For just as the first general precepts of the law of nature are self-evident to one in possession of natural reason, and have no need of promulgation, so also that of believing in God is primary and self-evident to one who has faith: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is.

Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.

Most people really have no problem with the idea of a creator God. Their question is just what is this God like, how can I know about him, how can I know him.

Jean Paul Sartre: "I needed God . . . I reached out for religion, I longed for it, it was the remedy. Had it been denied me, I would have invented it myself.

Saint Augustine: This former skeptic confessed: "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."43 If all men need God, including atheists, then it is unreasonable to conclude there is no God anywhere simply because some people do not find Him.

Belief requires assent not only of the mind but also of the will.

I hear Jesus telling us to stop negotiating with Him, to stop offering something we think we have in exchange for His blessings.

The highest dream we could ever dream, the wish that if granted would make us happier than any other blessing, is to know God, to actually experience Him. The problem is that we don't believe this idea is true. We assent to it in our heads. But we don't feel it in our hearts.

Trust in nothing but in Providence and your own efforts. Never separate the two, like the heathen waggoner. Constancy in love is a good thing, but it means nothing, and is nothing, without constancy in every kind of effort.

He will not force you to share your faith, but He will prompt you. And when you take that step of faith, He will empower and use you.

Never forget that what may look like God's insensitivity is nothing of the sort, but rather an invitation to draw closer to Him through persistent praying in faith.