Friday, November 19, 2010

NOV. 21 - A PRAYING CHURCH

As we wind up our series on prayer, I have found many great quotes on prayer from several sources. I hope you enjoy these:

W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE. Without prayer, nothing can be accomplished for God.

MARTIN LUTHER KING. To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

JOHN BUNYAN. He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of
the day.

GEORGE MUELLER. (He was asked how much time he spent praying.) Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming.

MARTIN LUTHER. If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.

CORRIE TEN BOOM. Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

OSWALD CHAMBERS. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

SAMUEL CHADWICK. The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.
He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He
laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.

BILLY GRAHAM. It is an insult to God not to take time for prayer. We make time for other things important to us; why not prayer?

CHARLES SWINDOLL. The prayer power of a church is the true measurement of its
spiritual health. The church cannot rise higher than its prayer power.

LEHMAN STRAUSS. It is my humble opinion that a return to the biblical way of praying will bring spiritual power back to our lives and our churches.

A. D. DIXON. When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so on. I am not disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.

LEONARD RAVENHILL. Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray!

S. D. GORDON. The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; or those who say that believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray. These are the people who are doing the most for God; in winning souls; in solving problems; in awakening churches.

JOHN WESLEY. I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Prayer for Veterans Day

A PRAYER FOR VETERANS DAY. We ask for blessings on all those who have served their country in the armed forces. We honor the memories of those who gave their lives in service. We ask for healing for the veterans who have been wounded, in body and soul, in conflicts around the globe.

We pray for those who return home with injured bodies and traumatized spirits. Bring solace to them, O Lord; may we pray for them when they cannot pray.

We ask for an end to wars and the dawning of a new era of peace, as a way to honor all the veterans of past wars. Have mercy on all our veterans from past conflicts. Bring peace to their hearts, and peace to the regions in which they fought. Bless all the soldiers who served in non-combative posts; may their calling to service continue in their lives in many positive ways.

Give us all the creative vision to see a world which affirms the life of every human being. Hear our prayer, O Prince of Peace, hear our prayer.

(This is adapted from a similar prayer posted by the Franciscan Sisters of Springfield, Illinois.)