I love to collect seashells. I don't know why. We bring them home and pile them in old styrofoam coolers where they serve as nesting spaces for spiders. Nonetheless, I go to the beach, walk a bit, and before I know it, I'm gathering shells that simply seem to cry out for me to have them.

This afternoon I decided to collect some articles online that talk about prayer. I hope you enjoy reading them. Just click on the titles to go straight to the articles.

Great Things Happen When You Pray

by Norman Vincent Peale

Here are some of his quotable bits:

Often a person will complain, “I’ve prayed and prayed and didn’t get what I wanted.” Well who said you are supposed to get what you want? Prayer isn’t a device to get what you want.

Prayer is a means of bringing you to the point where you will accept what God wants. If you’re using prayer just for getting what you want, your engaging in an improper use of prayer.

To live a full and happy life is to learn...

At our church we have a team of over 100 people who've committed to fast and pray once a week, or one day a month specifically for the purpose of praying for our church. We provide this team of prayer partners with a private prayer list. The list is compiled by collecting prayer requests from church staff members. Staff share their requests both for their personal lives and for their areas of ministry. At the first of the list we include churchwide annual goals (what we update monthly). Each month we update our requests and list praises for the answered prayers we've experienced. 

In order for you to capture the spirit of this vital ministry, let me share the introduction I wrote for the first private prayer list we sent to our team members this past January 2022: 

Happy New Year! If you have just now joined our praying and fasting team, WELCOME! We are so glad you are here. This list is for your personal use as you fast and pray a day a week, or a day this month.

The best...