Great Quotes from "Naked Spirituality"

In his book, Naked Spirituality, Brian McLaren has this to say about prayer:

"Because however much or little prayer changes things, prayer certainly changes you, and you need to be changed.  Remember that you still have a long way to grow, and the best way to grow is to keep praying, to keep strengthening the sacred connection" (page 139).

If you're feeling depressed about how far you have to grow, McLaren gives us this quote by Philip Yancey:  "Whenever I get depressed by a lack of spiritual progress, I realize that my very dismay is a sign of progress" (page 143, originally from Yancey's Prayer:  Does It Make Any Difference?).

When McLaren thinks about results, he gives us this quote from Jim Wallis:  "To be a contemplative means to find a motivation deeper than the hope of results.  You have to be sustained by more important things.  . . . It is a paradox:  to be successful you must finally give up the demand for success and do what you do from the deeper motivation of what you believe is right" (page 225, originally from Wallis' Faith Works:  Lessons from the Life of an Activist Preacher).

Lots of great stuff in this book--it's well worth a read!