Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Prayer

On Saturday my perfectly happy "look at the beautiful rainbows" attitude got stomped on. My joy left and I sat absolutely stunned the rest of the day. I turned to God and refused to speak thanks to the sudden impression that I was nothing more than an annoyance to Him. Even now I find myself torn between confusion of how on earth I could believe such a thing, to still not able to convince myself that it's not true.
Even now I wouldn't be able to logically explain how it's not true. BUT, the one thing I believe is that it was an attack from the devil. And sometimes you just have to act on faith *take note.. it's Tuesday, so I'm no spiritual super-woman... I've been struggling all weekend!*. But finally, after doing some questioning of friends on the subject of prayer, and finding some scriptures on prayer, AND then having nearly every radio preacher I happened on preaching on prayer, and then clicking on an innocent link, only to find myself face to face with all the greatest preachers I could think of to name, PLUS some - and guess what all the quotes were about? You guessed it, prayer.
The most interesting part in all this is, even though I can't logically explain that I'm not annoying the daylights out of God, and that my heart is breaking at the very idea... I want to pray more than ever. I wonder if the devil ever just punches a wall or something out of sheer anger that we're so unpredictable?
Anyway, I found the quotes here, and thought you might be interested in them. ALSO, since I like them so much, I'm going to link to this guys website, so if you ever want to check out his regular page you'll find his link there.
The following quotations and many more on prayer may be found at Eternal Perspectives Ministries.

"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it." John Wesley

"No one's a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it." Guy H. King

"Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer." D. L. Moody

"The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! DO IT! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is: pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail." John Laidlaw

"Prayer—secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root of all personal godliness." Carey's Brotherhood, Serampore

"Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then my dear brother; pray, pray, pray." Edward Payson

"The devil is aware that one hour of close fellowship, hearty converse with God in prayer, is able to pull down what he hath been contriving and building many a year." John Flavel

"Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things 'above all that we ask or think.'" Andrew Murray

"The devil is not put to flight by a courteous request. He meets us at every turn, contends for every inch, and our progress has to be registered in heart's blood and tears." Charles E. Cowman

"Pray for 'all men.' We usually pray more for things than we do for men. Our prayers should be thrown across their pathway as they rush in their downward course to a lost eternity." E. M. Bounds

"Great grief prays with great earnestness. Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is love if it be not fiery? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers..."The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul." Samuel Chadwick

"Where there is much prayer, there will be much of the Spirit; where there is much of the Spirit, there will be ever-increasing prayer." Andrew Murray

"What has hell to fear other than a God-anointed, prayer-powered church?" Leonard Ravenhill

"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." D. L. Moody

"As it is the business of tailors to make clothes, and the business of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray!" Martin Luther

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin entice a man to cease from prayer. The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan." John Bunyan

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther

"Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, or bending his will to ours, but the prescribed way of subordinating our will to his." John Stott"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 trembles when we pray." Samuel Chadwick"Rich is the person who has a praying friend." Janice Hughes

"Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men who the Holy Spirit can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not come on machinery but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer." E. M. Bounds

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