On Prayer

Today our dear pastor preached on a simple, but vital truth. The mark of an effective and Spirit filled believer is a life soaked in constant prayer. I am blessed to attend a church where the pastor lives what he preaches and is a man of prayer, who makes prayer a part of the church's life. I was pricked to the core that my prayer life has been less than what it should be, because not only do I become focused more on myself that my Saviour, but I also let down my Brethren.

“The superficial results of many a ministry, and the deadness of others are to be found in the lack of praying. No ministry can succeed without much praying, and this praying must be fundamental, ever-abiding, ever-increasing. The text–the sermon–should be the result of prayer. The study should be bathed in prayer, all its duties impregnated with prayer, its whole spirit the spirit of prayer.

“I am sorry that I have prayed so little” was the deathbed regret of one of God’s chosen ones. That is a sad and remorseful regret for a preacher. “I want a life of greater, deeper, and truer prayer,” said the late Archbishop Tait. So may we all say, and this may we all secure.

God’s true preachers can be distinguished by one great feature: they are men of prayer. Often differing in many things, they have always had a common center. They may have started at different points, and traveled by different roads, but they converge to one point: they are one in prayer. To them, God is the center of attraction, and prayer is the path which led to God. These men do not pray occasionally–not a little or at odd times. But they so pray that their prayers enter into and shape their very characters. They pray so as to affect their own lives, the lives of others, and to make the history of the Church influence the current of the times. They spend much time in prayer, not because they watch the shadow on the dial, or the hands on the clock, but because it is to them so momentous and engaging a business that they can scarcely quit.”

–E.M. Bounds, (1835-1913), Power Through Prayer

Lord, forgive my lack of prayer these past days.