Dear Church Family,

Charles Spurgeon is a great theologian. I wanted to share a few of his famous quotes. He has many more!

Charles Spurgeon Quotes On Prayer

1. If you could pray the best prayer in the world without the Holy Spirit, God would have nothing to do with it. But if your prayer be broken and lame and limping, if the Spirit made it, God will look upon it and say, as he did upon the works of creation, “It is very good."

2. If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say it is in that one word—prayer.

3. All our perils are nothing, so long as we have prayer.

4. My own soul’s conviction is that prayer is the grandest power in the entire universe, that it has a more omnipotent force than electricity, attraction, gravitation, or any other of those other secret forces which men have called by name, but which they do not understand.

5. There is no secret of my heart which I would not pour into [the Lord’s] ear. There is no wish that might be deemed foolish or ambitious by others, which I would not communicate to him.

6. If there be anything I know, anything that I am quite assured of beyond all question, it is that praying breath is never spent in vain.

7. The more we pray, the more we shall want to pray. The more we pray, the more we can pray. The more we pray, the more we shall pray.

Charles Spurgeon Quotes On Praise

8. I feel like that good old saint, who said that if she got to heaven, Jesus Christ should never hear the last of it. Truly he never shall!

9. Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song. By grace we learn to sing, and in glory we continue to sing.

10. It is well to praise the Lord for his mercy when you are in health, but make sure that you do it when you are sick, for then your praise is more likely to be genuine.

11. If I did not praise and bless Christ my Lord, I should deserve to have my tongue torn out by its roots from my mouth. If I did not bless and magnify his name, I should deserve that every stone I tread on in the streets should rise up to curse my ingratitude, for I am a drowned debtor to the mercy of God—over head and ears—to infinite love and boundless compassion I am a debtor.

Dear Church Family,

Charles Spurgeon, known as “The Prince of Preachers,” pastored one of the largest churches of his day. From every vantage point, he was a successful pastor leading a successful church. Yet, when visitors came to his church in London, he would take them to a room in the basement where people were constantly interceding for the church. Spurgeon called it “the powerhouse of this church.”

Chad Bailey, pastor of The Rock Presbyterian Church, shared some Biblical insights on the practice of corporate prayer in the early church: “When we consider the pattern of the early church in the book of Acts, we find that emphasis on corporate congregational prayer clearly affirmed. In Acts 1:14, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at Pentecost, it was while they were gathered in the Upper Room “devoting themselves to prayer.” The Spirit came during a prayer meeting. In Acts 2:42, as Luke summarizes the habitual practice of the post-Pentecostal church, he notes that they devoted “themselves to…the prayers.” In Acts 4, after Peter and John are released from prison for preaching Christ, they return to the church. Upon hearing the reports of the persecution, they all lifted their voices together in prayer. Likewise, when Peter was arrested in Acts 12, “earnest prayer was made for him by the church” (vs. 5), and when he was released, he found the church gathered and praying for him (vs. 12). The response of the church to crisis was a prayer meeting. In Acts 13, when Saul and Barnabas are sent as missionaries of the church in Antioch after a season of corporate prayer where they were set apart for the work. In Acts 14:23 when the elders are ordained in the churches of Lystra and Derbe, a season of prayer and fasting was held. Looking at Acts alone, it is clear that almost every major event in the book was accompanied by corporate prayer. The Spirit came upon the church as the people prayed. They faced down persecution at the prayer meeting. The Lord identified men for leadership at the prayer meeting.”

We have a lot of solid, important ministries here at IBC. I believe each one is necessary and effective for what they were created to accomplish for the Kingdom. That’s why we’re reaching new people in most areas. But none of these would go anywhere if it wasn’t for prayer. Prayer is the engine that moves the vehicles of ministry.

So I’m asking you to consider 2 opportunities where our Prayer Ministry is concerned:

Worship Prayer Warriors

This team rotates Sunday mornings to pray during the worship service. Pray for the service and the sermon. Pray for the lost who are present or watching. Pray for known needs. Anything. And how often they serve in the capacity depends on how many people are signed up to help.

Prayer Partners

This is a new emphasis of the Prayer Ministry that will begin Easter Sunday. It’s simple. It also works on a rotation basis, and volunteers will stand off to the side of the front of the sanctuary. At the end of each service, I will make attenders aware that these volunteers are available to pray with whoever would like on that day. And the prayer partners pray with whoever asks for it. That’s it. No counseling. No leading Bible study. Just praying with someone who needs it and asks for it. Could it get anymore Biblical and early church than that?

If you would like to get involved or are even interested and would like more information on these 2 prayer emphases or any others, contact the church office at 912-354-0548 or our Prayer Ministry coordinator, Patsy Parker, at 912-414-6131.

I hope you’ll seriously consider your involvement in IBC’s Prayer Ministry. The health and success of our church and every ministry of our church depends on it!

See you Sunday!

Pastor Lane