Thomas Merton Quotes

Remember the words of Christ: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." These words are literally true, not figures or fiction. They were the outflow of the heart's blood of one of the greatest sons of God who have ever come to this world of ours; words which came as the fruit of realisation, from a man who had felt and realised God himself; who had spoken with God, lived with God, a hundred times more intensely than you or I see this building.

After a long, impartial enquiry of the truth, and after much and earnest calling upon God, to give unto me the spirit and revelation in the knowledge of Him, I find myself obliged, both by the principles of reason and Scripture, to embrace the opinion I now hold forth.

One of the consistent themes you'll find throughout the Bible is that God will always provide the necessary information about Jesus Christ to someone who sincerely desires to receive that revelation.

The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer.

I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also.

There is a Mount Sinai for every child of God if he only knows where to find it.

It is up to God to reveal a religion, but up to us to understand and realise it.

The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our teacher. That's why, in prayer, we can ask the Lord to open up Scripture and make it come alive to us, to open our understanding. He left his Spirit with us until we join him in Heaven.

When I pray, I pray believing that God will speak to me and give me an answer to that prayer. That's what a calling is. If I pray, a calling means that I feel like I have a sense from God.

Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.

Jesus himself talked about prayer and meditation. Anything that brings you closer to the Lord, what's wrong with that?

I began to pray those same fervent prayers, lying in bed at night, hoping to see a scroll unrolled from the ceiling with a message from God just for me.

The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching.

The Scriptures are the truth from God.

The word for knowledge appears in the Koran more often than any other except God.

The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth.

If we listen to the voices of the world, we will be misled. But if we listen to the voice of the Lord through His living prophet and follow his counsel, we will never go astray

the Bible is a great source of wisdom and consolation and should be read frequently

We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy.

I spent a couple years just earnestly praying, asking the question that I don't think we ask enough: 'God what do you want to do with me?' Really getting into our prayer closet, seeking His heart, asking what He wants to do in our lives.

God had to teach me a lot of things.

I have no doubt, if people are really seeking the big questions, it will lead them to the Lord.

Everything God wants you to know is already written in your heart.

How do we find the Lord? I believe we have to seek Him in simple things. I believe we have to seek Him in personal prayer. I believe we must seek Him in personal service. I believe we seek and find Jesus when we follow His example.

The Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of people, makes us yearn for God, and takes spiritual truth and makes it understandable to us.