To look back upon the progress of the divine kingdom upon earth is to review revival periods which have come like refreshing showers upon dry and thirsty ground, making the desert to blossom as the rose, and bringing new eras of spiritual life and activity just when the Church had fallen under the influence of the apathy of the times.
– EM Bounds –
True prayer MUST be aflame.
– EM Bounds –
Love is kindled in a flame, and ardency is its life. Flame is the air which true Christian experience breathes. It feeds on fire … True prayer MUST be aflame.
– EM Bounds –
He prays not at all who does not press his plea. Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails.
– EM Bounds –
A man can pray better because of the prayers of the past; a man can live holier because of the prayers of the past; the man of many and acceptable prayers has done the truest and greatest service to the incoming generation.
– EM Bounds –
Preaching is God’s great institution for the planting and maturing of spiritual life. When properly executed, its benefits are untold; when wrongly executed, no evil can exceed its damaging results.
– EM Bounds –
Life giving preaching costs the preacher much – death to self, crucifixion to the world, the travail of his own soul. Crucified preaching only can give life. Crucified preaching can come only from a crucified life
– EM Bounds –
The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking him the rest of the day
– EM Bounds –
Jesus taught that perseverance is the essential element of prayer. Men must be in earnest when they kneel at God’s footstool. Too often we get faint-hearted and quit praying at the point where we ought to begin. We let go at the very point where we should hold on strongest. Our prayers are weak because they are not impassioned by an unfailing and resistless will
– EM Bounds –