Re: Impressive Prayer or the Cross?

In some...churches the man who prays first, longest and loudest gets a reputation for being the most spiritual man in the assembly....The [truly] spiritual man wants to carry his cross. Many Christians accept adversity or tribulation with a sigh and call it their cross, forgetting that such things come alike to saint and sinner. The cross is that extra adversity that comes to us as a result of our obedience to Christ. This cross is not forced upon us; we voluntarily take it up with full knowledge of the consequences. We choose to obey Christ and by so doing choose to carry the cross. --A.W.Tozer

"Be careful of the scribes, those desiring to walk about in robes, and greetings in the markets, and chief seats in the synagogues...and for a pretense praying at length. These will receive more abundant judgment." (Mk12:38-40)

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, and besides, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, he cannot be My disciple. For who of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has the things to finish; (Lk14:26-28)

"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss because of Christ. But, nay, rather I also count all things to be loss because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them to be trash, that I might gain Christ (Phil3:7-8)