Thomas, Steven - 206880
EVAN 670-001
Quiet Talks on Prayer
4/17/11
Summary
S.D. Gordon’s book, Quiet Talks on Prayer, is a book that is written with the
intention of challenging believers to examine their own personal prayer lives and dedicate
more time and effort to them. The prayer life of a Christian is a necessity to continuing
strong in their walk with Christ. When one does not spend ample time in his/her prayer
life, they do not have as much of an impact in the spiritual realm. The book was written
with the intention of encouraging the saints to understand the importance of prayer, to
offer some suggestions on how to improve upon the prayer life the believer already has,
and illustrate how the Adversary does not want us as believers to have vibrant prayer
lives. This paper will summarize the book, will offer a critique and evaluation of
Gordon’s work, and will show how the book can be personally applied to my life.
Gordon starts the book explaining why he believes that the greatest outlet of
power in a believer’s life is the power of prayer. He explains that within this power that
believers have, we have the unique opportunity to communicate with the omnipotent,
omnipresent, omniscient God of the Universe. This believer is able to touch others that
are around the world with a prayer in their own bedroom. The spiritual realm is a realm
that is not hindered by space or time and thus the prayer life can be one of the best ways
to touch other believers around the world as well as to battle the enemy spiritually.
Prayer is the strongest source of power a believer has.
Gordon also outlines many different hindrances to a believer’s prayer life. He
explains that the main thing that can breach the prayer life a believer has is quite obvious.
Sin can be a major breach in the relationship of the believer and God. Gordon says that
essentially, un-confessed sin in a believer’s life severs the line between him and God.
He compares it to someone cutting a telegraph wire without the person who is sending
the telegraph knowing. This would obviously destroy the opportunity for
communication whatsoever. Even though the person sending the telegraph believes that
the telegraph is being sent, the receiver does not ever receive it. The sender ends up
wondering why the person who he sent the telegraph to does not respond, and it is
because of the fact the receiver never actually got the message. Much like this, a person
who is stuck in sin and does not confess it and change his ways will eventually end up
drastically reducing the communication abilities with the Father.
Gordon also explains that motives behind prayers can end up inhibiting the
response from God or end up in unanswered prayers. He gives many examples of what
he believes are prayers that are not in the right heart that end up not being answered for
that very reason. He explains that if a mother prays for the salvation of her son but does
not want to see him go off to a foreign country to preach the gospel, she is not having the
right motives within the prayer. Gordon says that God is less likely to honor a prayer like
that over the prayer of a mother who is open to whatever God has in store for her son.
The motives behind a prayer are a key component of an active, working prayer life.
Gordon also explains in this section that the devil is quite a large hindrance to the
prayer life of a believer. The Adversary does not want believers to be connected to the
Father because he knows that Spirit-led, active, serving believers pose a monstrous threat
to his kingdom of hell. The devil will do all that he can do to hinder the believers prayers
from being answered and wants to intrude in anyway possible. Gordon explains that as
believers, we must be aware of the devil trying to hinder our prayer lives with his tricks
and wily ways. This is one aspect of prayer that believers must remember at all times.
Gordon also spends time in this book explaining the best method of prayer for us
as Christians. He essentially gives believers a Biblical overview of the importance of
prayer as well as appropriate methods of prayer. He goes through and gives examples of
how the ultimate example (Christ) prayed and what believers today can take from those
prayers and apply to their own personal prayer lives. He also gives examples of the
prayer lives of amazing men of the faith of the past, such as D.L. Moody and Charles
Spurgeon. He explains the importance of time commitment in the realm of prayer, as
well as persistence in prayer. Gordon also emphasizes the importance of making God’s
purpose the purpose in our prayer lives. He explains that the focus of any believer should
be doing God’s will and within that his prayer life should coincide with God’s purpose.
The final section of the book is focused on all of the many examples that Christ
gives believers in regards to the necessity of a prayer life. Christ spent much time in
communion with His Father while He was on the earth, and His example is one that is a
necessity for the believers to follow. Gordon lists, explains, and evaluates fifteen
mentions of Christ’s prayer life in Scriptures. Throughout the last portion of the book, he
points out that Christ used His time in prayer as a restful time. He illustrates the fact that
Christ set aside time to pray and was committed to that time. Gordon also illuminates the
fact that Christ was habitual in His prayer life. Habitual is usually a word that can be a
negative assumption, but in this case, His habit was an active one that breathed life into
His relationship with His Father. Gordon expounds upon this point to show that Christ
was committed to His personal prayer life.
Throughout this book, Gordon draws out four main points regarding to prayer.
The four are as follows: The meaning and mission of prayer, hindrances to prayer, how to
pray, and Jesus’ habits of prayer.1 Within those four main points, Gordon eloquently
describes the beauty and importance of the prayer life of a believer. With current
1S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Co, 1904, Table of Contents.
illustrations and Biblical ones, Gordon encourages the reader to spend more time in his
prayer life.
Critique and Evaluation
S.D. Gordon encompasses quite a few aspects of prayer within this book. This
book overviews many things that believers should take into consideration when they are
looking at their own prayer life. There are many points that he makes within the book
that are valid and are easy to agree with. There are also a few points that are made that
could be explained in a different way to make it easier to understand for the reader as
well as could make it more Biblically accurate. There are many aspects of the book as
well that are enlightening and gave me some new insights on different aspects of prayer.
The book can be a valuable asset to any believer that desires to improve their prayer life.
One of the first things that were noticed in the book that was very insightful and
helpful for others to use is the three forms of prayer. Gordon describes what he believes
are the three types of prayer. These are as follows: communion, petition, and
intercession. These three types of prayer have three different components of a vibrant
prayer life. The first aspect, communion, is the right standing with God that we as
believers have. The second aspect is petition. This aspect of prayer is the type of prayer
that is prayer that is specifically for oneself. The third aspect of prayer is intercession.
This type of prayer is used for praying for others. Christ offered intercession on behalf of
believers quite often.
These three types of prayer that Gordon explains are helpful for any believer to
understand. Often times, believers will find themselves stuck on the second form of
prayer. They understand that they need to pray for themselves, but all too often; the
believer does not spend time in intercession for the saints or for the people that are
unsaved and need Christ. Gordon is right on track when he explains that the third aspect
of prayer is vital in order to help win others to Christ. When a believer taps into all three
aspects of prayer, he can be a force to be reckoned with in the spiritual realm.
Gordon also expounds upon many different reasons why prayers either are not
answered or why there are sometimes delays in response to prayer. Sin can often be a
reason that the line to heaven is not working as well as it should be. This is referenced
earlier, but is one angle of the Christian life that is often overlooked. Gordon explains
how the act of sin severs the prayer ties with God. Every Christian at one point in time
experiences this severance of the prayer tie and must learn to overcome it. The only way
to overcome it is to turn away from the sin and turn to God.
Gordon also explains how the believers can end up experiencing a delay in the
answer of prayers. He uses the example of Daniel and how Daniel prayed hard for
twenty-one days and when Gabriel finally came to him to answer his prayer, he told him
that he had been sent day one of the prayer. He had to battle with the Prince of Persia
before he was able to make it through to Daniel and even then, he had to have help from
Michael, the archangel. This example given exemplifies the necessity of never giving up
in our prayers and petitions to heaven. The spiritual realm around us is affected by the
prayers and the persistence can directly affect the response to a prayer.
There is also another aspect of the book that is a unique aspect of the prayer life
that is explained fairly well, but could also be clarified. Gordon states in the book, “The
highest law of the Christian life is obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. There
needs to be a cultivated judgment in reading His leading, and not mistaking our
haphazard thoughts as His voice.”2 This statement is true. The leading of the Spirit must
be obeyed by any believer at any time they are actually being led by the Holy Spirit. The
2 S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Co, 1904, 112.
believer is able to discern this more and more throughout his life as a follower of Christ.
This judgment is in part honed and sharpened through the time that is spent in prayer with
the Savior. This statement is a true statement, but could be explained in a way that is
much easier to understand for the average reader.
While it is true that obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit is necessary in the life
of a believer, it needs to be qualified with how to discern whether or not the Spirit is
actually moving the believer to do something. Gordon never states in this part of the
book that the Bible needs to be the overarching guideline for whether or not the Holy
Spirit is actually guiding the individual. He mentions the Bible and its importance in
one’s prayer life shortly before the section on following the leading of the Holy Spirit,
but does not tie the two together well enough. If someone believes they are being led by
the Spirit, it is imperative they compare the compelling thought to what the Word of God
says. This should be the first and foremost basis on whether or not the Spirit is actually
guiding the individual. If a Christ-follower believes that the Spirit is leading him to
murder someone in cold blood, the Holy Spirit is not actually telling him to do this. This
is contrary to the written Word of God and due to the fact that God is perfect, He cannot
lead someone to do something that is contradictory to His Word. This is a logical fallacy
that can be easily committed if one is not intuitive enough to understand it. While the
statement that he makes is entirely true in the book, it would have been better
communicated if it had been specifically qualified by the parameters of Scripture.
As a whole, Gordon gives a comprehensive overview of the aspect of prayer in a
believer’s life. The book explains why prayer is important; it explains how prayer is
useful in the lives of believers and gives examples of Christ and others who were
incredible men of God and how prayer radically changed their lives. The book was
written in the early 1900’s, so it makes a reader nowadays sit back and think about what
exactly Gordon was trying to say. The book was well written and packed full of deep
insight for believers of any era.
Application
This book is challenging to me in many ways. Gordon’s explanation of different
angles of prayer makes me think about my personal walk with Christ. I know that I did
not think about prayer in the same way that I do now after I have read this book and taken
the class. Gordon has challenged me to make it a point to set aside extra time for prayer.
Due to this fact, I have decided that it would be a good thing for me to set aside a day
after the school year is done to dig into the Word and prayer for a few hours. I have the
privilege of having an apartment all to myself this summer, so I plan on coming back to
Lynchburg a few days before I start work and using half of that first full day to spend in
the Word and in prayer. I will do this the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend, so
I can be better prepared spiritually for the summer. Gordon’s book challenged me to
make this commitment; just by showing the emphasis other great Christian leaders have
put on it.
Conclusion
Gordon captures a necessary element of the Christian life in his book Quiet Talks
On Prayer. The overarching motive behind this book is to challenge believers to have a
dynamic prayer life. Throughout the book, Gordon defines the three types of prayer, he
explains why prayers sometimes do not get answered, or why they do not get answered in
the manner that us as believers want them to. Gordon also gives many examples of
believers and their commitment to prayer. He finishes the book with fifteen examples of
Christ’s prayer life when He was on the earth. This book encompasses just about every
aspect that a person could cover on the topic of prayer.
This book, though written in the early 1900’s can be used to challenge and
encourage believers today. The book gives valuable insights and demonstrates the
impact that a powerful prayer life can have. Gordon challenged me to have a stronger
prayer life as a believer. This is a must read for any believer that wants to understand the
realm of prayer on a deeper level.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
