, Prayer

true prayer

"God is always present, always available. At whatever moment in which one turns to him the prayer is received, is heard, is authenticated, for it is God who gives our prayer its value and its character, not our interior dispositions, not our fervor, not our lucidity. The prayer which is pronounced for God and accepted by Him becomes, by that very fact, a true prayer."

--Jacques Ellul, Prayer and Modern Man

New Year's prayer

"Almighty and most merciful Father, by Whose providence my life has been prolonged, and Who has granted me now to begin another year of probation, vouchsafe me such assistance of Thy Holy Spirit that the continuance of my life may not add to the measure of my guilt, but that I may so repent of the days and years passed in neglect of the duties which Thou has set before me, in vain thoughts, in sloth, and in folly, that I may apply my heart to true wisdom, by diligence redeem the time lost, and by repentance, obtain pardon, for the sake of Jesus Christ."

--Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

15 things to pray for your children

1. their salvation
2. their mate
3. that they would fall in love with God's Word
4. that God would keep them from evil
5. that they would have a conscience void of offense before God and man
6. that their character would be more valuable to them than their credentials
7. that they would stand up for what's right, even if it means standing alone
8. that they would be kept from the love of money
9. that they would be kept morally pure
10. that they would have the heart of a servant
11. that eternity would burn in their hearts
12. that sin would always be distasteful to them and that they would be easily broken over sin
13. that they would love each other
14. that they would trust God with their parents and not allow rebellion to set in
15. that they would never grow bitter against God, regardless of the hardship

Getting up early

"If you were to rise early every morning, as an instance of self-denial, as a method of renouncing indulgence, as a means of redeeming your time and of fitting your spirit for prayer, you would find mighty advantages from it. This method, though it seem such a small circumstance of life, would in all probability be a means [toward] great piety. It would keep it constantly in your head that softness and idleness were to be avoided and that self-denial was a part of Christianity... It would teach you to exercise power over yourself, and make you able by degrees to renounce other pleasures and tempers that war against the soul."
--William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life