Thoughts On Prayer (pt1) by Daniel Williams
As I have read and studied the topic of prayer, I have come across so many wonderful insights into the topic by many men and women of God. These have helped me better understand prayer itself, the importance of praying, and how to pray. I hope you find them to be helpful for you as well. I am also including a link to a very valuable book on prayer that I read recently called, “Prayer” by Pastor Bruce Zachary. You can download the book for free, and I highly recommend it. I pray that you are encouraged and inspired by some of these thoughts and insights on prayer.
PRAYER & IMPORTANCE
“Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.” - E.M. Bounds
“As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” - Martin Luther
“Prayer is the vital breath of Christians. Not the thing that makes us alive, but the evidence we are alive.” - Oswald Chambers
PRAYER & PLANNING
“Unless I’m badly mistaken, one of the main reasons so many of God’s children don’t have a significant prayer life is not so much that we don’t want to, but we don’t plan to. If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing’s ever ready. We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure, And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences of prayer. The opposite of planning is the rut. If you don’t plan a vacation you will probably stay home and watch tv. The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer you must plan to see it.” - John Piper
PRAYER & GODILNESS
“The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness.” - John Wesley
"Prayer is a means for spiritual acorns to become mighty spiritual oak trees." -Bruce Zachary
“Through prayer, our hearts are aligned with God’s heart so that we gain spiritual insight.” - Bruce Zachary
“Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness.” - William Carey
“What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, in 19 cases out of 20, arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those who are eminently holy prayer much?” - JC Ryle
“This much we do know---Jesus prayed. Luke tells us ‘But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed’ (Luke 5:16). If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray? Prayer is expected because we need it. We will not be like Jesus without it.” - Donald Whitney
PRAYER & GOD’S WORD
“The more familiar we are with God’s Word, the clearer His will is to us. The clearer His will is to us, the more confident we become that He will respond to our prayers.” - Bruce Zachary
“The great lack of our faith is that we do not know God.” - Andrew Murray
PRAYER & ACTION
"We learn most about prayer by praying." - Bruce Zachary
“Reading a book about prayer, listening to lectures and talking about it is very good, but it won’t teach you to pray. You get nothing without exercise, without practice. I might listen for a year to a professor of music plating the most beautiful music, but that won’t teach me to play an instrument.” - Andrew Murray
“Reading about prayer instead of praying will simply not do. But reading about prayer in addition to praying can be a valuable way to learn.” - Donald Whitney
PRAYER & PERSEVERANCE
“If the ships of prayer do not come home speedily, it is because they are more heavily freighted with blessings. - C.H. Spurgeon
“It is comforting to know that God is never late. However, He is rarely early. As we ask, and while we wait, we learn to depend on God.” - Bruce Zachary
“The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it.” - George Muller