Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The Power of Prayer: Three Articles


What Is the Prayer of Faith?

Years ago, the editor of a publishing company asked me to write a book on prayer. The theme is a vitally important one. The publishing house was well known. To be honest, I felt flattered. But in a moment of heaven-sent honesty, I told him that the author of such a book would need to be an older and more seasoned author (not to mention, alas, more prayerful) than I was. I mentioned one name and then another. My reaction seemed to encourage him to a moment of honesty, as well. He smiled. He had already asked the well-seasoned Christian leaders whose names I had just mentioned! They, too, had declined in similar terms. Wise men, I thought. Who can write or speak at any length easily on the mystery of prayer?

Yet in the past century and a half, much has been written and said particularly about “the prayer of faith.” The focus has been on mountain-moving prayer by which we simply “claim” things from God with confidence that we will receive them because we believe that He will give them.

But what exactly is the prayer of faith? Read more

Persistent Prayer Gets the Attention of Heaven

One of the mysteries of biblical prayer is that the Lord is honored and pleased when His children persist in prayer and don't give up. And if you stop and think about it from heaven's perspective, it makes a lot of sense.

After all, consider the importance God places on faith. It is only through faith that man receives the forgiveness of his sins. And it is only through faith that God answers prayer. So I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that the Lord attaches special blessings to persistent prayer. Read more

The Prayer Life of a Pastor

One of the most powerful experiences of my life occurred when someone challenged me to prioritize prayer in my life. When I embraced prayer in my college years, not only did it change my life, it also became formative for everything in my life. Read more

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