EXERCISE THE PRAYER MUSCLE There is a story about a small town in the old country, far off the main roads. In the town were all the necessary municipal institutions: a bathhouse, a cemetery, a…
Sermon Illustrations
PRAYER, USES AND MISUSES The great baseball catcher Yogi Berra was involved in a ball game in which the score was tied, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning. The batter from…
LUTHER ON THE PRIORITY OF PRAYER It is well to let prayer be the first employment in the early morning and the last in the evening. Avoid diligently those false and deceptive thoughts which say,…
THE POWER OF PRAYER The board of deacons was being briefed on techniques for making church calls. One newly elected member was obviously timid about her responsibilities. The pastor hoped to encourage her by stressing…
SCHOOL PRAYER Whether legal or not, kids have been praying in school for as long as anyone can remember. We prayed that the school would burn down the night before the math exams. We prayed…
THE HUMANIST'S PRAYER Lyman Abbot once paraphrased the Lord's Prayer to reflect the philosophy of those without God. We might call it the Humanist's Prayer: "Our bretheren who art on earth, Hallowed be our name.…
THE PREACHER'S PRAYER I wish you folks would come to church, If only for a visit. For someday they will carry you in, And the Lord will say, "Who is it?"
PRAYER ABUSED Of course many people see prayer as simply a means of manipulating God: "Father expected a good deal of God. He didn't actually accuse God of inefficiency, but when he prayed his tone…
PRAYER FORMULATION An elderly gentleman passed his granddaughter's room one night and overheard her repeating the alphabet in an oddly reverent way. "What on earth are you up to?" he asked. "I'm saying my prayers,"…
PRAYER AT THE MOMENT OF CRISIS One biography I enjoyed a great deal this past year was Russell Baker's Growing Up (published by Congdon and Weed). Baker is the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the…
THE WHITE BIRDS There was once a man who had a waking dream. He dreamed he was in a spacious church. He had wandered in to pray, and after his prayers were finished, he knelt…
MEMORABLE PRAYER Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest: To give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for…
THE STORY OF THE PRAYING HANDS The famous "Praying Hands" picture was created by Albrecht Durer, the son of a Hungarian goldsmith. He was born in Germany in 1471 and died if 1528. As is…
HE WAS ADEQUATE Dr. Dan Poling in his book Faith is Power, tells of his son's departure for overseas duty in W.W. II as a chaplain. He said to his father, "Dad, I don't want…
THE POWER THAT TAKES US UP One day in Lucerne, Switzerland, a man went up to the summit of Mount Pilatus in a cable car operated by hydraulic power. As he ascended, he marveled at…
PRAYER Leslie Weatherhead tells the story of an old Scot who was quite ill, and the family called for their Domini, or minister. As he entered the sick room and sat down, he noticed another…
AN IRISH PRAYER May those who love us, love us; And those that don't love us, May God turn their hearts; And if He doesn't turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles, So we'll…
LEAVE A NUMBER The pastor was leaving town. He simply had to get away for a few days. "Where can you be reached?" the church secretary asked. So he gave her a number. She soon…
PRAYER A prayer to be said when the world has gotten you down and you feel rotten and you're too doggone tired to pray and you're in a big hurry, and besides you're mad at…
A NATION UNDER GOD The Declaration of Independence, as originally presented to Congress, contained three references to God" the first in the opening paragraph where "the laws of nature and of nature's God: are invoked;…
