
part i – introduction (mine :: luke’s)
part ii – chapter 1 & 2
part iii – chapter 3 & 4
part iv – chapter 5 & 6
:: read the book yourself ::
part v – chapters 7 & 8
little prayer is the characteristic of a backslidden age and of a backslidden church. whenever there is little praying in the pulpit or in the pew, spiritual bankruptcy is imminent and inevitable. (page 59)
bounds’ writing style is interesting: generally simple concepts (not in nature but in conveyance) repeated over and over again from every possible angle, with great passion and urgency (in fact, he reminds me of a Christian hemmingway). each chapter of Purpose In Prayer is like the single blooming of a flower, petal by petal, bit by bit, until the single blossom is fully revealed.
chapters 7 & 8 continue in the exhortation to pray with purpose and to pray with fervor, to pray often and to pray expectantly. however, these chapters also reveal a new edge to bounds’ sermon.
first, prayer is meant to create intimacy with God. it is an excellent reminder that “the goal of prayer is the ear of God,” not just the activity of God. we do not pray simply for help or for miracles, but we pray so that we might have the very ear of the Almighty. that alone is a fantastic adjustment that i can work on each day for the rest of my life.
we are encouraged by bounds (and Jesus) to “pray always and not to faint” (pg. 53 / luke 18:1), and we are then shown that constant prayer and devotion is the key to spiritual vigor. a prayerless heart is a dying heart.
and, to return to the vital point, secret praying is the test, the gauge, the conserver of man’s relation to God. the prayer chamber, while it is the test of the sincerity of our devotion to God, becomes also the measure of the devotion. the self-denial, the sacrifices which we make for our prayer chambers, the frequency of our visits to that hallowed place of meeting with the Lord, the lingering to stay, the loathness to leave, are values which we put on communion alone with God, the price we pay for the Spirit’s trying hours of heavenly love.
chapter 7 is the revelation that real prayer, prayer that bounds has been discussing for the last 6 chapters, leads inevitably to intimacy with our Eternal God. prayerlessness leads not only to unfamiliarity with God, but also spiritual decline, decay and eventually despair.
chapter 8, entitled “Prayer, The Remedy For All Evils,” is a great case study in both New Testament and later times when prayer led to revival, redemption, restoration, to miracles and to God’s movement on the earth. for me, it was a good reminder that menare needed to pray. bounds explains that the Bible presents prayer as supremely important for men: both for the work of God on the earth and for their family lives. bounds points out paul’s letter to timothy as admonishing men to prayer “in contrast to, and distinct from, the women.” (pg 64)
this chapter reminded me of bounds’ earlier work Power Through Prayer because it spoke more of church activity, church leadership and the like. Power Through Prayer is definitively written for pastors, Bible teachers and church leaders, though it is a great read for any Christian.
chapter 8 reminds us that we have a job on the earth, in a church, for the Lord. it reminds us that all of the ‘great’ men and leaders of the Bible were praying men.
what would God’s leaders be without prayer? strip moses of his power in prayer, a gift that made him eminent in pagan estimate, and the crown is taken from his head, the food and fire of his faith are gone.
bounds continues with examples like elijah, paul, luther and wesley, proving his point well. in his own day and age he was worried that churches and Christians had become too goal oriented, too movement oriented, too numbers oriented. how much further many of us have ventured into those deceptions!
many church leaders seem to think if they can be prominent as men of business, of money, of influence, of thought, of plans, of scholarly attainments, of eloquent gifts, of conspicuous activities, that these are enough and will atone for the absence of the higher spiritual power which only much praying can give. but how vain and paltry are these in the serious work of bringing glory to God, controlling the Church for Him, and bringing it into full accord with its divine mission! (pg 67)
just this morning i was reminded of this very principle as i read in matthew when the disciples asked Jesus why they failed to cast a demon out of a boy, to which He responded “this type does not come out but by prayer and fasting.” all the gifting (heavenly or earthly), all the ability, all the education, all the good intentions fail when they are not accompanied by prayer.
as chapter 8 reminds us, God is concerned with the man not the methods. i was encouraged, and i hope you are too, to maintain the man today, rather than the methods of my trade.
Purpose In Prayer is excellently shaping a way of thinking about communion with God that will lead to personal closeness, personal triumph and personal growth with the Lord.
blessings.