Quotation Saturday ~ Lent, Fasting, Strength

 Pss. 35:13 “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”

LENT

"Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God."
~ Andrew Murray

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you." 
~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

"Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God."
~ Thomas a Kempis

“Simply put, we suffer a little to attain a lot. We sacrifice for Him because He sacrificed for us. We love because He loved us.”
~ Joni Zipp

SACRIFICE

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

"Everything in life has its own time. There is time to celebrate and there is time to mourn. This is the time for reflection and transformation. Let us look within and change into what we ought to be." 
~ Aaron Saul

“The Seven Social Sins are:
Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.

From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925.” 
~ Frederick Lewis Donaldson

“Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.” 
― Mitch Albom

FASTING

“Let us not believe that an external fast from visible food alone can possibly be sufficient for perfection of heart and purity of body unless with it there has also been united a fast of the soul. For the soul also has its foods that are harmful. Slander is its food and indeed one that is very dear to it. A burst of anger also supplies it with miserable food for an hour and destroys it as well with its deadly savor. Envy is food of the mind, corrupting it with its poisonous juices and never ceasing to make it wretched and miserable at the prosperity and success of another. Vanity is its food which gratifies the mind with a delicious meal for a time but afterward strips it clear and bare of all virtue. Then vanity dismisses it barren and void of all spiritual fruit. All lust and shift wanderings of heart are a sort of food for the soul, nourishing it on harmful meats but leaving it afterwards without a share of its heavenly bread and really solid food. If then, with all the powers we have, we abstain from these in a most holy fast our observance of the bodily fast will be both useful and profitable.” 
~ John Cassian

“Fasting from any nourishment, activity, involvement or pursuit—for any season—sets the stage for God to appear. Fasting is not a tool to pry wisdom out of God's hands or to force needed insight about a decision. Fasting is not a tool for gaining discipline or developing piety (whatever that might be). Instead, fasting is the bulimic act of ridding ourselves of our fullness to attune our senses to the mysteries that swirl in and around us.” 
~ Dan B. Allender

“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night.” 
~ John Piper

“Fasting is giving up something that you are imprisoned by, addicted to, or hold onto to tightly. Let it go for 40 days for the God who gave you life. After 40 days, you’ll wonder why the addiction held you captive.”
~ Joni Zipp

STRENGTH

“My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present.” 
~ Steve Goodier

“The times are chaotic. For me, I would hope that people look at [Angel] and gain strength by it. With everything that I do, I hope that they see people struggling to live decent, moral lives in a completely chaotic world. They see how hard it is, how often they fail, and how they get up and keep trying. That, to me, is the most important message I'm ever going to tell.” 
~ Joss Whedon

“We're not alone--at least, we're alone only if we choose to be alone. We're alone only if we choose to go through life relying solely on our own strength rather than learning to draw upon the power of God. ” 
~ Sheri Dew

“Some see my strength as bravery, I see it as endurance to live the life I’ve always lived. My strength comes from the eternity I aspire to live in the hereafter.”
~ Joni Zipp

Dan. 9:3 “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:”