Isaac of Nineveh Quotes

Every Christian man has a choice between being humble and being humbled.

The prayer of one who does not consider himself a sinner is not accepted by the Lord.

If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.

I'm a religious woman. And I feel I have responsibility. I have no modesty at all. I'm even afraid of it - it's a learned affectation and it's just stuck on me like decals. Now I pray for humility because that comes from inside out.

After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us toward is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven.

We receive God's grace by humbly admitting that we need it.

Let us fall before the majesty of our great God, acknowledging our faults, and praying that he will make us ever more conscious of them.

Sometimes God has to remind you that you're weak so that you can be set free from your "self-sufficiency."

In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are-dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon.

To the humble, the Lord has given this promise: "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me."

Every day I'm trying to be more humble and how do you do that? I guess, every day, we have mass. Every day, I pray the rosary. That's what I do.

Christ's strength is manifest in our weakness, so if we had everything together there would be no need for Him.

The word of God teacheth lowliness of mind; it teacheth us to know ourselves.

When I pray, I ask for guidance in my life to be the best person I can be, to learn what I need to learn, and to grow from what I learn.

Humility may well be one of the most difficult of the fruit of the Spirit to be cultivated in us - and to maintain. That's because without humility, it's not likely that you will put your complete trust in God.

Whoever hates his sins will stop sinning; and whoever confesses them will receive remission. A man can not abandon the habit of sin if he does not first gain enmity toward sin, nor can he receive remission of sin without confession of sin. For the confession of sin is the cause of true humility.

Far better it is for you to say: "I am a sinner," than to say: "I have no need of religion." The empty can be filled, but the self-intoxicated have no room for God.

My faith instills in me a deep sense of humility and gratitude, reminding me how often I fall short and how much I need the savior, and how thankful I am that God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself.

There is no man who will not be grieved at the time of his chastisement; and there is not man who will not endure a bitter time, when he must drink the poison of temptations. Without them, it is not possible to obtain a strong will. When he has often experienced the help of God in temptations, a man also obtains strong faith.

You have no questions to ask of any body, no new way that you need inquire after; no oracle that you need to consult; for whilst you shut yourself up in patience, meekness, humility, and resignation to God, you are in the very arms of Christ, your heart is His dwelling-place, and He lives and works in you.

You come to God not by being strong, but by being weak; not by being right, but through your mistakes.

I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.

The smaller you get-the smaller life makes you-the easier it is to see the grandeur of grace. While I am far more incapable than I may have initially thought, God is infinitely more capable than I ever hoped.

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