G. Campbell Morgan Quotes on Prayer, the Cross and the Spirit
PrayerHoly SpiritDiscipleshipEvangelism
G. Campbell Morgan (1863–1945) taught the Bible to crowds in London and America for more than fifty years. He never went to seminary. He learned his craft by reading the Bible itself, over and over, until he could see how a whole book fit together. His sentences show it. They're short, firm and built to be remembered, and many of them sum up a whole chapter.
A lot of Morgan quotes online come without a source. Every quotation below is copied exactly from his books in TheWay Library, with the book and chapter it comes from, so you can read each one in its setting. For his life story, see who was G. Campbell Morgan. For a guide to all seventeen of his books here, see G. Campbell Morgan books.
On prayer
Morgan's book on prayer starts from one small word in the disciples' request. They didn't ask to be taught a method. They asked to be taught to pray.
They did not say, Lord, teach us how to pray, but, "Lord, teach us to pray."
The Practice of Prayer, chapter I, Preliminary
Those who know what it is to talk often with God gain a tone in their talking with men which cannot be mistaken.
The Practice of Prayer, chapter II, The Possibility of Prayer
Preparation for prayer is secured by response in the life to the great facts which make prayer possible.
The Practice of Prayer, chapter IV, The Preparation for Prayer
Passion for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the world is the deepest note in prayer.
The Practice of Prayer, chapter V, The Plane of Prayer: The Purpose of God
Of the Lord's Prayer he said this:
To pray that prayer intelligently is to have nothing else to pray for.
The Practice of Prayer, chapter V, The Plane of Prayer: The Purpose of God
I repeat, that to lose the vision of God is to lose the sense of sin.
The Practice of Prayer, chapter III, The Platform of Prayer
On the cross
Morgan wrote two books on the death of Christ, and he came back to it in nearly everything else. For him the cross showed both how much God hates sin and how much He loves the sinner.
Of the Christian system, the Cross of Christ is the central truth.
The Bible and the Cross, chapter I, The Death of Jesus: Unnatural
If you can persuade me to believe that God will excuse sin in any life, or under any circumstances, in that moment you persuade me that God is not love.
The Bible and the Cross, chapter III, The Death of the Lord: Reconciling
God is the stern and unbending foe of sin because He is love.
The Bible and the Cross, chapter III, The Death of the Lord: Reconciling
What the Cross was to those composing this assembly, depended upon the attitude of mind and heart in which they gathered around it.
The Crises of the Christ, chapter XXIV, The Representative Crowds
In all the works of God there is to be discovered an unvarying method of process and crisis.
The Crises of the Christ, Introductory: The Subject and the Scheme
On preaching the gospel
In his lectures on evangelism, Morgan warned against any message that leaves out the cross, and any messenger whose life doesn't match it.
We must be very suspicious of any new evangel that has no Cross in it.
Evangelism, chapter I, The Evangel
To preach the living Lordship of Christ is to create the necessity for His Cross.
Evangelism, chapter I, The Evangel
Evangelism apart from the Church is apart from Christ, and is therefore no evangelism.
Evangelism, chapter II, The Church Evangelistic
And the man who preaches the Cross must be a crucified man.
Evangelism, chapter III, The Evangelist
It is no use my preaching the Lordship of Christ unless I am loyal to Him.
Evangelism, chapter III, The Evangelist
Every victory which the Spirit wins for Christ in the believer, is a victory won for Christ through the believer.
The Missionary Manifesto, chapter IV, The Witnesses
And on what a church owes its city:
We are not responsible for converting London; we are responsible that all London shall hear the Gospel.
The Parables of the Kingdom, chapter II, The Scheme of the Discourse
On the Holy Spirit
God is not in the image of man: man is in the image of God.
The Spirit of God, chapter II, The Personality of the Spirit
Man is not man, apart from the direct ministry and sustaining power of the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God, chapter V, The Spirit in Relation to Unfallen Man
No longer is the root-sin that of impurity, or drunkenness, or lust, or pride, or even law-breaking; the root-sin is the refusal to believe on Jesus.
The Spirit of God, chapter XIV, The Spirit in the World
The Spirit is quenched by disloyalty to Christ, or when His gift is used for any other purposes than that upon which the heart of God is set.
The Spirit of God, chapter XX, Resist Not, Grieve Not, Quench Not
When the Spirit of God comes to the soul and says "Jesus is Lord," the soul responds "Jesus is Lord."
God's Methods with Man, chapter III, The Dispensation of the Spirit
On the Christian life
Morgan liked plain pictures for the Christian life: life, health, growth and work. He didn't think holiness was only for the old saint. He thought it was the normal health of every believer.
Given the life, then, holiness is simply that life maintained in health before God.
The Simple Things of the Christian Life, chapter II, Holiness
I cannot live the holy life if I am neglecting at any point something that in my inner heart I know I ought to be doing.
The Simple Things of the Christian Life, chapter II, Holiness
You cannot pay homage to evil, and then return to the service of God.
The Simple Things of the Christian Life, chapter V, Temptation
A Christian, then, is a revelation of Christ, because the Christ within shines through the whole external life.
The Life of the Christian, chapter I, Its Nature
A man never finds real freedom of the will until he has found the seat of authority, and has put Christ there as King.
The Life of the Christian, chapter IV, Its Consciousness
God is always mightier than the circumstances, and all the world forces which pull us downward are also under His control.
The Life of the Christian, chapter V, Its Testing
Men always in some measure reproduce Christ when they live His life.
The True Estimate of Life and How to Live, chapter I, Paul's Estimate of Life
On discipleship and daily work
His first book, Discipleship, follows the disciple home, to the office and to the field. Ordinary work, he said, is a calling from God.
Christ never becomes a teacher to those who are living in sin.
Discipleship, chapter I, Becoming a Disciple
To dig — whether with spade, or plough, or shaft and machinery for metals — is a calling of God.
Discipleship, chapter V, The Disciple at Business
The disciple of Jesus, recognizing his calling in life as of God, cannot possibly treat it carelessly or with any measure of indifference.
Discipleship, chapter V, The Disciple at Business
Joy is the normal condition of man, God's highest work.
Discipleship, chapter X, The Disciple in Joy
On God's will and God's law
Nothing is more restful to the heart of man than the sense of the eternity of God.
God's Perfect Will, chapter VI, Promises Perpetuity
The severity of the law of God is the necessary sequence of His infinite love.
The Ten Commandments, Introductory
Sacrilege is centred in offering God something which costs nothing, because you think God is worth nothing.
Wherein?, chapter III, The Complaints of Jehovah
God wants men who will render service to Him for the very love of Him, even though they never have reward.
Wherein?, chapter III, The Complaints of Jehovah
On Christ and hope
Last, a few lines about Jesus Christ Himself, and the hope that no sinner is too far gone.
Christ is the Redeemer of all types of human failure.
The Christ of To-Day: What? Whence? Whither?
God never yet has, and never will, punish any man for inheriting anything.
Life Problems, chapter III, Heredity
Where to read more Morgan
These lines come from all seventeen of his books in TheWay Library. If you want to start with one, read The Practice of Prayer: it's short and clear, and it shows Morgan at his best, taking one passage and opening it up. For a longer book, The Crises of the Christ is the one many readers consider his finest. All his books are on the G. Campbell Morgan author page, and you'll find more of his teaching on prayer in our guide to the best Christian books on prayer.