640 Sermon Illustrations on Prayer

"I have resolved to devote an hour each morning, noon, and evening

to prayer -- no pretense, no excuse whatsoever."

- John Wesley

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 101.

"He who faithfully prays at home does as much for foreign missions

as the man on the field, for the nearest way to the heart of a Hindu

or Chinaman is by the way of the throne of God."

Eugene Stock

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 102.

"In relation to his people, God works only in answer to their

prayer. In prayer we (ex)change our natural strength for the

supernatural strength of God."

- Andrew Murray

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 102.

"One of the concerns of the devil is to keep Christians from

praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work,

prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil. He mocks our wisdom.

But he trembles when we pray."

- Sam Chadwick

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 103.

"When we depend upon organization, we get what organization can do

-- and that is something. When we depend upon our preaching, we get

what our preaching can do -- that is something. When we depend upon

money, we get what money can do -- and that is something. When we

depend upon education, we get what education can do -- and that is

something. But when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.

And what all of us need is what God can do!"

- Dr. A. C. Dixion

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 103.

"Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer, and prayer drives away

perplexity and trouble."

- Melanchton

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 103.

"Embark upon no enterprise which you can not submit to the test of

prayer."

- Hosea Ballou

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 103.

"Religion is no more possible without prayer than poetry without

language or music without atmosphere."

- James Martineau

- Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 103.

The Bible says "Pray without ceasing." Too bad some people "cease"

without "praying!" Often the best thing to do is "put some feet to

your prayers."

Jesus, wisest of all, said: "Men ought always to pray, and not to

faint." (\reference{Luke 18:1}{Luke 18:1})

Jesus, who, on one occasion, "Went out into a mountain to pray, and

continued all night in prayer to God." (\reference{Luke 6:12}{Luke

6:12})

Jesus said: "Pray ye." (\reference{Matt. 6:9}{Matthew 6:9};

\reference{9:38}{Matthew 9:38}; \reference{24:20}{Matthew 24:20};

\reference{Mark 13:18}{Mark 13:18}; \reference{Luke 10:2}{Luke 10:2})

James wrote: "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man

availeth much." (\reference{James 5:16}{James 5:16})

Peter said, "Watch unto prayer." (\reference{1 Peter 4:7}{1 Peter

4:7})

Paul wrote: "Pray without ceasing." (\reference{1 Thess. 5:17}{1

Thessalonians 5:17})

From the dying lips of

Mrs. Scofield, came a prayer. Her husband bent low and listened carefully to every word. Other members of the family there

heard the prayer as well. The child was delivered safely, but the new mother

died...

Her dying request was kept secret, and only after Cyrus Scofield, had

become a true Christian and had received a definite call to devote his life to

the ministry was he told of this touching prayer which God so graciously

answered. You probably remember Dr. Scofield most because of his annotated

Scofield's Reference Bible.

Alexander the Great had a man in his kingdom who asked of him some monetary help. The King told him to go to the treasury and obtain what he needed. When he asked, the sum seemed so large that the treasurer was astonished and went to Alexander to confirm it. Alexander is said to have told him to honor the request and give him what was needed. He explained, “This man has paid me a singular honor. By the bigness of his request, he has shown his idea of my wealth and my generosity, and... something more gratifying: He takes me at my word!”

________

Gary Bowell, Stones with Fair Colors, p.192

She (Mary) came to her

mother, and said, "I suppose, up in Heaven, they think I am dead." Her mother replied, "Why, Mary, why do you suppose they

think you are dead?" "Well," said the little girl, "because I have not said my

prayers for a week." Gary Bowell p.250

"A missionary wrote of

having so much trouble with the children she was trying

to teach that she was tempted to quit. She wrote a letter asking for

prayer. The man received the letter, and Saturday evening he prayed with all

his heart until he was sure God had answered. He then wrote her expressing his

confidence of coming blessings in her work. "That Saturday night in

Ohio was Sunday morning in India. The teacher prepared to take the class, but

how surprised she was. One after another of the class asked her

forgiveness, and made up their minds to seek and surrender to the Lord." Fair Colors> Gary Bowell p. 284

Several years ago, a local communist party boss was riding along when

he spotted a Russian peasant kneeling in the middle of a field

praying. The communist stopped his car, stomped over to where the

peasant was in the field and said: "Aha! You waste your time like

this instead of plowing and planting for the party!" The peasant

replied, "But Commissar, I'm praying for the Party!" "Praying for the

Party? Huh, and you probably prayed for the Czar when he was in

power?" said the communist boss. "Oh, I did, I did!" said the

peasant. "Well, look at what happened to the Czar," said the

communist. "I know! I know!" said the smiling peasant.

- Unknown

I once asked a lady whose character seemed as spotless as it is possible to be in this life, who said she had always enjoyed secret prayer, if there was a friend in the world whose society she enjoyed when she wanted nothing of that friend except to be in his presence, no personal or selfish end in view, nothing wanted except to enjoy being in his society. She said:

“There is just such a friend, in whose society and presence I spend hours of the greatest pleasure, simply because I love him.”

I inquired if she felt the same or equal pleasure in the closet or in communion with God; whether she had seasons for secret praise to God, when nothing was wanted except to be in his presence, to praise him for his purity and holiness.

She replied:

I see my heart, sir. I see myself a lost sinner.

My pleasure in prayer has been all selfishness, no love for holiness. Although I have lived a moral life, and enjoyed secret prayer, it has been only when I wanted some favor from God, not because I loved his purity, and desired to be in his presence. I see that my heart has been dead in its affections towards God all this time; I see the need of being born again, of a new heart.”

I have seldom seen a more earnest seeker than this lady. It was not a change in her outward life she sought, this was apparently without blemish, but a change in her affections toward the holiness of God.

There is nothing in our fallen nature, which, if cultivated in the best possible manner, would bring our hearts, or affections, into union with holiness and purity. If unregenerate men were taken into heaven itself, and if it were possible to live in the society of the pure and the holy for ages, even this would not bring love to God and holiness into the soul. “Ye must be born again,” would still remain true. Being in heaven among the redeemed would not bring life into the dead affections.

I heard of a man who was a profane swearer, a rejecter of offered mercy, who could not sleep until he had repeated aloud the prayer his mother taught him when a child, “Now I lay me down to sleep.”

Having repeated this simple prayer, he was so far satisfied that he could go quietly to sleep. If we were in the habit of going to a rich man for favors, even if we really disliked him, yet, if he received us kindly, and granted our requests, we should feel a kind of satisfaction in going for those favors, although we had no love for the man. So we may find a certain satisfaction in prayer, a degree of pleasure, it may be, in going to God for what we think we want.

This is a very different thing from feeling a real pleasure in simply being in God's presence to praise him for his holiness and purity, when we want nothing in particular, to have seasons for secret praise.

Let me ask the reader whether the pleasure you feel in secret prayer is only when you want something in particular of him, and so may be entirely selfish pleasure, or do you, at least, have seasons when you want simply to praise God for his purity and holiness, finding real pleasure in being in his presence, because you love him?

__________

A. B. Earle, From: “Incidents Used ... In His Meetings,” published in 1888

*

"Thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

There is an old translation that gives this passage a beautiful

rendering, "Because thou hast power with God, thou hast with men."

An incident occurred in Wales, that illustrates this passage. At

the close of an evening meeting, the Welsh pastor requested all

Christians who were willing, to name some person they would go home

and pray for as much of the night as they chose. After each one had

named the person they would go home and pray for, the meeting was

dismissed. When a pious hired girl came down the aisle weeping,

saying:

"Pastor, you haven't given me any one to pray for; I want some

one."

He asked her who she was acquainted with that she might take. She

was living with a wealthy, unconverted husband and wife. The pastor

asked how she would like to take her mistress. She replied, that will

do. She is very kind to me, I will take her.

She returned home, and instead of going to her room, she went to a

small room in the chamber, and closing the door, kneeled down, and

hour after hour continued to offer just this prayer:

"O God, my mistress is very kind, have mercy on her soul."

The husband and wife had retired and were asleep. But about

midnight the wife waked up in great distress about her soul. Said to

her husband:

"I never saw myself such a sinner before. O I am such a sinner. I

must have some one pray for me; you will have to go out and get a

Christian to pray for me."

The husband said, "My wife, it is midnight, can't you wait until

morning?"

But she was in such distress she could not wait.

The husband perfectly kind and willing to go, said:

"Where shall I go to find a Christian at this hour?"

It finally occurred to him that some one had said their hired girl

was a Christian. The wife said:

"Yes, she is a good Christian. I had not thought of her, we will go

to her room."

They went to her room but she wasn't there and the bed had not been

touched. He inquired if she might not be in another room in the house.

The wife said:

"She has occasionally slept in a room in the chamber, we will go

and see."

They went to this room and before they opened the door they heard

her say:

"O God, my mistress is very kind to me, have mercy on her soul."

The wife said, "Here is the reason I could not sleep; here is the

reason I felt I was such a sinner."

They opened the door and the wife threw herself in on her knees, by

the side of her hired girl. She had power over her mistress when she

had with God. So it will be with all Christians. They will have power

over wicked men, to lead them to Christ, if they first have power to

move God. -- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings,"

published in 1888

A little girl came to her mother and said, "I suppose, up in

heaven, they think I am dead." The mother replied, "Why Mary, why do

you suppose they think you are dead?" "Well," said the little girl,

"because, I have not said my prayers for a week."

It was far back in the country. In a certain home typhoid fever was

raging. One daughter had died. One son was very low. The doctor came

and said, "If we had ice we might save him but he will be gone before

it can be obtained for it will require hours to get it." This was

before the day of automobiles. The mother, who loved him devotedly and

believed in God and prayer, felt that God could and would, in some

way, send ice. She immediately found a secluded place and began to

plead the promises. She prayed something like this, "Lord, Thou hast

promised to supply our need. My son, unless ice is obtained

immediately, will be gone." Then she reminded the Lord that she

believed Him and would trust Him to send it in some way. They said,

while no clouds were visible, at the time of the conversation, as she

held on they heard a strange noise. They listened and it was thunder.

In a very few minutes the heavens were black and the rain began to

pour. Soon they heard something like hail on the roof. They looked

again and the hail was falling. In a very few minutes it was piled up

against the fences and thick over the ground. The old mother came out

with a dishpan, scooped up a pan full and said, "Doctor here is ice.

Here it is." She would shout, run out and fill her pan and say,

"Doctor, here it is! God has sent it." The glory was filling the

place. The doctor looked on in wonder, and said, "I never saw it like

this before."

Many years ago we were conducting a meeting in Mayfield, Kentucky,

stopping in the home of Brother and Sister Yates. They had two little

children who loved the Lord and believed in prayer. Mrs. Yates related

this experience to us. She said, "One day Cecil and Dannie came to me

and said, 'Mother, can't we have fish for dinner?'" She replied, "No,

it's too late as the fish man has already made his rounds and gone. I

saw him pass some time ago." The children said, "We will ask the Lord

to send him back." "No," said she, "it is too late, he is gone." But

they replied, "We will ask the Lord to send him back." Soon she saw

them back on the porch sitting on a couch, looking down the street.

She said, "Children, what are you doing?" They replied, "Waiting for

the fish man!" You say, "Did he come?" "What else could he do?" Mrs.

Yates said in a very short time they heard the bell of the fish man

ringing again, and she had never known him before or since to make the

second round, and they had fish for dinner. Their idea of prayer was

to ask for what you need and to believe and you would obtain. 0 that

we were more like them.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

Little Billy said his good night prayer, closing with something

about like this: "Dear Jesus, Tommy Brown has a bicycle and I do want

one. Please send me a bicycle." His parents heard his earnest petition

and decided to help answer his prayer. They went down town to secure

it but decided he was a little too small for the bicycle and so they

got a tricycle. They took it home and placed it in the room where he

would see it when he awoke. Next morning he awoke, sat up in bed and

rubbed his sleepy eyes, as he gazed upon the tricycle he said, "Dear

Lord, don't you know the difference between a bicycle and a tricycle?"

The parents heard him and took the tricycle and exchanged it for a

bicycle. He was definite. We are too indefinite often in praying. The

needy man, in the Bible, went to his neighbor and said, "Friend, lend

me three loaves." Too often we do not pray for anything definite and

do not receive anything special.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

A woman was a professor of religion. She was an ardent "church

worker" but she was worldly. Sickness came, and, as she thought, death

had come. The doctor was there. Friends were standing around the bed.

She was, as they thought, unconscious. The doctor said, "She is

sinking, she will soon be gone." The woman later said, "I could

understand them, but could not speak. I felt that I was surely dying.

I felt myself sinking into eternity and out before me was an ocean of

inky blackness. Horror filled my soul. I could not speak but I could

pray." "Thank the Lord, we can pray and God will hear if we cannot

speak." She said, "I did pray. I said, 'Lord, I have been a hypocrite.

I knew better. I am sorry and ashamed, and if you will spare me and

forgive me, I will be true." God heard her and she was spared. When

she was well she admonished all to be sure it is well with the soul.

It is fearful to come to the end and find an ocean of darkness.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

There is an intimate relation between prayer and conduct This we

see in the words of our Saviour, "If ye abide in me, and my words

abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto

you." The first part of this verse cannot be divorced from the last

half. It is the abiding.

We can see that there is an intimate relation between prayer and

conduct. "The . . . . prayer of a righteous man availeth much." You

see, not only the right kind of prayer is necessary, but the right

kind of man is also needed. So if we are to accomplish anything by

prayer, we must pass the first test -- the test of righteousness. The

thing required of us here is within our reach.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

It is said that a man was standing in a telephone booth, but he

could not understand his friend to whom he was trying to talk. He kept

saying, "I can't hear you; I can't understand you." Finally the man at

the other end shouted rather sharply, "If you will shut the door, you

can hear!"

Jesus said, "Enter into thy closet, and . . . . shut thy door." A

man who often prayed a long time was asked, "Why do you pray so long?"

He replied, "It takes me so long to get the door shut." That is the

trouble. We do not take time to get the voices of the world and the

clamorings of our own souls sufficiently silenced for God to speak.

"Take time to be holy."

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

AN ASS, belonging to an herb-seller who gave him too little food and

too much work made a petition to God to be released from his present

service and provided with another master. God, after warning him that

he would repent his request, caused him to be sold to a tile-maker.

Shortly afterwards, finding that he had heavier loads to carry and

harder work in the brick-field, he petitioned for another change of

master. God, telling him that it would be the last time that he could

grant his request, ordained that he be sold to a leather maker. The

Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master's

occupation, said, groaning: "It would have been better for me to have

been either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the

other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my present

owner, who will even after I am dead take my skin and turn it into

leather."

We should be careful what we pray for. Indeed, this is the main

reason why God doesn't answer all our prayers. If He did, we would

eternally regret our answered prayers. Consequently, we should be

content and grateful with what God gives us.