It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, “Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.” Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer that day.
– Martin Luther –
from A Simple Way to Pray
As the sails of a ship carry it into the harbor, so prayer carries us to the throne and bosom of God.
– Augustus Toplady –
1740-1778 AD
Grant that I may worship and pray unto Thee with as much reverence and godly fear, as if I saw the heavens open and all the angels that stand around Thy throne. Amen.
– William Law –
from A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life
Pray without ceasing. –Thes 5:17
Are you praying in everything without ceasing, in the closet, hidden from men, and praying always and everywhere? That is the personal, pertinent, and all-important question for every person.
– EM Bounds –
Ye who love God, of every place and every denomination, wrestle for your ministers; pray for them; for why should not God even now pour out his Spirit? What is the reason why we are to be denied Pentecostal seasons? Why not this hour, as one mighty band, fall down before him and entreat him, for his Sons’ sake, to revive his drooping church? Then would all men discern that we are verily the disciples of Christ.
– Charles Spurgeon –
Prayer is not meant to develop us, but to develop the life of God in us after the new birth.
– Oswald Chambers –
A saint is to put forth his faith in prayer, and afterwards follow his prayer with faith.
– Vavasor Powell –
1617-1670 AD
If no immediate choice has to be made, one should wait. The Lord orders our stops as well as our steps. When the time comes that a decision must be made, one can proceed in the direction that seems best. As you conscientiously seek His guidance, He will not let you make a wrong choice.
– George Müller –
Are not our prayers so often ineffective and powerless—and sometimes even prayerless—becuase we rush unthinkingly and unpreparedly into God’s presence, without realizing the majesty and glory of the God whom we are approaching, and without reflecting upon the exceeding great riches of his glory in Christ Jesus, which we hope to draw upon? We must “think magnificently of God.”
– Unknown Christian –
from The Kneeling Christian