Originally a gold miner, then Missouri's youngest practicing lawyer at the age of 19, Bounds surrendered to the ministry and became a Methodist pastor when he was 24. Following his incarceration as a prisoner of war during the Civil War, he took up residence in Tennessee. While others concentrated on rebuilding the war-torn state, Bounds determined to focus his energies on spiritual reconstruction, primarily by holding prayer colloquoys and evangelistic meetings.
Bounds was well known as a man of prayer, habitually rising at 4:00 a.m. and praying until 7:00 a.m. He and a small group of men also prayed faithfully for revival for over a year until God granted their request.
Bounds had a heart for pastors and a deep longing to see them preach out of the overflow of their personal heart relationship with the Lord rather than crafting eloquent sermons of lofty words. It is to these pastors for whom he had such a burden that Power Through Prayer is addressed, though all Christians can certainly benefit from Bounds' exhortation to be people of fervent prayer.
Among his spiritually erudite gems are:
The praying which makes a prayerful ministry is not a little praying put in as we put flavor to give it a pleasant smack, but the praying must be in the body, and form the blood and bones. Prayer is no petty duty, put into a corner; no piecemeal performance made out of the fragments of time which have been snatched from business and other engagements of life; but it means that the best of our time, the heart of our time and strength must be given...it means the {prayer} closet first, the study and activities second...
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No man can do a great and enduring work for God who is not a man of prayer, and no man can be a man of prayer who does not give much time to praying.
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The holier a man is, the more does he estimate prayer; the clearer does he see that God gives himself to the praying ones, and that the measure of God’s revelation to the soul is the measure of the soul’s longing, importunate prayer for God. Salvation never finds its way to a prayerless heart. The Holy Spirit never abides in a prayerless spirit. Preaching never edifies a prayerless soul. Christ knows nothing of prayerless Christians.
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A holy life would not be so rare or so difficult a thing if our devotions were not so short and hurried...We live shabbily because we pray meanly.
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Paul exhorted us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). In this brief and easy to read volume, Bounds passionately challenges us to apply these timeless words of Scripture to the discipline of prayer in our own lives.
Power Through Prayer is available at:
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