On Prayer

Luke 18:1, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart…”1 Timothy 2:1, “First of all then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men…”Ephesians 6:18, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for the saints, and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”Colossians 4:2,3, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well that God may open to us a door for the word that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned…”Matthew 7:7,8, “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, for everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in the time of need.”“From a biblical point of view, prayer may be defined as a believer’s communication with God. This definition suggests three main elements in prayer: 1) God 2) the believer and 3) the communication. If one of these components is missing, prayer cannot occur. A quiet church building may not be accessible, we may not have much time, friends and prayer partners may not be around. But as good and helpful as these elements may be, none is essential to prayer. Take away God, the believer or the communication, and prayer becomes impossible. Without God no one listens, without the believer no one speaks, and without communication, nothing is said.” Richard Pratt“O Brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper- and sleep too- than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber.” Andrew A. Bonar“God's children should pray. They should cry day and night to Him. God hears every one of your cries in the busy hour of the daytime and in the lonely watches of the night.” Robert Murray McCheyne“I ask whether you pray, because prayer is an act in religion to which there is great encouragement. There is everything on God’s part to make prayer easy, if men will only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked places are made straight and the rough places are made smooth. There is no excuse left for the prayerless man. There is a way by which any man however sinful and unworthy may draw near to God the Father. Jesus Christ has opened that way by the sacrifice he made for us on the cross…There is an Advocate and Intercessor always waiting to present the prayers of those who come to God through him. That advocate is Jesus Christ. He mingles our prayers with the incense of His own almighty intercession. So mingled, they go up as a sweet savor before the throne of God…There is the Holy Spirit ever ready to help our infirmities in prayer. It is one of his special office to assist us in our endeavor to speak with God. We need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if we seek his aid…There are exceeding great and precious promises to those who pray…There are wonderful examples in Scripture of the power of prayer. Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for prayer to do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. It has won victories over fire, air, earth and water. Prayer opened the Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from heaven. Prayer made the Sun stand still…Well might Mary Queen of Scots say, ‘I fear John Knox’s prayers more than an army of ten thousand men…’ What more can a man want to lead him to take any step in religion, than the things I have just told him about prayer. What more could be done to make the path to the mercy seat easy, and to remove all occasions of stumbling from the sinner’s way?” J.C. Ryle“No aspect of the church’s life and ministry more indicates the state of health than prayer. And nothing so displays the great need for revival in our generation like our prayerlessness. Our Lord taught His disciples that they ‘should always pray and not give up.’ (Luke 18:1) And our Lord used only two parables concerning prayer. Both of these…stress the same basic truth-persistence in struggle, or what has been called importunity in prayer.” John Armstrong