William Barclay Quotes

I learned that the purpose of the Twelve Steps is to do the will of God.

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

Don't just ask God for what we want. Let him teach us what we should want.

I'm a woman of faith. And I really believe that if I say, 'God, this is what I want,' He says, 'I'll give you your desires, as long as they line up with My will.'

Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me.

Prayer is not so much about convincing God to do what we want God to do as it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do.

If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.

Prayer is, for me, not an opportunity to ask God to do stuff for me. Prayer is an opportunity to open myself, to try and understand his will, and oftentimes it's a prayer of thanksgiving, and sometimes it's a prayer of supplication, and sometimes it is just worship.

A key to improved prayer is to learn to ask the right questions. Consider changing from asking for the things you want to honestly seeking what He wants for you. Then as you learn His will, pray that you will be led to have the strength to fulfill it.

Are you learning to say things after listening to God, or are you saying things and trying to make God's word fit in?

You'll find success in life when you stop trying to include God in your plans and Instead ask God to include you in His.

I have to be honest in asking myself: Do I really want to know and do God's will? Or is it rather that I want God to do my will? Do I go to God with the assurance that I want only to know and do his will? Or do I rather first make my own plans and then insist that God make my dreams come true?

The real 'work' of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me.

I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.

O Lord, Thou knowest that which is best for us; let this or that be done, as Thou shalt please. Give what Thou wilt, how much Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt. Deal with me as thou thinkest best. Place me where Thou wilt, and deal with me in all things just as Thou wilt. Behold, I am Thy servant, prepared for all things: I desire not to live unto myself, but unto Thee; and oh, that I could do it worthily and perfectly!

If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees.

The meaning of prayer is that I want to evoke that Divinity within me.

Prayer is not asking God to do something, it's asking God to help YOU do something

The man who prays is the one who thinks that god has arranged matters all wrong, but who also thinks that he can instruct god how to put them right.

I would have no desire other than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me.

I can only say with deeper sincerity and fuller significance what I have always said in theory - Wait God's will.

Some unanswered prayers are only because God doesn't want to do something for us. He wants to do something through us.

It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den.

Why pray if we cannot change God? ...is that why we pray? To change omniscient Love? Isn't it rather to learn what it is and to fulfill it? Not to change it by our acts, but to change our acts by it.

Do I pray that the Lord gives me the desire to do his will, or do I look for compromises because I'm afraid of God's will?