E.M. Bounds - Prayer

Pastor Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle states in his Forward to the Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, the following: No write outside of scripture ever said more in short powerful sentences that E.M. Bounds. In our present day of spiritual murkiness and bland sermonizing from the Bible, we need to listen again to the fiery clarity of this prophet of prayer.

He then gives the following example.

Nothing distingushes the children of God so clearly and strongly as prayer. It is the one infalible mark and test of being a Christian. Christian people are prayerful the worldly-minded, prayerless. Christians call on God; wholdlings ignore God, and call not on his name. Prayer is the expression of a relation to God, a yearning for divine communion. It is the outward and upward flow of the inward life toward its original fountain. It is an assertion of the soul's paternity, a claiming of the sonship which links man to be eternal.

Pastor Cymbala then goes on to say, "Reading E.M. Bounds is like coming near a blazing fire on a cold winter night - you either stand near to enjoy its warmth or move away because the flame seems too much to bear."

He also pointed out a few other things about E.M. Bounds:

Bounds was a Chaplain in the Confederate Army, comforting and praying with troops under General John Bell Hood. He typically arose at four o'clock every morning to be along with God in prayer, usually praying until seven o'clock. He spent the final nineteen years of his life engaged in intercessory prayer, writing, and revivial ministry. At the time of his death, only two of E.M. Bound's books had been published.

Here are some of the things that Rev. Bounds wrote, that I would like to share.

Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at his Word, and lets him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes, and in carrying on his work.

True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the present. We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day - daily prayer for daily needs. As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow's praying. This is the faith which God seeks to inspire. So leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God's hands.
LI>Faith is not believing just anything; it is believing God, resting in him, trusting his Word.

Faith grows by reading and mediating upon the Word of God. Most, and best of all, faith thrives in an atmosphere of prayer.

The work of the ministry is the change unbelieving sinners into praying and believing saints.

Currently, I'm just beginning the third chapter of E.M. Bound's book number one - The Neccessity of Prayer.

I'll continue to post my favorite parts on subsequent entries.

Posted by rebnora at January 23, 2007 7:05 PM | TrackBack