Quiet Talks on Prayer

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

QUIET TALKS ON PRAYER

A BOOK CRITIQUE

SUBMITTED TO DR. KENNEDY A. ADARKWA

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE

STRATEGIC PRAYER AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE

EVAN 670

BY

JOHN GAIL

JULY 11, 2014

S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon

Quiet Talks on Prayer

Fleming H. Revell Company

1904

Introduction

S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon, author of Quiet Talks on Prayer was a prolific writer authoring mare than 25 books and also a powerful speaker of the 19th and early 20th century. Not overly-well educated, his only education was that from the Philadelphia Public School System. Having never been ordained or educated as a pastor Gordon was nonetheless well versed in scripture and loved to share it with everyone he could. Gordon served as assistant secretary of the Philadelphia Young Men's Christian Association and also as the state secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Ohio .

Summary

Quiet Talks on Prayer is broken into four sections with the first section containing 3 parts the second section four parts and the final two sections, five parts each. Gordon lays the foundation for his book in the first section where he explains how prayer is the greatest place to receive power and strength for anything in life . The five outlets of prayer says Gordon are: What we are, what we say, what we do through the money we give out to God and finally what we claim in Jesus' name. Gordon weaves his points around this theme throughout the text and applies them to the other things that prayer plays a role in like spiritual conflict.

Satan and his demons play a huge part in the spiritual warfare faced by the servants of God that is, the people doing the most for God . Nothing amounts to anything until we pray and Gordon puts it this way: "God will do as a result of the praying of the humblest one here what otherwise He would not do ." The greatest thing man can do to affect God is in prayer. Gordon contends that our planet is being lost because we do not pray.

Prayer turns on the spiritual switch in the spirit world. Gordon compares this switch to an electrical switchboard that can be turned on and off simply by calling on God in prayer for ourselves or in intercession for others. The comparison is man's use of his prayer room to that of the electrical switching room. By prayer one can affect the power of Almighty God in the case of a person in another room or across the country or in another country . While all these things open the avenues of prayer, there are other things that hinder our prayer life.

In the same way Gordon says there are three things that hinder prayer and since prayer is simply transacting business with God we need to know what those hindrances are. The hindrances are sin, selfishness and an unforgiving spirit. Many examples are given from scripture by Gordon concerning these hindrances and how Jesus approached prayer .

The author then says that our prayers are delayed or held back because we do not know how and refuse to learn how to pray, Prayer is aligning our will with God's will and in that we fail because we refuse to learn God's great plan for prayer . Gordon's point is that we are asking selfishly or have not reached a level of wisdom that asks best. Either way when we pray we are praying for the healing and welfare of a nation that has drifted slowly into an abyss. God's chosen people are sliding into an abyss where the Savior nation was being pulled into the abyss by the prodigal nation. This nation and the others desperately need the healing brought about by prayer, but how can we learn to pray? How can we pray correctly?

How should we pray so that our will is aligned with God's will? More correctly like the Apostles of Jesus asked Him, teach us to pray. This then is the next direction taken by Gordon. Gordon gives six ways to pray and they are: Where two or three are gathered, praying in faith, asking in Jesus' name, abiding in me and my Word, bearing fruit and asking . Gordon points out that without a right relationship with God there will be no prayer. Having a relationship with God is paramount to conducting any business with Him .

While basing his writing squarely on the Word of God, Gordon declares that obedience to Jesus and His "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23). Pleasing Jesus is the whole purpose for our prayer and Gordon says that is the "how" of our relationship with Him. The author goes deeper into this "How" of relationship by saying that prayer represents God in the spirit world .

Through the "how" of method Gordon labors through an example of an infirmed lady's two year prayer for D. L. Moody to visit her church in England and how after all that time God sends Mr. Moody to the church and how amazing the result of God's answer to that prayer. Even though the point here is the method of prayer one could just as easily glean the fact of God's wonderful answer to prayer or listening and hearing God when He answers. As clearly as God's answer was the compelling evidence that this woman was praying within the will of our Great God.

Gordon then offers six suggestions for how to pray, the first being to set aside the time to pray. This should be a one on one quiet time with God. The second offering is to set aside a place to pray. The third is to pray with God's Word in mind and in heart, perhaps even in hand. The fourth is to let the Holy Spirit teach you how to pray. The fifth is that prayer must always be in Jesus' name and the sixth is that prayer must be done in faith . Just as important but not listed as a reason Gordon talks about other things about prayer.

Not only is it important to follow these reasons but it is also important to listen for the voice of God in answer and direction in our prayer. We should always seek out and try to know God's will in our prayer and we should always pray for the conversion of our family .

Gordon concludes his Quiet Talks on Prayer