J. H. Jowett Quotes on God's Love, Prayer, Suffering and Peace
J. H. Jowett was a Yorkshireman who preached in Newcastle, Birmingham, New York and London, and in his day many people thought him the finest preacher in the English-speaking world. He had a gift for the short, bright sentence that makes a truth stick. That's why his lines turn up so often in sermons and on church signs.
Many Jowett quotes online come without a source, and some are garbled. 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 J. H. Jowett. For a guide to all his books, see J. H. Jowett books.
On the love of God
Jowett came back to the love of God more than to any other subject. He opened Things That Matter Most with it.
The biggest thing you and I will ever know is the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Things That Matter Most, chapter I, The Illimitable Love of God
God's love is as long as the longest road. God's love is as long as the longest day. God's love is as long as the longest night.
Things That Matter Most, chapter I, The Illimitable Love of God
Christ loves love into us. His love kindles ours as the sun kindles all the fires upon the planet.
Come Ye Apart, October
Love is not the product of small obediences; it is born of a great companionship.
The High Calling, chapter VIII, Forces Which Make for Concord
Love is not born where there has been no communion.
Things That Matter Most, chapter II, Lovers of God
He believed love and reverence have to grow together:
Love without reverence is a destructive fever; reverence without love is a perpetual frost.
Sharing His Sufferings, chapter I, The School of Calvary
And he wanted God's love enjoyed more than debated:
I am not going to argue about it, I seek to enjoy it. I am not going to prove it, but to proclaim it.
The Transfigured Church, chapter III, The Love of God
On Christ and the cross
In obtaining our forgiveness by His death, the Lord Christ revealed His love and unveiled our sin.
The Epistles of St. Peter, Bringing Us to God
A small Saviour invariably means a cheap redemption.
The High Calling, chapter X, The Mind That Was in Christ Jesus
By faith in Christ I become one with Christ, and all He is is thrown over me!
The Whole Armour of God, chapter III, The Breastplate of Righteousness
Indeed, what we really mean by getting into Christ is permitting Him to get into us.
The Friend on the Road, chapter LVI, The Joy of the Christian Life
This is the one great secret in the Christian life — making room for Christ.
The Friend on the Road, chapter XLII, Increase and Decrease
To this devout apostle, heaven was Jesus, and Jesus was heaven.
The High Calling, chapter XXIV, The Heavenly Citizenship
On prayer
Jowett taught that prayer is less about persuading God than about opening ourselves to Him.
The cardinal necessity in prayer is not pleading, but receiving.
The Epistles of St. Peter, The Transfigured Jesus
We do not pray to ingratiate God's good-will, but to open our souls in hospitality.
The Whole Armour of God, chapter VIII, The Soldier's Use of Prayer
Prayer is the clearing of the blocked roads which are crowded with all sorts of worldly hindrances.
The Whole Armour of God, chapter VIII, The Soldier's Use of Prayer
The supplies are waiting: prayer opens the way and receives them.
The Friend on the Road, chapter XXXIII, Fainting
When we pray we move into the realm of big things, big motives, big sympathies, big ideals.
Things That Matter Most, chapter V, Christ's Habit of Prayer
We must get the doubt-wrinkles out of our prayers, and in our speech with God we must manifest the assurance of a calm and fruitful faith.
The Passion for Souls, chapter VI, The Disciple's Rest
How few of us have placed prayerlessness among our possible sins!
The Eagle Life, chapter XIII, The Sin of Prayerlessness
On suffering and weakness
He didn't promise an easy road. He promised grace on a hard one.
The quality of our fellowship with the Lord is best revealed, not by our capacity for joy, but by our capacity for suffering.
Sharing His Sufferings, chapter IV, The Neglected Cup
One man with a thorn plus the grace of God, and the very thorn becomes a medium of power, and through the obtrusive weakness God's strength is more perfectly revealed.
Things That Matter Most, chapter XI, The Thorn Remains
The seemingly ungracious thing may be a means of grace.
Things That Matter Most, chapter XI, The Thorn Remains
Our weakness helps our remembrance of God; our strength is the friend of forgetfulness.
Things That Matter Most, chapter III, Forgetting God
May every hardship engrave on my soul some feature of the Lord.
Come Ye Apart, March
Our own pang is lessened when we seek to take the pang out of another's soul.
The Silver Lining, Divine Amelioratives
On peace, care and the inner life
The fear of the Lord is the soul's eastern window. It faces the place of the dawn.
Come Ye Apart, February
The greatest peril in life is to face the lions with a wandering heart.
Come Ye Apart, February
Harassing care is to play no part in the believer's life.
The High Calling, chapter XXIX, The Cure for Care
Peace is not the absence of noise, but the absence of discord.
The Epistles of St. Peter, Preparing for the Judgment
The peace of Jesus is the harmony of a central and spiritual relation.
The Friend on the Road, chapter LIII, The Gift of Peace
The only way in which to know truth is by transmitting it into life.
Come Ye Apart, January
Courtesy is not the creation of effort, it is the product of grace: it is born, not made.
The High Calling, chapter I, The Courtesy Born of Jesus
On preaching and serving Christ
Jowett spent his life in the pulpit, and he spoke to fellow workers with the honesty of a man who knew the work from the inside.
Preaching that costs nothing accomplishes nothing. If the study is a lounge the pulpit will be an impertinence.
The Preacher: His Life and Work, chapter IV, The Preacher in His Study
Men never learn to pray in public: they learn in private.
The Preacher: His Life and Work, chapter V, The Preacher in His Pulpit
The gospel of a broken heart demands the ministry of bleeding hearts.
The Passion for Souls, chapter II, The Disciple's Sacrifice
If we pray in cold blood we are no longer the ministers of the Cross.
The Passion for Souls, chapter II, The Disciple's Sacrifice
As soon as we become prominent our Lord is never seen.
The Passion for Souls, chapter IV, The Disciple Watching for Souls
In the army of the Lord promotion is not by patronage: it is the gracious heritage of fidelity.
Sharing His Sufferings, chapter V, Through Gethsemane to Olivet
Anyone can build an altar; it requires a God to provide the flame.
Thirsting for the Springs, Altars and Altar Fires
Where to read more Jowett
These lines come from thirteen of the nineteen Jowett books in the library. If you want one book of his first, try Come Ye Apart, a short reading and prayer for every day of the year. If you'd rather read straight through, Things That Matter Most is a good place to begin. All his books are listed on the J. H. Jowett author page, and our reading guide explains what each one is.