Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God. ~Edwin KeithWhile I don't expect that I'll be quite as ambitious as the year progresses, I am excited to have already finished my first book on my 2011 reading list! R.A. Torrey's How to Pray was a short but powerful read.
Although I've been a Christian for many years, I long to have a prayer life like so many of the saints of old. Torrey shared some principles that encouraged me in this area.
As my husband and I do, we have taught our daughters to end their prayers in Jesus' name. I think that this often becomes a habit and is done without understanding its significance. I appreciated this reminder on what it means to pray in the name of Christ.
"It is like going to the bank of Heaven when I go to God in prayer. I have nothing deposited there....if I go in my own name I will get absolutely nothing; but Jesus Christ has unlimited credit in Heaven, and He has granted to me the privilege of going to the bank with His name on my checks; and when I thus go, my prayers will be honored to any extent."
Another lesson that Torrey brought back to mind is to "pray the promises of God with the faithful expectation that He WILL do what He has promised in His Word." In addition, a chapter on hindrances to prayer was included and I was encouraged to examine my own life to see what might be standing in the way of answered prayer.
However, I think the greatest thought I took away from Torrey's book was this: "The true purpose in prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer." If I am praying for something with selfish purposes or false motives, it is highly likely that my prayer will not be answered. In every request I make, my main desire should be that - no matter how God chooses to answer - He will be glorified.
Do you have a favorite Bible verse that relates to prayer? Have you read a book on prayer that encouraged you or strengthened your prayer life?
I have not heard of this book, but it sounds like an inspiring one. Thank you for sharing about it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome quote! Made my day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Tracey! Love that quote ~ what a neat analogy to help teach the significance of praying in Jesus' name. A favorite Bible verse about praying is: 1 Thessalonians 5:17. What a challenge! :-) And, of course, Matthew 6 is always a blessing to me as the Lord teaches us. I join you in longing to have a better prayer life!
ReplyDelete(Also, I just checked out your 2011 reading list and saw "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamotte ~ this was a required book I read in my first year of college! Your whole list looks great. Congrats on finishing your first book ~ wow ~ now that's fast!)
That He will be glorified. May that be our heart's cry! Sounds like a great book. I love books on prayer. They challenge me to truly believe God will do what He says He will. Thanks for sharing this one. I think it will be going on my wish list...along with the others. I should really start that list for 2011 ;)
ReplyDeleteI have the book A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller that was given to me by the children's minister at our church in Kentucky. He gave one to all the children's dept. volunteers for Christmas one year. I've read part of it but not all of it. Even though I haven't read it all the way through yet, I have been able to apply what I've read to my prayer life. Like his suggestion to come messy, to take off the mask and be real with God. A few years ago I took a Bible study about prayer because I wanted a deeper, richer prayer life. It didn't happen overnight but this is an area God has really worked on in me. I'm becoming a prayer warrior which is something I never saw myself as before. I asked him to give me a heart for prayer and He did, not overnight but it happened. God is good!
ReplyDeleteAlicia,
ReplyDeleteI have also read John R. Rice's book on prayer and found it to be exceptional as well.
Happy reading in 2011!!
Janet,
ReplyDeleteI've never read A Praying Life but it sounds like a helpful book! It's exciting to hear about your growth in prayer; indeed, God is good!!
Prayer is one of those things I think we can never learn enough about and I enjoyed reading your thoughts and the quote you included from the book you read. I have learned several things about prayer over the year that have enriched my prayer times. Prayer is such an important part of our relationship with God; and it is only because of the blood of Christ that we can come to God's throne - as the verse says, the Lord Jesus is our mediator - "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned over the years is that it is good when we pray to first be thankful -
as Paul writes, "Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). And another passage that relates to this - Philippians 4:6-7.
There is one other verse that has spoken to me regarding prayer - before we can ever expect anything to come of our prayers, we must abide in Christ - John 15:7. That is a huge key to our prayer life.
I wrote about this subject of prayer and faith on my blog, I hope you don't mind me sharing - http://danielandclara.blogspot.com/2010/05/and-it-shall-be-done-unto-you.html
I just had to make "The true purpose in prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer" my FB status! AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteClara,
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you! I always feel that my prayer life can become stronger as I continue to grow in my relationship with Christ.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the link; I'm off to read it!
Sue,
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed that statement from the book as well!! I'm trying to remind myself of that principle each day as I pray.