“Trouble is one of God’s great servants because it reminds us how much we continually need the Lord. Otherwise, we tend to forget about entreating him. For some reason we want to carry on by ourselves. H”

“Peter, the biggest failure of them all, became the preacher that day. It was no homiletical masterpiece, to be sure. But people were deeply convicted—“cut to the heart,” according to Acts 2:37—by his anointed words. Three thousand were gathered into the church that day. Which church? Baptist? Presbyterian? Pentecostal? There were no such labels at that time—and in God’s view of things, there still aren’t. He ignores our categories. All he sees when he looks down is the body of Christ, made up of all born-again, blood-washed believers. The only subdivisions he sees are geographical—local churches. Other distinctions are immaterial. I”

“Prayer is the source of the Christian life, a Christian’s lifeline.”

“IN THE WORLD OF advertising, every copywriter knows the power of two magic words: “Free!” and “New!” We see them in the supermarket, in the newspaper, on billboards. And consumers respond. In the church today, we are falling prey to the appeal of “New!” The old truths of the gospel don’t seem spectacular enough. We’re restless for the latest, greatest, newest teaching or technique. We pastors in particular seem to search for a shortcut or some dynamic new strategy that will fire up our churches.”

“We are not New Testament Christians if we don’t have a prayer life.”

“Yet Christians often hesitate to reach out to those who are different. They want God to clean the fish before they catch them. If someone’s gold ring is attached to an unusual body part, if the person doesn’t smell the best, or if the skin color is not the same, Christians tend to hesitate. But think for a moment about God reaching out to us. If ever there was a “reach,” that was it: the holy, pure Deity extending himself to us who were soiled, evil-hearted, unholy. God could have said, “You’re so different from me, so distasteful, I would really rather not get too close to you.” But he didn’t say that. It was out very differentness that drew his hand of love. Jesus didn’t just speak the healing word to lepers from a distance of thirty yards. He touched them.”

“Some have said, “The miracles, signs, and wonders of the book of Acts were temporary. They served to authenticate the apostles until such time as the New Testament could be written. Now we have the completed Word of God, which erases the need for supernatural happenings.” My response is this: If we have a completed revelation in written form, are we seeing at least as much advance for God’s kingdom, as many people coming to Christ, as many victories over Satan as those poor fellows who had to get along with just the Old Testament? If not, why not? Are we missing something valuable that they felt was essential?”

“The Jewish faith in Jesus’ day was dominated by rabbis—teachers of the law. Their doctrine was thorough. Jesus told them, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39–40, italics added). They knew the written word of God very well, but not the living Word, even as he stood before them.”

“As a preacher myself, let me be blunt here. Preaching itself can easily become just a subtle form of entertainment. When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, he is not going to ask me if I was a clever orator. He is not going to ask me how many books I wrote. He is only going to ask whether I continued in the line of men and women, starting way back in the time of Adam’s grandchildren, who led others to call upon God.”

“Prayer cannot truly be taught by principles and seminars and symposiums. It has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need.”

“God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.”

“If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are … if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment … if we are facing spiritual battles right in our own homes and churches … then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore him.”

“You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. “You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. “But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.” And”

“You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. “You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. “But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.”

“Whatever God approves of comes first. Whatever grieves him has to go.”

“MAINTAINING DOCTRINAL PURITY IS good, but it is not the whole picture for a New Testament church. The apostles wanted to do much more than simply “hold the fort,” as the old gospel song says. They asked God to empower them to move out and impact an entire culture. In too many places where the Bible is being thumped and doctrine is being argued until three in the morning, the Spirit of that doctrine is missing. William Law, an English devotional writer of the early 1700s, wrote, “Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted with it—yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon him.”1”

“Day after day goes by, and God keeps looking, looking....Doesn't anyone want to call out for his blessing? Upon whom can he pour his grace? Isn't anyone interested?”

“But the Bible teaches that we are always either drawing nearer to God or falling away. There is no holding pattern.”

“Worship-based prayer seeks the face of God before the hand of God. God’s face is the essence of who He is. God’s hand is the blessing of what He does. God’s face represents His person and presence. God’s hand expresses His provision for needs in our lives. I have learned that if all we ever do is seek God’s hand, we may miss His face; but if we seek His face, He will be glad to open His hand and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.”

“Prayer in the Spirit is prayer whose supreme object is the glory of God, and only in a secondary sense is it a blessing for ourselves or for others.”9”