LIBERTY BAPTIST SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
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
MONICA SWAREZ
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BOOK REVIEW
Introduction:
This paper is a critical review of S.D. Gordon’s book Quiet Talks on Prayer. The author,
Samuel Dickery Gordon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 12, 1859. In the early
1900s, S.D. Gordon was a widely traveled speaker in high demand. A prolific author, his quiet
manner, simplicity, illustrative quality and gentle spirit won for him a great following wherever
he went. “Quiet Talks on Power” was his first book, published by Fleming H. Revell in 1901. His
“Quiet Talks on Prayer” followed in 1904, “Quiet Talks on Service” and “Quiet Talks about
Jesus”, in 1906. The demand for his books had grown so great that he could produce two in a
year and follow thereafter with one series of Quiet Talks each year until 1915. Altogether he
produced twenty-five books, twenty-two of which belonged to the Quiet Talks series. He wrote
more than 25 devotional books, most with the phrase “Quiet Talks” in the title. His first book
sold half a million copies over 40 years! He died in 1936.
E.W. Kenyon said that “S.D. Gordon is a sporadic outburst of divine grace. He is unusual,
as are all of God’s rare tools… he is perfectly balanced in the Word and in the Spirit. He
represents that rare but vanishing class of spiritually minded men of the last generation.”1
Summary:
In Quiet Talks on Prayer Gordon examines the subject of prayer. The table of contents
has four major sections; the meaning and mission of prayer, hindrances to prayer, how to pray,
and Jesus’ habits of prayer. Each section is then broken down into four parts
1 http://peterwade.com/articles/gordsd/biogsdg.shtml
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Part 1– Gordon discusses the five outlets of power. He explains that there may be five
outlets but there is only one inlet, which is the Holy Spirit. He is power and He is in each of us,
however because He is in us does not mean He is in control. Holy Spirit is hindered and because
of this, He is unable to do what He should or could, which also means were are not conscious of
His presence. Five outlets of power through which Holy Spirit shows himself is through the
life; what we are; through the lips, what we say; through our service, what we do; through our
money, what we do not keep, but loosen our for God; and through our prayer, what we claim in
Jesus’ name. Gordon provided an excellent quote about prayer when he wrote, “You can do
more than pray, after you have prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
Prayer is the deciding factor in a spirit conflict - In this chapter Gordon discusses the
conflict between man and Satan. Stating that this conflict is left open because Jesus is still trying
to win the hearts of men through love and conscious consent. Gordon suggests that, “Prayer is
projecting one’s spirit personality. It takes on the characteristic of the man praying. It is
projecting into the spirit realm. Prayer is not limited by space and material – Prayer is a spirit
force that can go anywhere we project it without our physical being needing to be there, pleading
the power of Jesus wherever it is needed.” Meaning, that we don’t have to physically be in a
place in order to make an impact in that place. Our prayers transcend time and space in order to
affect the situation through the power of God; we have the ability to take a mission trip, via
prayer, without ever leaving home.
Gordon discusses three forms of prayer. First being communion – being on good terms
with God, which is the truest form of worship. It includes confession, forgiveness, adoration and
worship – the essential breath of life. The third form is petition – asking for something from
God for something I need. He suggest that there needs to be a constant stream of petition to
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God. In return there will be a constant stream of answers. The third form is intercession – this is
a prayer that reaches out for someone. It’s a standing as a go between or standing in the gap on
someone’s behalf. Gordon also explains that the first two forms of prayer are for self as
intercession is for others. In this chapter Gordon gives 6 biblical facts that underlie prayer.
Gordon then poses the question, “Does prayer influence God?” – Prayer doesn’t change
the purpose of God but it does change the action of God. This is a profound revelation. Many
times a person will pray expecting that their request will change God’s mind about a situation. In
fact, the purpose of the situation or the end result is what God is most interested in therefore,
God’s action to get to the end result is accomplished through prayer. God does not answer
prayers that is not in His will or plan for our lives.
Part II begins with hindrances to Prayer – “There are three sorts of hindrances to prayer,”
Gordon says; “first of all there are things in us that break off connection with God, the source of
changing power. Then there are certain things that delay, or diminish the results; that interfere
with the full swing of the prayer plan of operations.”2 He develops each of these hindrances into
a section all their own; sin, selfishness and an unforgiving spirit. Each section attempts to tell us
through biblical occurrences why results fail, are delayed and the great outside hindrances.
Ultimately, Satan and man’s own volition hinder our prayers.
Part III – How to Pray - In addition, Gordon offered some practical applications—about “how”
to pray—and a brief scriptural treatment—about the fifteen occurrences of Jesus praying in the
Bible.
2 Ibid. 52
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In this chapter of the book, Gordon offers suggestions on how to pray. First he suggests
is to find God’s purpose in prayer and then to make that purpose our prayer. In this we will insist
on God’s will being done here on earth.3 He offers six suggestions on what we need pray.
We need intentional time to pray, a place to prayer, use the Bible when we pray, let the Spirit
teach us how to pray, pray in Jesus’ name, and prayer must be in faith. Faith described as having
four characteristics; intelligent, obedient, expectant and persistent.4
Gordon also touches on another area that every believer has questioned what God’s will
is for their life and in order to learn His will there are three things that determine our ability to
find it; they may seem simple but are ultimately essential. The first thing is we have to do is keep
in touch with Him, then we must delight in His will, and finally His word must be allowed to
discipline my judgment as to Himself and His will.5 In the last chapter he discusses Jesus’ habits
of prayer. He also takes the time to define what a habit is: A habit is an act repeated so often as to
be done involuntarily; that is, without a new decision of the mind each time it is done.[16] While
Gordon talks about the habits of Jesus’ prayer he actually articulates what we would call a
lifestyle of prayer in today’s vernacular; he says, “Jesus prayed. He loved to pray. Sometimes
praying was His way of resting. He prayed so much and so often that it became a part of His life.
It became to Him like breathing—involuntary.”[17] The rest of the book focuses on fifteen
different mentions of Jesus and prayer found in the Gospels.
Evaluation & Critique:
3 Gordon 107-108
4 Ibid. 114-115
5 Ibid. 136
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This book was difficult to comprehend at times. Gordon rambled his way through an
arrangement of his own thoughts only to lead the reader the end of the chapter then revealing the
main point. The style of writing was difficult to follow, understandably because of the era it was
written, however many times it was like reading a fictional novel or a book of poetry. Gordon
did provide some practical applications and scriptural references concerning prayer. However,
the majority of the book seems to be merely an expression of Gordon’s thoughts. The book is
lacking the expected summary for each subject discussed. Therefore, the reader will have to
endure to the end to find out where Gordon is leading. Read aloud, this book would make more
sense. It was difficult to stay focused, therefore I found the audio version which was easier to
understand. Among the difficulties of this book, there are some strong arguments concerning the
war against flesh and Satan, the need to set aside time and a place to pray. Modeling Jesus’
lifestyle of prayer and focusing on God’s will and making that our purpose of prayer.
Personal Application:
While there were many things I found unfavorable about this book, it does provide for me
a resource I can use on studies about prayer. I can use this better understand and to share with
other about the battle we fight in the spirit realm. It also showed me that I need to cultivate a
lifestyle of prayer by setting a specific time and place to pray and understand that although I
have many outlets, there is only one inlet that I need to allow to have His way in my daily living.
Bibliography
Gordon, S. D. Quiet talks on prayer. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1904.
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