Anne Lamott Quotes

Trying harder doesn’t work for me. Slowly I’ve learned to pray for God’s help and He has become my greatest love and desire.

Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

Religion promotes the divine discontent within oneself, so that one tries to make oneself a better person and draw oneself closer to God.

I find that my upbringing in the Church and my relationship with God are huge benefits to me in helping me become the kind of person that I want to become.

Discard yourself and thereby regain yourself. Spread the trap of humility and ensnare love.

Dear God, I surrender this thought to you, for I would see the miracle that lies behind it. Amen.

We hold that man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all.

Throughout the years I feel if God promotes me to stay alive and have more years to live on Earth, which I pray and I would love to, people are going to see my personality, and they're going to see more of me and be able to understand me more.

If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees.

When we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God's work and not ours, we can put to rest our passion to set others straight.

Learn to trust His timing. Don't get in a hurry; don't grow impatient; don't try to force doors open. Don't try to make things happen in your own strength. Let God do it His way.

Humble yourself"--it is a humbling experience to knock at God's door--you have to knock with the crucified thief. "To him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

I have now concentrated all my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this, that I may die to self, and live wholly to Him.

Prayer is not about changing God, but being willing to let God change us.

We often pray for purity, unselfishness, for the highest qualities of character, and forget that these things cannot be given, but must be earned.

Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member's heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it

I want to change my circumstances. God wants to change me.

I don't pray so that I can change God. I pray so that God can change me.

I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me.

And I think that when I finally decided to let go and let God and allow that to happen, I became a lot more successful than I could have done if I had planned it all myself.

Let go of yesterday. Let today be a new beginning and be the best that you can, and you'll get to where God wants you to be.

But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.

God may not guide us in an obvious way because he wants us to make decisions based on faith and character.

Character is the result of two great forces: the initial force which the Creator gave it when He called the man into being; and the force of all the external influence and culture that mold and modify the development of a life.

Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait for a very long time indeed.