Devotional Thoughts for the Week of May 3, 2026
“Oh, any church can have a minister who is a man of power, a minister who is baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost, if they are willing to pay the price, and the price is prayer, much prayer, much real prayer, prayer in the Holy Ghost,” (R. A. Torrey)
Re-reading the first chapters of Torrey’s book, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power resulted in a night of much prayer and less sleep for me. Written in 1924, there is great encouragement here for us today, based on this Scriptural truth: “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (James 5:16). Consider these thoughts:
Torrey reminds us that God has brought powerful spiritual awakening and revival, true life transformation when His people have earnestly, faithfully prayed. He is the same God. He is willing, more than willing, He is eager to pour out His Spirit upon the Church today, if only we would seek Him and His kingdom above all the cares of this world. What does He desire your local church to become? Who is He longing to save? How much would we learn to love Him, delight in His presence, and love one another, if all that God desires were accomplished in our midst? We could be set free from apathy, from sin, from discouragement, from distraction, from fear, set free to worship and serve Him with complete surrender . . . if only we would “pray much.”
This is the burden on my heart today. That we would become a people who learn to travail in prayer (extended fervent prayer, led by the Holy Spirit, with deep faith - praying like lives depend upon it). Will we grow in this prayer life? It is hard work, but it is labor that matters greatly for eternity. Let us offer ourselves to the Lord and see what He desires to do in us and through us for His great glory.
Lynn
“Oh, any church can have a minister who is a man of power, a minister who is baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost, if they are willing to pay the price, and the price is prayer, much prayer, much real prayer, prayer in the Holy Ghost,” (R. A. Torrey)
Re-reading the first chapters of Torrey’s book, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power resulted in a night of much prayer and less sleep for me. Written in 1924, there is great encouragement here for us today, based on this Scriptural truth: “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (James 5:16). Consider these thoughts:
- “[Prayer] is the most effective work that anyone can do”
- “Prayer, if it be real prayer, the kind of prayer that avails much with God, oftentimes is harder work than any other kind of effort: it takes more out of one than any other kind of effort.”
- “We can accomplish more by time and strength put into prayer than we can by putting the same amount of time and strength into anything else.”
- “Prayer will reach down, down, down into the deepest depths of sin and ruin and take hold of men and women who seem lost beyond all possibility or hope of redemption, and lift them up, up, up until they are fit for a place beside the Son of God upon the throne.”
Torrey reminds us that God has brought powerful spiritual awakening and revival, true life transformation when His people have earnestly, faithfully prayed. He is the same God. He is willing, more than willing, He is eager to pour out His Spirit upon the Church today, if only we would seek Him and His kingdom above all the cares of this world. What does He desire your local church to become? Who is He longing to save? How much would we learn to love Him, delight in His presence, and love one another, if all that God desires were accomplished in our midst? We could be set free from apathy, from sin, from discouragement, from distraction, from fear, set free to worship and serve Him with complete surrender . . . if only we would “pray much.”
This is the burden on my heart today. That we would become a people who learn to travail in prayer (extended fervent prayer, led by the Holy Spirit, with deep faith - praying like lives depend upon it). Will we grow in this prayer life? It is hard work, but it is labor that matters greatly for eternity. Let us offer ourselves to the Lord and see what He desires to do in us and through us for His great glory.
Lynn
