Quotes of the Week ~ 2

If that didn’t light your fire your wood’s wet.

Source: This was the quote of the day from church on Sunday from the pastor.

“Prayer is the easiest and the hardest of all things; the simplest and the sublimest; the weakest and the most powerful; its results lie outside the range of human possibilities – they are limited only by the omnipotence of God. Few Christians have anything but a vague idea of the power of prayer; fewer still have any experience of that power. The Church seems almost wholly unaware of the power God puts into her hand; this power is rarely, if ever, used – never used to the full measure of honoring God. It is astounding how poor the use, how little the benefits. Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are the least skilled, the most averse to its use. We do everything else for the heathen save the thing God wants us to do; the only thing which does any good – makes all else we do efficient.”

E. M. Bounds
(1835-1913) Methodist minister and devotional writer who served as a pastor in the American South and became a POW during the Civil War.

Source: I read the quote above in the book Between Heaven and Earth compiled by Ken Gire.

John Piper, The Pleasures of God

“Prayer is the walkie talkie on the battlefield of the world. It calls on God for courage (Eph. 6:19). It calls in for troop deployment and target location (Acts 13: 1-3). It calls in for protection and air cover (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36). It calls in for fire power to blast open a way for the Word (Col. 4:3). It calls in for the miracle of healing for the wounded soldiers (James 5:16). It calls in for supplies for the forces (Matt. 6:11; Phil. 4:6). And it calls in for needed reinforcements (Matt. 9:38). This is the place of prayer – on the battlefield of the world. It is a wartime walkie talkie for spiritual warfare, not a domestic intercom to increase comforts of the saints. And one of the reasons it malfunctions in the hands of so many Christian soldiers is that they have gone AWOL.”

Source: Between Heaven and Earth: Prayers and Reflections that Celebrate an Intimate God. Copyright 1997 by Ken Gire.

I’m getting a haircut today which is scary because my hairdresser is still in Seattle and here I am in Colville, 6ish hours away. Here’s hoping the gal I let use sheers on my hair today will see my vision and do a good job on my grey locks.

Prayer

As many of my regular blogging friends know I’ve been giving some time to the tedious task of cleaning up the mess Photobucket has inflicted on my blog by blacking out all my photos I stored with them starting in 2006. I’ve come across some quotes and gems along the way (so far I’m only up to July of 2007). The quote on prayer at the end of this post is one I don’t want to forget.

I’ve made so many dear friends by blogging. Some I’ve met, many I haven’t met face to face. bj is one of those bloggers who is a delight to visit. On her blog she calls her dear husband Mr. Sweet.

bj from Sweet Nothings is standing by the bedside of her dear husband, Mr. Sweet (Bill), as she and her family wait for God’s perfect timing in ushering him from this earth. She’s asking for prayer for her children as they stand by their father and bj. I’m praying for this dear family and when God brings to mind bj and her family please pray for them, too.

Update: Mr. Sweet, Bill, went to his heavenly home early on July 11th…

From Between Heaven and Earth (Prayers and Reflections that Celebrate an Intimate God, by Ken Gire

[Prayer], It Brings Down the Power of Heaven

Ray Stedman, Jesus Teaches on Prayer (1917 -1992) Gifted Bible expositor, pastor, and counselor.

“Prayer has already divided seas and rolled up flowing rivers, it has made flinty rocks gush into fountains, it has quenched flames of fire, it has muzzled lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, it has marshaled the stars against the wicked, it has stopped the course of the moon and arrested the sun in its race, it has burst open iron gates and recalled souls from eternity, it has conquered the strongest devils and commanded legions of angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled and chained the raging passions of men and destroyed vast armies of proud, daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has brought one man from the bottom of the sea and carried another in a chariot of fire to heaven.” That is not mere hyberbole, that is historical fact. Prayer has done a great many other things as well. It is an awesome, mighty force in the world of men.”

I don’t want to neglect this awesome mighty force in the world of men. Help me Father…