Matthew C. Steenberg > Quotes

“It is never too late to make a beginning in repentance, and so it is never too late to begin to pray. A thousand times we may have tried and failed, yet at every moment the saving Lord calls us toward His Father.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg, The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer

“… any small step toward God reveals in a new way that we are not of this world.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg

“The empty tomb transformed the cosmos. So will the prayer of the heart transform the person, the cosmos, even all creation.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg

“You cannot serve both God and mammon; and if “mammon” represents, in earthly terms, our attachments to wealth and money, then in the spiritual life it represents our attachment to the compulsions of the passionate soul and body. If we wish to serve the man-befriending Lord and find our rest in Him, we must learn to serve Him alone and cast off the familiar masters that are our passions.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg, The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer

“Accept what comes from God as His gift, and remain vigilant. Do not cling to even the good, past what is fitting. The weak mind can make idols even out of the good.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg

“Let no temptation call you away from the life of prayer! Let no obstacle be for you a true menace! The Lord is victorious, mighty in battle, and our very Defender: who can do us harm?”
― Matthew C. Steenberg

“Do not fill your mind with worldly noise without reason. Radios or televisions operating “in the background” prevent quietude by filling even empty moments with the distracting flow of sounds and voices. How shall we find quiet in our times of prayer, if we have so condition ourselves against it in every other moment?”
― Matthew C. Steenberg, The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer

“Our death is to be to this world in its sinful separation from God. We must die to our waywardness, to our self-will, to our false idols. We must die to a world that has taken death as its defining characteristic. Dying in this way, we open ourselves to life.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg

“Look how visible is God's mercy! In His infinite love He makes prayer the very tool by which we may learn to pray!”
― Matthew C. Steenberg, The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer

“Consider each temptation as an opportunity for purification, for strengthening your quiet resolve and spiritual fortitude. He who never falls in prayer is making no real attempt at growth.”
― Matthew C. Steenberg