Category: Prayer Mentoring

“Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.” John Calvin

“The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts, and lack of intimacy with God’s character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline.” Oswald Chambers

“…True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.”  C. H. Spurgeon

“If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ.” C. H. Spurgeon

“If the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural.”  Andrew Murray

My Comments: I’ll be curious as to which of these stick out in your mind as you read them. For me I think it is the last Spurgeon quote. As I examine my own life and recognize now anemic my prayer life can be it causes me to consider what might be short circuiting the power. What is keeping me from having the kind of relationship with God that would result in increased power from God through prayer? Hmmmm!

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” Brother Lawrence

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”  Charles Spurgeon

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Robert Murray McCheyne

“One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved.”

On persevering prayer: “I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it.  Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two.  I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

Prayer should not be regarded “as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”  E.M. Bounds

My Comments: So here is what I gleam from all of these quotes: These guys have learned the value of prayer in a way that I have not. So I ask myself  – why is that so? Why is prayer not as sweet and delightful to me as it was to Bro Lawrence? Why do I think that preaching is more fruitful than praying? Why is my idea of persevering prayer to pray for something for one month? Why does it often feel like duty rather delight?

Only questions at this point. Hopefully answers to follow in the months to come as I continue my quest.

I’m just sayin’!

“The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'” J. Hudson Taylor

“No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack.” E.M. Bounds

“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees.”  William Cowper

“If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.”

“Prayer is the real work, Evangelism is just the mopping up.”

“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”  John Bunyon

“He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.”  William Law

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.”  Martin Luther.

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”  Samuel Chadwick

My Comments: Which one of these do you like best? I really like them all but the one that I really really like is by Martin Luther. Our God is a “YES” God. By that I mean that He delights in saying yes to the prayers of His children. He is willing to answer. Are we willing to ask? Are we willing to learn to pray according to His will not ours? Are we willing yo abide daily in Him? And by “we” I mean “me”.

I’m just sayin’!

I love really good quotes. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some random quotes about prayer from a wide variety of people.

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.  Martin Luther

“You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed.”  A.J. Gordon

“God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.”  John Wesley

“One should never initiate anything that he cannot saturate with prayer.”

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” Sidlow Baxter

“Prayer is where the action is.” John Wesley

“Satan does not care how many people read about prayer if only he can keep them from praying. Paul E. Billheimer

 “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” Corrie ten Boom

My Comments: Which one of these do you like? Which one grabbed your attention? I like the last one by Corrie ten Boom. Most of the time I don’t necessarily feel like praying. If I only prayed when I felt like it then I would not pray much at all. I have several prayer appointments during the week that right now I do a pretty good job of keeping. I hope to develop more. Once I start praying it becomes more than just an appointment with God. It’s more like us having father/son time. But I have to be intentional about making it happen or it won’t happen.

I’m just sayin’!

Yancey is commenting on Jesus’ Upper Room encounter with His disciples just prior to Gethsemane…

“ Of all that Jesus said that night in the candlelit room in the warrens of Jerusalem, one comment must have puzzled the disciples more than any other. Jesus knew the melancholy effect of His words about impending death: “Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.” As if to cheer them up, He added, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.”
Soon the disciples who were accustomed to presenting their questions, complaints, and requests to Jesus in person would have to fall back on a different approach: prayer. Of all the means God could have used, prayer seems the weakest, slipperiest, and easiest to ignore. So it is, unless Jesus was right in that most baffling claim. He went away for our sakes, as a form of power sharing, to invite us into direct communication with God and to give us a crucial role in the struggle against the forces of evil. p. 142-143

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” Paul instructs…. How can we make known a request to a God who already knows? Relationship is the key.
Occasionally in the mail I get a request for help from a stranger, often a prisoner or someone in a foreign country. Sometimes I give in response, sometimes I check the facts with a local person, sometimes I refrain from getting involved for fear of encouraging a flood of similar requests. When  my neighbor has a need though, or my nephew, or someone known to me, I do everything I can to meet the need. Relationship ups the urgency of any information – it’s the difference between watching news of reports of a tragedy overseas and watching those same reports when your son or your fiancee is there.
I will never figure out the precise role of prayer in events like the path of a hurricane or the downfall of Communism. None of us time-bound humans have that capacity. I go to God with my concerns, though,as a child goes to a loving Father. I admit my dependence and make known my requests. In the time I spend with God, I may come away with a different view of the world or at least a new appreciation of my limited point of view. In exchange God gets my attention, my engagement, my soul. p. 143-144

My thoughts: It seems like the key to understanding the gospel, the key to understanding just about everything related to our faith, is understanding that it is based on relationship. This is certainly true with regard to prayer. Prayer makes absolutely no sense at all unless we get the fact that God our Father delights in seeing His children come joyfully into His presence – sometimes to ask, sometimes to listen, sometimes to vent, sometimes to just hang out and be with Him. More often than not we have our prayer agenda – I think God would be tickled if we just came to the throne of grace and sat in silence, and just enjoyed the idea of being with Him.

I’m just sayin’!

Here are a few more nuggets from Yancey’s book. I’ll have a few personal thoughts at the end.

“When I pray, coincidences happen,” said Archbishop William Temple; “when I don’t, they don’t.” p. 106

“Be slow to pray,” cautions Eugene Peterson. “Praying puts us at risk of getting involved with God’s conditions…. Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back.” p.109

“Does prayer have any real impact on the outer world or is it merely a private conversation with God? I ask that as a serious not rhetorical question.
Even for the faithful, prayers about current events – the war on terrorosm, nuclear proliferation, environmental catastrophe – may seem futile. Richard Mouw tells a story about a tourist who observes a devout Jewish man praying at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem. The Jew rocks back and forth with close eyes, beating his breast, sometimes raising his hands. When he finishes, the tourist asks, “What do you pray for?”
The Jew responds, “I pray for righteousness, I pray for the health of my family. I pray for peace in the world, especially in Jerusalem.”
“Are these prayers effective? the tourist asks.
“It’s like talking to a wall.” p. 116

“What would happen if we followed literally Jesus’ command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? How would it affect the reputation of Christians  in the United Stated if we became known not for our access to the White House but for our access to heaven on behalf of those who strenuously, even violently, disagree with us.
In a scene recorded in the Book of Revelation (chapter 8) the apostle John foresees a direct linkage between the visible and invisible worlds. At a climactic moment in history, heaven is quiet. Seven angels stand with seven trumpets, waiting, for about the space of half an hour. Silence reigns, as if all heaven is listening on tiptoe. And then an angel collects the prayers of God’s people on earth – all the accumulated prayers of outrage, praise, lament, abandonment, despair, petition – mixes them with incense, and presents them before the throne of God. The silence finally breaks when the fragrant prayers are hurled down to earth: “and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightening, and an earthquake.”
“The message is clear,” comments Walter Wink about that scene, “history belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” The pray-ers are essential agents in the final victory over evil, suffering, and death.” p. 130

So I was talking with some guys Tuesday morning about this idea of do our prayers make any kind of difference and the answer was a resounding yes, but…. we may never know what kind of a difference we are making – especially when it comes to some of the big issues like catastrophes and war and terrorism and crimes against humanity. There’s just no way to measure the effect the prayers of believers have. Or is there? So I had this idea. What if…

What if we created a “Do Not Pray” campaign and we were able to get every believer everywhere around the world on board. And what if we designated the week of September 1-8 as Global Do Not Pray week. Do you think the world would notice if Christians were not praying? Do you think there would be a difference in the world if we stopped imploring God to keep evil from overcoming the world; if we stopped praying protection around those we love; if we stopped asking God to provide for the hurting and the helpless and the hopeless; if we stopped beseeching God to save lost sinners and to care for the hungry and to send His Spirit in power upon the churches and upon the pastors around the world.

I think the world would notice. I think the world would beg believers to cry out to God on their behalf. I think the world would see what happens in a global way when God stops answering the prayers of His people.

But I’m too afraid not to pray. As much as I would love for the world to take notice I understand that the risk may be too great because we who believe know that our prayers are making a difference.

Or at least I hope that we know. And I hope that 1) we are praying as if our prayers are making a substantial difference and 2) we know that God is at work in ways that we may not be able to measure because we are a praying people.

I’m just sayin’!

In Genesis 18,  Abraham has a bit of an argument with God. It is the first recorded record of someone “Jewing down” someone. In this case the someone is God. (And I can say Jew down because I am Jewish). He does so a bit tentatively but he is concerned about justice and trying to understand God’s ways. This is what Yancey has to say…

Like Abraham, I approach God at first in fear and trembling, only to learn that God wants me to stop groveling and start arguing. I dare not meekly accept the state of the world, with all its injustice and unfairness. I must call God to account for God’s own promises, God’s own character.
Robert Duvall’s movie The Apostle includes a scene in which Sonny, a preacher with a hot temper and a criminal record, stomps around in an upstairs room kicking furniture and yelling. A neighbor calls to complain about the noise: “Sounds like you have a madman over there.” Sonny’s mom smiles and explains that’s just Sonny. “Ever since he’s been little-bitty boy my son’s been talking to the Lord. Sometimes he talks to the Lord and sometimes he yells at the Lord, and tonight he just happens to be yelling at the Lord.” p.97

I don’t know that I have ever argued with God. By nature I am not an arguer. But I’m thinking it would be good for me to express to God some things I am confused by and just don’t understand. I mean there are definitely things that I just don’t get. I understand the consequences of the Fall and the ramifications of sin but still I’m bothered by why God allows some things to happen and “seems” unconcerned by what can only be called tragedy. In short I need to be more emotionally engaged with God. Here’s Yancey again…

I used to worry about my deficiency of faith. In my prayers I expect little and seem satisfied with less. Faith feels like a gift that a person either has or lacks, not something that can be developed by exercise, like a muscle. My attitude is changing, though, as I begin to understand faith as a form of engagement with God. I may not be able to summon up much belief in miracles, or dream big dreams, but I can indeed exercise my faith by engaging with God in prayer. p.98

Getting in shape is tough when you are out of shape. It hurts to work muscles that haven’t been worked much. That’s why this Prayer Mentoring has been helpful to me. I need the week in and week out encouragement to keep going at it. I know I’m in better shape now then I was in January. And hopefully come December I will be a prayer stud.

I’m just sayin’!

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Here are some more quotes from Yancey’s book. He has a way of voicing some of the things that we think but won’t say out loud because it would make us sound less Christian. His contention,as well as mine, is that questions lead to answers which leads to Truth which always grows our faith.

The main purpose of prayer is not to make life easier, nor to gain magical powers, but to know God. I need God more than anything I might get from God. Yet when I seek to know God through prayer, certain problems rear up. p.56

Why praise God who, unlike friends, does not need a lift? Why inform God of needs that God already knows about? Why thank God, who hardly needs a pat on the back?… Why pray? What makes this strange practice, so problematic for many, important to God? p.57

I find prayer hard work, not the rejuvenating refuge it meant to Jesus. I struggle to see prayer as a dialogue, not a monologue. How can I commune with a God who tends not to use audible words in response? p.63

Does God really care about the details of our lives, such as getting a house sold or finding a lost cat? And if the answer is yes, then what about a hurricane that flattens a city or a tsunami that washes away a quarter million people? Why does God seem so capricious in deciding if and when to intervene on this chaotic planet? p.73

After surveying Jesus’ practice of prayer, I realize that his example does answer one important question about prayer: Does it matter?… He prayed as if it made a difference, as if the time devoted to prayer mattered every bit as much as the time he devoted to caring for people. p.79

For me, prayer is the key to making life an adventure. In the Lord of the Rings series by Tolkein, poor Frodo only gets enough direction for the next lap of the journey. As he looks back, it all works out, but most of the time he wanders around confused and helpless. Only occasionally, and in subtle ways, does Gandalf actively give assistance and guidance. p.83 – by Harold.

I learn as much from the prayers Jesus did not pray as from those he did. These, too, underscore God’s mysterious style of working on this planet. When his cousin John faced imprisonment and certain execution, Jesus did not pray for his release and miraculous delivery – just as he did not pray that Satan keep his hands off Peter, nor that Judas change his mind. p. 85

I particularly like that last quote. Had never really thought about the prayers Jesus didn’t pray. Not only does Jesus pray in a different way than me, He doesn’t pray in a different way than me. Still so much to learn.

I’m just sayin’!

Most of my prayer posts to date have been from pastors or theologians. Philip Yancey is a journalist. He approaches the subject of prayer more like a layman than a clergyman. I have found his writings over the years to be thought provoking as he tends to question everything and not accept your typical religious answers. Since I am not a fan of religion I find this approach refreshing. Hope you enjoy his thoughts. There will most likely be more next week.

“Prayer is to the skeptic a delusion, a waste of time. To the believer it represents perhaps the most important use of time. As a Christian I believe the latter. Why, then, is prayer so problematic? The British pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones summed up the confusion: “Of all the activities in which the Christian engages, and which are part of the Christian life, there is surely none which causes so much perplexity, and raises so many problems, as the activity which we call prayer.” p.16

“I realize that my image of God, more than anything else, determines my degree of honesty in prayer. Do I trust God with my naked self? Foolishly, I hide myself in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God the most. From my side, the wall seems like self-protection; from God’s side it looks like lack of trust. In either case, the wall will keep us apart until I acknowledge my need and God’s surpassing desire to meet it. When I finally approach God, in fear and trembling, I find not a tyrant but a lover.” p.44

“Jesus valued prayer enough to spend many hours at the task. If I had to answer the question “Why pray?” in one sentence, it would be, “Because Jesus did.” He bridged the chasm between God and human beings. While on earth he became vulnerable, as we are vulnerable; rejected, as we are rejected; and tested, as we are tested. In every case his response was prayer.” p.50

“Prayer is a subversive act performed in a world that constantly calls faith into question. I may have a sense of estrangement in the very act of prayer, yet by faith I continue to pray and to look for other signs of God’s presence.” p.51

“I have learned to see prayer not as my way of establishing God’s presence, rather as my way of responding to God’s presence that is a fact whether or not I can detect it.” p.51

“Though my needs may drive me to prayer, there I come face-to-face with my greatest need: an encounter with God’s own self.” p.55

“Prayer that is based on relationship and not transaction may be the most freedom-enhancing way of connecting to a God whose vantage point we can never achieve and can hardly imagine. Quoting a Psalm, Peter assures us that “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.” We need not bang a drum or bring animal sacrifices to get God’s full attention; we already have it.” p.55

I have bolded a few of the phrases that particularly grabbed my attention. And I hope that as I continue to learn how to be a pray-er that some of the things I am learning help you as well.

I’m just sayin’!

E.M. Bounds was a pastor back during the Civil War era. He is best know for his prolific writings on prayer. Here are a few quotes that I came across this week as I was reading some of his books:

He who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life.

 The prayer habit is a good habit but prayer done only by force of habit is a very bad habit. This kind of praying is not conditioned after God’s order, nor is it generated by God’s power. It is not only a waste, a perversion, and a delusion, but it is also a prolific source of unbelief. Prayerless praying gets no results. God is not reached, self is not helped. It is better not to pray at all than to secure no results from praying – better for the one who prays, better for others.

 The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning – its opportunity and freshness – in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be last during the remainder of the day.

 A desire for God that cannot break the chains of sleep is a weak thing and will do little good for God. The desire for God that stays far behind the devil and the world at the beginning of the day will never catch up.

 No man can do a great and enduring work for God who is not a man of prayer, and no man can be a man of prayer who does not give much time to praying.

 No amount of money, genius, or culture can move things for God. Holiness energizing the soul – the whole man aflame with love, with desire for more faith, more prayer, more zeal, more consecration – this is the secret of power.

Two things: 1) Again and again I keep hearing that much time must be given to prayer. At this point I would say that, for me, more time is being given to prayer – not sure that I would go so far as to say that much time is being given to prayer. 2) The idea of prayerless praying – how much of my time and God’s time have I wasted because of prayerless praying. I sense that my prayerless praying is diminishing but still have far to go.

I’m just sayin’!