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The Path of Prayer
Prayer is critical to the Christian life. However, it is all too often neglected. This ought not to be so! This book cuts through all the fluff and frustration of what we might think concerning prayer, and makes it simple. It is simply communion between the Father and His children.
100 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
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November 23, 2020
If you want to revitalize your thinking on prayer and your habit of prayer Prevailing Prayer, by Samuel Chadwick, is a great place to start.
Chadwick encourages the pray-er to find a secret place to pray. We need to withdraw from the noisy world into solitary places to pray. Jesus needed, “fenced in spaces of silence," as do we. Chadwick says that it would revolutionize the lives of most men [and women] if they were to shut in with God in some secret place for half an hour a day.”
Chadwick offers some suggestions about how to pray. Every faculty must be alert. “Dreaming is not meditation. Dozing is not thinking. Moping is not praying…I find it good to rehearse and review my daily life in the Holy Presence. It is there I make my plans.” Later in the book Chadwick talks about intercession and the need to pray for others, not just ourselves.
To pray in the name of Christ is much more than a perfunctory close to our prayers. “To pray in Christ’s name is to pray in his essence, personality and character…To pray in the name of Christ is to pray as one who is at one with Christ, whose mind is the mind of Christ, whose desires are the desires of Christ, and whose purpose is one with that of Christ.”
As we pray, though, we often don’t know how to pray. Most people ask for God’s blessings like good health, comfort, peaceful relationships, a bit more money and more success. “But,” Chadwick asks, “who can tell if these would be for their ultimate good?” God can see beyond what we see. He sees, “deeper and farther and He may will otherwise.”
The real purpose of prayer is the fellowship we can have with the Triune God. “It is more than asking, it is communion, fellowship, co-operation, identification, with God the Father and the Son by the Holy Spirit.”
The powerful weapon we have in prayer is often not understood. “It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth, and mightier than all learning.”
Chapter 12 “Praying and the Commonplace” was my favorite. What about prayer for the ordinary folk who may not be like a Moses or an Elijah? Chadwick offers some powerful thoughts on this. “When Elijah prayed, things happened. Nehemiah prayed, and nothing happened!” Chadwick clarifies that something did happen, but it happened IN Nehemiah. Nehemiah may not have had manifestations of supernatural power, but he built the wall. That was his work, to build the wall. Nehemiah prayed without ceasing. He prayed over everything. And God supplied what he needed. Prayer gave him courage and sense in dealing with negative people. It saved him from the tricks of the enemy. “It gave him sanctuary when they invented lies and slanders about him.” It armed him with trust while he picked up a sword and a trowel. “He kept his hands clean, his wits alert, his courage bright, and prayed his way through.” Today, all these are necessary, indeed.
Chadwick used a beautiful illustration about the effect of prayer on the common, ordinary life. One morning he stood and watched a rainbow fill the sky above his little English village. It filled the landscape with its glory. The whole village became radiant with the splendor of the rainbow. “Every common stick and stone was transformed into a thing of radiant beauty and holy splendor.” Just so, prayer sanctifies the commonplace life in ordinary people.
He closed his potent little book with a poem by F. G. Borroughs, (which is also a hymn).
Unanswered yet? The prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail, is hope departing,
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer;
You shall have your desire, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Though when you first presented
This one petition at the Father’s throne,
It seemed you could not wait the time of asking,
So urgent was your heart to make it known.
Though years have passed since then, do not despair;
The Lord will answer you, sometime, somewhere.
(This one was not in the book but was in the hymn and was too good to leave out.)
Unanswered yet? But you are not unheeded;
The promises of God forever stand;
To Him our days and years alike are equal;
“Have faith in God”; it is your Lord’s command.
Hold on to Jacob’s angel and your prayer
Shall bring a blessing down sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done;
The work began when first your prayer was uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered;
Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storm prayer stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, “It shall be done,” sometime, somewhere.
Chadwick encourages the pray-er to find a secret place to pray. We need to withdraw from the noisy world into solitary places to pray. Jesus needed, “fenced in spaces of silence," as do we. Chadwick says that it would revolutionize the lives of most men [and women] if they were to shut in with God in some secret place for half an hour a day.”
Chadwick offers some suggestions about how to pray. Every faculty must be alert. “Dreaming is not meditation. Dozing is not thinking. Moping is not praying…I find it good to rehearse and review my daily life in the Holy Presence. It is there I make my plans.” Later in the book Chadwick talks about intercession and the need to pray for others, not just ourselves.
To pray in the name of Christ is much more than a perfunctory close to our prayers. “To pray in Christ’s name is to pray in his essence, personality and character…To pray in the name of Christ is to pray as one who is at one with Christ, whose mind is the mind of Christ, whose desires are the desires of Christ, and whose purpose is one with that of Christ.”
As we pray, though, we often don’t know how to pray. Most people ask for God’s blessings like good health, comfort, peaceful relationships, a bit more money and more success. “But,” Chadwick asks, “who can tell if these would be for their ultimate good?” God can see beyond what we see. He sees, “deeper and farther and He may will otherwise.”
The real purpose of prayer is the fellowship we can have with the Triune God. “It is more than asking, it is communion, fellowship, co-operation, identification, with God the Father and the Son by the Holy Spirit.”
The powerful weapon we have in prayer is often not understood. “It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth, and mightier than all learning.”
Chapter 12 “Praying and the Commonplace” was my favorite. What about prayer for the ordinary folk who may not be like a Moses or an Elijah? Chadwick offers some powerful thoughts on this. “When Elijah prayed, things happened. Nehemiah prayed, and nothing happened!” Chadwick clarifies that something did happen, but it happened IN Nehemiah. Nehemiah may not have had manifestations of supernatural power, but he built the wall. That was his work, to build the wall. Nehemiah prayed without ceasing. He prayed over everything. And God supplied what he needed. Prayer gave him courage and sense in dealing with negative people. It saved him from the tricks of the enemy. “It gave him sanctuary when they invented lies and slanders about him.” It armed him with trust while he picked up a sword and a trowel. “He kept his hands clean, his wits alert, his courage bright, and prayed his way through.” Today, all these are necessary, indeed.
Chadwick used a beautiful illustration about the effect of prayer on the common, ordinary life. One morning he stood and watched a rainbow fill the sky above his little English village. It filled the landscape with its glory. The whole village became radiant with the splendor of the rainbow. “Every common stick and stone was transformed into a thing of radiant beauty and holy splendor.” Just so, prayer sanctifies the commonplace life in ordinary people.
He closed his potent little book with a poem by F. G. Borroughs, (which is also a hymn).
Unanswered yet? The prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail, is hope departing,
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer;
You shall have your desire, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Though when you first presented
This one petition at the Father’s throne,
It seemed you could not wait the time of asking,
So urgent was your heart to make it known.
Though years have passed since then, do not despair;
The Lord will answer you, sometime, somewhere.
(This one was not in the book but was in the hymn and was too good to leave out.)
Unanswered yet? But you are not unheeded;
The promises of God forever stand;
To Him our days and years alike are equal;
“Have faith in God”; it is your Lord’s command.
Hold on to Jacob’s angel and your prayer
Shall bring a blessing down sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done;
The work began when first your prayer was uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered;
Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storm prayer stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, “It shall be done,” sometime, somewhere.
August 25, 2013
First published in 1931, Samuel Chadwick was an influential teacher in the life of Leonard Ravenhill, as well as many others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_C...
Worth the read - it will challenge you to take seriously our call to a disciplined life of regular prayer.
"Of the New Testament successor of Elijah (John the Baptist) it is said that he did no miracle. He was not less a man of prayer than his Old Testament predecessor, but food did not multiply at his touch, he raised no dead, and neither water nor fire was at his command. The only miracles in him were in personality, in discernment, and in truth. So we find that supernatural power may work along normal lines of natural law. Ordinary people may pray about commonplace things, and the answer to their prayers may be in an enlightened mind, a triumphant soul, a steadfast faith, and a holy life. There may be no miraculous incidents, but prayer lifts the lowliest and most ordinary life to the exalted plane of the supernatural, and that is the greatest miracle of all."
-Samuel Chadwick, Chapter 12: Praying and the Commonplace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_C...
Worth the read - it will challenge you to take seriously our call to a disciplined life of regular prayer.
"Of the New Testament successor of Elijah (John the Baptist) it is said that he did no miracle. He was not less a man of prayer than his Old Testament predecessor, but food did not multiply at his touch, he raised no dead, and neither water nor fire was at his command. The only miracles in him were in personality, in discernment, and in truth. So we find that supernatural power may work along normal lines of natural law. Ordinary people may pray about commonplace things, and the answer to their prayers may be in an enlightened mind, a triumphant soul, a steadfast faith, and a holy life. There may be no miraculous incidents, but prayer lifts the lowliest and most ordinary life to the exalted plane of the supernatural, and that is the greatest miracle of all."
-Samuel Chadwick, Chapter 12: Praying and the Commonplace
August 8, 2023
Will read again. Best book on prayer I’ve read that lines up with scripture.
November 4, 2024
A really stimulating work on prayer. The author reached deeply into his experience with the scriptures and with life as a pastor. He addressed praying in secret by the Spirit, the prayer of importunity, unanswered prayer and other subjects that can perplex us. Paging through the book I see numerous phrases sentences and paragraphs underlined. There are phrases I don’t wish to forget such as “ dreaming is not meditation dozing is not thinking and moping is not prayer “ there are frequent references to God as father which is in one sense quite evident but at times what is evident needs to be reinforced. Here is another pearl. We do not pray to inform God neither do we pray to persuade him, for his love needs neither to be induced nor coaxed. And one last example : petition asks, supplication entreats pleasing argues page 71. I will stop here and recommend this book for enlarging your mind and soul towards prayer.
March 22, 2018
Solid, solid book
Samuel Chadwick was only a name I had come across in my journey but was never someone whose words I had read. Well, my bad! The man’s writing is rock solid and touched my heart in fresh ways. Regret is swooshing through my mind as I recall the opportunities I had in the past to read his work. I could have gained this insight and wisdom and strength years ago if I had but obeyed the nudge from God.
So in the sense of being obedient to our Lord’s direction, put this on top of your list and read it now.
Samuel Chadwick was only a name I had come across in my journey but was never someone whose words I had read. Well, my bad! The man’s writing is rock solid and touched my heart in fresh ways. Regret is swooshing through my mind as I recall the opportunities I had in the past to read his work. I could have gained this insight and wisdom and strength years ago if I had but obeyed the nudge from God.
So in the sense of being obedient to our Lord’s direction, put this on top of your list and read it now.
November 14, 2020
This book captures the singular spirit of a praying saint. It is refreshingly void of sensationalism and constantly draws the reader to the secret place where Word and Spirit make intercession powerful.
There were numerous quotes in this book that made me pause and reflect. Their truths created a yearning for the intimate life with Jesus where prayer is more of a conversation than a list of petitions. As I turned the last page I felt gratitude for the insights God gave to Samuel Chadwick. May I, too, walk the path of prayer that he enjoyed.
There were numerous quotes in this book that made me pause and reflect. Their truths created a yearning for the intimate life with Jesus where prayer is more of a conversation than a list of petitions. As I turned the last page I felt gratitude for the insights God gave to Samuel Chadwick. May I, too, walk the path of prayer that he enjoyed.
January 17, 2024
Honor God the Father and desire what He desires, be humble and resist SIN (the devil), forgive others and think of others. Finally ask in the name of Christ Jesus in faith, aright, having righteousness (in the Spriit) for your desire, earnestly believing. Trust He knows what's best for you.
Prayer. What is it and why in secret? Do you look to His Word the Holy Bible? God provides for there is a relationship and refuge. "a way no more expected, than when His sheep passed through the deep" and there will be a revealing, like a veil, the request "show me thy face."
Prayer. What is it and why in secret? Do you look to His Word the Holy Bible? God provides for there is a relationship and refuge. "a way no more expected, than when His sheep passed through the deep" and there will be a revealing, like a veil, the request "show me thy face."
November 8, 2020
Prayer is essential to living.
There are all kinds of prayers. Some may appear unanswered which may not be the case. God responded to Daniels pray the day he prayed. While it may have been delayed it was not denied. It is in the secret place where you shut the door that you will find God waiting for you. Remember to share anything that concerns you be sure to stay to hear what God has to say to you. Pray is not a one way street. It takes 2 God & you.
There are all kinds of prayers. Some may appear unanswered which may not be the case. God responded to Daniels pray the day he prayed. While it may have been delayed it was not denied. It is in the secret place where you shut the door that you will find God waiting for you. Remember to share anything that concerns you be sure to stay to hear what God has to say to you. Pray is not a one way street. It takes 2 God & you.
February 22, 2024
Amazing Practical Advice for Prayer
This book contains great wisdom in practical application of the Scriptures concerning prayer. The advice includes the full gospel and would be a great help to any Christian.
This book contains great wisdom in practical application of the Scriptures concerning prayer. The advice includes the full gospel and would be a great help to any Christian.
May 5, 2017
One of the best primers on prayer I've read.
March 27, 2021
Covers the Basics of Prayer
In this short book Samuel Chadwick covers the basics of prayer. Nothing fancy here. Just a declaration to pray and a live a holy life.
In this short book Samuel Chadwick covers the basics of prayer. Nothing fancy here. Just a declaration to pray and a live a holy life.
December 28, 2021
Always good to read a book on Prayer, something lacking in a lot of palaces today.
February 2, 2022
Short book but powerful words by a man of prayer. Chapter 10 is one of my favorites: what happens in the mount of God? Definitely, get ready to be challenged in how you pray!
January 17, 2026
Excelente libro, recomendado.
June 25, 2015
One of the best books on prayer I've read. Chadwick wise and precise words proved immensely helpful to me.
If you are wondering about the author, Samuel Chadwick was a English preacher (1860-1932) of the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. Toward the later part of his life he taught for years at a Bible College (Cliff College). The famous Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) studied under him. If you've ever heard sermons by Ravenhill, you will catch some similarities.
Some of the many great quotes:
"It would revolutionize the lives of most men if they were shut in with God in some secret place for half an hour a day."
"It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth, and mightier than all learning."
"Who can measure the work of those whose ministry is that of laboring in prayer for others? The great need of God is of intercessors."
If you are wondering about the author, Samuel Chadwick was a English preacher (1860-1932) of the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. Toward the later part of his life he taught for years at a Bible College (Cliff College). The famous Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) studied under him. If you've ever heard sermons by Ravenhill, you will catch some similarities.
Some of the many great quotes:
"It would revolutionize the lives of most men if they were shut in with God in some secret place for half an hour a day."
"It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth, and mightier than all learning."
"Who can measure the work of those whose ministry is that of laboring in prayer for others? The great need of God is of intercessors."
October 17, 2021
Powerful and Practical
I discovered this gem in the “free pile” on Kindle and I am hooked. Being a 19th century author I was pleasantly impressed with Chadwicks contemporary style and warm, empathetic call to believers to walk the path of prayer. He neither minced words nor was he scolding in bringing readers to embrace the lifelong commitment to a path of prayer with all its nuances, stumbling attempts, and victories. I genuinely grew to love this man’s humble tone and approachable yet profound insights into the absolute necessity of cultivating a life of prayer foremost in following Jesus. I highly recommend and am next moving to his book “The Way of Pentecost”
I discovered this gem in the “free pile” on Kindle and I am hooked. Being a 19th century author I was pleasantly impressed with Chadwicks contemporary style and warm, empathetic call to believers to walk the path of prayer. He neither minced words nor was he scolding in bringing readers to embrace the lifelong commitment to a path of prayer with all its nuances, stumbling attempts, and victories. I genuinely grew to love this man’s humble tone and approachable yet profound insights into the absolute necessity of cultivating a life of prayer foremost in following Jesus. I highly recommend and am next moving to his book “The Way of Pentecost”
September 27, 2013
This book was recommended by my pastor Dr. David Ireland who also has a book "The Kneeling Warrior". I really liked the bible passages and how Samuel suggests using the bibles scripture in your prayer life. It changed how I pray and viewed prayer.
March 1, 2015
I have read a lot of books on prayer and this is one of the best. I will be reading this one again.
January 27, 2016
A classic that should be read regularly. It's a short book, and there is inspiration on every page. I only wish Chadwick had left us more than 2 books and a handful of sermons.
Read
February 20, 2016Great book on prayer!
June 12, 2023
excellent, excellent.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews