Prayer Quotes

PRAYER QUOTES

Prayer Quotations

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

1. "You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed."  A.J. Gordon

2. "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."  John Wesley (Famous evangelist who spent 2 hours daily in prayer)  

3. "Prayer strikes the winning blow; service is simply picking up the pieces."  S.D. Gordon

4. "One should never initiate anything that he cannot saturate with prayer."

5. "The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray." S.D. Gordon 

6. "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.  Martin Luther

7. "The most important thing a born again Christian can do is to pray." Chuck Smith

8. "Prayer doesn't change the purpose of God, but prayer can change the action of God." Chuck Smith(Note: S.D. Gordon penned a similar quote).

9. "Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers." Sidlow Baxter

10. “God shapes the world by prayer. The more prayer there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces of against evil …” E.M. Bounds

11.  “Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley

12.  "Satan does not care how many people read about prayer if only he can keep them from praying. Paul E. Billheimer

13. "0h brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper - and sleep too - than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber." Andrew A. Bonar

14. "Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom

15. "Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still." E.M. Bounds

16. "The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." E.M. Bounds

17. "God's cause is committed to men; God commits Himself to men. Praying men are the vice-regents of God; they do His work and carry out His plans." E.M. Bounds

18. "The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'" (J. Hudson Taylor)

19.  "No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack." E.M. Bounds

20. "The little estimate we put on prayer is evidence from the little time we give to it."  E.M. Bounds

21. "It is necessary to iterate and reiterate that prayer, as a mere habit, as a performance gone through by routine or in a professional way, is a dead and rotten thing."  E.M. Bounds

22.  "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees."  William Cowper

23. "If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has."

24. "Seven days without prayer makes one weak."  Allen E. Vartlett

25. "Prayer is the real work, Evangelism is just the mopping up."

26. "You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray."  Matthew Henry

27. "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."  John Bunyon

28. "He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life."  William Law

29.  "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."  Martin Luther.

30. "There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God." Brother Lawrence

31.  When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Muller's reply was, "Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming."  Source Unknown.

32. “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”  Samuel Chadwick

33. “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”  Charles Spurgeon

34.  “The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.”  Andrew Murray

35.  "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” (Robert Murray McCheyne)

36.  “One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved.”

37. On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it.  Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two.  I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before."

38. "Eighteen-year-old Hudson Taylor wandered into his father's library and read a gospel tract. He couldn't shake off its message. Finally, falling to his knees, he accepted Christ as his Savior. Later, his mother, who had been away, returned home. When Hudson told her the good news, she said, "I already know. Ten days ago, the very date on which you tell me you read that tract, I spent the entire afternoon in prayer for you until the Lord assured me that my wayward son had been brought into the fold." Our Daily Bread, July 19, 1989.  [Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was a famous missionary in China.  He was founder of the China Inland Mission which, at his death, included 205 mission stations with over 800 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians.  He spent 51 years in China]. 

39. Spurgeon's "boilerroom." Five young college students were spending a Sunday in London, so they went to hear the famed C.H. Spurgeon preach. While waiting for the doors to open, the students were greeted by a man who asked, "Gentlemen, let me show you around. Would you like to see the heating plant of this church?" They were not particularly interested, for it was a hot day in July. But they didn't want to offend the stranger, so they consented. The young men were taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered, "This is our heating plant." Surprised, the students saw 700 people bowed in prayer, seeking a blessing on the service that was soon to begin in the auditorium above. Softly closing the door, the gentleman then introduced himself. It was none other than Charles Spurgeon. Our Daily Bread, April 24.

40. "Prayer does not influence God. Prayer surely does influence God. It does not influence His purpose. It does influence His action."  S.D. Gordon

41. Prayer "is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings."  Chrysostom

42.  "Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid."  E.M. Bounds

43. Prayer should not be regarded "as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty."  E.M. Bounds

44.  "I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came at some time; no matter at how distant a day, somehow, in some shape, probably the least I would have devised, it came." Adoniram Judson

45. "Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them." John Calvin

46. "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." Oswald Chambers

47. "Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian." Andrew Murray

48.  "The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts, and lack of intimacy with God's character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline." Oswald Chambers

49. "Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God's saints have been held."  E. M. Bounds50. "A life growing in its purity and devotion will be a more prayerful life."  E. M. Bounds

51.  "Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer."  E. M. Bounds

52. "Prayer is the acid test of devotion."  Samuel Chadwick

53. "As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."  Martin Luther

54. "Prayer is my chief work, and it is by means of it that I carry on the rest."  Thomas Hooker, Puritan

55. "The true church lives and moves and has its being in prayer."  Leonard Ravenhill

56. "We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. That is the teaching of Jesus Christ".  E. M. Bounds

57. "Prayer wonderfully clears the vision; steadies the nerves; defines duty; stiffens the purpose; sweetens and strengthens the spirit."  S.D. Gordon

58. "The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer." The Kneeling Christian

59.  "...True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length."  C. H. Spurgeon

60. "If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ." C. H. Spurgeon

61. "Little praying is a kind of make believe, a salve for the conscience, a farce and a delusion."  E. M. Bounds (Emphasis added)

62. "The word of God is the food by which prayer is nourished and made strong."  E. M. Bounds

63. "If the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural."  Andrew Murray

64. "We do not pray at all until we are at our wits' end."  Oswald Chambers

65. “The great people of the earth today are the people who pray!  I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor those who explain prayer; but I mean those who actually take the time to pray. They have not time. It must be taken from something else. That something else is important, very important and pressing, but still, less important and pressing than prayer.There are people who put prayer first, and group the other items in life's schedule around and after prayer. These are the people today who are doing the most for God in winning souls, in solving problems, in awakening churches, in supplying both men and money for mission posts, in keeping fresh and strong their lives far off in sacrificial service on the foreign field, where the thickest fighting is going on, and in keeping the old earth sweet a little while longer.”  S.D. Gordon (Emphasis added)

66.  “Up in a little town in Maine,things were pretty dead some years ago. The churches were not accomplishing anything. There were a few Godly men in the churches, and they said: 'Here we are, only uneducated laymen; but something must be done in this town. Let us form a praying band. We will all center our prayers on one man. Who shall it be?' They picked out one of the hardest men in town, a hopeless drunkard, and centered all their prayers upon him.  In a week, he was converted.  They centered their prayers upon the next hardest man in town, and soon he was converted.  Then they took up another and another, until within a year, two or three hundred were brought to God, and the fire spread out into all the surrounding country.  Definite prayer for those in the prison house of sin is the need of the hour.”  Dr. R.A. Torrey

67. “Therefore, whether the desire for prayer is on you or not, get to your closet at the set time; shut yourself in with God; wait upon Him; seek His face; realize Him; pray.”  R. F. Horton

68. “Time spent alone with God is not wasted.  It changes us; it changes our surroundings; and every Christian who would live the life that counts, and who would have power for service must take time to pray.”  M.E. Andross

69.  Make time to pray.  “The great freight and passenger trains are never too busy to stop for fuel. No matter how congested the yards may be, no matter how crowded the schedules are, no matter how many things demand the attention of the trainmen, those trains always stop for fuel.”  M.E. Andross

70. “There is no other activity in life so important as that of prayer. Every other activity depends upon prayer for its best efficiency.”  M.E. Andross

71. “…the man on his knees has a leverage underneath the mountain which can cast it into the sea, if necessary, and can force all earth and heaven to recognize the power there is in 'His name.'”  M.E. Andross

72. When prayer has become secondary, or incidental, it has lost its power. Those who are conspicuously men of prayer are those who use prayer as they use food, or air, or light, or money."  M.E. Andross

73. "If the Christian does not allow prayer to drive sin out of his life, sin will drive prayer out of his life. Like light and darkness, the two cannot dwell together."  M.E. Andross
74. "We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth." Andrew Murray
75. "...[the] power of prayer can never be overrated. They who cannot serve God by preaching need not regret. If a man can but pray he can do anything. He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has Heaven and earth at his disposal." Charles H. Spurgeon
76. "Prayer is a spiritual law which cooperates with the mind of God. It has more in it than merely petition. It clothes itself in reality and power, with the force of God Himself. It is an attitude of spirit and mind. Language is secondary in true prayer." Gossner.
77. “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use— men of prayer, men mighty in prayer"  E.M. Bounds
78. "Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."  Oswald Chambers.79. "It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in  prayer until we obtain an answer;  George Müller

80. “Those persons who know the deep peace of God, the unfathomable peace that passeth all understanding, are always men and women of much prayer.” R. A. Torrey

81. “Prayer can never be in excess.” C. H. Spurgeon
82. “The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says ‘Amen’ and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas.” Frank Laubach

83. "Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us." Andrew Murray

84.“Yes, worship of the loving God is man’s whole reason for existence.” A.W. Tozer

85. “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.”  A.W. Tozer 

86. "We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power.  We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results."  R. A. Torrey

87. "Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet."  E. M. Bounds

88. "Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential part."Andrew Murray

89. "Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence."  W. S. Bowd

90. "Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails."  Watchman Nee

91. "Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer."  George Whitefield (Great  Evangelist during American Revolution era, during the  First  Great  Awakening in  America)

92. "I ought to pray before seeing any one…Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’…I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another." - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

93. "There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood.  Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood.  Such prayer prevails.  It turns ordinary mortals into men of power.  It brings power.  It brings fire.  It brings rain.  It brings life.  It brings God."  Samuel Chadwick

94. "The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail…" John Laidlaw

95. "A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men."  Leonard Ravenhill

96. "Prayer is the secret of power."  Evan Roberts

97. "Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power."  Hudson Taylor

98. "Where there is no vision of eternity, there is no prayer for the perishing."  David Smithers

99. "Prayer is buried, and lost and Heaven weeps.  If all prayed the wicked would flee from our midst or to the refuge." Evan Roberts

100. "Ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen - degrees or no degrees."  Leonard Ravenhill

101. "Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God."  Andrew Murray

102. "All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet."  Samuel Logan Brengle

103. "Out of a very intimate acquaintance with D. L. Moody, I wish to testify that he was a far greater prayer than he was preacher. Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to overcome all difficulties.  He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass.  He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that prayer could do anything that God could do."  R. A. Torrey (Emphasis added)

104. "Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness."  William Carey

105. The Word of God represents all the possibilities of God as at the disposal of true prayer." A. T. Pierson

106. "The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life, Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him." Sadhu Sundar Singh

107. “Closet communion needs time for the revelation of God’s presence.  It is vain to say, ‘I have too much work to do to find time.’  You must find time or forfeit blessing.  God knows how to save for you the time you sacredly keep for communion with Him.”  A. T. Pierson  (Emphasis added).

108. “Depend upon it, if you are bent on prayer, the devil will not leave you alone. He will molest you, tantalize you, block you, and will surely find some hindrances, big or little or both. And we sometimes fail because we are ignorant of his devices…I do not think he minds our praying about things if we leave it at that. What he minds, and opposes steadily, is the prayer that prays on until it is prayed through, assured of the answer.”  Mary Warburton Booth 

109. “I have seen many men work without praying, though I have never seen any good come out of it; but I have never seen a man pray without working.”  James Hudson Taylor

110. "It is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won. We must conquer all our circumstances there. We must first of all bring them there. We must survey them there. We must master them there. In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the Presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that? Or have you been satisfied to meet and fight your foes in the open spaces of the world?"  J. H. Jowett

111. He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day. John Bunyan

112. "Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then my dear brother; pray, pray, pray."  Edward Payson

113. "Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!"  Andrew Murray

114. "Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things 'above all that we ask or think.'"  Andrew Murray

115. "If we would pray aright, the first thing we should do is to see to it that we really get an audience with God, that we really get into His very presence. Before a word of petition is offered, we should have the definite consciousness that we are talking to God, and should believe that He is listening and is going to grant the thing that we ask of Him." R.A. Torrey

116.  "Ten minutes spent in the presence of Christ every day, aye, two minutes, will make the whole day different."  Henry Drummond

117. "Many Christians backslide...They are unable to stand against the temptations of the world, or of their old nature. They strive to do their best to fight against sin, and to serve God, but they have no strength. They have never really grasped the secret: The Lord Jesus will every day from heaven continue His work in me. But on one condition—the soul must give Him time each day to impart His love and his grace. Time alone with the Lord Jesus each day is the indispensable condition of growth and power."  Andrew Murray (Emphasis added).

118.  "Shut the world out, withdraw from all worldly thoughts and occupations, and shut yourself in alone with God, to pray to Him in secret. Let this be your chief object in prayer, to realize the presence of your heavenly Father."  Andrew Murray

119. "There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer."  A.T. Pierson

120. "Intercession is truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer. No continent - no nation - no organization - no city - no office. There is no power on earth that can keep intercession out."  Richard Halverson

121. "Is air important to you?  Prayer is like breathing.  It brings life to the church.  We cannot live without it."  Morais

122. The man of prayer: "...his heart is ever lifted up to God, at all times and in all places. In this he is never hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing.  In retirement or company, in leisure, business, or conversation, his heart is ever with the Lord. Whether he lie down or rise up, God is in all his thoughts; he walks with God continually, having the loving eye of his mind still fixed upon him, and everywhere 'seeing Him that is invisible.' "   John Wesley (Evangelist) 

123. "Prayer brings to us blessings which we need, and which only God can give, and which prayer can alone convey to us...Prayer is simply asking God to do for us what he has promised us he will do if we ask him..."  Gerhard Tersteegen.

124. "I can just imagine Satan gathering all the demons in hell and discussing what they can do to destroy Christians. And Satan says, 'Keep them from praying. Because no matter what else they do, if they don't pray, we can beat them every time. But if they learn how to pray, they'll beat us every time. Keep them from praying.'"  Dr. Sidlow Baxter 

125. "A prayerless family cannot be otherwise than irreligious. They who daily pray in their homes, do well; they that not only pray, but read the Bible, do better; but they do best of all, who not only pray and read the Bible,
but sing the praises of God." (1882)

 126. "Prayer brings to us blessings which we need, and which only God can give, and which prayer can alone convey to us ... This service of prayer is not a mere rite, a ceremony through which we go, a sort of performance. Prayer is going to God for something needed and desired. Prayer is simply asking God to do for us what he has promised us he will do if we ask him ... Asking is man's part. Giving is God's part. The praying belongs to us. The answer belongs to God."  GerhardTersteegen

127. On intercession: ”O Lord give me Scotland, or I die.” John Knox

 Note: It is reported that a number of people in Scotland reckon the John Knox quote as " Give me Scotland ere I die," i.e. "before I die," or, possibly, it may be that he said both.

128. "Prayer - The world's greatest wireless connection

         Monthly price - $0 

         Value - Priceless!"  

         (Origin not yet ascertained. Modified adding monthly price and value on 6/5/2013 by D. Tozer)

129.  "A visitor in the [A.B.] Simpson home once discovered the secret to Simpson's great ministry. He happened to get up early in the morning and heard a noise in Simpson's study. The door was ajar so peeking in he discovered Simpson draped over a globe of the world sobbing as though his heart would break for the lost world."   From essay, A.B. Simpson and the "Business" of Healing

130.  Alexander Moody Stuart (1809-1898) - His three rules of prayer:

1. Pray till you pray.

2. Pray till you are conscious of being heard.

3. Pray till you receive an answer.

From the website:  http://www.christian-prayer-quotes.christian-attorney.net/

Great article on the church & singing...

http://www.churchleaders.com/worship/worship-articles/175350-jonathan-leeman-when-your-church-barely-sings.html#.U9u641iEaeQ.twitter

What to Do When Your Church Barely Sings

by Jonathan Leeman

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NOTE: This article originally appeared here on the 9Marks site and is reprinted with permission.
Spend some time with members of a Khosa church in South Africa and you will quickly discover how wonderfully they sing.
No instruments. No microphones. One individual leading, the rest following. Many hands clapping.
And how they join their voices in full-throated praise!
This article is not written for them. It’s written for a traditional Western church.
Westerners are accustomed to professional-quality and performance-oriented music. And for better or worse, this affects what Christians expect musically when we walk into the church gathering.
Unless a church deliberately pushes in an alternative direction, we expect the music to demonstrate the same quality of performance as what we hear on the car radio or through our MP3 ear buds. Anything less can sound clunky, tacky, even embarrassing.
What’s more, there are few places in contemporary Western culture where people learn to sing together. Maybe at a Christmas event? Or in the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field?
Church leaders underestimate how deliberately they must push against these cultural trends to get their church singing; to teach them that the untrained but united voices of the congregation make a far better sound than the Tonight Show Band; to teach them that singing loudly in the presence of other people is not awkward; to teach them that all our emotions don’t have to be individually spontaneous to be worthy, but that there is place to guide and conform our individual emotions to the group’s activity.
If church leaders want congregations that will really “speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19), they will have to work at it. They will have to try things that might seem strange or unnatural for people who are accustomed to sitting quietly and watching the performance on stage.
Here are a few tips, many of which, no doubt, fall into the realm of prudence.

1. Teach the congregation the importance of worshipping God in song.

Just as Christians must be taught the importance of prayer and other spiritual disciplines, so they must learn from Scripture how God intends for them to sing. When the Word of God dwells in us richly, singing is the natural result (see Col. 3:16).
If God sings over us in happy song (Zeph. 3:17), we who reflect our Creator should sing in return.

2. Encourage thoughtful, purposeful singing through private and public prayer.

How easy it is to honor God with our lips while our hearts are far from him (Is. 29:13; Matt. 15:8)!
So pray privately and publicly against thoughtless and hypocritical singing.

3. Make sure the congregation knows why they are singing the chosen song.

If it’s a prayer, briefly remind them. If it’s a song of commitment, point that out. If it reflects the preached message from God’s Word, make that clear.
Songs that are chosen just because they are favorite songs of the song-chooser are often not well-sung. Although congregations are generally compliant enough to sing whatever song is suggested, they will sing it more enthusiastically if they know why they are singing that particular song.
Help them to care about singing “in spirit and in truth.”

4. Choose “congregational” rather than “performance” songs.

Here is a general (not absolute) principle: The more a song depends on the musical accompaniment and cannot be sung by a couple of children in the car on the way home, the more performance-oriented and less congregational it probably is.
Congregational songs tend to have singable and memorable melodies. Just because a Christian artist has created something wonderful does not mean it is appropriate for the congregation.
The melody may not be very melodic. It may be too high, too low, or wide of range. It may be too rhythmic, perhaps syncopated in a way that’s difficult for untrained singers. It may be too complex through bridges, tags or multiple keys.
Such music might sound wonderful with the recorded accompaniment. Maybe the praise band can perform it just fine. But the more a congregation needs the musicians up front to get through a song, the more you can expect them to mouth the words while watching the band do its thing.

5. Please, oh please, turn up the lights.

Keeping stage lights bright while dimming lights among the people turns the people into an “audience” and everyone on stage into performers. It makes the whole event mimic the movie theater or the concert hall.
Keeping the entire room lit up, however, suggests that everyone is called to participate in the “performance” before an “audience” of one—God.

6. Please, oh please, turn down the musical accompaniment.

You don’t want your electric guitars or your organ, your drums or your microphoned choir, to drown out the sound of the congregation singing. We might even say the loudest sound in a room should be the congregation.
Lead singers might sing loudly on the first verse of a song, but then pull back a touch on subsequent verses.
Good accompaniment accompanies. Facilitates. Encourages. It does not attract or overwhelm.
If a small group or choir is leading, they should be an aural microcosm of the congregation. Let their volume be natural and without too much amplification. If they have prepared the hymn in rehearsal, they will “lead” by their sound.

7. Consider the dangers of performance rehearsals, “excellent” music and heavy instrumentation.

There is a place for musical rehearsal. But why are you rehearsing? To what end?
Musical rehearsals often involve the insertion of creative elements that make for good performances but not for congregational singing. Musicians and singers should use any rehearsal time to ask themselves how to best facilitate congregational singing, not be impressive.
The common focus on “excellence” and “quality” can, ironically, distract musicians from seeking to serve the congregation because "excellence" is unthinkingly defined in terms of performance.
What would it instead mean to aim to facilitate excellently, not to perform excellently. By the same token, elaborate instrumentation can sometimes squelch congregational singing. Mere and acoustic instrumentation tends to help singing.

8. Look for a balance between new songs and old songs.

On the one hand, people sing well when singing an old and beloved song. On the other hand, old songs can wear out, which can lead to thoughtless singing.
On the one hand, songs that are new to a congregation (whether recently composed or not) are harder to sing. On the other hand, a congregation’s musical repertoire should grow as the congregation grows in maturity and depth.
Congregations, like people, go through different seasons, and new songs help it to grow through those seasons. All these hands mean that helping people to sing well involves both new and old songs, and figuring out the balance for your church.
Never be closed to learning new songs, whether they are newly composed or old songs that are new to you. And teach those new songs more than once.

9. Use songs that represent a broad range of human experience and emotion.

If all a church’s music is exultant and gladsome, much of your church’s singing will be inauthentic and affected. How true to life are they lyrics of “I Hear the Words of Love”: “My love is ofttimes low/My joy still ebbs and flows/But peace with Him remains the same/No change my Savior knows.” Or that frank admission from “Come Thou Fount”: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/Prone to leave the God I love … .”
A church’s hymnody, like the Psalter, should have words for happy Christians, sad Christians, tempted Christians and all the in-between Christians. Along these lines, a congregation is served by having a repertoire of 300 songs rather than 30.
Life is complex and diverse. So should our worship be.

10. Vary the way a song is sung.

Just as a preacher might speak the same words with a different tone between one Sunday and the next, adjusting for the mood of the day or the sermonic context in which the words are spoken, so a song might be led differently at different times.
The dynamics of the accompaniment might vary. Maybe the volume rises; maybe it falls. Maybe that third stanza is sung quietly, maybe vigorously. Maybe a key change, maybe not. Maybe a cappella, maybe not.
Certainly the text of a song should shape the mood of the accompaniment, but so can the mood of the church’s life or the place it occurs in the church service.

11. Where possible, arrange chairs or pews with some facing each other and not just the stage.

Singing is a “team” effort, and often the only part of the worship that is a visible expression of togetherness. This is one way to remember the fact that Paul says to “speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19).
There is nothing wrong with closing one’s eyes when singing, to be sure, but the picture painted by Paul sounds like people are looking at one another! Church is not the place for a turbo-charged quiet time.

12. Consider the room’s acoustics.

Bad acoustics hurt congregational singing probably more than you realize.
Are the floors entirely carpeted? Limit carpet to the aisles. Are there acoustic tiles on the ceiling? Remove them and replace with solid plaster. Heavy curtains? Take them down. Fully padded pews? Any chance of removing all padding except the seat?
If your worship space is unusual in any way and needs help, maybe hire a professional acoustician to consult for what you can do to improve the reverberation time and limit unpleasant echoes.
Warning: Acousticians will always assume you want “to improve the acoustics” in terms of what is projected from the platform. Many ask for an auditorium with “dead” acoustics in the audience so that coughing and extraneous noise is not heard during a concert. But you must inform them that you want improved congregational singing. Worship is not a concert, and the congregation is not an audience. Let them be heard through live acoustics. Why do people like to sing in the shower? Because the acoustics amplify our sound.

13. Perhaps place musicians and singers to the side for a season.

Every room and congregational culture is different. Placing musicians and singers to the side might in some circumstances hinder congregational singing because the congregation needs stronger leadership.
But if your congregation has fallen into a performance culture and orientation, where feasible, considering placing song leaders to the side. There was a good reasons some older churches placed their choirs in the balcony—so that they would be heard and not seen.
When the song leader's stage presence yields a performance culture, God is less seen and heard.

14. Model enthusiastic singing.

Whether the elders, staff and deacons are sitting on a platform or in the congregation, they should model enthusiastic and appropriately-loud singing. Off-key singing is better than no singing.
The pastor who is still looking over sermon notes during the singing is saying by example, “Singing in our worship is not that important!” In a culture that sometimes equates masculinity with the stoicism of a Clint Eastwood-like character, modeling enthusiastic singing is especially important for male leadership.

15. Print the music, pick songs with good parts, and look for other ways to promote musical literacy.

Musical literacy is not what it used to be, thanks to declining music education in schools. But even if 10 percent of the church sings the parts, everyone’s singing will be invigorated.
People talk about the advantages of “looking up,” which reading an overhead screen requires. But why then is it that all the churches looking at screens don’t seem to sing as well as an older generation of churches staring down at their hymnals?
Perhaps it’s time for churches to think about hymnals again, or at least to start printing music in their bulletins. Pick music with good parts, and make sure any choir or song leaders sing the parts.

16. Hold a singing class.

Following the example of the composer of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” Lowell Mason, who created “Singing Schools” in the church, Justin Leighty, a member of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, offers his own church a monthly hymn singing class.
They meet the first Sunday of every month for 45 minutes before the evening service. Attendees are grouped by their parts like a choir, and they practice music basics: “This is a quarter note; this is a whole note. Here’s where the tenor line is: When it goes down, you go down, when it goes up, you go up ... etc.”

17. Occasionally sing a cappella (unaccompanied).

Maybe the third verse; maybe the fourth. Or maybe even a whole song, with a piano or guitar starting the piece and then bridging transitions.
And don’t waste your a cappella singing on melody-only songs; sing it when there are parts that are good and well-known.
A cappella singing helps the congregation to hear themselves and rely solely on their combined voices to sing at a volume that says they believe what they are singing! Slow the tempo down a bit and free the congregation to engage every part of their body, soul and spirit in the song.

18. Regularly remind the congregation that they are the primary instrument in corporate worship.

If they don’t sing with gusto, musical worship won’t happen.
That doesn’t mean acting like a cheerleader at a pep-rally: “OK, let’s really sing … I want to hear you … I know you can sing louder!” Such leadership detracts from the seriousness of the music and doesn’t treat their singing as a genuine spiritual expression of love, thanksgiving and praise.
Ultimately, congregational singing should be as natural as words of awe before an unusual sunset or words of mourning with a hurting friend. Still, congregations must be taught that it is their responsibility to sing and to teach one another through song. They must be taught to gather expecting to sing. 
David Leeman, Mark Dever,and Matt Merker contributed to this article.

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Jonathan is the director of communications for 9Marks. He first joined Capitol Hill Baptist Church in 1996. After a stint in journalism, he felt called to ministry in 2001. Since then he has completed one seminary degree, is working on another, and has served as interim pastor in two churches. Jonathan is absolutely amazed that God has saved him, in spite of all the reasons he has given him not to. He’s also amazed that he has a wonderful wife, Shannon, and two young daughters, Emma and Hannah.More from Jonathan Leeman or visit Jonathan at www.9marks.org/blog/by-author/jonathan-leeman

Top 10 Counseling Mistakes

In our efforts to bring truth and grace as a ministry to hurting people we have found 10 key mistakes we have made and desire to avoid. These principles also shape our ministry philosophy:

Common Counseling Mistake #1: The Past is a Pothole to be Avoided

For fear of sounding Freudian or hoping not to give the counselee the idea that the past is  determinative, many Christian counselors give little credence to the counselee’s childhood, family dynamics or long-term history. We have found that by listening carefully to their history and probing with heart exposing questions we are able to get valuable heart shaping information. By reflecting on the shaping influences of the past and reframing the language of the counselee we can speak the truth in love much more clearly and sensitively into their life and soul. Looking at the past is useful and important not because we are looking for blame or excuse but to hear heart themes as they emerge through multiple stories. They now sense we know them better, care more empathetically and we have the distinct advantage of planting a pivot foot into their worldview all the while keeping our other foot planted in a solid biblical worldview. Having an advocate in the room is invaluable both as an intercessor and for accuracy of perspective. The advocate also serves as a note taker to capture the key truths to be shared for application later. David Powlison does an excellent job of getting at some heart probing questions in his article on x-ray questions.i

Common Counseling Mistake #2: Going After The Obvious Too Soon

Ah ha! My acute discernment gift and the painfully obvious fear theme in the paperwork lead me to believe fear of failure is the issue! I will asking leading questions about fear, give him great fear busting homework, and two verses on fear to memorize (to perfection) for next week. Although we may be on the right track, it is important how we approach these issues and help the counselee view fear. We could set the counselee up to tell us what we want to hear and fail to focus on the greater heart issues – i.e., self-sufficiency, need for approval, etc.

Common Counseling Mistake #3: Your Problem is Sin—Stop it!

The “psychologized” counselee is often resistant to being told their disorder is really just sin. If the counselee has bought into the world’s label already, they will almost certainly be resistant to calling their behavior sin. It is very unlikely that significant change will take place if the counselee is told to simply repent of sinful behavior, stay renewed (more time in the word) and stop worrying about gaining others approval. A more winsome and effective approach is like Christ’s ministry with the woman at the well (see John 4). Our goal is to get the counselee to see himself through the lens of scripture, to think of himself as God views him and his problems, and to feel God’s conviction and comfort as he peers intensely in the mirror of God’s word.

Common Counseling Mistake #4: Only Addressing "Fruit Issues and Resulting Consequences"

 We sometimes are tempted to be the answer man by focusing on symptoms and common conflicts with problem solving techniques or we find ourselves putting out our counselee’s latest fire (their perceived crisis of the week) rather than performing invasive heart surgery (who is running this session anyway?). We might come up with two great proof texts to help a presenting problem but we are potentially in the danger of straining gnats. We need to go after the root issues of the heart and not continue to focus on symptoms.

Common Counseling Mistake #5: Making Homework More Like Jumping Through Hoops

We can sometimes give the impression that homework is a competition. In the case of really hurting counselees, one size does not fit all. Great homework assignments for one person may fail for another … consider Proverbs 18:13 and Ephesians 4:29 as you assign “learning opportunities”.

Common Counseling Mistake #6: Keep Your Distance It May Be Contagious

When someone is really overwhelmed it can be hard to know how to be around them. “Do I act formal or try to cheer them up?” “Do I keep a professional distance?” “If I get too close I may not be able to speak with authority.” We find that if we take the attitude that the ground at the cross is level and Christ is present in the counseling room, as is the Holy Spirit, then we can be ourselves, share our family news and struggles, use humor and even give a comforting arm around the shoulder to let them know we do not fear them or their “disorder.”

Common Counseling Mistake #7: Assigning "More Of The Same"

“Mature Christians” can be told to read and memorize scripture all day long with little affect. It is not that the Word of God is ineffective; it is that their hearts are dull, hardened, or dead. We need to find out why their hearts are wandering and always anchor them back into relationship and emphasize their identity in Christ. An effective way to bring about a fresh perspective resulting in hope and change is to emphasize the abiding relationship with Christ when approaching prayer, the Bible or spiritual disciplines. At Twelve Stones we talk a lot about “being” and assign more meditation then memorization when folks are in crisis. Meditating in scripture like Psalm 16:11 (joy in the presence of God/ abiding) and being close with Christ, Proverbs 23:26a (“Give me your heart . . .” a father saying this to his son, like God says to us). Many people within the church come to counseling with much more biblical knowledge then they are currently applying. We must point them to the bridge between knowing and doing…meditation (Psalm 19:14: my words = espoused theology which is what I know, my meditations = lived theology which is what I do). An option for homework might be to read Andrew Murray’s book “Abide in Christ”ii and assign chapter 1 which is a masterful weaving of John 15 and Matthew 11:28-30.

Common Counseling Mistake #8: Much Effort, Little Prayer

 It is easy to get stuck in counseling. At Twelve Stones we often remind each other that we cannot work any harder than the counselees or we will get frustrated and hopeless. We need to place them at the foot of the cross in prayer and in action during the counseling time with them, not just before and after. That might mean taking a break and going on a prayer walk, asking the advocate or a spouse to pray, or giving them an assignment and calling it a day…but going away to pray ourselves or get counsel from a trusted mentor to gain perspective before going back in. We cannot tell our counselee’s to trust God in their crisis while we lean on our own skills, effort and Bible knowledge (John 5:39). More Bible knowledge only falls upon a hard heart; prayer is often the only way to furrow the soil so the Word can take root (Matthew 13 parable of the sower).

Common Counseling Mistake #9: Act Like You Are Above Their Sin Or Subtly Patronize Them

 Counselees need to be able to get to the place of conviction by the Holy Spirit, but I am afraid we often make that harder by quietly judging them in our hearts. This may come out very subtly in the way we advert our eyes, change the subject or even how we ask questions. Most of us know of someone in our lives that have “played the Holy Spirit” instead of placing us in the hands of God for that work. If appropriate, this is a great time to share your own testimony or even personal struggles in the session. We often site 1 Corinthians 10:13 as we share common struggles to build trust. As counselors we must always consider why any sin would seem too heinous for us to relate to. If you are tender from being sinned against in a similar manner, or struggling with similar sin issues you might need to refer the counselee to another biblical counselor.

Common Counseling Mistake #10: Sending Your Counselee Back Into the "Loneliness" of the Congregation

We need to realize that our interactions with counselees are often deeper and more intimate than any they have ever experienced or certainly then is normal in their daily lives. We have asked them to get real and to walk more closely in community then ever before. Most of their peers will not have had this experience and may be less inclined to be as serious about a biblical worldview or abiding in Christ daily. This is why an advocate, a small group member, or a trusted friend should be invited in to the counseling. If it is not possible for them to be a part of the entire counseling process then at least inviting them to a bridge session would be helpful. You need to hand off the counselee to the church in a very intentional way. Community will be key to a counselee’s continued growth.

i Powlison, David. (1999, fall). X-ray questions: Drawing out the whys and wherefores of human behavior. The Journal of Biblical Counseling, 18(1), pp. 2-9.

ii Murray, Andrew, (1979) Abide In Christ. Whitaker House.

http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/resources/top-10-counseling-mistakes