184 N Ocean Ave Patchogue NY 11772
631-289-1229 Patchogue Seventh Day Adventist Churc
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray James 5:13
“In the great events and crowning periods of His life, we find Jesus in prayer…. No man prayed as he prayed. Prayer was the secret of His power, the law of His life, the inspiration of His toil, and the source of His joy, His communion and strength. To Christ Jesus prayer occupied no secondary place, but was a necessity…. Jesus was always a busy man, but never too busy to pray. With Him even God’s work must not crowd out praying. Saving people from sin or suffering must not, even with Christ, be substituted for praying, nor abate in the least the time or the intensity of these holiest of seasons” (E.M. Bounds).
inspired Words of wisdom on the matter of prayer
Encouragement to Pray
If the Saviour of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.
Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing. It is our privilege to drink largely at the fountain of boundless love. What a wonder it is that we pray so little! God is ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His children, and yet there is much manifest reluctance on our part to make known our wants to God. What can the angels of heaven think of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temptation, when God’s heart of infinite love yearns toward them, ready to give them more than they can ask or think, and yet they pray so little and have so little faith? The angels love to bow before God; they love to be near Him. They regard communion with God as their highest joy; and yet the children of earth, who need so much the help that God only can give, seem satisfied to walk without the light of His Spirit, the companionship of His presence.
The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer. Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence?
- Steps to Christ, pg. 94
