Quotes from Cheri Fuller

HEAVENLY FATHER, thank you for hearing my prayer and rescuing me because you are faithful and good. Forgive me for the times when I have exhausted my meager resources before calling out to you. When I am poor and needy and my heart is full of pain, prompt me to run to you first and to find rest in your faithfulness and goodness. In you, O Lord, I put my trust.

You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of it? —HANNAH WHITALL SMITH (1832–1911), American lay speaker and author

FATHER, no matter how difficult the words of the Bible seem to be, help me to make decisions that are in accordance with your Word. Help me, Holy Spirit, to understand how your Word applies to every aspect of my life so that I will not be tempted to turn away as others have done. Remind me daily that you alone have the words that give eternal life.

The word used for Lord in Proverbs 3:5–6 is a covenant name meaning "a God we know and who knows us." We can trust people only if we know them. The same goes for God.

If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings. —ADONIRAM JUDSON (1788–1850), American missionary to Burma (now Myanmar)

Prayer, even prayer for what God desires, releases power by the operation of a deep spiritual law; and to offer up what one loves may release still more. —SHELDON VANAUKEN (1914–1996), American author and editor

GOD, help me to forgive others in light of the unconditional love I have found in you. Help me to see past my anger and to resolve disagreements with wisdom and grace. Help me to measure my words and actions before I speak or act. When others wrong me, may I remember all the times you reached down and covered my wrongs with your mercy, and may I be filled with your love for them.

He comes to us in the brokenness of our health, in the shipwreck of our family lives, in the loss of all possible peace of mind, even in the very thick of our sins. He saves us in our disasters, not from them. . . . He meets us all in our endless and inescapable losing. —ROBERT FARRAR CAPON (1925–), American priest and author

Yet this verse tells us that if we will give our burdens to the Lord, sometimes even on a moment-by-moment basis, he will carry them for us. What a promise! What an invitation! We have a Savior who cares for us intimately and is thinking about us constantly.

If God would concede me His omnipotence for 24 hours, you would see how many changes I would make in the world. But if He gave me His wisdom too, I would leave things as they are. —JACQUES-MARIE-LOUIS MONSABRÉ

He will provide, protect, and shower grace in abundance as we give our burdens, the heaviness of our jobs or family situations, to the one who is eternally faithful and true. When we do, the Spirit will show us what is our part, what is God's part, and what is others' part so we don't try to do everything. As we give the Lord our deepest burdens, we will know him more deeply and grow in thankfulness. Then we will find rest for our souls.

PRECIOUS FATHER, you are the almighty Lord of the universe, and yet you are my friend. May I not grieve your Spirit but rather return the love that you have given me without reservation. I give you my heart, Lord. Thank you for walking with me during difficult times. I rejoice in the peace and shelter of your love that comes only from knowing you.   IT IS BUT RIGHT THAT OUR HEARTS SHOULD BE ON GOD, WHEN THE HEART OF GOD IS SO MUCH ON US. Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

FATHER, when I make wrong decisions, help me to be honest and transparent before you. Please help me to follow you faithfully so that I can be a blessing to those you've placed in my trust and to those around me who will be watching my example. As you have blessed me, your child, so I yearn to bless others.

God proved his love on the cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, "I love you.

O what peace we often forfeit,      O what needless pain we bear,      All because we do not carry      Everything to God in prayer! —"WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS" BY JOSEPH SCRIVEN

Prayer is a conversation between two people who love each other -you and the Lord-and you don't have to use fancy or religious words to dialogue with him.

TO PRAY IS TO LET JESUS INTO OUR LIVES. HE KNOCKS AND SEEKS ADMITTANCE, NOT ONLY IN THE SOLEMN HOURS OF SECRET PRAYER; HE KNOCKS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR DAILY WORK, YOUR DAILY STRUGGLES, YOUR DAILY "GRIND." THAT IS WHERE YOU NEED HIM THE MOST. Ole Hallesby (1879-1961)

SO LET IT BE IN GOD'S OWN MIGHT WE GIRD US FOR THE COMING FIGHT, AND, STRONG IN HIM WHOSE CAUSE IS OURS, IN CONFLICT WITH UNHOLY POWERS, WE GRASP THE WEAPONS HE HAS GIVEN, THE LIGHT AND TRUTH AND LOVE OF HEAVEN. John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)

You learn to read people by the way they act ... When people shy away from Doug, I think, Oh, they have so much to learn. You see, the disabled person has no problem interacting with them. They're the ones with the problem.

For the truth is we can teach our daughters and take them to Sunday school and a healthy church—all important things—but spiritual growth happens through our example and what goes on in our homes on a day-to-day basis in the

LORD, thank you for lessons that come from the people you have placed in my path and from your creation of an intricate, amazing world. I pray that I will listen to those who have your wisdom and that I will learn from them. I'm thankful that your desire is not for me to limp or stumble along my path but to run the race accurately and quickly as I seek your wisdom to guide me to the finish line.

Thank you for all the ways you have provided for my needs, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. Help me to respond with thanksgiving and with obedience to your principles and your will.

Life's major pursuit is not knowing self . . . but knowing God. . . . Unless God is the major pursuit of our lives, all other pursuits are dead-end streets, including trying to know ourselves. CHARLES R. SWINDOLL (B. 1934)