Prayer

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject:

"A most comforting example in the Bible is that in the twelfth chapter of Acts. There we find a group of earnest Christians...spending the entire night in prayer for Peter...in prison and...to be slain tomorrow. (God)...sent his angel who woke up Peter, broke off the chains, opened the doors, and brought Peter out...(When Rhoda said) 'Peter is here!' they stopped praying long enough to say 'Thou art mad!' ...when finally they let him in, 'they were astonished,' says the scripture. I have laughed again and again at this incident. All night long they had been praying for Peter to get out of jail, and then they did not believe it. But they had faith enough to pray, and that is not all; they had faith enough to get the answer! They had many doubts. Who can blame them? But they also had a brokenhearted, pleading, clinging faith that would not let God go until the answer came." -John R. Rice

"The prayers of Holy men appease God's wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the storehouses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire; it stops the mouths of lions and reconciles our suffering and weak faculties with the violence of torment and violence of persecution; it pleases God and supplies all our need."
Jeremy Taylor

"The mighty men of God, who throughout the centuries have wrought great things by prayer, are the men who have had much painful toil in prayer. Take for example, David Brainerd, that physically feeble, but spiritually mighty man of God. Trembling for years on the verge of consumption (tuberculosis), from which he ultimately died at an early age, Brainerd felt led of God to labor among the North American Indians in the early days (1700's), in the primeval forests of Northern Pennsylvania, and sometimes of a winter night he would go out into the forest and kneel in the cold snow when it was a foot deep and so labor with God in prayer that he would be wringing wet with perspiration even out in the cold winter night hours. And God heard David Brainerd, and sent such a mighty revival among the North American Indians as had never been heard of before, as indeed had never been dreamed about."
R. A. Torrey (of David Brainerd)

Pray without ceasing has been has been the sentence repeating itself in my silent thoughts, and I am sure that it will be, it must be, my practice till the last conscious hour of my life. O why was it not my practice through out that long, indolent, inanimate half century past! I often think mournfully of the difference it would have made in me. Now there remains so little time for a more genuine, effective spiritual life.
John Fletcher (on his deathbed).

When I am praying the most eloquently, I am getting the least accomplished in my prayer life. But when I stop getting eloquent and give God less theology and shut up and just gaze upward and wait for God to speak to my heart He speaks with such power that I have to grab a pencil and a notebook and take notes on what God is saying to my heart." -A. W. Tozer

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:11 pm Post subject:

"He works so naturally and so sweetly with our own spirits that we cannot with certainty distinguish his working by any fervour or strength of impression. His working is best known by the favour and relish of divine things that we feel in our souls, and the consequent fruits of sanctification in our hearts and lives." -Isaac Watts

"I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor. Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians, and some Christians of other names. Some were Calvinists, and some were Arminians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They have all been men of prayer." -Bishop J. C. Ryle

George W. Bush - "Throughout our history, Americans of faith have always turned to prayer -- for wisdom, prayer for resolve, prayers for compassion and strength, prayers for commitment to justice and for a spirit of forgiveness.
Since America's founding, prayer has reassured us that the hand of God is guiding the affairs of this nation. We have never asserted a special claim on His favor, yet we've always believed in God's presence in our lives. This has always been true. But it has never been more true since September the 11th. Prayer has comforted people in grief. Prayer has served as a unifying factor in our nation. Prayer gives us strength for the journey ahead. I work the rope lines a lot, and people say, 'Mr. President, I pray for you and your family.' I turn to them, I look them in the eye, and say, that's the greatest gift you can give. That's the greatest gift you can give. I mean it with all sincerity.
And so I want to thank you for your prayers. I want to thank you for what you do for our nation. I want to thank you for your good works. I want to thank you for helping change America one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time."
President George W. Bush

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:13 pm Post subject:

"I have often said it would be a thing very desirable, and very likely to be followed with a great blessing, if there could be some contrivance, that there should be an agreement of all God's people in America... to keep a Day of Fasting and Prayer to God; wherein, we should all unite on the same day... It seems to me, it would mightily encourage and animate God's saints, in humbly and earnestly seeking God, for such blessings which concerns them all; and that it would be much for the rejoicing of all, to think, that at the same time such multitudes of God's dear children, far and near, were sending up their cries to the same common Father for the same motives."
[Jonathan Edwards - 1742]

"I would exhort those who have entertained an hope of their being true converts, and yet since their supposed conversion have left off the duty of secret prayer, and do ordinarily allow themselves in the omission of it, to throw away their hope. If you have left off calling upon God, it is time for you to leave off hoping and flattering yourselves with an imagination that you are the children of God. Probably it will be a very difficult thing for you to do this. It is hard for a man to let go an hope of heaven, on which he hath once allowed himself to lay hold, and which he hath retained for a considerable time. True conversion is a rare thing; but that men are brought off from a false hope of conversion, after they are once settled and established in it, and have continued in it for some time, is much more rare."
[Hypocrites Deficient in the Duty of Prayer
Jonathan Edwards - 1742

"If you live in the neglect of secret prayer, you show your good will to neglect all the worship of God. He that prays only when he prays with others, would not pray at all, were it not that the eyes of others are upon him. He that will not pray where none but God seeth him, manifestly doth not pray at all out of respect to God, or regard to his all-seeing eye, and therefore doth in effect cast off all prayer. And he that casts off prayer, in effect casts off all the worship of God, of which prayer is the principal duty."
[Hypocrites Deficient in the Duty of Prayer - Jonathan Edwards - 1742]

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:17 pm Post subject:

William Federer - (Re: General Stonewall Jackson, recounted to Chaplain William W. Bennett) " I saw something today which affected me more than anything I ever saw or read on religion. While the battle was raging and the bullets were flying, Jackson rode by, calm as if he were at home, but his head was raised toward heaven, and his lips were moving evidently in prayer"
[America's God and Country, William J. Federer, p.27.]

Charles G. Finney - "Many persons, being told that God answers prayer for Christ's sake, overlook the condition of obedience. They have so loose an idea of prayer, and of our relations to God in it, and of his relations to us and to his moral government, that they think they may be disobedient and yet prevail through Christ. How little do they understand the whole subject! Surely they must have quite neglected to study their Bible to learn the truth about prayer. They might very easily have found it there declared, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." All this surely teaches us that if there be the least sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer. Nothing short of entire obedience for the time being is the condition of acceptance with God. There must be a sincere and honest heart -- else how can you look up with humble confidence and say, My Father; else how can you use the name of Jesus, as your prevailing Mediator; and else, how can God smile upon you before all the eyes of angels and of pure saints above!"
[An Approving Heart-Confidence In Prayer from "The Way Of Salvation" Chapter XXII - Charles G. Finney 1792-1875]

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:19 pm Post subject:

Revivals are born in prayer. When Wesley prayed, England was revived; when Knox prayed, Scotland was refreshed; when the Sunday School teachers of Tannybrook prayed, 11,000 young people were added to the church in a year. Whole nights of prayer have always been succeeded by whole days of soul winning. -Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman

When a boy I used to pray five times a day in secret, and to spend much time in religious conversation with other boys. I used to meet with them to pray together. So it is God's will through his wonderful grace, that the prayers of his saints should be one great and principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ's kingdom in the world. Pray much for the ministers and the church of God. -Jonathan Edwards

"God wills that men should pray everywhere, but the place of His glory is in the solitudes, where He hides us in the cleft of the rock, and talks with man face to face as a man talks with his friend."
-Samuel Chadwick

"Persons never need hesitate, because of their past sins, to approach God with the fullest confidence. If they now repent, and are conscious of fully and honestly returning to God with all their heart, they have no reason to fear being repulsed from the footstool of mercy."
[An Approving Heart-Confidence In Prayer from "The Way Of Salvation" Chapter XXII - Charles G. Finney 1792-1875]
"It is only those that live and walk with God whose prayers are of any avail to themselves, to the church, or to the world. Only those whose conscience does not condemn them, and who live in a state of conscious acceptance with God. They can pray. According to our text, they receive whatever they ask, because they keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight."
[An Approving Heart-Confidence In Prayer from "The Way Of Salvation" Chapter XXII - Charles G. Finney 1792-1875]
"When I speak of moving God, I do not mean that God's mind is changed by prayer, or that His disposition or character is changed. But prayer produces such a change in us as renders it consistent for God to do as it would not be consistent for Him to do otherwise."
[An excerpt from: "Revival Lectures" Lecture 4 by C. G. Finney (1792-1875)]

Charles Gore - "Many people have a very strangely childish notion, that 'praying in the name of Christ' means simply the addition of the words 'through Jesus Christ our Lord' at the end of their prayers. But depend upon it, they do not by adding these words, or any words, bring it about that their prayers should be in the name of Christ. To pray in the name of Christ means to pray in such a way as represents Christ. The representative always must speak in the spirit and meaning of those for whom he speaks. If Christ is our representative, that must be because He speaks our wishes, or what we ought to make our wishes; and if we are to pray in the name of Christ, that means that we are, however far off, expressing His wishes and intentions."

Billy Graham - "Prayer is spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to Him. Prayer to God is like a child's conversation with his father. It is natural for a child to ask his father for the things he needs."
"Remember that you can pray any time, anywhere. Washing dishes, digging ditches, working in the office, in the shop, on the athletic field, even in prison -- you can pray and know God hears!"
"Avail yourself of the greatest privilege this side of heaven. Jesus Christ died to make this communion and communication with the Father possible."

J. Vernon McGee - "According to my humble judgment, the greatest need of the present-day church is prayer. Prayer should be the vital breath of the church, but right now it is gasping for air. One of the great Bible teachers of the past said that the church goes forward on its knees. Maybe one of the reasons the church is not going forward today is because it's not in a position to go forward --- we are not on our knees in prayer.
We seek out panaceas to resolve the conflicts of the world and to heal our own personal and private wounds. Many are consulting the psychiatrist, the doctor, the minister, and anyone else who will listen. But we do not seem to recognize that the great need in our own personal lives is prayer. Prayer is the greatest neglected resource that we have; it's a power that we simply are not using today.
The disciples went to our Lord and said, 'Lord, teach us to pray' (Luke 11:1). They did not ask Him how to pray; they weren't looking for lessons on technique or an outline for ritualistic prayer. They had obviously heard our Lord pray, and they wanted to learn how to pray on the same high level as He did. This is a request many of us today need to make: 'Lord, teach us to pray.'"
[taken from "On Prayer" - Praying and Living in the Father's Will"]

God interceded for the children of Israel. How often our prayers go all around the world, without real definite asking for anything! And often, when we do ask, we don't expect anything. Many people would be surprised if God did answer their prayers."
[How to Have a Good Prayer Meeting from Golden Counsels by Dwight L. Moody, 1899.]

"The greatest need of the church today is more of the presence and power of the Spirit of God. O that Christians were roused to greater earnestness and importunity in prayer! I believe that the greatest revival the church has ever seen would result. God help us, each one, to be faithful in doing our share."
[How to Have a Good Prayer Meeting from Golden Counsels by Dwight L. Moody, 1899.]

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:22 pm Post subject:

George Mueller -
"I myself have for twenty-nine years been waiting for an answer to prayer concerning a certain spiritual blessing. Day by day have I been enabled to continue in prayer for this blessing. At home and abroad, in this country and in foreign lands, in health and in sickness, however much occupied, I have been enabled, day by day, by God's help, to bring this matter before Him; and still I have not the full answer yet. Nevertheless, I look for it. I expect it confidently. The very fact that day after day, and year after year, for twenty-nine years, the Lord has enabled me to continue, patiently, believingly, to wait on Him for the blessing, still further encourages me to wait on; and so fully am I assured that God hears me about this matter, that I have often been enabled to praise Him beforehand for the full answer, which I shall ultimately receive to my prayers on this subject. Thus, you see, dear reader, that while I have hundreds, yes, thousands of answers, year by year, I have also, like yourself and other believers, the trial of faith concerning certain matters."
[The Wise Sayings Of George Mueller]

"How truly precious it is that every one who rests alone upon the Lord Jesus for salvation, has in the living God a father, to whom he may fully unbosom himself concerning the most minute affairs of his life, and concerning everything that lies upon his heart! Dear reader, do you know the living God? Is He, in Jesus, your Father? Be assured that Christianity is something more than forms and creeds and ceremonies: there is life, and power, and reality, in our holy faith. If you never yet have known this, then come and taste for yourself. I beseech you affectionately to meditate and pray over the following verses: John iii.16; Rom. x.9,10; acts x.43; 1 John v.1."
[The Wise Sayings Of George Mueller]

"Go for yourself, with all your temporal and spiritual wants, to the Lord. Bring also the necessities of your friends and relatives to the Lord. Only make the trial, and you will perceive how able and willing He is to help you. Should you, however, not at once obtain answers to your prayers, be not discouraged; but continue patiently, believingly, perseveringly to wait upon God: and as assuredly as that which you ask would be for your real good, and therefore for the honour of the Lord; and as assuredly as you ask it solely on the ground of the worthiness of our Lord Jesus, so assuredly you will at last obtain the blessing. I myself have had to wait upon God concerning certain matters for years, before I obtained answers to my prayers; but at last they came. At this very time, I have still to renew my requests daily before God, respecting a certain blessing for which I have besought Him for eleven years and a half, and which I have as yet obtained only in part, but concerning which I have no doubt that the full blessing will be granted in the end...
The great point is, that we ask only for that which it would be for the glory of God to give to us; for that, and that alone, can be for our real good. But it is not enough that the thing for which we ask God be for His honour and glory, but we must
secondly ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus, viz., expect it only on the ground of His merits and worthiness.
Thirdly, we should believe that God is able and willing to give us what we ask Him for.
Fourthly, we should continue in prayer till the blessing is granted; without fixing to God a time when, or the circumstances under which, He should give the answer. Patience should be in exercise, in connection with our prayer.
Fifthly, we should, at the same time, look out for and expect an answer till it comes. If we pray in this way, we shall not only have answers, thousands of answers to our prayers; but our own souls will be greatly refreshed and invigorated in connection with these answers. "
[The Wise Sayings Of George Mueller]

George Mueller "urged definite praying and importunate praying, and remarked that Satan will not mind how we labour in prayer for a few days, weeks, or even months, if he can at last discourage us so that we cease praying, as though it were of no use."
[from George Mueller of Bristol ---New Window, chapter 21: "The Church Life and Growth"]

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject:

Arthur W. Pink - "Prayer is not appointed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need, but it is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of the need. In this, as in everything, God's thoughts are not as ours. God requires that His gifts should be sought for. He designs to be honoured by our asking, just as He is to be thanked by us after He has bestowed His blessing."
"...prayer is not intended to change God's purpose, nor is it to move Him to form fresh purposes. God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment."
"[Prayer] is the way and means God has appointed for the communication of the blessings of His goodness to His people."
"The prevailing idea seems to be, that I come to God and ask Him for something that I want, and that I expect Him to give me that which I have asked. But this is a most dishonouring and degading conception. The popular belief reduces God to a servant, our servant: doing our bidding, performing our pleasure, granting our desires. No, prayer is a coming to God, telling Him my need, committing my way unto the Lord, and leaving Him to deal with it as seemeth Him best."
"Real prayer is communion with God, so that there will be common thoughts between His mind and ours. What is needed is for Him to fill our hearts with His thoughts, and then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him."
"Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude-an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God."

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http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/pinks_archive.htm

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject:

"I urge upon you communion with Christ; a growing communion. There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ that we never saw, and new foldings of love in him. I despair that I shall ever win to the far end of that love, there are so many aspects to it. Therefore dig deep, and sweat and labor and take pains for him, and set by as much time in the day for him as you can. We will be won in the labor." - Samuel Rutherford

"Misemployment of time is injurious to the mind. In illness I have looked back with self-reproach on days spent in my study; I was wading through history and poetry and monthly journals, but I was in my study! Another man's trifling is notorious to all observers, but what am I doing? Nothing, perhaps, that has reference to the spiritual good of my congregation. Be much in retirement and prayer. Study the honor and glory of your Master." -Richard Cecil

"Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer." -Robert Murray McCheyne

"But above all he excelled in prayer. The inwardness and weight of his spirit, the reverence and solemnity of his address and behavior, and the fewness and fullness of his words have often struck even strangers with admiration as they used to reach others with consolation. The most awful, living, reverend frame I ever felt or beheld, I must say, was his prayer. And truly it was a testimony. He knew and lived nearer to the Lord than other men, for they that know him most will see most reason to approach him with reverence and fear." -William Penn (of George Fox)

"Christ teaches us to pray not only by example, by instruction, by command, by promises, but by showing us Himself, the ever-living Intercessor, as our Life. It is when we believe this, and go and abide in Him for our prayer-life too, that our fears of not being able to pray aright will vanish, and we shall joyfully and triumphantly trust our Lord to teach us to pray, to be Himself the life and the power of our prayer." -Andrew Murray

"We would not have any think that the value of their prayers is to be measured by the clock, but our purpose is to impress on our minds the necessity of being much alone with God; and that if this feature has not been produced by our faith, then our faith is of a feeble and surface type." -E. M. Bounds

"This unction is not the gift of genius. It is not found in the halls of learning. No eloquence can woo it. No industry can win it. No prelatical hands can confer it. It is the gift of God -- the signet set to his own messengers. It is heaven's knighthood given to the chosen true and brave ones who have sought this anointed honor through many an hour of tearful, wrestling prayer." -E. M. Bounds

"Praying gives sense, brings wisdom, broadens and strengthens the mind. The closet is a perfect school-teacher and schoolhouse for the preacher. Thought is not only brightened and clarified in prayer, but thought is born in prayer. We can learn more in an hour praying, when praying indeed, than from many hours in the study. Books are in the closet which can be found and read nowhere else. Revelations are made in the closet which are made nowhere else." -E. M. Bounds

"Christ teaches us to pray not only by example, by instruction, by command, by promises, but by showing us Himself, the ever-living Intercessor, as our Life. It is when we believe this, and go and abide in Him for our prayer-life too, that our fears of not being able to pray aright will vanish, and we shall joyfully and triumphantly trust our Lord to teach us to pray, to be Himself the life and the power of our prayer. May God open our eyes to see what the holy ministry of intercession is to which, as His royal priesthood, we have been set apart. May He give us a large and strong heart to believe what mighty influence our prayers can exert. And may all fear as to our being able to fulfill our vocation vanish as we see Jesus, living ever to pray, living in us to pray, and standing surety for our prayer-life." -Andrew Murray

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:27 pm Post subject:

"Prayer is the Christian life, reduced to its essence." -Hank Hanegraaff

"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." -Dwight L. Moody

"As it is the business of tailors to make clothes, and the business of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray!" -Martin Luther

"My soul felt a pleasing yet painful concern lest I should spend some moments without God. Oh, may I always live to God! In the evening I was visited by some friends, and spent the time in prayer, and such conversation as tended to edification. It was a comfortable season to my soul. I felt an ardent desire to spend every moment with God. God is unspeakably gracious to me continually. In time past, he has given me inexpressible sweetness in the performance of duty. Frequently my soul has enjoyed much of God, but has been ready to say, 'Lord, it is good to be here,' and so indulge sloth while I have lived on the sweetness of my feelings. But of late God has been pleased to keep my soul hungry almost continually, so that I have been filled with a pleasing pain. When I really enjoy God, I feel my desires of Him the more insatiable, and my thirstings after holiness the more unquenchable." (-from David Brainerd's Diary)

All you need to do to learn to pray is to pray." -Wesley Duewel (Mighty Prevailing Prayer)

Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might. -Charles Spurgeon

"At the tea table, the conversation was bright, witty, and always interesting; and after the meal was over, an adjournment was made to the study for family worship, and it was at these seasons that my beloved's prayers were remarkable for their tender childlikeness, their spiritual pathos, and their intense devotion. He seemed to come as near to God as a little child to a loving father, and we were often moved to tears as he talked thus face to face with his Lord." -His wife, speaking of Charles Spurgeon

"All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort...Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you." -Charles Spurgeon

"When I pray coincidences happen, and when I do not, they don’t." -William Temple

"True, whole prayer is nothing but love." -St. Augustine

"All progress in prayer is an answer to prayer—our own or another’s." -P. T. Forsyth

"A season of silence is the best preparation for speech with God." -Samuel Chadwick

"All fruitfulness in service is the outcome of prayer — of the worker’s prayers, or of those who are holding up holy hands on his behalf." -Anonymous

"Although God certainly knows all our needs, praying for them changes our attitude from complaint to praise and enables us to participate in God's personal plan for our lives." -Ray Stedman

God's Warrior · Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:28 pm Post subject:

"Prayer is the gate through which all the graces of God come to us." -Teresa of Avila

"As impossible as it is for us to take a breath in the morning large enough to last us until noon, so impossible is it to pray in the morning in such a way as to last us until noon."
O. Hallesby

"As well could you expect a plant to grow without air and water as to expect your heart to grow without prayer and faith." -Anonymous

"But if one neglects his closet, then all evil comes of it". -C. H. Spurgeon

Corrie Ten Boon - "A man is powerful on his knees."
Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)

Phillips Brooks - "Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking hold of God's willingness."

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks commensurate with your strength. Pray for strength commensurate with your tasks."

Thomas B. Brooks -"Prayer crowns God with the honor and glory due to His name, and God crowns prayer with assurance and comfort. The most praying souls are the most assured souls."

John Bunyan -"In prayer, it is better to have heart without words, than words without heart. Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin entice a man to cease from prayer. The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan."

The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan."
"The best prayers often have more groans than words."
[John Bunyan (1628-1688)]

"You can do more than pray after you've prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

George Buttrick - "Prayer is not a substitute for work, thinking, watching, suffering, or giving; prayer is a support for all other efforts."

John Calvin - "To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to remain buried in the ground."
[Institutes of the Christian Religion - "Of Prayer" by John Calvin]

Richard Cecil - "God's way of answering the Christian's prayer for more patience, experience, hope and love often is to put him into the furnace of affliction."

Oswald Chambers - "Prayer is not an exercise. It is the life of the saint."
[Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)]

"Prayer does not equip us for the greater work, Prayer is the greater work."

Adam Clarke - "Prayer requires more of the heart than the tongue."
[Adam Clarke (1762-1832)]

Jim Cymbala - "The devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we begin to lift up our hearts to God."
[Jim Cymbala, in Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire]

George Failing - "He who fails to pray does not cheat God. He cheats himself."
Richard J. Foster - "Countless people pray far more than they know. Often they have such a "stained-glass" image of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying."

A.J. Gordon - "You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed."

William Gurnall - "Furnish thyself with arguments from the promises to enforce thy pravers, and make them prevalent with God. The promises are the ground of faith, and faith, when strengthened, will make thee fervent, and such fervency ever speeds and returns with victory out of the field of prayer.... The mightier any is in the Word, the more mighty he will be in prayer."

Jack Hayford - "In every storm there is a 'Peace! Be still' Christ will speak where prayer's call invites Him. (1 Timothy 2:1-3)"

Alexander Henderson - "Israel prevailed with God in wrestling with Him, and therefore it is that he prevails with men also. If so be that we will wrestle with God for a blessing, and prevail with Him, then we need not to fear but we shall wrestle the enemies out of it also."

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "There are ideas in our hearts, there are wishes, there are aspirations, there are groanings, there are sighings that the world knows nothing about; but God knows them. So words are not always necessary. When we cannot express our feelings except in wordless groanings, God knows exactly what is happening."

Thomas Kinkade - "The power of prayer is like turning on a light as it illuminates God's purpose for our lives. There is no greater connection to knowing His will other than the word."

Brother Lawrence - "Prayer is nothing else than a sense of God's presence"

Martin Luther - "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."

Thomas Lye - "I had rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous."

F.B. Meyer - "Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear."

"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer."

Anne Murchison - "I have read many books on prayer, studied prayer and attended seminars on prayer. I have prayed tens of thousands of hours privately, and met weekly with beloved friends over years and years to pray. I have attended church prayer meetings, prayed at church railings, at community prayer meetings and while watching or listening to tragedies on the nightly news. I have prayed with thousands of people in large groups and hundreds of individual friends and strangers in intimate settings and casual conversations; face-to-face, over the telephone, in restaurants, in malls, in parking lots, in prisons, in foreign countries, on planes and through letters and e-mail. I have prayed walking, standing, sitting, rocking babies, kneeling and lying on my face. I have journaled prayer, spoken prayer, conversed in prayer, sung prayer, shouted prayer, whispered prayer, groaned prayer and wept prayer. In all of this prayer over so many years I have learned one thing. One single thing . . . and this is that the power of prayer is not in the words I pray, the place I pray, the way I pray, how loud I pray or how long I pray, but in the One to Whom I pray."

G. Campbell Morgan - "The prayer life does not consist of perpetual repetition of petitions. The prayer life consists of life that is always upward and onward and Godward"