Without prayer the preacher creates death, and not life.

E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (page 25)

Have you ever shared the Gospel with a non-believer only to find it a struggle, and the person was resistant? Did you ever think to pray first before trying to evangelise someone?

All our efforts at preaching, testifying, evangelism, or missionary trips will fail if we never pause to pray to God first. This is what Bounds emphasises, as we can already see in chapters 1 and 2 of Power Through Prayer.

In fact, if we fail to pray, we fail at life. It’s in our secret life of prayer that the light of God’s truth can shine on and through us.

E. M. Bounds writes…

A plea for short praying, live praying, real heart praying, praying by the Holy Spirit – direct, specific, ardent, simple, unctuous in the pulpit – is in order.

E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (page 26)

And he’s right. Prayer comes before preaching. Prayer comes even before you get out of bed in the morning, and must be the last thing you do before you close your eyes to sleep at night.

Lesson to learn

Prayer should be our default action: short, honest, simple and sincere prayer.

Before you try to face any problem on your own, stop and pray about it. Give the problem to God to handle.

Prayer prompt

Reflect on the Lord Jesus’s words to ‘Watch and pray!’ Ask God to strengthen you and show you how to do so.

God bless you in your journey. Amen

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What truths did you learn about yourself when reading ‘Power Through Prayer? Share your thoughts on the book and how it has changed your life in the comments section below.