“…and pray for one another” ~ James 5:16b
“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
“Prayer is the mightiest weapon that God has placed in our hands. It is the best weapon to use in every difficulty, and the surest remedy in every trouble. It is the key that unlocks the treasury of promises, and the hand that draws forth grace and help in time of need. It is the silver trumpet that God commands us to sound in all our necessity; it is the cry He has promised always to listen to.”
~ John Charles Ryle
“When I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold; and when it is confused, my preaching is confused; and I can often observe the effect of this in the best of my hearers: that when I have grown cold in preaching, they have grown cold too; and the next prayers which I have heard from them have been too much like my preaching.”
~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor
“…and pray for one another”
~ James 5:16b
“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 toils of day are over;
We raise our hymn to Thee,
And ask that free from peril
The hours of dark may be.
O Jesus, keep us in Thy sight,
And guard us through the coming night.
Be Thou our souls’ Preserver,
O God, for Thou dost know
How many are the perils
Through which we have to go.
Lord Jesus Christ, O hear our call
And guard and save us from them all.
~ Prayer of Anatolius (5th Century)
“The true man of God is heartsick, grieved at the worldliness of the Church…grieved at the toleration of sin in the Church, grieved at the prayerlessness in the Church. He is disturbed that the corporate prayer of the Church no longer pulls down the strongholds of the devil… The church used to be a lightning bolt, now it’s a cruise ship. We are not marching to Zion – we are sailing there with ease. In the apostolic church it says they were all amazed – and now in our churches everybody wants to be amused. The church began in the upper room with a bunch of men agonizing, and it’s ending in the supper room with a bunch of people organizing. We mistake rattle for revival, and commotion for creation, and action for unction… The true church lives and moves and has its being in prayer.”
~ Leonard Ravenhill
“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.” Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”
~ Andrew Murray
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”
~ Hebrews 4:16
As a result of the supremacy of Christ in His priesthood, and His attending mediatorial office of interceding on behalf of His people, we can come boldly (that is with confidence, with assurance, with conviction and by faith in the work of Christ) to the God’s throne of grace. I like to think we do this in our prayers. As we come before God in prayer, we can confidently approach Him on the veracity of His own character, and we can seek Him out, as our verse says, in time of need. It is by faith in Christ and with God that we may find and obtain mercy and grace. What wonderful comfort that is for those who have Christ as their Great High Priest.
~ apl
“Bring your life into accord with the Sermon on the Mount and such other New Testament Scriptures as are designed to instruct us in the way of righteousness. An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly. I recommend that the self-examination be made on our knees, rising to obey God’s commandments as they are revealed to us from the Word.”
~ A.W. Tozer
“But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
~ Genesis 32:26
This verse is found in that unique passage of Scripture where it is said Jacob wrestles with God (Gen. 32:22-28). In this text we learn Jacob gains an advantage in the struggle and as he holds on tightly, he insists on the “man” giving him a blessing before Jacob will let him go. And we learn towards the end that Jacob does in fact receive his blessing because he has “struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (vs.28). Sometimes it seems God wants us to wrestle Him for His blessing and favor. It is as if we are telling God “Your goodness toward me is worth fighting for”. Therefore, if you aren’t experiencing God’s favor in your life right now, hold Him tight, and don’t let go till you discover His grace.
~ apl
A Prayer Life 