The Weapon of Prayer

by Edward McKendree Bounds

Publisher:

Baker

, 1991

Overview

"WHILE it may be true that many in the Church say prayers, it is equally true that their praying is of the stereotyped order. Their prayers may be charged with sentiment, but they are tame, timid, and without fire or force . . . Yet the entire fabric of the work in which they are engaged has, perforce, to depend on the adequacy of prayer. This fact is similar to the crisis which would be created were a country to have to admit in the face of an invading foe that it cannot fight and have no knowledge of the weapons whereby war is to be waged. In all God's plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray . . . All things and everything are dependent on the measure of men's praying. Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life. We pray as we live; we live as we pray. Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet." --E. M. Bounds

Contents

Top Highlights

“Nothing is more important to God than prayer in dealing with mankind. But it is likewise all-important to man to pray. Failure to pray is failure along the whole line of life. It is failure of duty, service, and spiritual progress. God must help man by prayer. He who does not pray, therefore, robs himself of God’s help and places God where He cannot help man. Man must pray to God if love for God is to exist. Faith and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom and fruitage in prayer.” (Pages 4–5)

“When the Church is in the condition of prayer God’s cause always flourishes and His kingdom on earth always triumphs. When the Church fails to pray, God’s cause decays and evil of every kind prevails. In other words, God works through the prayers of His people, and when they fail Him at this point, decline and deadness ensue. It is according to the divine plans that spiritual prosperity comes through the prayer-channel. Praying saints are God’s agents for carrying on His saving and providential work on earth. If His agents fail Him, neglecting to pray, then His work fails. Praying agents of the Most High are always forerunners of spiritual prosperity.” (Page 6)

“One’s ability to pray for self, finds its climax in the compassion its concern expresses for others.” (Page 26)

“All ability to talk to men is measured by the ability with which a preacher can talk to God for men. He ‘who ploughs not in his closet, will never reap in his pulpit.’” (Page 35)

Product Details

• Title: The Weapon of Prayer
• Author: Edward M. Bounds
• Publisher: Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Publication Date: 2004

About Edward McKendree Bounds

Edward McKendree Bounds (August 15, 1835–August 24, 1913) was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and author of eleven books, nine of which focused on the subject of prayer.