Prayer Quotes

"Give Him no rest..."

Be encouraged, have your faith strengthened in your daily walk with Jesus Christ, and prevail in prayer, through these quotes on prevailing intercessory prayer in the Christian faith.

Faith-Affirming Prayer Quotes

Prayer is the Golden Pipe

"Prayer is the golden pipe through which the oil of the Spirit flows into the Church."

Prayer Costs

Luke 11:1 "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

"A life of prayer costs. It takes time. Hurried prayers and muttered litanies can never produce souls mighty in prayer. To become skilled in art and mechanism, learners give hours regularly every day that they may become proficient. Our Lord rose before daybreak that He might pray, and not infrequently He spent all night in prayer. All praying saints have spent hours every day in prayer. One is afraid to quote examples. In these days there is no time to pray; but without time, and a lot of it, we shall never learn to pray. It ought to be possible to give God one hour out of twenty-four all to Himself. Anyway, let us make a start in the discipline of training in prayer by setting apart a fixed time every day for the exercise of prayer. We must seriously set our hearts to learn how to pray. "To pray with all your heart and strength, with the reason and the will, to believe vividly that God will listen to your voice through Christ, and verily do the thing He pleaseth thereupon -- this is the last, the greatest achievement of the Christian's warfare upon earth." Teach us to pray, O Lord, we beseech thee." Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer

The Biggest Thing to God is the Man Who Prays

Acts. 9:11 “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,”

“God speaks of prayer in terms of wonder: "Behold, he prayeth." The language is that of humanity, but it is the only speech man knows, and however inadequate it may be, it stands for corresponding reality in God. Can God wonder? Can there be in Him elements of surprise and amazement? Can it be that there are things that to God are wonderful? That is how God speaks, and to Him there is nothing more gloriously wonderful than prayer. It would seem as if the biggest thing in God's universe is a man who prays. There is only one thing more amazing, and that is, that man, knowing this, should not pray. Behold! In that word there is wonder, rapture, exultation. In the estimate of God prayer is more wonderful than all the wonders of the heavens, more glorious than all the mysteries of the earth, more mighty than all the forces of creation.” Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer

The Habit of Hearty Private Prayer is a Proof of True Conversion

Acts 9:11 "Behold, he prayeth."

“But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if he does not pray…. And I say, furthermore, that of all the evidences of the real work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books and make fine speeches and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest. The Lord himself has set his stamp on prayer as the best proof of a true conversion. When he sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, he gave him no other evidence of his change of heart than this, "Behold, he prayeth" (Acts 9: 11).”—J. C. Ryle

Prayer Moves the Arm of Omnipotence

Mark 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

"The church may be composed of those who are poor and uneducated; but if they have learned of Christ the science of prayer, the church will have power to move the arm of Omnipotence. The true people of God will have an influence that will tell upon hearts. It is not the wealth or the educated ability which the members of the church may possess that constitutes their efficiency. The members of the church may have been so situated that they may have had every spiritual advantage, they may have been so situated that they have had opportunity to know the truth, to know Jesus Christ their Lord; but notwithstanding their advantages, if they are not humble, praying men and women, there will not be with them the hiding of the power of God. They will not exert that influence that will be far reaching as eternity in its results, and men will not see their good works, and glorify God because of his people’s faithfulness. It is when the Sun of Righteousness shines forth from the people of God that Christ is glorified and his kingdom advanced. It is then that they are chosen vessels of salvation, and are fit for the Master’s use.—Signs of the Times, September 11, 1893. Par. 4

Lay Hold of Souls With One Hand and the Throne of God With the Other

Lam. 2:11 "My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city."
"God's servants need constantly to lay hold with one hand of souls ready to perish, while with the hand of faith they lay hold of the throne of God. Souls possessed with evil spirits will present themselves before us. We must cultivate the spirit of earnest prayer, mingled with genuine faith to save them from ruin, and this will confirm our faith." Spaulding Magan Collection, 89.2

The Preached Word is Powerless Without Earnest Praying, Working People

2 Thesss. 3:1 "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you...."

"The preached Word will be powerless for the conviction and conversion of souls, while a sleepy, lazy, and backslidden church are all that are left to sustain the efforts of the laborers. The efforts of Christ's ambassadors will be successful only when sustained by an earnest, praying, working people." {PH152 6.2}

Prayer Meetings Reveals the True Spiritual Condition of the Church

Acts 1:14 "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."

"A prayer-meeting will always tell the true interest of the church-members in spiritual and eternal things. The prayer-meeting is as the pulse to the body; it denotes the true spiritual condition of the church. A lifeless, backslidden church has no relish for the prayer-meetings." {PH152 7.1}

Satan Trembles When We Pray

James 4:7 "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

“Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees”

“[Satan] is never more disappointed than when his temptations drive men to Christ. He, then, is the means of driving a soul to its fortress, its security. Prayer is strength. No Christian can thrive without being much alone with God. None who are so can do otherwise than thrive. Fight by prayer when you are fainting. As to your companionships, try to be most where you will be nearest to Jesus. Young Christian, be much in your closet, and He cannot forsake you."—William Chalmers Burns, Revivalist who worked in Scotland and China

The Great Error is Too Few and Too Short Periods of Solemn Retirement With God

"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." Matt. 6:6

"The great fundamental error then, as far as I can see, in the economy of the Christian life, which many, and alas! I for one commit, is that of having too few and too short periods of solemn retirement with our gracious Father and his adorable Son Jesus Christ. It is, we well know, when meditating in secret on his Word, when examining our hearts in his holy and omniscient but fatherly and gracious presence, when pouring out our complaint before him, and seeking to utter the praises of his glorious character and works—it is in these exercises that we come to know, through the teaching of the Spirit, our natural darkness, depravity, and vileness, and that the glorious Sun of Righteousness arises upon our souls with healing in his wings, giving light to us who sit in darkness and in the region and shadow of death. The communion of the saints in Christian converse is indeed important, nay, indispensable to the growth of the new man when it can be obtained, but when is it sweet and soul-reviving but when each brings out into the common store something of the heavenly food which he has been gathering in the closet? Whenever the holy, heavenly light of a Christian deportment is seen in anyone, when we hear him bringing forth from a full heart some of the glorious things of the kingdom, we ought then to learn the lesson that 'he has been with Jesus,' and to go in like manner to Him that we too may obtain this living water to be in us as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life."—William Chalmers Burns

Jesus Becomes the Suppliant When We Pray in His Name

"If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John 14:14

"What is the matter with the Christian Church, that she does not make more of believing and importunate prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ? Do you ever ask what prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ is? The Name is the character and the personality, just as my name represents me. To ask in His Name is not simply to ask for His sake, it is something grander. He has put His Name upon us, and we may ask by virtue of our identity with Him. He is my Lord, and I am His servant. To present requests in His Name is the same thing as presenting letters of introduction in the name of some other person. When you present a letter, I recognise the person who wrote the letter, and it is not irreverent for me to say, that when you pray in Jesus' Name, not you, but He, is the suppliant. I present the request, but He makes the request, for it is my identification with Him that makes Him the mouth-piece of my supplications. Such prayer can only be offered by those who are in intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ. We can only maintain that fellowship by constancy of devotion and love and the culture of holiness. The lost art of praying must become a found art in the Church of Christ, before missions receive their new recognition in the mind of the Church, and their new expression in the activity of the Church."—A. T. Pierson, at a student missionary conference in 1896.

Power Will Be Given!

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19

"I was the pastor of a great church, where I found that there was an irreconcilable feud between certain members, officers of that church. I laboured eighteen months and used every expedient I could think of, and was unable to heal the breach. Then I went to the Lord, and said with tears, 'My God, I cannot serve Thee in this church while this feud continues; I have essayed to heal it, but it has not been healed; lay Thy Hand upon these parties, and remove them from the church, or bring them to a mutual understanding.' From that day, not one of these disputants has been inside the walls of that church. In my despair, 'This poor man cried unto the Lord,' and the Lord heard him. One of the members in question had sickness in the family, which demanded his removal from the town; the other had a rise in his rent and went away; another was found involved in a defalcation (embezzlement), and was forced to leave, and now the church is a perfectly harmonious body. My quickest way was by the roundabout process of the Throne of Grace.”—A. T. Pierson, at a student missionary conference in 1896.

Quickest Way to the Man Next Door Is Through God

"Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isa. 45:1-3

"I am told that in London there is a tall building, at the top of which is a newspaper office which receives its news from Scotland by private wire. There were two young men in charge of the telegraph office: one went about London to collect local news, and on his return one night, found he could not get in, the man up in the fifth story not hearing his knocking. What did he do? He ran to a telegraph office and telegraphed to Edinburgh, ‘Wake up that fellow in the fifth story,' and soon after, down came his companion to open the door. The quickest way to get to the man in the fifth story was by way of Edinburgh. The quickest way to get at the man next door to me, is by way of the Throne of Grace. If I understand this wonderful telegraphic circuit, I can send up my request to Him Who holds all hearts in His hands, and there will be marvellous revelations accomplished in the house next door to me. All barriers are cast aside by the power of Almighty God."—A. T. Pierson, at a student missionary conference in 1896. (Read all of A. T. Pierson's Sermon, The Lost Art of Praying - A. T. Pierson)

Private Prayer is the Secret Key of Heaven

"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." Matt. 6:6

“Private prayer is that secret key of heaven which unlocks all the treasures of glory to the soul. The best riches and the sweetest mercies, God usually gives to His people—when they are in their closets upon their knees. A husband imparts his mind most freely and fully to his wife when she is alone; and so does Christ to the believing soul. Oh . . . the secret kisses, the secret embraces, the secret visits, the secret whispers, the secret cheerings, the secret sealings, the secret discoveries, which God gives to His people when in secret prayer." Thomas Brooks

His Command to Pray is Proof He Also Answers Prayer!

"Ask!" Matthew 7:7

"The fact that our Lord commands us to pray, and that He enforces the command by promises of the clearest and most satisfactory character, is to my mind an all-sufficient proof that God does answer prayer, and that prayer has a place among the forces designed by God for the working out of His purposes. Jesus Christ knows God, and He commands us to pray. This is enough in itself. We, as Christians, as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, really need no other argument."

In God's Presence The Will of God Becomes Clear

"That ye may stand .... fully assured in all the will of God. Col. iv. 12 (R. V.).

"The will of God" is the crown of life, and when a believer is "fully assured" concerning it,—its clearness, its blessedness, its authority,—then indeed is he making spiritual progress. Towards this end prayer is the appointed means. Prayer develops spiritual faculties and leads to spiritual ripeness. Prayer makes real the presence of God, and in that presence "the will of God" becomes clear and asserts its complete yet blessed authority. The more we pray the riper we become and the more completely "assured" of the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us.—W.H. Griffith Thomas

Prevailing Intercessory Prayer

Prevailing & Intercessory Prayer That Works!