The Secular and the Sacred

Life, Prayer 0

In the creation and the incarnation the great God of the universe intertwined the spiritual and the material, wedded the sacred and the secular, sanctified the common and the ordinary.  How astonishing!  How wonderful!

The discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic.  If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all.  Ours is to be a symphonic piety in which all the activities of work and play and family and worship and sex and sleep are the holy habitats of the eternal.

— Richard J. Foster, Prayer, p. 171

A Word from God

Guidance, Inspiration, Prayer 0

“When reading the Bible, people commonly experience a special ‘word in the Word,’ in which a particular passage seems to apply to an individual situation in a new way….  This ‘quickening of the Word’ encourages us that God is near and deeply interested in the particular circumstances of our lives.”

— Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 137

God’s Steadfast Love

God, Inspiration, Prayer, Trust 0

“Regardless of whether we feel strong or weak, we remember that our assurance is not based upon our ability to conjure up some special feeling.  Rather, it is built upon a confident assurance in the faithfulness of God.  We focus on his trustworthiness and especially on his steadfast love.”

–Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 212

Prayer of Healing

God, Inspiration, Prayer, Trust 0

“Second, we ask.  This is the step of faith.  As we come to clearness about what is needed, we invite God’s healing to come.  We speak a definite, straightforward declaration of what is to be.  We do not weaken our request with ifs, ands, or buts.”

–Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 211