THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER AND REVIVAL

The next thing in importance is that your church should be stirred to pray for the influences of the Divine Spirit, and that they should frequently gather for this purpose. Revival is born in united supplication. The Church is in want of the Spirit, and only prayer can bring Him down. No effort of man can substitute for His presence. The state of religion in any community is the exact measure of the spirit of prayer among its people. Where prayer is strong, faith and holiness abound. He will not disturb a false peace, because it is a peace of which He Himself is the author. The Spirit convicts with truth but comforts in assurance. If there is no revival, the blame lies at the door of prayerless Christians. Heaven is ready to answer, but the Church has ceased to ask. The Holy Spirit is waiting to be invoked in faith. He tarries not for lack of willingness but for lack of believing intercession. God has bound the success of His cause to prayer. His promises are given to be claimed, and His work advances when His people prevail. Revival always tarries where prayer is neglected. Without prayer, the heavens remain closed and the earth remains barren. No church ever rises above the spirit of prayer that prevails within it. The vitality of a congregation is measured on its knees. The Spirit's outpouring is proportioned to the importunity of prayer. Where there is persistence in asking, there is abundance in blessing. THE SECRET OF MINISTERIAL POWER My dear brother, if you can give up every desire to be great and feel heartily willing to be nothing, you will find true happiness and rest in God. The minister must be little in his own eyes if he would be great in God's eyes. The way up is always the way down. It is not talents that God blesses, but likeness to Christ. The Spirit anoints holiness more than brilliance. The most useful minister is the most holy minister. True power flows from a sanctified life. No man can preach with unction who does not pray with brokenness. The secret place prepares the public voice. God will honor the preacher who first honors Him in secret. What is sown unseen will be reaped openly. Ministers must labor more in prayer than in study. The soul must drink before it can pour out living water. The secret of ministerial power is communion with God. Every sermon that changes lives is born at His feet. He who would preach well must first weep well. Tears of intercession are the ink of true preaching. The pulpit is powerless without the closet. Where prayer is absent, preaching is empty. THE PRAYERFUL LIFE OF EDWARD PAYSON We must, almost literally, pray without ceasing. Prayer is the breath of the soul and the constant lifeline to heaven. Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, and the third thing necessary for a minister, especially in times of revival. No gift, no skill, no labor can take its place. Pray then, my dear brother, pray, pray, pray. Nothing else can secure the blessing or sustain the work of God. The next thing in importance is that your church should be stirred to pray for the influences of the Holy Spirit, and that they should meet frequently for this very purpose. Revival is born in the prayer meeting. Christians often think they do well if they pray twice a day, but I see no reason why we are not just as much commanded to pray without ceasing as we are to pray at all. My dear brother, if you can give up every desire to be great and feel heartily willing to be nothing, you will find true happiness. He will not disturb a false peace, for it is a peace of which He Himself is the author. The Spirit brings conviction where conviction is needed and rest where rest is given. We may say of prayer, as Solomon said of money, that it answereth all things. Prayer opens the way to every blessing. God be with you, my dear mother, and bless you, as He has already made you a blessing to me. The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING We must, almost literally, pray without ceasing. Prayer is not occasional duty but continual communion with God. Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, and the third thing necessary for a minister, especially in seasons of revival. Without prayer, even the strongest preaching will fall powerless. Pray then, my dear brother, pray, pray, pray. Let no day pass without multiplied seasons of kneeling before God. Christians often think they do well if they pray twice a day, but I see no reason why we are not as much commanded to pray without ceasing as we are to pray at all. We may say of prayer, as Solomon once said of money, that it answereth all things. Every need of the soul finds its supply at the throne of grace. If we would do much for God, we must ask much of God. The men who shake the world are men who bend the knee. Our prayers are the measure of our dependence upon God. Where prayer is lacking, pride reigns; where prayer abounds, faith is alive. Prayer is the breath of the renewed soul. Without it, the spiritual life suffocates. He who prays most lives nearest to God. The soul that dwells continually in prayer abides continually in His presence. In prayer we draw down the strength that overcomes the world. The victories of the saints are won in the secret chamber before they are seen in public. THE SECRET OF MINISTERIAL POWER My dear brother, if you can give up every desire to be great and feel heartily willing to be nothing, you will find true happiness and rest in God. The minister must be little in his own eyes if he would be great in God's eyes. The way up is always the way down. It is not talents that God blesses, but likeness to Christ. The Spirit anoints holiness more than brilliance. The most useful minister is the most holy minister. True power flows from a sanctified life. No man can preach with unction who does not pray with brokenness. The secret place prepares the public voice. God will honor the preacher who first honors Him in secret. What is sown unseen will be reaped openly. Ministers must labor more in prayer than in study. The soul must drink before it can pour out living water. The secret of ministerial power is communion with God. Every sermon that changes lives is born at His feet. He who would preach well must first weep well. Tears of intercession are the ink of true preaching. The pulpit is powerless without the closet. Where prayer is absent, preaching is empty. THE CELESTIAL CITY IN VIEW God be with you, my dear mother, and bless you, as He has made you a blessing to me. The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Were I to adopt the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah. The borderland of heaven is already before me. The celestial city is but a veil away. The thin curtain of time separates us from eternity. Death to the Christian is only passing through a dark entry into a palace of light. What seems an end is in truth a beginning. The nearer I approach eternity, the plainer I see the value of holiness. Nothing else can endure the gaze of God or the fires of judgment. I long to be clothed upon with my house which is from heaven. Earthly garments are too frail for eternal glory. Faith turns the shadow of death into the morning. The darkest valley becomes a place of song when Christ is there. The Christian has nothing to fear in death, for Christ has robbed it of its sting. The grave has been conquered and now serves only as a passage to glory. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to lose one's will in the will of God. In surrender, the soul finds perfect rest.