The Quotes

Scripture encourages me to pray. Though there are many more, I have selected my  “Top Ten” Bible verses on prayer. I often rely on them to inspire me and to embolden me to pray, believing.
 
Believing prayer is not merely a devotional exercise expressing genuine humility and personal intimacy towards The Father. Prayer is not about generating a warm fuzzy feeling. It is about standing in the battle line in the face of enemy fire, and alongside The Champion at the hottest point of the battle.
 
Prayer is my personal war against the schemes of the enemy who seeks to intimidate me with hopeless odds. The enemy is a ruthless, and a relentless adversary. Though I sometimes feel that I am helpless against him on my own. I am not hopeless, when I stand next to The Champion in prayer.  I recall the words of my father, “
 
“The true prayer warrior spends more time with his Commander and less time in the battle.” Don Miller
 
Prayer is not only the life breath of every believer, it is the climate in which God works through His church. His prayerless children often become breathless with panic. If they become breathless with prayer, they will never lose their child-like wonder over the grace of God, in the face of the enemy.
 
The prayerful learn they are not hopeless, just helpless. The prideful will remain prayerless. The humble will pray and discover that The Father inclines His ear to hear the prayers of His children.
 
“Father…not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus – Luke 22:42
 
“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus – Luke 23:34
 
“Christ Jesus…also intercedes for us.” Romans 8:34
 
“He (Jesus) always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25
 
“We do not know how to pray as we should, but The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26
 
“Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1
 
“Whatever you ask of The Father in my name, He may give to you.” John 15: 16
 
“You have not because you ask not.” James 4:2
 
“First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers… be made on behalf of all men.” I Timothy 2:1
 
“Pray in the Spirit.” Ephesians 6:18
 
Quotes of seasoned prayer warriors, though not equal with Scripture, are powerful reminders to me. I draw strength from those who discovered how to turn their battleground into holy ground. Those who have stood their ground and the test of time are the most reliable. Only those who have finished strong give me the greatest encouragement. Other voices may be eloquent, but in prayer, it is not the voice of eloquence, but the life of experience that counts. They change from time to time, but here are my “Top Ten Prayer Quotes.”
 
“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, or prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” Samuel Chadwick
 
“Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never fault-finding.” Oswald Chambers
 
“The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods but through men. He does not come on machinery but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.” E.M. Bounds
 
“The man who mobilizes the church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelism in history.” Andrew Murray
 
“If I could hear Christ praying for me, I would not fear a million enemies, but the distance makes no difference. HE is praying for me.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne
 
“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon
 
“Your extremity is God’s opportunity.” George Whitefield
 
“It is God’s will through His wonderful grace, that the prayers of His saints should be one of the great principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s kingdom in the world. When God has something very great to accomplish for His church, it is His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of His people;” Jonathan Edwards
 
“Men intimate with God are not intimidated by man.” A.W. Tozer
 
“Prayer is the intimate communication between The Heavenly Father and His child.” Don Miller