Philip Yancey Quotes

Real revival does not begin with joyous singing. It begins with conviction and repentance on the part of Christians.

If anyone feels his sins, let him come at once, straight, direct, not merely to church, or to the sacrament, or to repentance, or to prayer, but to Christ Himself.

Confess your sins to the Lord and you will be forgiven; confess them to man and you will be laughed at.

All the goodness I have within me is totally from the Lord alone. When I sin, it is from me and is done on my own, but when I act righteously, it is wholly and completely of God.

When my conscience under the Holy Spirit makes me aware of a specific sin I should at once call that sin sin and bring it consciously under the blood of Christ.

Now, Friends, deal plainly with yourselves, and let the eternal Light search you, and try you, for the good of your souls. For this will deal plainly with you. It will rip you up, and lay you open, and make all manifest which lodges in you; the secret subtlety of the enemy of your souls, this eternal searcher and trier will make manifest. Therefore all to this come, and by this be searched, and judged, and led and guided. For to this you must stand or fall.

You will never see the preciousness of a Savior, if you do not see the reality of your sin.

Some people wanted to get rich or famous, but my friends and I wanted to get real. We wanted to get deep. (Also, I suppose, we wanted to get laid.)

The deepest reality you are aware of is the one from which you draw your power.

Holy Week is a good occasion to go to confession and to take up the right path again.

My austerities, fasting and prayers are, I know, of no value if I rely upon them for reforming me. My penance is the prayer of a bleeding heart for forgiveness for sins unwittingly committed.

Forgive me, O Heavenly Father, according to the multitude of Thy mercies. I have lusted in my heart to break a man's skull and scatter the stench of his brains across several people's back yards.

Confession should be a daily activity for the Christian, whose entire pilgrimage is characterized by the spirit of repentance.

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here, Father. I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed?” God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.

We beseech [God] to pardon our national and other transgressions.

Only as we bow in contrition, confession, and repentance at the foot of the cross, can we find forgiveness. There is the grace of God.

It is only the Lord who is able to give [unbelievers] repentance and recover them out of Satan's snare.

Get up; repent. Come to God. Get the pattern of your life from Him, and then go about your work and be yourself.

When we touch the foundation of the reality of the good news of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.

One of life's joys was to have friends who gave you reality checks...who would call you on your crap before it rose so high you drowned in it.

He whose book of the heart has been opened needs no other books.

I will but confess the sins of my green cloak to my grey friar's frock, and all shall be well again.

Come to the Root of the Root of your Self

Jesus Christ has undertaken by His redemption to put in me a heart so pure that God can see nothing to censure.