Contents

Foreword to the Revised Kindle Edition

Resourcing God's People

The Prayer Principles Newsletter

Introduction

Getting Started

A Heavenly Language

The Building Trade

A Glory Magnet

A Holy Space – The Secret Place

Riding The Wave & Birthing The Babe

A War of Words

Prepare The Way

Speaking Forth Mysteries

Hot Fires - Cool Waters

Focus Your Faith

Look Who's Talking

Groanings and Weepings

Flying Higher - Some Exercises For Growth

Recommendations

End Notes

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Praying In Tongues

Kindle Edition Extras - Hundreds of Prayer Quotes

Kindle Edition Extras - Hundreds of Prayer Quotes

Resourcing God's People copy

The Prayer Principles Newsletter copy

Speaking God’s Language

A Handbook For Speaking In Tongues

Foreword to the revised Kindle edition

As I continue in ministry some things come and go, they have their season and then are no more or fade into the background, but I have found that one thing for certain has remained a mainstay of my relationship with God and the vigour of my life of prayer.

That thing is praying in tongues.

Praying in tongues remains one of the most powerful, practical and helpful gifts that God has ever given, and when understood and appreciated for all that the Scriptures teach us about it, can be utilised to engage spiritually on many levels; we pray to build our own personal spirit life, and to be refreshed in our inner man; we also speak in tongues to pray for others, and release prophetic anointing and destiny into our circumstances - and those of our cities and nations.

This one gift alone is packed with enough power to turn the world upside down!

Maybe this is why the devil resists it so consistently.

Much confusion surrounds the place and exercise of speaking in tongues, but God did not call us to debate such things. Rather, we are called to simply believe them, receive them and go forward in relationship with Him to develop and use them for His glory, and fro the benefit of ourselves and others.

I encourage you to grab hold of the principles in this booklet, and apply them in your own pursuit of God. As James encourages us in his letter to the Church:

“…the effective, fervent prayers of righteous men and women avail much, making tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”   James 5:14, Amplified

Be blessed as you read,

David Lee Martin

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Introduction

I don’t think any gift has impacted my life so much as the wonderful gift of speaking in tongues. It has led me to experience and explore more of the spirit realm and the possibilities of intimacy with God than any other blessing. This booklet is written to encourage you to do the same. Obviously, your experience will be unique, but certain principles will work for anyone.

The booklet assumes that the reader is baptised in the Holy Ghost, and already speaking in tongues. It is designed to encourage and inspire the development of this New Testament gift.

NB: If you are not yet a Christian, or are still seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the prayer at the end of the book shows how to ask Jesus to be your Lord and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

It Starts In The Heart

Every move of God, every fresh encounter with the supernatural, must begin with God’s Word, believed in the heart, and spoken with the mouth.

Our experience in God must be grounded and rooted in scripture. This keeps us from wandering into error and foolishness. That is what this short introductory chapter is all about.

Let’s take a quick look at what the Bible says about ‘tongues’.

STILL ACT-IVE

Check out the Book of Acts in the New Testament. There are loads of references to the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. We’ll consider a couple, but I recommend that you look at the list of scriptures at the end of this chapter too.

Tongues is a supernatural language given by God to believers in Jesus when they are baptised in the Holy Ghost. It is a language that has never been learned by the speaker, yet it can often be as fluent and expressive as their native, learned tongue (for example, English or French).

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:2 that when we speak in tongues we speak to God from our spirit man. It is a spiritual mode of communication, designed to help us operate in the spiritual realm.

Often, people have wrongly considered that tongues is merely a first proof of the infilling of the Spirit of God (in most instances in the Bible the baptism of the Holy Spirit is  evidenced by an explosion of divinely inspired tongue talking). It is not just an initial proof however, but a gift to be exercised and developed continually.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Acts 2:1-4

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

See, when the Holy Spirit fills a man or woman, the automatic response is to blurt out heavenly tongues. The words didn’t come from the disciple’s heads, but were given by the Holy Ghost. It is just the same today.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us, He chooses words that glorify God and bring God’s presence and power into the earth.

Before this time, no one had ever spoken in tongues. Almost all of the other spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament can be seen in operation way before this time (albeit in limited doses compared to today) but this was something new!

God saved the gift of tongues for us, the Church.

It was like an engagement present, a gift signifying and opening up realms of intimacy that were unavailable before. Now men could speak God’s language, and once again true communion could take place.

In no way am I saying that under the Old Covenant men did not walk closely with God, that would be foolish. Nor am I implying that intimacy with God is impossible without tongues. However, it is true that tongues aids our relationship with God in a special and powerful way, and I for one, want to know Him better, walk with Him closer, worship Him with greater abandonment, and display His power more fully. I am sure that you feel the same.

Speaking in tongues is one powerful avenue for that to happen.

The Bread Basket (scriptures for further study): Acts 2:1-11; Acts 2:38-39; Acts 10:44-47; Acts 19:1-6

Getting Started

Praying in tongues is not something that necessarily comes easily. We may have received the gift, but developing it sometimes seems hard. This is why so many Spirit filled Christians remain in “GaGa Goo Goo” stage. So how do you get to the place where tongues comes as naturally as normal speech.

One word. Practice.

You just gotta do it.

A 4 Point Plan

1. Determine in your heart that you are going to develop in this area of spiritual life.

2. Make a time each day to practice, and keep to it. Mornings are often good for this, but you find what suits you. Start with 10 - 15 minutes and increase it as your spiritual muscles develop.

3. At the beginning of your prayer time ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray. He is the One that will give you utterance (fill your heart and mouth with the words).

4. Discipline yourself, and pray in your unknown tongue for 10 - 15 minutes (more as your prayer time increases, an hour is ideal). Keep it strong. Make sure you can hear yourself, and don’t taper off after 10 minutes. Listen to what you are saying, even though you don’t necessarily understand it.

If you will do this consistently for several days, you will gradually become more and more skilled. Over the weeks your spirit will begin to sense the different moods and flows of the Holy Spirit. The result will be skill in the area of tongues. Skill is not an end in itself obviously, but a means to greater intimacy and accuracy in your relationship and spiritual walk.

Don’t be discouraged if it takes time. When we are first learning a new language we stutter, mispronounce and often times just sound plain funny. This is all part of the journey. If you can laugh at yourself and the peculiar sounds that are coming out of your mouth, it will help you to stay on course.

Enjoy the trip, we don’t have to be great or impress anyone. This is about you and God. Who cares what you sound like? Certainly not God! He just loves to hear you lift your voice to Him in heavenly tongues (even when they sound like a dribbling baby saying “Ga Ga”).

Just look at natural parents with their little babies. Their child comes out with some obscure sound that, at a stretch, sounds vaguely like “mama” or “dada”, and they are over the moon. Suddenly, their kid can talk! In their eyes the child is one of the greatest orators that the world has ever known.

How much more do you think does God our Heavenly Father enjoy His children when they come to Him. It is so liberating when we realise that not only do we love and enjoy God’s presence, He loves ours!

Stick with it - pretty soon you’ll be flowing fluently in more languages than you can number.

A Heavenly Language

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1 that men can speak in the tongues of men and of angels. Clearly there are multitudes of languages, not only throughout the earth, but in the heavens also. By the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost, who knows and understands them all, we, as believers, have the exciting privilege of exploring words and expressions not only from this realm but from other worlds far more wonderful than we can imagine. Oh, the wonder of this gift!

In one of the churches in the Christian Outreach Centre movement a divine visitation took place one Sunday morning. The heavens broke open and angelic voices were heard filling the room where the people were worshipping. It was fearful. I remember hearing the tape, and just thanking God for allowing us to hear a glimpse of Heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke within me, and said, “Every time you speak in tongues, you hear Heaven.”

It is a heavenly language. When Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:2 that we speak to God when we pray in an unknown tongue, that must mean we are speaking God’s language.

I was in Italy one time, staying with an Italian family. I don’t speak a word of Italian, so it was very hard to converse. Conversation was limited, and as a result the depth of our communion and relationship together was hindered. Language (or lack of it) was the barrier.

Regarding our relationship with Him, God sorted this problem out when He gave tongues to believers. Whereas before we were limited by our natural speech, we now have a spiritual language. God is a Spirit (John 4:24). We need to speak spirit with Him. Just as you must speak Italian to an Italian, Russian to a Russian and Spanish to someone from Spain, so we must speak spirit to the Spirit.

The Building Trade

A tremendously inspiring scripture appears in Jude 20-21. Look it up in your own Bible and read along. I’m reading the New King James version;

Jude 20-21

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

The Bible says that praying in the Holy Ghost does two things here.

1. Builds us up in our faith.

2. Keeps us in the love of God.

Isn’t that great! You can choose to exercise the ability to pray in unknown tongues and do both of those things.

Paul says something similar in 1 Corinthians chapter fourteen (a veritable gold mine of nuggets concerning tongues, interpretation and the prophetic utterance). In verse 4 Paul says:

“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”

Building ourselves up is essential to our growth as Christians.

The Greek word for ‘edify’ includes all the following ideas;

1) to build a house, erect a building

1a) to build (up from the foundation)

1b) to restore by building, to rebuild, repair

1c) construct, confirm, embolden

1d) a dwelling, family, home, temple

2) metaphorically:

2a) to found, establish

2b) to promote growth in Christian wisdom, grace, affection, virtue, holiness, blessedness

2c) to grow in wisdom and piety

The profitability of praying in other tongues is clear.

➢ Are you a young Christian building up from the very foundations? Pray in tongues.

➢ Do you need restoration in your life, family, emotions, city and nation? Pray in tongues.

➢ Do you need to be confirmed and established in God’s will and plan for your life? Emboldened to share your faith? Pray in tongues.

➢ Are you desperate to become a holy dwelling for God? A profitable member of the family of faith? Grow in grace, holiness, and other virtues? Do you need wisdom? Crave understanding? Pray in tongues!

Maybe none of these things relate to you. But I bet you know someone that they do relate to. Pray for them. Pray for them in tongues.

You are probably getting the impression by now that I am an absolute tongue talking fanatic. Well, you’re right. I even considered calling this book, ‘The secret diary of a tongues fanatic’. I hope that you will become one too.

A Glory Magnet

Let’s look at some pictures to help us understand some stuff. One way of understanding Jude’s statement about ‘building’ ourselves up is that when we pray in tongues we ‘charge’ our spirit with the power of Heaven, similar to the way one may charge a battery.

We come alive with the energy of the Spirit.

I don’t know a great deal about electro-magnets, but my understanding goes this far. Like electricity and gravity, magnetism is a fundamental force. Magnetism and electricity are closely related and are regarded as two expressions of a single force, the electromagnetic force. Moving electric charges produce magnetic fields, and the strength of a solenoid (electromagnet) can be varied by increasing and decreasing the current flowing through it. In fact the power of the magnet is directly proportional to the size of the current.

“But what has this got to do with praying in tongues?” Bear with me and turn to Romans chapter eight. See in verse 28 where it says that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose”. This verse is in the context of prayer in the spirit. The preceding verses talk about the Spirit helping us pray the perfect will of God for all the saints.

See, when we charge ourselves, praying in the Holy Ghost, in the spirit realm it acts like one of the magnets we have been talking about. It creates a magnetism around your spirit which attracts “all things that will work together for your good”. It literally calls the blessing of God into your life and the lives of those you pray for with irresistible force.

The Amplified Bible in James 5:16 says;

“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].”

Praise God for prayer.

Hang it on me, Lord!

Let’s stick with the Amplified Bible and look at our scripture in Jude. Verse twenty reads, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit.”

It’s like this, with great buildings a superstructure is first built onto which the rest of the building is added. When we pray in the Holy Ghost, the superstructure is being built, onto which God then hangs the anointing. The size of the superstructure we build is our choice!

Are you ready to build? Switch on the blessing magnet? I bet you can guess what I’m going to say. Pray in tongues!

A Holy Space - The Secret Place

In the last chapter we discussed the implications of ‘building up ourselves’ by praying in the Spirit. It is interesting that one of the meanings of this is ‘to build a house’. Vines Expository dictionary explains that the Greek word ‘oikodome’ (edify) is made up of two root words; oikos, ‘a home’, and demo, ‘to build’.

And that is exactly where we are meant to be at in the realm of the spirit, at home.

There really is no place like home is there? It is a place where we are  comfortable, secure and at peace (most of the time). It is the place we escape to when we want some space, time to think or just to ‘be’. This same ‘home’ environment is available for you and I in the spirit realm. Jesus speaks of it in Matthew 6:6. It is ‘the secret place’.

The spirit realm is a real place. It has substance. Much of what we ‘see’ in the natural realm is a temporal reflection of eternal spiritual realities (2 Cor 4:18). There is a place for YOU in the spirit. Have you found it yet? Praying in tongues helps us to find, build and establish our home in the spirit realm. Praying in tongues is one of the means we can use to carve out our holy space so we can really “dwell in the land and feed on God’s faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3).

An amazing scripture appears in the book of Zechariah. In Chapter three we are given a glimpse into the spirit realm. There is Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan at his right hand to resist him. God rebukes Satan, takes the filthy garments covering Joshua from him, and replaces them with beautiful clean robes.

An angel then relays a message to Joshua from the Lord, telling him something astounding. He says, “you shall keep My courts, and I will give you places to walk among these that stand by”.

Who was standing by? Angels and demons.

The places Joshua was given authority to ‘walk’ in were not natural paths, but spiritual.

The same promise is extended to us in the New Covenant. Paul exhorts us in Galatians five and verse twenty-five, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.

Again, in the book of Peter we see this same truth expressed. The Amplified Bible puts it best;

“For this is why the good news (the Gospel) was preached...that though judged in fleshly bodies as men are, they might live in the spirit as God does.”

Live in the spirit realm as God does! Isn’t that amazing.

“But what has all this to do with speaking in tongues?” You may be asking.

Simply this, tongues can take you there. It is a spiritual mode of communication that, when exercised, makes us  increasingly aware of that other realm.

Just as Joshua (from the book of Joshua) went into the promised land, slaying resistance and taking ground, establishing it as his own, so we too are called to move into areas that God has promised and set aside for us to dwell in and feed from. We’ve got to go in, fight the fights, eat the grapes, and enjoy the land.

The spirit realm, and especially the intimate and close presence of God must be home to us. One of the most profound things that God ever said to me was simply, “You can relax in My Presence.” Oh, how wonderful to know there is a place available to me at any time and in any circumstance where I can run and find peace and refuge. Where I can freely and without fear be myself.

The sad thing is, many Christians don’t know this place too well. Why? Because building a house takes diligent labour. You have to work at this thing. Pray in tongues. Pray in tongues. Pray in tongues. Every day. Every day. Every day.

W E Vine again highlights this point when explaining the art of edification. He says that the word is “used metaphorically, in the sense of ‘edifying,’ promoting the spiritual growth and development of character of believers...suggesting such spiritual progress is the result of patient labour.”

It take time and effort, friend, to establish these things in your life. But, oh, how worth the effort it is! Let’s look again at what Jesus says about prayer in the ‘secret place’:

Matthew 6:6

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

There is great reward for those who find it and learn to love it. Don’t miss out. Pray, worship, commune with God in your heavenly language. Just do it and stay with it. The rewards far, far outweigh any sweat it takes to turn the key.

Come on in to the secret place and sup with your Father...

Riding the Wave

Prayer can be likened to many things. Sometimes natural pictures can help us understand better what is happening in the spirit realm.

I don't know how many of you have watched people surfing, or even been  surfing yourself. The surfer climbs on the board and works with the wave, riding it. A prayer time can be similar. In the spirit realm there are different spiritual atmospheres that we step into. It may be that when we begin to pray the waves are still, a quiet entrance in worship may be appropriate. As our time with God continues however the waves may begin to rise. A passion for the lost, for example, may well up in your heart. Ride it. Flow with it, allow the passionate expressions of God's heart to be voiced. Remember, there are different currents that will carry you, different directions that the wind of God’s Spirit will propel you in. Trust Him and yield to His powerful leading.

The danger for us is that we will jump off the board before the job is accomplished. Don't be tempted to stop just because you've fulfilled your 'allotted' time. Give your spirit to the flow of the Holy Spirit. Ride with Him until the work is complete.

Another picture is of a woman giving birth. Prayer is likened in scripture to labour. It is spoken of as the means of birthing things in the spiritual realm. A woman whose waters have broken and whose contractions are rapidly growing more frequent and strong doesn't think, “That's enough, I think I'll stop now.” Indeed, she can't. Don't give up until the job’s finished!

If you have to stop the spiritual process taking place in any given prayer time (maybe your boss wouldn't understand your late arrival with the excuse that you were giving birth, especially if you are a man), make sure you come back and continue at the nearest opportunity.

This is one of the reasons why a regular, disciplined prayer time is so precious and so essential in the plan of God for our spiritual lives. It means that we have definite times where spiritual labour can be entered into and fulfilled, even if it takes several days.

Let's go surfing! Let’s get birthing…

A War of Words

"The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is His name." Exodus 15:2

Insistent, unrestrained, aggressive, loud, moving forward, pushing out, possessing, dominant, direct, strong, persistent.

All these words describe the spiritual atmosphere and anointing of strong warring tongues. Tongues have an ability, because behind them is the voice and power of the Holy Ghost, to cause things to happen and move in the spirit realm.

We have talked about possessing your land in an earlier chapter, and this is an essential part of that possessing process. Aggression is as much a part of prayer as humility. We act in two spiritual arenas when we pray: the godly, and the demonic. These two kingdoms are opposed to one another.

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:12:

“the kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”

The Amplified Bible puts it like this:

“the kingdom of God has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize - a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion.”

Friend, violently seize your portion. Don't allow the enemy to take or rob from you what God has given and promised.

Violent tongue praying does not always come naturally to us. For some personality types it may even seem completely alien. However, it is another realm of prayer which ALL can enjoy.

So, how do we go about praying this way? By no means do I have all the answers, but I can tell you what I've found. Initially, I had to make myself do it. I had to make a conscious decision that I was going to find out what all the fanfare about violent prayer was about.

As I'm sure you've gathered by now, the only way to really find out about the things of the Spirit is not to merely read about it, but to DO it.

I made myself pray loud and strong in tongues for 10-15 minutes every day. Soon I found that the power of God's Spirit began to flow more and more freely through me. I didn't feel so restricted or intimidated any more when I came in to pray. I began to discern what was happening when I prayed - whether I was praising, interceding or fighting a devil. It is so exciting to learn these things with the Holy Ghost. Now it is a natural part of my prayer life. I don't have to make myself do it any more because it is a part of me. I know it. I can step into it whenever the Holy Spirit leads that way without any jolt to my spiritual system.

One point to remember as you explore this area of tongues is this...your neighbours. I was loud. I mean very loud, when I first began to move into these things (what I lacked in skill, I made up for in volume).

My next door neighbour asked me one day, “What do you do in there? Are you singing.” I didn't know what to say, so I said' “Yes”. To which she replied, “Because it sounds more like you are being murdered!”

I smile now as I think about it. What a fun life the Christian life is! So I would recommend, if you can, to find somewhere suitable for VOLUME, where others, especially the unsaved, cannot hear you. Another method I tried was to shout into a pillow. That was OK but a bit breathless. I ended up in such a sweat some times, but hey, I let the Holy Ghost have His way!

Once you have trained yourself in strong tongues your spirit will be able to yield at any time to the need of the prayer moment.

WHEN MIGHT I USE THIS KIND OF TONGUE?

1.  When the demonic spirit realm puts pressure on you or others you are praying for.

2.  When known obstacles to the will of God need to be removed.

3.  When we make a conscious decision to move in and take more spiritual ground. This is especially true in seasons of spiritual growth (some seasons are more marked than others).

4.  When we are moving into areas of new responsibility and authority.

Strong warring tongues breaks barriers, opening up new realms to explore and live in. Your sphere of influence in the realm of the spirit is extended (Isaiah 54:2).

A couple of things to watch

When we begin praying against the demonic realm, or pushing against limits within ourselves, we will inevitably experience resistance. Sometimes it can feel like we are shouting up a storm in nothing more than a tin can.

As you continue despite your feelings, however, there comes a point where you will break through. It’s like a Godly pressure builds in that dark place until it can hold you no longer and suddenly POW! The can explodes and you are immediately in a wide open place, where the air is clean and new, and you can see further than ever before.

David the psalmist rejoiced when God delivered him from Saul, and in Psalm 18 verses 17-19 exclaims, “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me... He brought me forth into a large (spacious and open) place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me. ”

Imagine being crushed into a small dark box, with very little light and stale air. Now imagine the feeling that would course through your being if, after several days of such torture, you were released into beautiful, sunny, fresh spring countryside with no restrictions as to where you could run, climb, swim or dance. This is the kind of feeling breakthrough brings, when we have been restricted in our own soul or afflicted by our enemy, Satan. Glory! Truly our God is the God of the Breakthrough.

The second point in regard to this area is this: Sometimes after a breakthrough, although in reality we are ‘bigger’ in spiritual stature, we feel smaller because we now have authority and responsibility for a greater arena of spiritual action. It's the ‘Big fish, small pond/Big pond, small fish’ syndrome. A big fish in a garden pond may be king, but throw him in a lake and things might look very different.

Don't be deceived into thinking that you are shrinking, quite the opposite - you've just jumped out of the bucket and into the sea! As we grow ‘up’ in spiritual stature, we grow ‘down’ in our estimation of what we can accomplish in our own strength. We grow in humility and reliance on God's Spirit. Our self reliance is progressively replaced by an ever growing reliance on the Holy Ghost.

As opposed to the natural run of things, where as a man or woman matures they become more and more independent, Romans 5:14 reveals that spiritual maturity and ‘sonship’ is characterised by a relinquishing of the reins of our own life so that the Holy Ghost can lead us where He wills. We become increasingly ‘dependent’ on Him.

Let our declaration be the same as that of John the Baptist, “He (Jesus) must increase, and I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Prepare The Way

John the Baptist was a wild Holy Ghost preacher. Jesus said that of all the men that have lived, he was one of the greatest, so he must have been quite a special guy. Isaiah, many years before, prophetically describes John’s ministry. Isaiah 40:3-4 says that John would be:

‘The voice of one that cries in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.”

In the days of Isaiah the roads were not always very good. Indeed, many of them were no more than dusty paths trodden into the landscape by numerous travellers. If a king or noble was travelling, a group of servants would go before him. They would clear the roads, removing obstacles and making the way that the king was to travel as easy and as straight as possible. This is the picture that Isaiah is painting. John’s anointed preaching cleared a way in the spirit for the arrival and ministry of the great King, Jesus the Anointed One of God.

The aspect of John’s ministry that I want to highlight here is the fact that God describes him as ‘a voice’.  Jesus spoke a lot about words during His three years of ministry. Words, He says in Matthew 12:33-35, have the power to bring things forth. What we speak effects our future destiny.

What are you bringing forth with your words? Good things, I hope.

Jeremiah the prophet was called as a young man, to “root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” This same ministry is true of every believer, maybe not for entire nations, but certainly as the prophet of your own life. You clear the path of obstacles, pulling down the traps and snares that the enemy plants, by the words proceeding from your mouth.

Proverbs says it very bluntly. Turn with me to Proverbs 18 and verse 21 and we’ll have a look:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

This of course includes the confession of faith (taking the Word of God and speaking it over our lives and the lives of others), but it also encompasses the power released when we pray in tongues.

It works like this. The Holy Spirit knows all things. The Bible even declares in Ephesians 2:10 that He has already prepared the works that we are to walk in. As we saw briefly in a previous chapter, Paul tells us in Romans 8:26-27 that the Holy Spirit prays through us ‘the perfect will of God’. We can certainly pray God’s general will over our lives, and take His word and speak faith over situations that we know and understand, but what about those things in the future that we do not yet see? This is where praying in tongues is essential.

When we pray in tongues we can actually release the substance of faith into the future, rooting out and pulling down, establishing the will of God for our lives before we even arrive there. Many of the obstacles that we face in life can be dealt with before we even face them. Like the servants clearing the way for the king, we clear a path so our journey of faith is smooth. This does not necessarily mean that we will never experience adversity. In fact, I promise that you will, but it does mean that you will be prepared to overcome when it does arise!

An example of this is that I personally prayed much for my wife and children, long before I even knew who or where they were. However, because I understood the prophetic nature of prayer, and the timeless nature of the spirit realm I prayed as passionately as if I were already married with a family of my own.

I now (at the time of writing), have the most beautiful wife and a little boy on the way, our first child. I know that he will be born into a spiritual space that I have prepared for him by my prayers. Glory to God!

[NB: the first edition of this book was originally written several years ago – I am now blessed with four wonderful children, praise Jesus for His goodness]

Ploughing The Ground

This type of tongue praying can also be pictured as ploughing in the spirit. Many areas of our lives, other’s lives, and situations and regions that we may be called to minister in, are spiritually barren or hard. To pray for many hours in tongues over those places releases the power of the Spirit into them. The ground is softened in preparation for when you go in and minister. It is prepared to receive the seed that you sow. This is plain spiritual labour, but the joy of picking the fruit makes it all worthwhile.

Other aspects to this kind of prophetic prayer ministry are covered in the next chapter entitled ‘Speaking forth mysteries’

Speaking Forth Mysteries

Jesus said in John 6:63 that the words that He spoke were spirit and life. It is the same for us when we speak forth the Word of God in our known language or in tongues. Inherent in the very words is the creative power of God.

‘Speaking Forth Mysteries’ is a chapter covering several aspects of this powerful concept.

We will be looking at:

1. Releasing the Kingdom and supply of the Spirit.

2. Drawing revelation from the wells within.

God wants us to be vessels through which He establishes His Kingdom in the earth. Jesus said something profound to the Pharisees when they asked when they would ‘see’ the Kingdom of God come.

Turn to Matthew Chapter 17 and read verse 20 and 21:

“...The Kingdom of God does not come with observation: Neither shall they say, ‘Lo here! or, lo there!’ for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.”

The Kingdom of God is within you. From the abundance of our heart our words have the power to bring forth ‘good things’ (Matthew 12:35). Friend, when you speak forth the will of God in tongues, you bring forth the good things of the Kingdom. It releases a supply of the Spirit into whatever  situation you are praying for.

Paul the Apostle thanks the Philippian church in his letter to them (Philippians Chapter 2:19), saying that through their prayer all things would turn around for his good through the supply of spiritual power their prayers afforded. It is a principle that we can put into practice today.

Drawing Water From The Well of Revelation

When we speak in tongues we draw from the spiritual well within our spirit. God lives in us. The Bible declares that we are now the temple of the Living God, and that there is a well of water springing up within us into everlasting life (John 4:14). It is the Living Water of God’s Presence.

Again, in John 7:38, Jesus promises;

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (innermost being) shall flow rivers of living water.” (But this He spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive...)

It is from this well within that we draw forth the ‘mysteries of God’. “Counsel in the heart of man,” says Solomon in his proverbs (20:5), “is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Many people say, “God works in mysterious ways”, or “His ways are past finding out”, and of course, we could never plumb the depths of God’s Spirit. However, it is not His will that we remain ignorant of those things He has planned for us. He wants to reveal them to us.

Solomon says again in Proverbs 25:2 that it is God’s glorious privilege to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings to search out a matter. Praying in tongues is like priming the pump and drawing up from the well the sweet waters of God’s counsel. I know that for myself I have used the gift of tongues many times to search out plans and strategies for ministry and for my home life.

What I do is just know what I am searching God for, say for example ideas for a street outreach, and begin to pray in tongues. After a while the bubbles begin to rise, thoughts begin to surface. I then write down what I see, think or hear. Simple!

The mysteries are hidden ‘for’ us, not ‘from us’. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and read verses 6 through 16. Many people stop at verse 9 and say, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him.” But immediately Paul continues; “But...”

“But” friend, but, but, but, “But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.” Glory! The Holy Ghost searches the deepest inner workings of God and reveals them to us. The glories of Heaven are waiting for you to search out with Him.

Draw from the well. Pray in tongues. Worship Jesus.

Hot Fires - Cool Waters

This short chapter covers two essential functions of tongues. Stirring  yourself up in the Holy Ghost, and learning to drink long of His refreshing presence at the well of salvation. Hot and cool. Fire and water.

COOL WATERS

We’ve already talked about the wells within, so we’ll start there. Isaiah says something profound which Paul interprets in 1 Corinthians 14:21 as a reference to speaking in tongues. The original scripture in Isaiah 28:11,12 says:

“For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing..”

Smith Wigglesworth once said, when someone recommended that he take a holiday, “This is my holiday!” and proceeded to speak in tongues for 10 minutes. He knew how to draw on the refreshing spiritual waters deposited in him by the Holy Ghost. May we too in these overly active days on earth learn the same wisdom.

There really is nothing like a cool drink on a red hot day to bring refreshment and revitalisation. Praying in tongues can revitalise and refresh your spirit.

Paul encourages us in Ephesians Chapter five, not to be drunk with wine, but rather to be ‘completely filled with’ or ‘under the influence of’ (Strong’s #4137. pleroo) the Holy Spirit. Some commands really are a joy to obey! No wonder John the Apostle said that God’s commandments were not a burden. (1 John 5:3). To love God and obey Him is life!

HOT STUFF

The other aspect of speaking in your unknown language we will consider here is firing up a cold spirit. Stirring up the spirit within and the spiritual atmosphere without.

Just as God places a well within, He has also placed a fiery furnace of His passionate love. He is never weary, tired or discouraged. He is never under the weather, weighed down or confused. He lives in you.

Tongues is an excellent way to stir yourself up to pursue God. If you are feeling down or under attack, close yourself in the prayer closet. As you pray in strong tongues the atmosphere will change. You will become more aware of God, the answer, and less aware of whatever problem you are labouring under.

The same is true of spiritual atmospheres that you may be called to minister in. The atmosphere may at first feel as dead as a dodo, but you can stir the waters and fan the flames of the fire by praying in other tongues.

Strong, unrelenting, passionate, expressive, Holy Ghost, fire-filled tongues from Heaven changes spiritual atmospheres and makes things happen!

Focus Your Faith

One of the most common problems with tongues is that people tend to wander aimlessly in their prayers because their mind cannot properly focus on words that they don’t understand. Properly understood, however, tongues can help us to focus our faith more profoundly and accurately than prayer in our natural language. Both are necessary for a full prayer life.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:15:

“What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”

But let me show you how I use tongues to bring focus.

The Bible says in Romans Chapter 8 that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray the perfect will of God (how much more focused can one be!) for situations that we do not understand. For example, you might see something around your child that you don’t like. They may be acting strange, or withdrawn. When you ask them what’s the matter, their curt reply is simply, “Nothing, I’m fine!” How do you pray for such a thing?

Come into your prayer closet. Close the door, and ask the Holy Ghost for some help. Tell Him the situation you are aiming your guns at, and begin to pray the perfect will of God in the perfect tongue of God. Because in your mind you know what you are praying about, even though the details remain a mystery, you can focus your faith and be confident that the Spirit is directing your prayer power to the very heart and root of the situation. You can do this for anything that you choose to turn your sights on. It’s powerful, and it works.

One time God showed it to me like this. The sun sheds its rays across the entire sky - the power is dissipated across a vast expanse. Put a magnifying glass in the way of those rays, however, and they are concentrated to a burning focal point.

The power of the many rays combined is enough to burn through any obstacles in the way.

The same is true of prayer.

It focuses the fire of God to a specified point, releasing the divine will in whatever situation is being prayed for. We act as the magnifying glass through which God concentrates His divine power.

Look Who’s Talking

Tongues, interpretation, prophecy...who said what? Is it my spirit speaking? Is it God? These are valid questions, and it is not always clear who is speaking.

Because the gift of tongues is diverse in its operation, it does help to have an understanding of the different manifestations of the gift through the believer’s life.

SOMETIMES IT’S YOU!

Most of the time, tongues is a direct connection between you and God. Your spirit talks to God as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:2. It is a spiritual language designed to bring intimacy between you and the Lord. It is very important to understand that tongues is not goobledegook. It is a real, articulate, understandable language to the Lord.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:10:

“There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance [destitute of its own power of expression and meaning].”

Just as we put emotion and expression into our natural utterances, we should put expression behind the words we speak in the spirit. You don’t say, “I love you” in the same way you would say, “Pass the salt, please.”

It is necessary for your own enjoyment and development that you learn to sense in your spirit the gist of what you are saying and the unction behind it.

If a feeling of joy accompanies your tongues, let joy be in your expression of them. Did you know that the Bible says that tongues is an excellent way to give perfect thanks to God? See it in 2 Corinthians 14:16,17.

Similarly, if you are fighting a devil in the spirit realm (sometimes I believe we speak directly to devils in the realm of the spirit, making known to them the wisdom and victory of God in any given  circumstance - Ephesians 3:10), you wouldn’t speak in winsome tones but strong  aggressive commanding ones.

To give true expression to your tongues helps you to realise the reality to what you are doing.

SOMETIMES IT’S GOD

Romans 8:26 reveals something so powerful:

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

The Holy Ghost will sometimes pray through us. Often times, prophetic utterance like this is more authoritative. It is as if something rises from your spirit man that is other-worldly in its authority and power. It has such clout in the spirit realm that devils reel in terror.

Truly, it is God speaking through the believer.

He helps us in our weaknesses.

The word ‘helps’ here literally means ‘takes hold together with us against’. The Holy Spirit wants to take hold together with you against those things that are hindering or attacking you, your family or those you are praying for. He will do it through spirit prayer, with groanings and expressions that cannot be uttered (in understandable speech). These expressions may be tongues, deep groans, screams or shouts, but all hold within them the creative power of God’s Spirit.

INTERPRETATION

Simple prophecy, tongues and interpretation all rise from the same well. They are all vocal gifts and are exercised in the same stream. It is as easy to prophesy as it is to speak in tongues, because essentially they are very similar gifts. The same is true of interpretation of tongues.

Paul the Apostle recommends in 1 Corinthians 14:13 that we tongue talking believers should pray that we may interpret. But how do we do this? Simple.

Say a sentence or two in tongues by faith, then ask God for the interpretation. In the same way that you opened your mouth in faith that a supernatural language would pour forth, open it and believe God to fill it with the interpretation. Just let it come out. It doesn’t matter if you get it wrong sometimes, especially if you are exercising the gift as part of your private devotions.

In exactly this way I have held conversations with the Lord, interpreting my utterance heavenward, and then speaking in tongues, believing it to be an answer or response to what I’ve just said, and then interpreting that.

It really is amazing and fun. Many times I have been in tears as the Lord has spoken deep and intimate things to me through the interpretation of tongues.

Try it, what have you got to lose? Nothing at all.

It really is OK to play with the Lord, not in a frivolous or disrespectful way, but as His dear child, finding out about the gifts He has so generously given. What better place to do it than in your very own private devotional time, where it is just you and Him enjoying one another’s company.

Groanings and Weepings

Groanings and weepings. Sounds charming doesn’t it? As you progress in the art of spiritual utterance you will inevitably find strange sounds sometimes arise from your spirit. Further into the world of tongues,  groanings, birthings and weepings will flow from your inner man. Let them come. Don’t despise them because they don’t necessarily make sense to your natural mind.

Such sounds are the Holy Spirit within you interceding according to Romans 8:26. Give yourself to it. Many times I have found myself rolling on the floor moaning as if I’m giving birth. And that is exactly what is happening. We give birth to God’s purposes and plans through fervent and continual prayer and supplication. If you feel intercession of this kind come upon you don’t resist it. Amazing things are accomplished in the realm of the spirit when we yield to the spirit of God.

Friend, the heart of God is full of fiery passion for people’s freedom. I don’t necessarily know all the theological ins and outs of this subject, but I do know that God desperately longs to see people set free from the bondage of Satan. Tongues and these deeper areas of spiritual utterance such as groanings and weepings have indescribable power to break the chains that bind people up.

Look quickly in the book of Exodus Chapter 2, verses 23-25. God hears the groaning of his people. Don’t misunderstand this. God did not ‘show respect’ to a bunch of people moaning about how hard everything was and complaining about their hopeless lot in life. No, the ‘groaning’ that God hears is a deep cry of the heart for liberty. A heart cry to see God’s perfect will accomplished.

I can hardly find the words to convey the  passion this prayer releases. I can almost hear the Israelites now, “Oh, God, we want you. Remember Your covenant! Ohhh Ohhh...Help us, Lord. God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, help us!”

As the Psalmist says in Psalm 42:7: “Deep calleth unto deep”.

What was God’s response? A deliverer.

What happens when we give ourselves to intercede for others who are in bondage? Deliverance.

The Holy Spirit is released to minister freedom in the lives of those we pray for, and wherever He is there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Freedom from shame.

Freedom from addiction.

Freedom from fear.

Freedom from _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the gap - He can do it!)

Holy Ghost, have Your way!

Flying Higher

Here are some simple exercises for you to explore. Try them out in your personal prayer times and see what happens.

BREAKING THROUGH

If you are used to praying only 15 minutes, decide to pray for 30 minutes in one hit. Push through the temptation to draw back. This helps build muscle in the spirit. I once read a short story about a little girl who found a butterfly struggling its way out of a cocoon. She, in her childish understanding and care for the creature, decided to help it. Ever so carefully she began to remove the cocoon so that the butterfly could go free. However, once the creature was out, it’s wings were limp and useless. The pushing required to break from it’s cocoon was designed to cause the wings to grow strong and fill with life and blood. Nuff said. Keep pushing the boundaries.

PRAY DIFFERENTLY

The Holy Ghost within you is not bound to one or two sounds or words. He knows a whole array of intricate expressions and languages. Work with Him and make yourself say things that you would not normally say. Start with different sounds than your usual tongues. Allow new languages to flow. You will find, as you grow in the gift, that several different languages may flow in one 60 minute prayer session.

INTERPRET YOUR TONGUES

As I explained in the chapter ‘Look Who’s Talkin’ (page 32) take time to speak to God and interpret what you are saying. Allow the Holy Spirit to respond within you, either by prophecy or tongues and interpretation. It’s awesome!

SING IN THE SPIRIT

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 14:15 that we should pray in the spirit and sing in the spirit. Do it. Pray and worship in your spirit language. Make up songs and tunes in tongues, then sing in your natural language. This kind of thing really brings the presence of God so beautifully, as we draw pure worship from the well within our spirit.

Just go for it - push the boundaries. Live free in the Spirit as God intended and enjoy every minute of God’s glorious gift of tongues.

Recommendations

Useful resources for further study and encouragement…

Sign Up For The Free Prayer Principles Teaching Series at www.jesuschrist.co.uk

Unleashing the Power of Praying in the Spirit : Oral Roberts

Hidden Power of Speaking in Tongues:  Mahesh Chavda

Effective Fervent Prayer: Mary Alice Isleib

Intercessory Prayer: Dutch Sheets

Prayer - Key to Revival: Paul Y Cho

Possessing the Gates of the Enemy: Cindy Jacobs

The Master is Calling: Lynne Hammond

Revival Praying and Why Revival Tarries : Leonard Ravenhill

Mighty Prevailing Prayer : Wesley L Duewel

Anything at all by E M Bounds

End Notes…

1 Corinthians 13:8-10

Love never fails: but whether there be  prophecies, they shall fail;

whether there be tongues, they shall cease...for we know in part,

and we prophesy in part. But when that which  is perfect is come,

then that which is in part  shall be done away.

Prayer For Salvation and Baptism In The Holy Spirit

“Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). I am calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life according to Romans 10:9-10. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." I do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and l believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.

I am now reborn! I am a Christian—a child of Almighty God! I am saved! You also said in Your Word, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11:13) I'm also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit.

Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with tongues as You give me utterance (Acts 2:4).”

Begin to praise God for filling you with the Holy Spirit. Speak those words and syllables you receive—not in your own language, but the language given to you by the Holy Spirit. You have to use your own voice. God will not force you to speak. Worship and praise Him in your heavenly language—in other tongues.

Continue with the blessing God has given you and pray in tongues each day.

Prayer adapted from ‘Faith to Faith’ devotional published by Kenneth Copeland

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Praying In Tongues

What follows are brief answers to some of the questions that people often ask about tongues. Many of these questions will already have been addressed in the body of the book also.

Did tongues not pass away with the apostles?

Some look at 1 Corinthians 13:8 and use it to suggest that tongues is no longer a valid gift in the Body of Christ, “whether there be tongues, they shall cease”. The thought is that the New Testament scriptures are what is referred to as “that which is perfect” in verse 10.  What this position fails to do, however, is place the reference to ‘tongues’ in its proper context. Verse 8 does not just mention tongues, but also prophecy and knowledge. Furthermore, in verse 12, Paul makes it clear that until we come to a prefect personal knowledge of Christ, knowing Him as fully as He knows us, there is still a need for all of these things – moved and motivated by love and a desire to help and build the Body of Christ. In fact, chapter 14 urges the church to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, including tongues.

How can I know that what I am saying is real and not just made up?

Without wanting to offer a simplistic answer, the only way to enter into the supernatural gifts of God’s Spirit is by faith, not by feeling. As we simply step out on the promise of Scripture, believing it over and above our own natural arguments and understandings, it opens the door for God to work powerfully in our life. Ask yourself, “Is this what the Scriptures teach?” If the answer is yes, and our experience measures up to the Word, we can confidently continue. As we do, further revelation will come, and we will not struggle so much in our mind wit the concept of speaking in an unknown language. The whole point is that tongues is a supernatural manifestation of a supernatural God, not a natural thing at all. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:14, that our mind cannot grasp these things without the help of the Holy Spirit. And that’s ok!

Where the tongues on Pentecost not real earthly languages? Why do so many tongues just sound like babble?

Acts 2 records how the crowd understood the words that the Apostles were uttering. This is sometimes the case, and I have experienced myself, and known other people, who have spoken in languages understood by others, that the speaker had never ever learned. This is not always the case however. Again, we refer to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 13 and 14, where he says that more often than not tongues will not be understood by natural comprehension, and that in tongues we speak with both earthly languages (tongues of men) and heavenly languages (tongues of angels). His answer to this is to encourage the church to ask the Lord for interpretation of the tongues they utter in public meetings – “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”

Does Paul not teach that we should not speak in tongues in public?

No, quite the opposite. But he does encourage us to interpret what we say. There are also different functions of tongues. We have our own personal prayer language that we exercise to fellowship with God, to build ourselves up spiritually, and devotionally. These tongues do not need to be interpreted all the time. They are conversations between us and God alone. The other is another level of tongues, given as a gift to certain believers, for supernatural utterance in public gatherings. Together with interpretation, this gift acts like prophecy, and is used to build up the corporate Body of Christ, the church. Take some time to study out

1 Corinthians 14 in this respect.

Does 1 Corinthians 12:30 not teach that tongues is only for selected people?

“Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” The context of this verse suggests that the obvious answer is. “No, they do not.” Again, we need to rightly divide Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of specific gifts of the Spirit, special supernatural endowments designed to build the Body of Christ and extend God’s Kingdom in the earth. One of the gifts mentioned is tongues and interpretation. As we said before however, this level of tongues is not reference to the devotional, personal tongues given for our own use in prayer. Acts 2:38-39 records the following promise:

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

The promise and the gift of the Holy Spirit is for “all that God shall call.”

Must I speak in tongues to be saved?

No, we are saved by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not be the reception of His gifts. You can be saved and headed for heaven, and live a joyful and fruitful Christian life with or without this gift, but it is there for the asking for anyone who will believe the Scriptures, and will greatly impact and deepen your experience of God.

Is speaking in tongues the only proof of baptism in the Holy Spirit?

We see in the book of Acts that this was most often the first proof of baptism in the Spirit, so I believe that we should expect and believe for the same. Having said that, however, receiving the Holy Spirit is so much more than ‘tongues’. He is a gentleman, and will never force anything upon us that we do not what. It is my conviction that many are baptized in the Holy Spirit, but have not yet asked or in some cases even heard of speaking in tongues (many have been falsely taught that they are demonic or that they are not for Christian’s today). At the end of the day, Jesus said that love would be the ultimate and final proof of our discipleship, not manifestations of supernatural gifts. Even so, if you are a believer, you can not only have the fruits of God’s indwelling as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23, but also the gifts as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12. In Jesus Christ we get the full package!

Prayer Quotes

“No erudition, no purity of diction, no width of mental outlook, no flowers of eloquence, no grace of person atone for lack of fire.  Prayer ascends by fire.  Flame gives prayer access as well as wings, acceptance as well as energy.  There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame.”

E. M. Bounds

“Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees.  Have you any days of fasting and prayer?  Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.”

John Wesley

“Before the great revival in Gallneukirchen broke out, Martin Boos spent hours and days and often nights in lonely agonies of intercession.  Afterwards, when he preached, his words were as flame, and the hearts of the people as grass.”

D.M. McIntyre. D.D.

"Oh, for closest communion with God, till soul and body, head, face, and heart -shine with Divine brilliancy!  But oh! for a holy ignorance of our shining!" - Robert Murray M'Cheyme

“Depend upon it, if you are bent on prayer, the devil will not leave you alone. He will molest you, tantalize you, block you, and will surely find some hindrances, big or little or both. And we sometimes fail because we are ignorant of his devices…I do not think he minds our praying about things if we leave it at that. What he minds, and opposes steadily, is the prayer that prays on until it is prayed through, assured of the answer.” - Mary Warburton Booth

"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” –James Hudson Taylor

“Our sufficiency is of God. Difficulties melt in His presence. In Him are those mighty, overcoming energies, which accomplish the possible and the impossible with equal readiness…The real resources are with Him for the evangelizing and the redeeming of the world. But He has not been able to do ‘many mighty works’ in the non-Christian lands, because of our unbelief as a Church.  We have not possessed our possessions. God has been waiting to be honored by the faith of a generation that would call upon Him for really large outpourings of His power.” –J. Lovell Murray (SVM)

“Ah, prayer turns trembling saints into great victors! There is no such thing as surrender, or even discouragement, to a man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High and abides under the shadow of the Almighty.” –Henry W. Frost

“I have seen many men work without praying, though I have never seen any good come out of it; but I have never seen a man pray without working.” - James Hudson Taylor

“The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God…It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth. You ask me, How much time? I do not know. I know it means time enough to forget time.” - John R. Mott

“Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival – men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations.” -C. H. Spurgeon

“We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism...To your knees, man! and to your Bible! Decide at once! Don't hedge! Time flies!  Cease your insults to God, quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses. Enlist! " - C. T. Studd

“The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came...Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory.” - R. A. Torrey

“A sermon in shoes is often more eloquent than a sermon on paper.” - Theodore L. Cuyler

“To arouse one man or woman to the tremendous power of prayer for others, is worth more than the combined activity of a score of average Christians.” - A. J. Gordon

"I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach; - A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." -H. MacGregor

"Are you living for the things you are praying for?" - Austin Phelps

“A prayerless man is proud and independent, and any church that neglects corporate prayer is sadly no better. Only God's humble and needy children take the time to pray. Everyone else is just going through the motions and naively trusting in their own strength!” –David Smithers

"We need a baptism of clear seeing. We desperately need seers who can see through the mist--Christian leaders with prophetic vision. Unless they come soon it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy." -A. W. Tozer

"The time factor in prayer is very important. In the exercise of prayer God is not tied to our clocks. Neither is He at the other end of the phone to receive and answer our two-minute calls. It takes time to know the mind of God, to shut out the material things of earth and to be wholly abandoned." -Hugh C. C. McCullough

"He can do all things who prays well.  All soul-winners have conquered on their knees.  Wherever the secret of prevailing prayer is found, something supernatural will come to pass." - G. F. Oliver

"No system of doctrine, preaching and worship which fails to develop prayer, faith, spiritual labor, and success in converting souls from sin, can long have the face to claim to be the religion of Jesus Christ!" -William W. Patton

"We must continue in prayer if we are to get an outpouring of the Spirit. Christ says there are some things we shall not get, unless we pray and fast, yes, "prayer and fasting."  We must control the flesh and abstain from whatever hinders direct fellowship with God."- Andrew Bonar

"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer. From Pentecost to the Haystack meeting in New England and from the days when Robert Morrison landed in China to the martyrdom of John and Betty Stam, prayer has been the source of power and the secret of spiritual triumph."-Samuel Zwemer

"This much is sure in all churches, forgetting party labels; the smallest meeting numerically is the prayer- meeting. If weak in prayer we are weak everywhere." - Leonard Ravenhill

How long will it take us to learn that our shortest route to the man next door is by way of God's throne? – A. T. Pierson

"Wherever the Church is aroused and the world's wickedness arrested, somebody has been praying." – A. T. Pierson

"How terrible is the cost of robbing God of time for prayer. When we rob God of time for quiet, we are robbing Him of ourselves. It is only in the quiet that we can really know Him and know ourselves, and be sure that we give ourselves back to Him. Oh, for God's sake, do not risk keeping the windows of Heaven closed by robbing God of time." ( Keswick 1946 ) – Gordon M. Guinness

"The missionary church is a praying church. The history of missions is a history of prayer. Everything vital to the success of the world's evangelization hinges on prayer. Are thousands of missionaries and tens of thousands of native workers needed? ‘Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest.’" – John R. Mott

"God the Holy Ghost calls for crusaders… How many ministers would be in church if it were not their job? The answer will be found in the number who never go to the job that is outside." –Samuel Chadwick

"The evangelization of the world in this generation depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men; deeper, far, than the need for money; aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." – Robert E. Speer

"Prayer alone will overcome the gigantic difficulties which confront the workers in every field." – John R. Mott

"Hope and confidence should not be placed in the extent and perfection of organizations, nor in the experience which has been accumulated and the agencies and methods which have been devised in a long century of missions, nor in the unusual strength of the missionary body, nor in the multitude who have been gathered from every nation and race and faith into the native Church, nor in the wonderful resources and facilities of the home Church, nor in far-sighted and comprehensive plans, nor in enthusiastic forward movements and inspiring watchwords. It is easy to magnify human personality and agencies. Prayer recognizes that God is the source of life and light and energy." – John R. Mott

"Let methods be changed, therefore, if necessary, that prayer may be given its true place. Let there be days set apart for intercession; let the original purpose of the monthly concert of prayer for missions be given a larger place; let missionary prayer cycles be used by families and by individual Christians; let the best literature on prayer be circulated among the members of the Church; let special sermons on the Subject of intercession be preached. By these and by all other practical means a larger, deeper, wider spirit of prayer should be cultivated in the churches." – John R. Mott

"The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer." – John R. Mott

"If added power attends the united prayer of two or three, what mighty triumphs there will be when hundreds of thousands of consistent members of the Church are with one accord day by day making intercession for the extension of Christ's Kingdom." – John R. Mott

"The evangelization of the world in this generation depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men; deeper, far, than the need for money; aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." – Robert E. Speer

"Faith and prayer are so inter-linked that faith is prayer and prayer is faith. You cannot separate them. You could not have the one without the other." – A. Lindsay Glegg

"I believe there is one thing for which God is very angry with our land, and for which His Holy Spirit is so little among us, and that is the neglect of united prayer; the appointed means of bringing down the Holy Spirit." – Brownlow North

"The neglect of prayer proves to my mind, that there is a large amount of practical infidelity. If the people believed that there was a real, existing, personal God, they would ask Him for what they wanted, and they would get what they asked. But they do not ask, because they do not believe or expect to receive." – Brownlow North

"0h Christians, go more to the prayer-meetings…" – Brownlow North

"From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun in a union of prayer, though only among two or three. And no such outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined. It is in exact proportion to the maintenance of such joint and believing supplication and intercession that the Word of the Lord in any land or locality has had free course and been glorified." - A. T. Pierson

"The disappearance of the 'prayer meeting' from the life of many churches is something which occasions widespread regret, even among many who would not normally attend.  Indeed, the prayer meeting in which the laity participated freely is a legacy from the 1859 (Ulster) Revival...These prayer meetings were not in many cases in existence before the revival set in.  The very establishment of them in the first instance, was an evidence that it was spring-time again in the Church of Christ, and the restoration of them today would be for her reviving once more." - John T. Carson

"All practical power over sin and over men depends on maintaining closet communion.  Those who abide in the secret place with God show themselves mighty to conquer evil, and strong to work and to war for God.  They are seers who read His secrets; they know His will; they are the meek whom He guides in judgment and teaches His way.  They are His prophets who speak for Him to others, and even forecast things to come.  They watch the signs of the times and discern His tokens and read His signals." - A. T. Pierson

"God has no greater controversy with His people today than this, that with boundless promises to believing prayer, there are so few who actually give themselves unto intercession." - A. T. Pierson

"You must pray with all your might.  That does not mean saying your prayers, or sitting gazing about in church or chapel with eyes wide open while someone else says them for you.  It means fervent, effectual, untiring wrestling with God...This kind of prayer be sure the devil and the world and your own indolent, unbelieving nature will oppose.  They will pour water on this flame." - William Booth

"Preachers who never have revivals never weary of calling attention to everything objectionable in the methods of those who have powerful revivals...O ye fault-finders, beware lest when your Lord come, ye be found smiting your fellow servants, instead of working with them!" - B. T. Roberts

"Prayer is self-discipline.  The effort to realize the presence and power of God stretches the sinews of the soul and hardens its muscles. To pray is to grow in grace.  To tarry in the presence of the King leads to new loyalty and devotion on the part of the faithful subjects.  Christian character grows in the secret-place of prayer. - Samuel M. Zwemer

"At Waterloo, the English troops obeying orders fell on their faces for a time and let the hot fire of the French artillery pass over them. Then they sprang to their feet and rushed to the thickest of the fight and beat back their foes.  The Lord wants His people flat on their faces, before they attempt to meet the great crises of life." - A. T. Pierson

"A marble cutter, with chisel and hammer, was changing a stone into a statue.  A preacher looking on said: 'I wish I could deal such changing blows on stony hearts. ' The workman answered: 'Maybe you could, if you worked like me, upon your knees.'" - A. T. Pierson

"True prayer will achieve just as much as it costs us." - Samuel M. Zwemer

The great battles, the battles that decide our destiny and the destiny of generations yet unborn, are not fought on public platforms, but in the lonely hours of the night and in moments of agony." - Samuel Logan Brengle

The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life, Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him." - Sadhu Sundar Singh

The Word of God represents all the possibilities of God as at the disposal of true prayer." -A. T. Pierson

"What a man is on his knees before God in secret, that will he be before men: that much and no more." -Fred Mitchell

"Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is." -C. H. Spurgeon

"Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness." -William Carey

"There is absolutely no substitute for this secret communion with God. The public Church services, or even the family altar, cannot take the place of the 'closet' prayer. We must deliberately seek to meet with God absolutely alone, and to secure such aloneness with God we are bidden to 'enter into thy closet.' God absolutely insists on this 'closet'-communion with Himself. One reason, no doubt, that He demands it, is to test our sincerity. There is no test for the soul like solitude. Do you shrink from solitude? Perhaps the cause for your neglect of the 'closet' is a guilty conscience? You are afraid to enter into the solitude. You know that however cheerful you appear to be you are not really happy. You surround yourself with company lest, being alone, truth should invade your delusion…" – Gordon Cove

"It is morally impossible to exercise trust in God while there is failure to wait upon Him for guidance and direction. The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty." - D. E. Hoste

"Should it not be recognized that the practice of prayer and intercession needs to be taught to young believers, or rather developed in young believers, quite as much, if not more so than other branches of the curriculum? Unless, however, we ourselves are, through constant persevering practice, truly alive unto God in this holy warfare, we shall be ineffective in influencing others. I am quite sure the rule holds that the more we pray the more we want to pray; the converse also being true." - D. E. Hoste

"I should like to allude to a few points in the character of Mr. Hudson Taylor which impressed me personally, and which I think had something to do with the blessing that God granted to his efforts on behalf of this country (China). First his prayerfulness; he was of necessity a busy man, but he always regarded prayer itself as in reality the most needful and important part of the work. He practically recognized that much time must be spent in seeking God's guidance, if a right understanding was to be obtained of the problems and difficulties that confronted him, in carrying on the work of the Mission. He knew that in no other way was the power of the Holy Spirit to be obtained for himself and his brethren, as they sought to develop the work. I venture on this occasion, not only to impress upon myself, but upon you as well, the importance of our copying him in this respect." - D. E. Hoste

"Out of a very intimate acquaintance with D. L. Moody, I wish to testify that he was a far greater pray-er than he was preacher. Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to overcome all difficulties. He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass. He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that prayer could do anything that God could do. " – R. A. Torrey.

"All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet." – Samuel Logan Brengle

"God has created both the mother's milk and the child's desire to drink it. But the milk does not flow of itself into the child's mouth. No, the child must lie in its mother bosom and suck the milk diligently. God has created the spiritual food which we need. He has filled the soul of man with desire for this food, with an impulse to cry out for it and to drink it in. The spiritual milk, the nourishment of our souls, we receive through prayer. By means of fervent prayer we must receive it into our souls. As we do this we become stronger day by day, just like the infant at the breast." - Sadhu Sundar Singh

"We have found no means so much blessed to keep religion alive as FASTING and PRAYER." - Edward Payson

"It is not enough for the believer to begin to pray, nor to pray correctly; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray. We must patiently, believingly continue in prayer until we obtain an answer. Further, we have not only to continue in prayer until the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing. Those who are disciples of the Lord Jesus should labor with all their might in the work of God as if everything depended upon their own endeavors. Yet, having done so, they should not in the least trust in their labor and efforts, nor in the means that they use for the spread of the truth, but in God alone; and they should with all earnestness seek the blessing of God in persevering, patient, and believing prayer. Here is the great secret of success, my Christian reader. Work with all your might, but never trust in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing in God, but work at the same time with all diligence, with all patience, with all perseverance. Pray, then, and work. Work and pray. And still again pray, and then work. And so on, all the days of your life. The result will surely be abundant blessing. Whether you see much fruit or little fruit, such kind of service will be blessed." – George Muller

"The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness." - John Wesley

"God will not let me get the blessing without asking. Today I am setting my face to fast and pray for enlightenment and refreshing. Until I can get up to the measure of at least two hours in pure prayer every day, I shall not be contented. Meditation and reading besides." - Andrew Bonar

"Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, ‘above all that we ask or think’. Each time, before you Intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!" - Andrew Murray

"When we find anything promised in the Word of God, we are not to neglect to seek it because it is promised: but we are to pray for it on that very account. ‘Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock" (Ezek. 36:37). The promise is absolute; but the time of its fulfillment depends upon the prayers of His people." - B. T. Roberts

"The reason why we obtain no more in prayer is because we expect no more. God usually answers us according to our own hearts." - Richard Allelne

"Some years ago in China, at a meeting of missionaries and Chinese pastors, one of the Chinese pastors made a striking address. He said that he and his brethren were more than grateful to those who brought them the word of life and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but yet, he said, there was one thing more which missionaries should teach their spiritual children. This new thing was to pray with authority, so that they might know how to take their stand in faith before the throne and rebuke the forces of evil, holding steady and firm, and gain the victory over them. That same need is tremendously evident today in the experiences of all that are seeking to walk closely with the Lord, and to stand for Him in the face of increasing opposition. Some have spoken of this as ‘throne prayer’- praying with one's hand touching the throne of God." - T. Stanley Soltau

"It is very much easier to work than to pray. Most of the missionaries are earnest workers. But are we all that we should be in the matter of prayer? Let us not suppose that just any sort of praying will do for China. We must all wrestle with God. ‘I will not let Thee go unless Thou bless China.’ It must come to this if the conversion of the Chinese is ever to be an accomplished fact. Such is my conviction. Let me remind you that the greatest importunity is not incompatible with the profoundest submission to the Divine will." - Griffith John

"It must be remembered that there is spiritual wickedness at the back of all confusion and discord in the work of God. The servant of Christ must, therefore, practically recognize that his warfare is with these satanic beings and must be waged on his knees." - D. E. Hoste

"Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities." - Robert Murray M’Cheyne

"The neglected heart will soon be a heart overrun with worldly thoughts; the neglected life will soon become a moral chaos; the church that is not jealously protected by mighty intercession and sacrificial labors will before long become the abode of every evil bird and the hiding place for unsuspected corruption. The creeping wilderness will soon take over that church that trusts in its own strength and forgets to watch and pray." - A. W. Tozer

"We have not been men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered among us. The closet has been too little frequented and delighted in. We have allowed business, study or active labor to interfere with our closet-hours. And the feverish atmosphere in which both the church and the nation are enveloped has found its way into our prayer closets…" - Andrew Bonar

"Why is there so little forethought in the laying out of time and employment, so as secure a large portion of each day for prayer? Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why Is there so much running to and fro to meetings, conventions, fellowship gatherings and yet so little time for prayer'? Brethren, why so many meetings with our fellow men and so few meetings with God?" - Andrew Bonar

"A godly man is a praying man. As soon as grace is poured in, prayer is poured out. Prayer is the soul's traffic with Heaven; God comes down to us by His Spirit, and we go up to Him by prayer." - Thomas Watson

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." - Robert Murray M’Cheyne

"Men of prayer are men of faith; closet supplicants make faith’s heroes." – The War Cry (1895)

"If I am concerned that my flock be men and women of prayer, then, as their pastor, I must lead the way; apathy in me will produce apathy in them. The church prayer meeting ought to be the best attended in the week, and if it is, success will follow the ministry of the Word at the weekends. I would rather a thousand times set men and women to pray than teach them to preach." " - J. D. Drysdale

"I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach." - J. H. Jowett

"Oh, how few find time for prayer! There is time for everything else, time to sleep and time to eat, time to read the newspaper and the novel, time to visit friends, time for everything else under the sun, but-no time for prayer, the most important of all things, the one great essential!" -Oswald Smith

"On the mountains, torrents flow right along, cutting their own courses. But on the plains canals have to be dug out painfully by men so that the water might flow. So among those who live on the heights with God, the Holy Spirit makes its way through of its own accord, whereas those who devote little time to prayer and communion with God have to organize painfully." -Sadhu Sunder Singh

"Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused." - C. H. Spurgeon

"God's greatest gifts to man come through travail. Whether we look into the spiritual or temporal sphere, can we discover anything, any great reform, any beneficial discovery, any soul-awakening revival, which did not come through the tolls and tears, the vigils and blood-shedding of men and woman whose sufferings were the pangs of Its birth?" - F. B. Meyer

"Some people become tired at the end of ten minutes or half an hour of prayer. What will they do when they have to spend Eternity in the presence of God? We must begin the habit here and become used to being with God." - Sadhu Sundar Singh

"Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God." - Andrew Murray

"Continuing instant in prayer (Rom. 12:12). The Greek is a metaphor taken from hunting dogs that never give over the game till they have their prey." - Thomas Brooks

"If you are strangers to prayer you are strangers to power." - Billy Sunday

"Shall I give you yet another reason why you should pray? I have preached my very heart out. I could not say any more than I have said. Will not your prayers accomplish that which my preaching fails to do? Is it not likely that the Church has been putting forth its preaching hand but not its praying hand? Oh dear friends! Let us agonize in prayer." – C. H. Spurgeon

"A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else's way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow."– C. H. Spurgeon

"Pray, O pray, my brother! never, never quit your hold of the fullness of God; for time is nearly over, and if this fullness be lost it will be lost forever. I am astonished that we do not pray more, yea, that we do not live every moment as on the brink of the eternal world, and in the blessed expectation of that glorious country." - William Bramwell

"Many who do come into the secret place, and who are God's children, enter it and leave it just as they entered, without ever so much as realizing the presence of God. And there are some believers who, even when they do obtain a blessing, and get a little quickening of soul, leave the secret place without seeking more. They go to their chamber, and there get into the secret place, but then, as soon as they have got near to Him, they think they have been peculiarly blessed, and leave their chamber, and go back into the world… Oh, how is it that the Lord's own people have so little perseverance? How is it that when they do enter into their place of prayer to be alone, they are so easily persuaded to be turned away empty; instead of wrestling with God to pour out His Spirit, they retire from the secret place without the answer, and submit to it as being God's will." – William C. Burns

"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight - I'll fight to the very end!" - William Booth

"Work as if everything depended upon your work, and pray as if everything depended upon your prayer." - William Booth

"A real minister of the gospel is a man of prayer. Prayer is his grand employment, his safety, his first and perpetual duty; and under grace, the grand source of his consolation. Our instructions will be always barren, if they be not watered with our tears and prayers." - Thomas Coke

"A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge. But he prays because his soul is hungry for God." - Leonard Ravenhill

"A minister, who prays not, who is not in love with prayer, is not a minister of the Church of God. He is a dry tree, which occupies in vain a place in Christ's garden. He is an enemy, and not a father, of the people. He is a stranger, who has taken the place of the shepherd, and to whom the salvation of the flock is an indifferent thing." – Thomas Coke

"In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are-dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon." - J. Hudson Taylor

"God has a good deal more to give than most of us are getting. "Knee-ology" is a much-neglected branch of Christian ethics. The Church loses immeasurably in strength and accelerated power by failing to test the wonderful promises of God in prayer. Oh, for somebody who can really pray. Why need a church languish and die and have no one converted the year round? Somebody neglects to pray. Why need a community be without a revival for years? Somebody neglects to pray. Why need the missionary cause and current expenses of the church suffer? Somebody neglects to pray. Why need the church resort to unscriptural methods to raise money? Somebody neglects to pray. Oh, for a praying church! Brother, sister, apply this directly to your own heart. Are you neglecting to pray?" – C. E. Cornell

"Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven."

– Adam Clarke

"They who pray not, know nothing of God, and know nothing of the state of their own souls."

– Adam Clarke

"Let us advance upon our knees." - Joseph Neesima

"You must GO forward on your knees." - J. Hudson Taylor

"Satan does not care how many people read about prayer if only he can keep them from praying. When a church is truly convinced that prayer is where the action is, that church will so construct its corporate activities that the prayer program will have the highest priority." - Paul E. Billheimer

"Ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen - degrees or no degrees."  - Leonard Ravenhill

The feeling of need and not the force of habit will make thee a sincere suppliant." - Evan Roberts

"Prayer is buried, and lost and Heaven weeps.  If all prayed the wicked would flee from our midst or to the refuge." - Evan Roberts

"Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth." - Matthew Henry

"You may as soon find a living man without breath as a living saint without prayer." - Matthew Henry

"The prayers and supplications that Christ offered up were, joined with strong cries and tears, herein setting us example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God!" - Matthew Henry

"At God's counter there are no " SALE DAYS," for the price of revival is ever  the same -TRAVAIL. - Leonard Ravenhill

"Workers that are strangers to knee work may work up a temporary excitement, but never will be able to secure the copious outpourings of genuine revival power." - Martin Wells Knapp

"It is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won. We must conquer all our circumstances there. We must first of all bring them there. We must survey them there. We must master them there. In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the Presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that? Or have you been satisfied to meet and fight your foes in the open spaces of the world?" - J. H. Jowett

"He that leaves off prayer leaves off the fear of God. ‘You cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God ‘ (Job 15: 4). A man that leaves off prayer is capable of any wickedness. When Saul had given up inquiring of God he went to the witch of Endor" - Thomas Watson

The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel."-Thomas Watson

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

- John Bunyan

"We know the utility of prayer from the efforts of the wicked spirits to distract us during the divine office; and we experience the fruit of prayer in the defeat of our enemies."- John Climacus

"Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan."

- John Bunyan

"No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it." -Guy H. King

"When we go to God by prayer, the devil knows we go to fetch strength against him, and therefore he opposeth us all he can." - Richard Sibbes

"Christ was in an agony at prayer (Luke 22: 44). Many when they pray are rather in a lethargy, than in an agony. When they are about the world they are all fire; when they are at prayer, they are all Ice."

- Thomas Watson

"If I cannot hear 'the sound of rain' long before the rain falls, and then go out to some hilltop of the Spirit, as  near to my God as I can and have faith to wait there with my face between my knees, though six times or sixty times I am told 'there is nothing', till at last there arises a little cloud out of the sea, then I know nothing of Calvary love." (Read 1 Kings 18:41-45).  - Amy Carmichael

"It will not do for us to go to Heaven by ourselves.  We must be on fire, friends for saving others. To be workers will draw heaven down and will draw others to heaven .  Without a readiness to work, the Spirit of prayer will not come." - Evan Roberts

"Prayer is the secret of power." - Evan Roberts

Secret prayer is the spring-time of life." - Evan Roberts

"A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men." – Leonard Ravenhill

"It will never be altogether well with us till we convert the universe into a prayer room, and continue in the Spirit as we go from place to place.... The prayer hour is left standing before God till the other hours come and stand beside it; then, if they are found to be a harmonious sisterhood, the prayer is granted."

- George Bowen

"The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail. There is no peradventure. You cannot fail.... A sense of real want is at the very root of prayer." - John Laidlaw

"Prayer is the means by which we obtain all the graces that rain down upon us from the divine Fountain of Goodness and Love." - Laurence Scupoli

"None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience. It is a great matter when in extreme need to take hold on prayer. I know whenever I have prayed earnestly that I have been amply heard, and have obtained more than I prayed for. God indeed sometimes delayed, but at last He came." – Martin Luther

"It has often been said that prayer is the greatest force in the universe. This is no exaggeration. It will bear constant repetition. In this atomic age when forces are being released that stagger the thought and imagination of man, it is well to remember that prayer transcends all other forces."

- F. J. Huegel

"If the church would only awaken to her responsibility of intercession, we could well evangelize the world in a short time. It is not God's plan that the world be merely evangelized ultimately. It should be evangelized in every generation. There should be a constant gospel witness in every corner of the world so that no sinner need close his eyes in death without hearing the gospel, the good news of salvation through Christ." -T. A. Hegre

"Hell is larger today than it was yesterday, because many of us have failed to pray."

- David Smithers

"There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God." -Samuel Chadwick

"To strive in prayer means to struggle through those hindrances which would restrain or even prevent us entirely from continuing in persevering prayer. It means to be so watchful at all times that we can notice when we become slothful in prayer and that we go to the Spirit of prayer to have this remedied. In this struggle, too, the decisive factor is the Spirit of prayer." - 0. Hallesby

"Once a poor soul entered the school of prayer after his arrival in hell. He asked for relief from his agony; it was refused. He asked that a beggar warn his brothers; he was turned down. He was praying to Abraham, a man; he could not locate God. He dared not ask to get out; he plainly knew that he was beyond all hope. Prayerless on earth, unanswered in hell, he suffers on as the man who tried to learn to pray too late." - Cameron V. Thompson

"Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer. Most people consider the exercise a fatiguing ceremony, which they are justified in abridging as much as possible. Even those whose profession or fears lead them to pray, pray with such languor and wanderings of mind that their prayers, far from drawing down blessings, only increase their condemnation."

- Fenelon

"How hard is it sometimes to get leave of hearts to seek God! Jesus Christ went more willingly to the cross than we do to the throne of grace." - Thomas Watson

"The Western church has lost the prayer stamina of the mission churches in Asia, Africa, South America, Indonesia, and those of the underground church in many parts of the world. Yes, we are great organizers, but poor pray-ers." - Paul E. Billheimer

"The prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the great Jehovah yields. Prayer is the sovereign remedy." - Robert Hall

"I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o'clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’, ‘Thou shalt early hear my voice.’ Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer the soul is often out of tune. I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another." - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"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. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." - E. M. Bounds

"0h brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper - and sleep too - than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber." - Andrew A. Bonar

Whole days and WEEKS have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer."

- George Whitefteld

"All decays begin in the closet; no heart thrives with out much secret converse with God, and nothing will make amends for the want of it." - John Berridge

"A man can not lead others where he is not willing to go himself. Therefore, beware of the prayerless church leader who no longer readily admits his own need for more of the person and power of Jesus Christ. Only a seeking, praying heart can truly encourage spiritual HUNGER in others!"

– David Smithers

God never intended His Church to be a refrigerator in which to preserve perishable piety. He intended it to be an incubator in which to hatch out converts." - F. Lincicome

"There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr. Wet-Eyes are not found in the audience."

- Charles G. Finney

"Let me burn out for God. After all, whatever God may appoint, prayer is the great thing. Oh, that I may be a man of prayer!" - Henry Martyn

"Love is kindled in a flame, and ardency is its life. Flame is the air which true Christian experience breathes. It feeds on fire; it can withstand anything rather than a feeble flame; but when the surrounding atmosphere is frigid or lukewarm, it dies, chilled and starved to its vitals. True prayer MUST be aflame."

- E. M. Bounds

"God's cause is committed to men; God commits Himself to men. Praying men are the vice-regents of God; they do His work and carry out His plans." - E. M. Bounds

"Prayer is the acid test of devotion." - Samuel Chadwick

"All the resources of the Godhead are at our disposal!" - Jonathan Goforth

"Prayer and Pains, through faith in Jesus Christ will do anything." - John Elliot

"God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the IMPOSSIBLE." - William Booth

"I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done." - Hudson Taylor

"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible."- Corrie ten Boom

"We never test the resources of God until we attempt the IMPOSSIBLE." - F. B. Meyer

"Until we reach for the IMPOSSIBLE through fervent, faith-filled prayer, we will NEVER fulfill our created purpose!" - David Smithers

"A church without an intelligent, well-organized, and systematic prayer program is simply operating a religious treadmill." - Paul E. Billheimer

"God will do nothing but in answer to prayer." - John Wesley

"The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. Prayer is striking the winning blow ... service is gathering up the results." - S. D. Gordon

"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." - Corrie ten Boom

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" - Corrie ten Boom

"Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints have to carry on intercession for all men." - Oswald Chambers

"Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails." - Watchman Nee

"Pray not for crutches but for wings." - Phillips Brooks

"Prayer does not enable us to do a greater work for God. Prayer is a greater work for God."

- Thomas Chalmers

"Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet." - E. M. Bounds

"Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential part."

- Andrew Murray

"Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence." - W. S. Bowden

"Prayerlessness is a sin." - Corrie ten Boom

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." - William Cowper

"Some men will spin out a long prayer telling God who and what he is, or they pray out a whole system of divinity. Some people preach, others exhort the people, till everybody wishes they would stop, and God wishes so, too, most undoubtedly." - Charles G. Finney

"Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all." - D. L. Moody

"Prayerlessness is a sin." - Corrie ten Boom

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." - William Cowper

"Some men will spin out a long prayer telling God who and what he is, or they pray out a whole system of divinity. Some people preach, others exhort the people, till everybody wishes they would stop, and God wishes so, too, most undoubtedly." - Charles G. Finney

"Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all." - D. L. Moody

"Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still." - E. M. Bounds

"The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe." - D. L. Moody

"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 trembles when we pray." - Samuel Chadwick

"There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him." - William Law

"We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results."

- R. A. Torrey

"You shall find this to be God’s usual course: not to give his children the taste of his delights till they begin to sweat in seeking after them." - Richard Baxter

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