Preparation
“Prayers at home are an introduction, a preparation for prayers in Church. Thus he who is not accustomed to pray at home can seldom pray diligently in Church. Experience bears witness to this, and anyone can observe it for himself.” (St John of Kronstadt)
“After his conversion, Paul spent many years preparing for the ministry to which God had called him. This preparation period included time alone with God (1:16-17), as well as time conferring with other Christians.” (Life Application Study Bible, Galatians 2:1)
“The Spirit of God works in human hearts and gives us growth…Because a long period of"working” is required before growth becomes manifest, we must not lose heart if we do not obtain immediate results. After all, spiritual growth is not a matter of applying liquid to a dry cube which suddenly swells and doubles in size.” (Dynamis 7/16/2014)
“Jesus’…earthly ministry was about three years and started when He was around thirty. That means most of the time prior to that He was in a state of preparation. Further, even during His ministry, He spent a great deal of time in thought and prayer preparing for big decisions. For example, He spent all night in prayer before selecting His twelve Disciples (Luke 6:12)…St. Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus in his vision of Christ (Acts 9:1-18), he actually went into the desert wastes for three years to make sense of his experience and to learn from it before he began his mission to the gentiles as an Apostle of Christ (see Galatians 1:17-18).” (Sacramental Living)
“All our preparation for any task is useless without God. But even with God’s help we still must do our part and prepare. His control of the outcome does not negate our responsibilities. God may want you to produce a great book, but you must learn to write. God may want to use you in foreign missions, but you must learn the language. God will accomplish His purposes, and He will be able to use you if you have done your part by being well prepared.” (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 21:31)
“Personal preparation is the key to becoming a fruitful Christian.” (Dr. Bill Bright)
“Prayer, fasting, vigils and all of the other works that the Church prescribes are not attempts to win God’s favor, but rather they are means of preparing the soil of our heart to receive and keep the grace of God.” (Clark Carlton)