Tuesday Prayer: 35

This is my 35th 'Tuesday Prayer' post. I've been re-reading a bit of a classic, Andrew Murray's 'With Christ in the School of Prayer', and was stuck by a section that reminded me and challenged me regarding just how much power we, as believers, have when we pray in the name of Christ;

“Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at its disposal. It is the very essence of true religion, the channel of all blessing, the secret of power and life. Not only for ourselves, but for others, for the Church, for the world, it is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength”

I love the way that Murray writes, out of a place of fierce passion and love for God. His book on prayer is well worth reading. What he is saying here is that this thing called prayer, the simplest task that even a feeble child can do, is in fact the most important thing that any human can do. The reason for this is startling; 'the powers of the eternal world' are placed at our disposal. It is 'fellowship', spending time, with God. Prayer is powerful because of the powerful God who delights in us communicating with him, as we join with him.

Prayer, Murray writes, 'is the very essence of true religion'. We need to pray to maintain our connection with Jesus, even as he underwrites and supports every part of our prayer. Our prayers are also not just for ourselves; 'the church, for the world', changing and transforming things for God's sake, in 'Him and His strength'. This is the power of prayer.

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Don't forget to check out the previous posts in the series, featuring quotes from Tom Wright, John Wimber, Richard Foster and Don Carson, the great J. C. Ryle and theologians Alister McGrath and James K. A. Smith. Since then, I've shared quotes from Justin Welby, E.M. Bounds, Vineyard Pastor Ken Wilson, C. S. Lewis,  Norwegian O'Hallesby, Paul Miller, John Piper. Recently, we've heard Matthew Henry, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray, Tim Chester, Vaughan Roberts, Oliver O'Donovan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and John Bunyan. Then we got rather retro, with quotes from Church Fathers John Chrysostom and Tertullian, before returning to more recent thinkers with Rowan Williams, Mike Reeves and Peter Jackson and Chris Wright and Andrew Case, R. C. Sproul, and (representing a slight change of tack) the Westminster Confession. Recently we considered Karl Barth, and Donald Macleod, Mary Prokes,  and last weeks quote was from J. C. Ryle.