For those of you who have been waiting anxiously to hear more of what R. A. Torrey has to say regarding prayer, I ask, "Why haven't you bought the book yet?" After finishing the read today, though, I am excited to jot down Torrey's concluding thoughts on the subject.
1. God delights in the holy boldness that will not take no for an answer. We must come with "importunity," meaning literally, with "shamelessness." To do so is an expression of great faith, and nothing pleases God more than faith (hence Christ's constant exhortation to those of 'little faith.'). A contrary example would be that of Matthew 15:28. Check it out.
2. Many people call it submission to the will of God when God does not grant them their requests at the first or second asking, and they say, "Well, perhaps it is not God's will." As a rule, says Torrey, this is not submission but spiritual laziness.
3. To abide in Christ (John 15:7) is to renounce all life independent of Christ and constantly to look to Him for the inflow of His life into us, and the outworking of His life through us.
4. When our prayers fail, it is because they are indeed our prayers. We have conceived the desire and framed the petition of ourselves, instead of looking to Christ to pray through us.
5. There are many who wonder why they are so powerless in prayer, but the very simple explanation of it all is found in their neglect of the words of Christ. It is not by seasons of mystical meditation and rapturous experiences that we learn to abide in Christ; it is by feeding upon His Word (this was especially piercing to me). And, be mindful that "mere intellectual study of the Word of God is not enough; there must be meditation upon it."
6. We should be just as definite in returning thanks as we are in prayer. We come to God with most specific petitions, but when we return thanks to Him, our thanksgiving is indefinite and general. Doubtless our heavenly Father refuses to answer petitions that we send up to Him in order that we may be brought to a sense of our ingratitude and taught to be thankful.
7. Returning thanks for blessings already received increases our faith, and reminds us that "there is nothing too hard for the Lord."
1. God delights in the holy boldness that will not take no for an answer. We must come with "importunity," meaning literally, with "shamelessness." To do so is an expression of great faith, and nothing pleases God more than faith (hence Christ's constant exhortation to those of 'little faith.'). A contrary example would be that of Matthew 15:28. Check it out.
2. Many people call it submission to the will of God when God does not grant them their requests at the first or second asking, and they say, "Well, perhaps it is not God's will." As a rule, says Torrey, this is not submission but spiritual laziness.
3. To abide in Christ (John 15:7) is to renounce all life independent of Christ and constantly to look to Him for the inflow of His life into us, and the outworking of His life through us.
4. When our prayers fail, it is because they are indeed our prayers. We have conceived the desire and framed the petition of ourselves, instead of looking to Christ to pray through us.
5. There are many who wonder why they are so powerless in prayer, but the very simple explanation of it all is found in their neglect of the words of Christ. It is not by seasons of mystical meditation and rapturous experiences that we learn to abide in Christ; it is by feeding upon His Word (this was especially piercing to me). And, be mindful that "mere intellectual study of the Word of God is not enough; there must be meditation upon it."
6. We should be just as definite in returning thanks as we are in prayer. We come to God with most specific petitions, but when we return thanks to Him, our thanksgiving is indefinite and general. Doubtless our heavenly Father refuses to answer petitions that we send up to Him in order that we may be brought to a sense of our ingratitude and taught to be thankful.
7. Returning thanks for blessings already received increases our faith, and reminds us that "there is nothing too hard for the Lord."
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