J.C. Ryle Quotes

Would you know the secret of the believer’s boldness in prayer? It is a marvel how a man that feels his sin so deeply as the believer does, can speak with the confidence the believer frequently does. How one that acknowledges he is “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked,” ruined, undone—who often does what he ought not to do, and leaves undone what he ought to do, and finds no spiritual health in him—how such a one as this can go before God with confidence, pour out his heart before Him freely, ask from Him what he requires day after day and not feel afraid—this is wonderful indeed. What is the secret of it? It is the intercession of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whereby the true Christian knows his prayers are made acceptable, and received in the court of heaven.

~ J.C. Ryle

Old Paths, “Christ’s Power to Save”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 451.

“Seek every day to have closer communion with Him who is your Friend, and to know more of His grace and power. True Christianity is not merely believing a certain set of dry abstract propositions: it is to live in daily personal communication with an actual living person – Jesus Christ. ‘To me’, said Paul, ‘to live is Christ.’ ” (Phil 1:21).

~ J.C. Ryle

Practical Religion, “The Best Friend”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 350.

Happy New Year to all you J.C. Ryle readers!

Because this site is devoted to the quotes of Ryle, I sometimes offer links to other places that focus on Ryle and his writings. I recently came across a few You Tube clips containing some of Ryle’s works. Below is a partial reading of  Ryle’s classic work entitled A Call to Prayer. If you have not yet read this fantastic, short booklet on prayer, it’s also available online, free of charge.

May Ryle’s words on prayer be an encouragement to you in 2010!

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“Let us strive to make the Lord’s Prayer our model and pattern in all our approaches to God. Let it suggest to us the sort of things which we should pray for and pray against. Let it teach us the relative place and proportion which we should give to each subject in our prayers. The more we ponder and examine the Lord’s Prayer, the more instructive and suggestive shall we find it to be.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 6, 7.

“Let us pray much for humility, and especially for humility in our days of peace and success. When everything around us seems to prosper, and all our plans work well, – when family trials and sicknesses are kept from us, and the course of our worldly affairs runs smooth, – when our daily crosses are light, and all within and without are like a morning without clouds, – then, then is the time when our souls are in danger!”

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 359.