What We Need Most in Hard Times

We have gone through some challenging times recently. Mild if we were to compare ourselves to so many around the world. But for us, the past few months have been extra challenging.

It is heart-breaking and challenging to care for and extend support and love to my brother who is suffering from Parkinsons. An absolutely devastating disease to have to go through. In the last thirty days, he has gone from living in an Assisted Living place just a few blocks from us, to a 5-day hospital stay where he had a much needed surgery, to 2 1/2 weeks of rehab at another facility, to being moved to his new home: an amazing new assisted living place in a home-style setting just a 30-minute drive from us. A loving atmosphere where eight residents receive individualized love and care in a beautiful, large ranch-style home. 

How do we navigate through so many unknowns on a daily basis? How do we have the strength and energy to go on, day after day, when things are so difficult, and when we are so needy? This has been my story for the past weeks/months. And the verse above has been one of many that have spoken truth to me. Truth that I have needed over and over again.

I wait quietly before God,

for my victory comes from Him.

He alone is my rock

and my salvation, my fortress

where I will never be shaken.

(Psalm 62:1-2 NLT)

There really is only one place to go when we are in need. And that place is to wait quietly before God. 

In our hard times, and in our good times ... we are to wait quietly. Not just in a vacuum or in emptiness, but we are to wait quietly before God.

And who is this God ?

This is the Hebrew word "elohiym", used 2,600 times in the Old Testament, referring to the one true God. This name of God conveys that "God is Creator, the King, the Judge, the Lord, and the Savior. His character is compassionate, gracious, and faithful to His covenant." (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible)

So when we are in difficult times, we have the greatest privilege we could ever wish for ... we can draw close, and wait quietly on God. He is our Rock, our Salvation, our Fortress. A safe place, where we will never be shaken. These are not just words; they are Truth. A never-ending promise, from our faithful God.

This has been true these past few weeks/months, and I have needed to turn my eyes, my heart, and my focus again and again to this safe place, to our faithful, compassionate, loving God. A place where we are cared for, and loved completely. I am so grateful. Day by day. Moment by moment.

Beautiful words of truth for our everyday ...

"God, the one and only - I'll wait as long as He says.

Everything I need comes from Him, so why not?

He's solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

an impregnable castle: I'm set for life."

(Psalm 62:1-2 MSG)

To read more of my 'Heart Connect' posts:

What We So Desperately Need

The Secrets of Prayer

The Secrets of Prayer

For several months now, I've had a growing desire to focus my mind and heart in deeper ways on ... prayer. Over the years, I have collected many verses on prayer, choosing to call them my HEART CONNECT verses. For that is what I think prayer is ... connecting our hearts to His, in response to His heart of love for us. 

And there is so so much to learn and grow in. I have especially been longing for ways to connect more deeply to His heart in praying for others ... for our growing family, and then also for others, and for our hurting world. Do you grow weary sometimes, as I do? I find it hard to keep my heart and mind focused. Each of us operates in our own unique ways, even as we pray. And I am learning of some new ideas that are helping me.

Since I have a collection of verses on prayer already, I am choosing to go a bit deeper with these verses. One way to do that is to do a WORD STUDY with each verse. I came across a source that is very helpful with this process. This source explains about Bible Verse Mapping, or WORD STUDY as I refer to it. I've learned from this helpful source, ordered their Digital Verse Mapping Journal, am using the main ideas, and also adapting these ideas for my own use.

As I was focusing on a verse from my collection, Psalm 17:6-7a (pictured above), two of the words I chose to look into deeper were "unfailing love". For as we talk with Him, pour out our hearts to Him, we are communicating with Someone whose love is unfailing, never-changing. Looking deeper into these words, I discovered the Hebrew word from which "unfailing love" derives from ... hesed. 

Can we even imagine all that this word encompasses? "Hesed is not merely an emotion or feeling but involves action on behalf of someone who is in need. Hesed describes a sense of love and loyalty that inspires merciful and compassionate behavior toward another person." (online source)

Hesed is 'wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty - in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty'. Hesed is translated in a number of different ways: steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and goodness. (online source)

As we pray, 

as we pour out our hearts to Him,

this is the God who hears us.

This describes our God, this is who He is, what His character is ... He is bound to us with unfailing love, mercy, compassion, kindness, goodness, loyal, and not in word only but acting on our behalf. Always. 

"Used nearly 250 times in Scripture, in such a powerful manner that some theologians have suggested it may be the most important word in Scripture, hesed is the forever covenantal, always unconditionally, unwaveringly loyal, kind love of inseparable bonding, of divine family, of eternal attachment. That's what hesed-love is: Hesed  is attachment love." (Ann Voskamp, in Waymaker)

This is the God who hears our prayers, our cries for help, and listens to and holds the deepest longings of our hearts. I, personally, can hardly even grasp the realities of this; our greatest gift, to be loved so deeply by our Creator, our God. And I am drawn in, pulled close, desiring to be in continual communication with this God. 

To read more of my 'Heart Connect' posts:

What We So Desperately Need

Come Anytime, Come with Everything

"So the Lord

must wait for you to come

to Him so He can show you

His love and compassion."

(Isaiah 30:18a)

We can come anytime.

We can come with everything.

The invitation is always open.

We don't need to hesitate;

we can always come.

"I love the Lord because He hears

my voice and my prayer for mercy.

Because He bends down to listen,

I will pray as long as I have breath."

(Psalm 116:1-2)

Continuing on with Prayer

Do you have an unending desire, a yearning to learn more, to grow deeper in prayer, as I do? I keep circling around and into other topics, and usually find myself being drawn again and again to learn more about this thing, this practice we call prayer.

We somehow can feel so very inadequate, and so inexperienced in prayer. And even guilty, for we are led to believe that it must look a certain way, for everyone.

I have just finished reading through Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge by Mark Batterson, for probably the 3rd or 4th time. And each time I am so challenged and encouraged by reading it. This time was no exception - it is hard to explain, but God has used this season to draw me to be more intentional and motivated in prayer. It really starts in our hearts, with a perspective of faith and trust, and a longing to connect deeply with God.

Also, the little booklet in the photo above has been a great help in remembering and recording specific prayer needs as I pray for others ... A Lifestyle of Prayer Guide. And I will now be continuing on with reading words of encouragement on prayer, and have started to read Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller, a book I recently ordered and just arrived a few days ago! 

Maybe we have an undeniable and unending thirst for prayer, because this thirst and desire is really a thirst and desire for knowing God more intimately. And one of the main ways He has given us to know Him ... is through prayer. 

With His Word in hand,

and His Spirit in our hearts,

we are given the greatest, most awesome privilege

we could ever dream of:

to communicate with, to be heard by,

and to hear the heart of our Savior, our Lord.

So our longing to grow deeper in prayer, is really a longing to know Him and to be part of what He is doing - not only in our own lives but also in the world - in deeper ways than ever before.

"Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things He has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to."  (Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God)

The Door to Prayer

Could it be that there is a door to prayer?

And the door that opens prayer might just be:

Thanks Giving

Have you noticed, as I have, how often the two are connected together: the giving of thanks, and prayer? There are many verses ...

"Don't worry about anything;

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need,

and thank Him for all He has done."

(Philippians 4:6)

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to the Most High.

It is good to proclaim Your unfailing love in the morning,

Your faithfulness in the evening."

(Psalm 92:1-2)

''Always be joyful. Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you

who belong to Christ Jesus."

(I Thess. 5:16-18)

"Give thanks to Him who alone does mighty miracles.

His faithful love endures forever."

(Psalm 136:4)

Just why is the giving of thanks so important when we come before God? Do you suppose it is partly because having a spirit of thankfulness reveals that we also have a heart of humility? 

If we are proud and self-sufficient, we take credit for things ourselves. We depend on ourselves and our own accomplishments. But if we realize our own weaknesses, and realize how desperately we need help, then the door of our heart opens up to receive. And we are grateful, and we are thankful for even the smallest thing. 

Maybe this is why we so often find ourselves in great need. When we are in need, we more easily recognize His gifts. And when we recognize His gifts, we grow a heart of thankfulness. 

And thankfulness is what opens the door to prayer.

"He (Daniel) prayed three times a day,

just as he had always done,

giving thanks to his God."

(Daniel 6:10)

"I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call on the name of the Lord."

(Psalm 116:17)

"The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips. Because gratitude ushers us into the other side of prayer, into the heart of the God-love, and all power to change the world resides here in His love. Prayer, to be prayer, to have any power to change anything, must first speak thanks." (Ann Voskamp)

For more posts on this topic:

HEART CONNECT: Living a Life of Prayer

A New Name

Forty years ago this Christmas Eve, I said "yes" to taking on a new name ... and eight months later, on August 14, 1971, I took on this new name. 

(Photo Source: Dreamstime)

Since then, I have used this new name of Warrick. There is never a question, whether I sign in at a doctor's office, sign my name to a check, receive mail in my name ... never a question. Warrick is my name, and I am entitled to all that comes with bearing that name.

Reading in Live a Praying Life this morning, it takes my breath away to contemplate all that it means to take on the name of Jesus. We are taught to use this name, this name Jesus, when we come to God. Now we can approach God in Jesus' name, and we are seen by God through Jesus.

Walking into the doctor's office, the post office, wherever I go ... I am seen and I have the privilege and authority to function with the name I took on nearly 40 years ago.

And approaching the holy, creator God through prayer (as we are taught by Him that is our privilege), I do not come as a stranger, but I come as one bearing the name of Jesus. He is our Bridegroom, and we bear His Name.

"The Heavenly Bridegroom could do nothing less; having loved us and made us one with Himself, what could He do but give those who bear His Name the right to present it before the Father, or to come with it to Himself for all they need ... The bearing of the name of another supposes my having given up my own and with it my own independent life; but then, as surely, my possession of all there is in the name I have taken instead of my own." (Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer)

Loving God, how can we be so privileged, how can we be so blessed? This Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate this month, has given us His name. And with His Name, we have access to all that You desire to shower on us. May I live this and embrace this each day ...


Linked to Faith Barista

The Name

A fitting time for me to be reading in Lesson 12 of Live a Praying Life ... Christmas, the time we focus on the birth of Jesus ... and in this lesson, focusing on The Name. 

When we pray, we are instructed to use The Name, the Name that gives authority. 

"God does not teach us to pray from a position of weakness. We will be in a position of weakness in ourselves, but in the spiritual realm we are in a position of authority. The One who has all authority in heaven and on earth has authorized us to speak in His Name." (Live a Praying Life)

"Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor

and gave Him The Name above all other names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father."

(Philippians 2:9-11 NLT)

And this is The Name that we, as His children, are taught to use when we pray. "When we say the name of Jesus with reverence, when we speak it of the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, Lord and Savior, then it reverberates through the spiritual realm as The Name. The forces of evil tremble and fall on their faces; the warriors of the Lord snap to attention; the angels are on alert. The cry goes out: 'The Name has been exalted. Someone spoke the Name.'" (Live a Praying Life)

Jesus ... the Babe who came on that first Christmas, the One who gave His life for us ... lets us use His Name. 

"You can ask for anything in My Name, 

and I will do it, 

so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 

Yes, ask Me for anything in My Name, 

and I will do it!" 

(John 14:13-14)

This is worth celebrating ... this is Christmas.

Linked to Walk with Him Wednesdays

Along the Journey

Reading something that grabs my heart ... I'm always compelled to write it down. A place to hang on to it, to let it roll over and over in my mind and heart ... desiring for it to sink down deep and become part of who I am, of who He crafted me to be. And somehow, for His purposes, this God is calling me to have this blog as one of those places to write. Following His direction for me to share as I journey. For in sharing, we find kindred spirits along the road ... and we can hold each other up as we journey together.

(Photo Source: Dreamstime)

Last night's readings ... things for me to think on:

"One of the great reasons for lack of prayer is the lack of a living, joyous assurance that God hears us." (from Andrew Murray's The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer)

"So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him

 so He can show you His love and compassion.

 For the Lord is a faithful God.

 Blessed are those who wait for His help." 

(Isaiah 30:18 NLT)

"You can be sure of this: 

The Lord set apart the godly for Himself.

 The Lord will answer when I call to Him."

 (Psalm 4:3 NLT)

And this morning ...

Just as each of our cells contains the DNA instruction manual for our physical bodies, so God's ways and commands are "encoded in our spiritual DNA".  And just as it is impossible to live contrary to our physical DNA, it is impossible to separate ourselves from this encoded spiritual DNA. And "in working against it, we are working against our own best interest. In resisting it, we resist peace and harmony." (Thoughts and quotes from Live a Praying Life)

"I will pursue Your commands,

 for You expand my understanding ... 

Make me walk along the path of Your commands,

 for that is where my happiness is found."

 (Psalm 119:32, 35 NLT)

Power Source

There is so much food for thought in the Live a Praying Life study that I have been going through with a group of women in our community. Each lesson holds almost more than I can contain, and I must record my thoughts to help retain these insights. I love the illustration given in Lesson 9 of magnetism.

A magnet ... drawing other objects to itself. A conductive power, passing on it's magnetism to another object when it comes in close range of the magnet. Like when a paper clip comes in close proximity to a magnet; it is drawn to the magnet with an irresistible force. And when that paper clip continues to stay in close contact with the magnet, it takes on the magnetic power of the magnet, passing on that power to other paper clips that it then comes in contact with.

Take the first paper clip away from the magnet, and it has no power of it's own to draw others.

This illustration reminds me of John 15:5

"I am the Vine; you are the branches. 

Those who remain in me and I in them, 

will produce much fruit. 

For apart from me you can do nothing."

I want to stay close, so close, to the source of power ... and then God's irresistible love can flow through me to encourage and warm those around me. Even during this Christmas season; especially during this season of Love and Celebration.

Pure Silver

"A pure life is the environment in which power (and the promises of prayer) can freely flow", says Jennifer Dean in Live a Praying Life.

How do our lives become pure? "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart." (Proverbs 17:3) Just as silver needs to be refined, so our lives are continually being refined by the loving hand of God. The ugly impurities need to be removed, and the pure silver needs to come to the surface.

"And I will give you a new heart, 

and I will put a new spirit in you. 

I will take out your stony, stubborn heart 

and give you a tender, responsive heart." 

(Ezekiel 36:26)

Silver is the most shapeable and moldable of all minerals, and as we give ourselves with abandon to the Potter's hands, He can make us into something beautiful. A work of art.

And as pure silver is the best conductor of heat and electricity, so, as we rest in the Master's hands, yielding to His shaping and molding, we become a conductor of His power and love to those around us. And through our lives will flow "rivers of living water". (John 7:38)

Thank You, Lord ... these thoughts (stemming from Lesson Nine in Live a Praying Life) capture my heart. How we long to be conductors of Your power and love to those around us ... help us to give ourselves to You, our Creator, each day ... all day.

Extravagant Promises

God makes some extravagant promises about prayer. Do we believe these promises? In Live a Praying Life, I read, "You don't find Him saying, 'I didn't really mean that the way it sounds. I exaggerated to make a point.'"

Some of these amazing promises:

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power 

and produces wonderful results." 

(James 5:16)

"I tell you, you can pray for anything, 

and if you believe that you've received it, 

it will be yours." 

(Mark 11:24)

"Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, 

and I will do it!" 

(John 14:14)

"But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, 

you may ask for anything you want, 

and it will be granted!" 

(John 15:7)

"You can pray for anything, and if you have faith,

 you will receive it." 

(Matthew 21:22)

Such powerful promises ... by a God who keeps His Word.

Lord, forgive our unbelief, and teach us ... may we as individuals, and as Your church, live these promises.

The Promise of Prayer

"The promise of prayer is a transformed heart", says Jennifer Dean in Live a Praying Life. Isn't that what we want? A transformed heart, a heart that belongs to God alone? A heart that sees what He sees, and desires what He longs to do here on this earth?

As we grow in intimacy with God, continually communicating (talking to Him, and listening to Him), we find that our hearts become one with Him. And that is what we are made for ...

And through this intimacy, God's power is released, from heaven to earth. "Our prayer is God's opportunity to get into the world that would shut Him out", says S. D. Gordon.

Should it surprise us that prayer is one of the most difficult practices for a follower of Christ? One of the things that we are most easily distracted from?

The way to greatest intimacy with God ... the way for God to bring His will and desires to this earth. In the unseen world, where the real battle is going on ... the most powerful weapon is prayer.

Closer Than We Think

How can it be that we can have God's Spirit living inside of us? Even though I know this truth, I can barely grasp the meaning of this, as it is too wonderful to even contain ... and now, as I am going through a study called Live a Praying Life, my heart is seeking to hold onto some deeper insight into what this means.

We know that God the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit, are One ... the Trinity, inseparable, perfect unity. One cannot be apart from the other. "God is One. He is not fragmented."

And to think on what this means as we have His Spirit living in us ... if the Spirit is One with God the Father, and God the Son?

Jesus says "... My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them." (John 14:23)

Do I really comprehend this? Do we live this truth? I want to grasp more and more how very close God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Spirit of God are to me.

In our times of need, in our everydays, in our moments of needing to hear from God ... we just need to pause and listen. "He is not speaking to us from a faraway place," says Jennifer Dean.

Hearing from God

How amazing that we can hear from God. The author of Live a Praying Life says, "Scripture is filled with invitations to listen to God. Would God instruct you to do something that it was impossible for you to do?"

When faced with big decisions, when dealing with small, everyday crisis, we can call on Him, and we can expect to hear His answer.

"Your own ears will hear Him. 

Right behind you a voice will say,

'This is the way you should go,'

whether to the right or to the left."

Isaiah 30:21

"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you and watch over you."

Psalm 32:8

"My sheep listen to My voice;

I know them, and they follow Me."

John 10:27

In the Waiting Room

This next week's lesson in Live a Praying Life is titled "Waiting on God". I started it a bit hesitantly, as I am in "the waiting room" with a big prayer request of mine, and it can be very hard to wait at times.

But I love how Jennifer Kennedy Dean sheds some light into what is really going on as we pray continuously for the things that are on our hearts. What we observe on our earth is only a very small part of what is really going on. Using the example of light, she points out that "if the spectrum of light were represented in a diagram eight inches long, only one quarter of an inch would represent visible light."

She goes on to explain, "The portion of reality that I can see - earth and the circumstances of earth - are only a miniscule portion of the whole continuum of reality."

I am comforted to be reminded that "what appears from the earth-perspective to be a delay on God's part is really the time when God is working in the spiritual realm, beyond our senses."

We can be content to be in His "waiting room", knowing that He is at work, even though we cannot see the whole picture yet. And being with Him, whether it be in a "waiting room" or on a mountain top, is the best place to be.

"We live by faith, not by sight." (II Cor. 5:7)

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1) 

Travailing in Prayer

The process of prayer can resemble the process of pregnancy and birth, says the author of Live a Praying Life. I can identify with that. Having given birth to six babies, and also having had pregnancies with prolonged periods of not feeling well, I know how long and difficult those nine months can feel. But it's all worth it in the end, when finally, I could hold each of our beautiful, precious babies in my arms. All the months of misery were forgotten for the joy of a priceless new child.

But the process was difficult, and even painful. And it seemed at times that the "end" would never come. So it can be with prayer. I am actually in one of those waiting times now ... praying, with tears, for someone I love very much. It's like I'm in labor, and it seems that the time of birth is probably so far off, that it is hard to even imagine.

Jennifer says, "During the process, God is at work in us shaping us into the image of Christ. The process of prayer results in change in us. During the process of prayer, He is fashioning a heart like His."

In Galatians 4:19, Paul says, "Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I'm going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives."

Lord, strengthen us as we labor, with You, in bringing birth that we long for ... Thank You that the joy of birth will be worth all the pain. And in the process, mold my heart to be a reflection of You.

My Highest Calling

If prayer is what God has set in place as the avenue through which His will in heaven is brought to our earth, then prayer (or intercession) should be our highest calling. It should be my highest calling today.

As I go through my day, filled with all the things that call my heart and mind, all the things that make their way to my "to do" list ... is "intercessory prayer" at the top? If prayer "is the one power on earth that commands the power of heaven", then why is true intercessory prayer often left out of our days? Why do we neglect the most important?

I am asking God to teach me more. Prayer has held a place of high priority to me, but my eyes are being opened to more. As Andrew Murray says in his book, The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer, "If we believe what we profess, that God alone is able to help, that God will certainly help in answer to prayer, all this ought to make intercessors of us. It should motivate us to be people who give their lives to prayer for those in their sphere of influence."

Is there any higher calling? To give my life in prayer for my sons and my daughters, my grandsons and granddaughters, the hundreds of students on the middle school and high school campuses, the needy all around our churches and in our neighborhoods. When concern for a loved one, or someone in our sphere of influence, grips my heart ... may I turn first to prayer.

Lord, all that we long for can only be accomplished by You ...  may my helplessness compel me to You, the source of all that is good, the source of "more than we can ask or imagine".  (Ephesians 3:20)

At the Heart of Prayer

"True prayer is when God's heart is expressed through your words," says Jennifer Kennedy Dean in Week 4 of Live a Praying Life. Of course, prayer is simply talking with God about all the things that concern us. Talking with Him, instead of worrying ... this is what our loving Father longs for us to do.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done." (Philippians 4:6)

But how can we be involved in true intercessory prayer for others, for our desperately needy world? How can our words join in with the prayers continually flowing from His Spirit in us?

Jennifer says, "Powerful praying is not a matter of knowing the right words to say, rather it is having a heart that is at God's disposal - open to hear His every sigh and whisper and to echo it in prayer."

The key is ... to keep my heart closely connected with God's heart. Making it my priority to seek Him above all else, everyday. Something so simple ... but something of highest value.

Lord, our hearts are drawn to so many things ... but help me continually to seek Your heart above all else. Help me to "love You with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind." (Matthew 22:37)

A Conduit of God's Power

Some concepts from the past few days of Live a Praying Life homework keep coming to my mind. These thoughts, taken seriously, can change our lives concerning prayer.

Prayer is "standing in the gap" between God's will in heaven, and God's will carried out on the earth. As recorded in Ezekiel 22, God is continually searching for someone to "stand in the gap", to pray for His will to be done on earth.

Author Jennifer Kennedy Dean uses an illustration that so powerfully illustrates the necessity of an intercessor. If a dry cell could represent God, the source of all power, and an unlit light bulb could represent the needs on this earth, we would see that there would be a "gap" in the circuit line (the result of sin entering the world). God's power is available in heaven, but because of this "gap", it does not reach the earth.  That is, unless ... there is a conduit or conductor, someone to "stand in the gap". As we take on our role of being an intercessor, God's power flows through the circuit and bridges the gap.

"Prayer is standing in the gap - being the conductor of His power and His will into the circumstances of earth," explains the author of Live a Praying Life.

This insight is such a powerful motivator to be an intercessor ... is there any higher calling? It greatly humbles me and motivates me to think that God chooses to use me, to use all of us as His followers, to bring His will to this earth. I want to think on this more, to let the truth of Scripture after Scripture on this subject, permeate my heart.

Of High Necessity

Some great quotes that have caught hold of my heart, encouraging me and reminding me of the necessity and importance of prayer ...

Jennifer Kennedy Dean, author of Live a Praying Life:
"Prayer is the channel through which God's will is brought to earth."

O. Hallesby:
"Prayer is the conduit through which power from heaven is brought to earth."

Andrew Murray:
"God's intense longing to bless seems in some sense to be graciously limited by His dependence on the intercession that rises from earth."

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

E. M. Bounds:
"God shapes the world by prayer."

James 4:2
"You do not have, because you do not ask God."

Psalm 91:15
"When they call on Me, I will answer ... "

Matthew 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

John 14:13-14
"You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in My name, and I will do it!"