Nick Roark

“The Spirit of God was poured out upon Christ Himself, in answer to prayer (Luke 3:21–22). The Spirit descends on the church of Christ, the same way, in this respect, that it descended on the head of the church. The greatest effusion of the Spirit that ever yet has been, even that which was in the primitive times of the Christian church, which began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, was in answer to extraordinary prayer." –Jonathan Edwards, Apocalyptic Writings: “Notes on the Apocalypse” An Humble Attempt, ed. John E. Smith and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 5, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1977), 5: 355.

“The sum of the blessings Christ sought, by what He did and suffered in the work of redemption, was the Holy Spirit." –Jonathan Edwards, WJE (5: 341)

“The first rule for reading and interpreting Scripture is that all such endeavors must be preceded by the invocation of Christ Jesus, who regenerates our souls and leads us to the right understanding of God’s Word.” –Richard A. Muller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy; Volume 2: The Cognitive Foundation of Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), 2: 482.

"Hopeless and desperate as her case appeared, she had a praying mother, and where there is a praying mother there is always hope." –J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 1859/2012), 114-117. Ryle is commenting on Mark 7:24-30.

“At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.” –C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Book 1), (New York: Macmillian, 1950), 55.

While reading John Newton's letters, I'm often struck by the content of his prayers for others. Notice below how he unpacks what it means for a soul to prosper in the Lord. (3 John 2) Glorious. "I wish you health, peace, and prosperity; but, above all, that your souls may prosper: -that you may still prefer the light of God’s countenance to your chief joy; -that you may still delight yourselves in the Lord; be daily hungering and thirsting after Him, and daily receiving from His fulness, even grace for grace; -that you may rejoice in His all-sufficiency, may taste His love in every dispensation; -that every blessing of His common providence may come to you as a fruit and token of His covenant-love; -that the frame of your spirits may be heaven-ward, your conduct exemplary, and your whole conversation may breathe the meekness, simplicity, and spirituality, which become the Gospel of Christ."

“Truth and grace go together because Christ is full of both (John 1:14).” –Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God (trans. Henry Zylstra; Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 1909/2019), 394.

“A man that is a stranger to meditation is a stranger to himself.” –Thomas Manton, The Works of Thomas Manton, Vol. 17 (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 1870/2020), 17: 271.