William Ames Quotes

The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God.

It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.

O that unbelievers would learn of faithful Abraham, and believe whatever is revealed from God, though they cannot fully comprehend it! Abraham knew God commanded him to offer up his son, and therefore believed, notwithstanding carnal reasoning might suggest may objections.

I find that doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.

God can show you just what you need to give, even if you don't know exactly why you're giving it. That's why we should always seek God and prepare to give Him our very best.

You must have faith to pray. You must have faith to ponder the word of God. You must have faith to do those things and go to those places which invite the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Ghost.

Prayer is not so much the means whereby God's will is bent to man's desires, as it is that whereby man's will is bent to God's desires.

I am the vessel. The draft is God's. And God is the thirsty one.

To do my duty, I must obey God.

... common people may not presume by their intellect to attain to the sublime height as of revelation nor preach it to others.... There remains for them but one thing to do, to obey.

Certainly there is no contending against the will of God, but still there is some difficulty in ascertaining it, and applying it, to particular cases.

The one who listens attentively to the Word of God and truly prays, always asks the Lord: what is your will for me?

Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight.

God gave us the mind so that we can know him.

When you read any great mystery, recorded in holy Writ, you are to prostrate your Reason to Divine Revelation.

I actually do propose open-mindedness, but open-mindedness to the Word of God.

I have learned in my life that my plans don't matter. It's God's plan.

If God wants us to do a thing, he should make his wishes sufficiently clear. Sensible people will wait till he has done this before paying much attention to him.

Make your creed simply and broadly out of the revelation of God, and you will keep it to the end.

Pray till prayer makes you forget your own wish, and leave it or merge it in God's will.

I spend a lot of time in prayer. God doesn't always show up on my time, but he always shows up!

What matters most is a good and ready will to obey God.

If one has the answers to all the questions - that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble.

The Bible, as a revelation from God, was not designed to give us all the information we might desire, nor to solve all the questions about which the human soul is perplexed, but to impart enough to be a safe guide to the haven of eternal rest.

We are to yield to the authority God has in place, and look to Him to find out what He would have us to do about those things that are concerning to us.