John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Here is the great general plan. God wants you to pray. Those who keep on asking receive. Those who keep on seeking find. To those who keep on knocking, it will be opened [Mt. 7:7-8]. - John R. Rice

Somebody said, "Brother Rice, suppose you ask something that is wrong. What about that?" Well it might be like Paul's thorn in the flesh. Paul besought the Lord three different times and had a time of passionate prayer. "Lord, this thorn in the flesh, take it out. It is a messenger from the Devil to hinder me."

The Lord said, "Paul, what do you want?"

He said, "I want to be a better preacher. I want the best."

The Lord said, "Now Paul, we will get along better if we have a great big God, not a big Paul. I will tell you what I will do. I will give you grace every day, but I will not take away the thorn in the flesh."

So Paul said, "All right Lord, hand that prayer back and I'll change it." Then he said, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

So Paul got his prayer answered, didn't he? He had to change it to the best way. - John R. Rice

Now we get the idea: "I'll sure be glad when I learn enough Bible to control my passions and my temper, so I can just go along without any temptation." You never get to that place, because the Devil is always after you. Nobody is good except those who are working to be good. - John R. Rice

A young man came to see me one time who was feeling backslidden. We had prayer and he came back to the Lord. I said, "Now you have to set out to read and study the Bible if you are going to stay clean and good." He said, "Why, Brother Rice, I do. I read a verse in the Bible almost every day." I said, "You just nearly kill yourself reading the Bible, don't you?" - John R. Rice 

Unless you work at it, you won't do right. Unless you work at it, you won't feel right. Unless you work at it, you won't love God nor people as you ought. - John R. Rice

Some young married couple says, "Well, our love has grown cold." Then warm it up again. That is not just a matter left to accident or circumstance. It is left to people to make an honest effort to do right. A man loves his wife because he promised to love her. Christians love the Lord and work to love Him more because they ought to love the Lord. - John R. Rice

In a revival service, I walked down the aisle and said to a beautiful old lady, "Hello there! This is brother Rice. Do you love the Lord?" She said, "Yes I do," and her eyes filled with tears as she said, "But not half as much as I ought!"
That is true about all of us, isn't it? - John R. Rice