Craig T. Owens

Some great quotes from Andrew Murray on prayer—

“Look up and see our great God on His throne. He is Love—He longs and delights to bless. He has inconceivably glorious plans concerning each of His children to reveal in them His love and power by the power of His Holy Spirit. He waits with all the anticipation of a father’s heart. He waits to be gracious to you. … You may ask, ‘How is it, if He waits to be gracious, that when I come and wait on Him, He does not always give the help I seek?’ There is a twofold answer. The first is that God is a farmer. He waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has patience. He cannot gather the crop until it is ripe. He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial that breaks in showers of blessing is essential. Be assured that if God waits longer to answer than you anticipated, it is only to make the blessing all the more precious. The second answer points to what has been said before. The Giver is more than the gift; God is more than the blessing; and our time spent waiting on Him is the only way to learn to find our life and joy in Him. It is a blessing when a waiting soul and a waiting God meet each other.”

“‘Whatever you ask for….’ When we hear this, our human wisdom begins to doubt and say, ‘Surely this cannot be literally true.’ But if it is not, why did the Master say it, using the strongest expression He could find: ‘Whatever you ask.’ It is not as if this were the only time He spoke this way. He also said, ‘Everything is possible for him who believes’ (Mark 9:23). Faith is so wholly the work of God’s Spirit through His Word in the prepared heart of the believing disciple that it is impossible that the fulfillment should not come. The tendency of human reasoning is to interpose here certain qualifying clauses—‘if expedient’; ‘if according to God’s will’—to break the force of a statement that appears presumptuous. Beware of dealing this way with the Master’s words. His promise is literally true. He wants His ‘whatever’ to penetrate our hearts and reveal how mighty the power of faith is and how our Father shares His power.”

“You are created in Christ to pray; it is your very nature as a child of God to do so.”