Prayer Works
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This month seems to be one of prayer requests from so many friends and family members. We’re all doing our best to support one another in asking God for help and guidance and wisdom.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the needs in my own life and in the lives of people I love. But then I take a deep breath and realize that all I have to do is hand these off to God in a simple prayer. He is the answer we all crave.
Thomas R. Kelly in A Testament of Deovtion had this to say about prayer: “There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”
With the topic of prayer in mind I decided to look up some encouraging quotes on the power of prayer. There are hundreds of them but the ones I’ve listed here really spoke to me. If you’d like to share one of your favorites, please do.
The morning prayer determines the day. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I think it was Charles Stanley who said, “Life’s battles are either won or lost in prayer. So learn to fight your battles on your knees.”
It is so true!
I love this quotation. Thanks for adding to the list, Kristi.
Thanks for the reminder, Karen. I think we tend to view prayer as our last resort rather than our first line of defense. As a talker, I can relate to the above quote about listening.
So good to hear from you, Laura. Thanks for adding your comment to the discussion.
I don’t feel overwhelmed sometimes. I feel overwhelmed most times. So many needs. So much pain. Everybody has “stuff.” The fixer in me despairs. If I could spend all day on my knees, woukd it make a difference? Then I remembera quote that the power in prayer in not in the strenghth of the perdon who prays but in the One to whom we pray. Thank you for this candid insight into your own prayer life. Love you, my friend!
Thank you, Michele. I really appreciate the perspective you added. Love you, too.
Sorry for the typos. I haven’t had enough caffeine today yet. :-/
No worries! 🙂
Thanks, Karen! I REALLY like all the quotes you gave us and will use them! I know from personal experiences that prayer is a ‘powerful thing’. Many times, however, as I pray each morning I find my mind often wanders away from the prayer! Last week I got so disgusted with my ‘wandering’ that I spoke out loud: “Okay, God,perhaps I need to open my eyes and just look outside at the beauty you have provided and perhaps that will get my mind back on the right track”! So, I opened my eyes, looked at the palm tree fronds blowing in the wind (that means God is there) and the beautiful hibiscus blossoms, the small lake, the blue sky, the fluffy white clouds~~Oh MY! what blessings! We have so much for which to be thankful so as I began again,with a prayer of thanksgiving I got my mind back on track! THANK YOU AGAIN, for these great quotes and for all you write for us!
Blessings, Margaret
I totally get what you said, Margaret. My mind wanders too, but it seems to be human. I love the way you changed your wandering by starting your prayer time with gratitude. That always seems to work! 🙂
Thanks so much, dear Karen, for the wonderful sayings about the power of prayers. I’ve filed them for my Inspiration. Yes, my prayers to my savior Jesus have saved me from becoming a wreck after I quit, in disgust, in agony (because I love kids and teaching,) being a public school teacher after 20 years in the People’s Republic of San Francisco — severely battle fatigued while trying to keep my intellectual and emotional sanity in the madhouse where anything goes but academic excellence … Jing
I’m so happy to hear that you turned to the Lord in prayer during those trying years in the classroom and afterward. We can’t fix or change systems or other people on our own power, but we can turn to the one who can and then rest in him.
Thank you again for a beautiful reminder of the power and purpose of prayer. So often we say “I wish I could do more than pray for you” When really the best thing we can do for anyone is pray to pray for them. !. Your words are always a treasure to me.
Thank you, Etta Mae. Yes, by nature we want to ‘fix’ things when really the best remedy to all of life’s ills is prayer to the only one who can.