Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done.
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| — | C.S. Lewis (via radquotes) |
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
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| — | 2 Timothy 1:7 (via bearyourcross) |
I used to feel guilty when I didn’t pray. If I didn’t make it through my prayer list or spend half an hour in solitary prayer, I’d feel guilty for not praying more.
Guilt isn’t from God. Conviction is. Guilt drives us into a corner; conviction drives us to Christ. Somewhere along the way, I was liberated from prayer-by-guilt. Part of this liberty came when I realized that God doesn’t relate to me based on guilt but based on grace. Grace reminds me that when I was guilty of deep distrust in God and his promises, Christ died and kept God’s promises to absorb my guilt, so now I have every reason to trust. Grace reminds me that God relates to me based on what Jesus has done, not on what I have not done.
Guilt isn’t from God. Conviction is. Guilt drives us into a corner; conviction drives us to Christ. Somewhere along the way, I was liberated from prayer-by-guilt. Part of this liberty came when I realized that God doesn’t relate to me based on guilt but based on grace. Grace reminds me that when I was guilty of deep distrust in God and his promises, Christ died and kept God’s promises to absorb my guilt, so now I have every reason to trust. Grace reminds me that God relates to me based on what Jesus has done, not on what I have not done.
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| — | Jonathan Dodson, What to Do With Prayerlessness (via solideogloriaa) |
