“Avoid all controversy in preaching, talking, or writing; preach nothing down but the devil, and nothing up but Jesus Christ.—Berridge”

“If any minister can be satisfied without conversions, he shall have no conversions.—C. H. Spurgeon”

“Public prayers are of little worth unless they are founded on or followed up by private praying.”

“God will manifest himself in direct proportion to our passion for him.”

“Did you bring people to where the action could be found?" God asks: "if you just entertain them or console them, tickle theirs, woe to you! At the throne of grace, I could have CHANGED THEIR LIVES! Did you dazzle them with your cleverness or did you make them hunger for ME!?" If a meeting doesn't end with people touching God - what kind of meeting is it? - Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”

“Prayer becomes transformational when we embrace the original and enduring context for all praying. A worship-based approach fixes our heart first on the majesty of God, the person of Christ, the purity of His Word – and excites within us an appetite for Him. Our very motives for prayer are changed and elevated beyond anything merely earthly. Our heart is renewed with a longing for His glory.”

“in these times, it appears they were directly related to fresh empowerment for His self-less, sacrificial service. There are also occasions where Jesus blesses people, but His exact words are not given (Mark 10:16; Luke 24:50). In the final part of this book we will look at the”

“I have heard Pastor Cymbala say many times that we will not one day stand before Christ to announce the size of our ministry, but to give an account of the substance of our ministry. Christ’s evaluation, both now and in eternity, is based upon the fruit evidenced in the lives of the people to whom we minister.”

“Peter Lord, one of my personal mentors and a pastor for over five decades, states, “Most Christians pray out of crisis or from a grocery list – period.” His point is that God has much more for us in our walk with Him when we learn to seek His face, not just His hand. This is the discovery so many are making today in their relationship with Christ.”

“specifically of the basic provisions of bread and fish, with no mention of fishing boats, lake cabins, or new video games. Perhaps the answer is in the point He has already made, that the truly “good” things we seek first are the issues pertaining to the kingdom of God. In a parallel passage found in Luke’s gospel, Jesus clarifies His focus on the good things we should expect with”

“Every time I set my face to seeking God in a fresh way, God begins to change my heart, my mind, my preaching, and my leadership skills. When any believer commits his or her heart to seeking the Lord, everything is going to change.”

“Prayer in the Spirit is prayer whose supreme object is the glory of God, and only in a secondary sense is it a blessing for ourselves or for others.”9”

“Worship-based prayer seeks the face of God before the hand of God. God’s face is the essence of who He is. God’s hand is the blessing of what He does. God’s face represents His person and presence. God’s hand expresses His provision for needs in our lives. I have learned that if all we ever do is seek God’s hand, we may miss His face; but if we seek His face, He will be glad to open His hand and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.”

“But the Bible teaches that we are always either drawing nearer to God or falling away. There is no holding pattern.”

“Day after day goes by, and God keeps looking, looking....Doesn't anyone want to call out for his blessing? Upon whom can he pour his grace? Isn't anyone interested?”

“MAINTAINING DOCTRINAL PURITY IS good, but it is not the whole picture for a New Testament church. The apostles wanted to do much more than simply “hold the fort,” as the old gospel song says. They asked God to empower them to move out and impact an entire culture. In too many places where the Bible is being thumped and doctrine is being argued until three in the morning, the Spirit of that doctrine is missing. William Law, an English devotional writer of the early 1700s, wrote, “Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted with it—yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon him.”1”

“Whatever God approves of comes first. Whatever grieves him has to go.”

“You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. “You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. “But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.”

“You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. “You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. “But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.” And”

“If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are … if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment … if we are facing spiritual battles right in our own homes and churches … then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore him.”