Quotes about Prayer

Oswald Chambers, a man who wrote profoundly and elegantly on prayer, made a radical statement when he said, "The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God." Good heavens—it's not? What then is the purpose? "Prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God." A mighty truth is being uncovered here.

Pause when you are offered beauty and make the conscious decision, I receive this grace. We open our clenched soul to let it in. To find God in it. I will often pray, Thank you for this beauty. I receive it into my soul. And with it I receive you, in it, by it, through it—your love, your goodness, your life.

Of course our prayers are limited by our sin. If you want powerful prayers, get the sin out of your life.

Now, if you believed both assumptions, if they were woven into your deepest convictions about the world, you would want to learn to pray like a soldier wants to learn to use his weapon, like a smoke jumper wants to learn survival skills. We really have no idea what sort of breakthrough is actually possible until we learn to pray. Perhaps we, too, will be ending droughts and stopping wildfires.

What do you want me to pray for them? Show me what to pray.

Essential prayer is conversational.

Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need," wrote George MacDonald. "Prayer is the beginning of that communion and some need is the motive of that prayer."

Fuzzy and unspecific prayers see fuzzy and unspecific results.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. (James 5: 14—15 UPDATED NIV)

Then I ask for more of God: Jesus—I need more of you; fill me with more of you, God. Restore our union; fill me with your life.

Effective prayer is often like the felling of a great tree—it takes repeated blows.

I am careful how I bring my emotion, or my experience, to the need at hand. I don't ignore them; but neither do I let them dictate what I am praying. Our testimonies of previous results are valuable, and they may come into play. But this is a very dynamic story we find ourselves in, and as we mature in prayer, let us be careful not to assume this situation is exactly the same as the one before. You will want to ask God what needs to be prayed.