Prayer

Prayer.  I apologize for the reduced frequency of blog posts this past week.  I had some thoughts earlier in the week and just didn’t have an opportunity to get them down in writing.  I have been reading a third book by E. M. Bounds regarding prayer.  The Book is called “The Purpose of Payer”.  I have recently been reminded that one of the things that the disciples request of Jesus was that He would teach them to pray.  Out of all the things they did with Jesus, like heal the sick, cause the blind to see, feed the multitude, and even share the “Good News”, the one thing that is recorded that they asked Jesus was “Teach us to pray”.  In this post, I just wanted to share some thoughts/quotes from this book that stood out to me:

• “A holy life does not live in the closet, but it cannot live without the closet” (referencing entering your prayer closet)
• “A praying pulpit will beget praying pews
• “Prayer is not an opiate but a tonic, it does not lull to sleep but arouses anew for action.  The lazy man does not, will not, cannot pray, for prayer demands energy, Paul calls it a striving, an agony.”
• “The closet is not an asylum for the indolent and worthless Christian.  It is not a nursery where none, but babes belong.  It is the battlefield of the Church; its citadel; the scene of heroic and unearthly conflicts”.

Think about the purpose of prayer.  Think about the importance of prayer.  There is a work that only God can do and it is brought about a praying people seeking Lord in prayer.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).