Is this little article ok?

Hey all, Im writing some stuff for the web. The audience is mainly high-school students so please keep that in mind with the language style and theological depth. This little thing is on prayer and was wondering if there was any major problems with it. Please keep in mind that there is no way you can possibly deal with everything to do with prayer, and its just the intro to a whole section on prayer.So in love, please let me know of there is anything I really need to fix. (I'm a bit nervous putting this up, scared of getting cut down or something! - silly, i know!)"Prayer is one of the most important aspects of the Christian life. It is how we offer our praise and thanks, ask for help, intercede for others, and lay hold of the things of God. Through it, God works in our hearts and the hearts of others and reveals more of Himself to us. Prayer is the one thing that keeps our passion for God alive, and how we sustain a living relationship with Him.Despite all that, it is often appears to be the most unattractive aspects of the Christian life. One authority on revival, Leonard Ravenhill, said something similar to this:The Cinderella of the Church today is the prayer meeting. She is a handmaid of the Lord, unloved and unattractive. It’s because she isn’t “dripping with pearls of intellectualism”, and she isn’t glamorous with philosophy, she isn’t even enchanting with psychology. She wears the home-made clothes called Sincerity and Humility and so is not afraid to kneel!You will have a lot of trouble finding a revival that was not birthed in prayer, or at least one that didn’t come after a lot of prayer. It’s because God uses it to deal with our motives, and to test how much we really want something. If we “prevail” (persist) in prayer, then He knows we really want it. Some revivals have started as prayer meetings and have spread everythwere through them! It had nothing to do with the preacher’s sermons, it was the people’s prayers. Prayer preceeds revival.Some believers are good with words and are called to preach. Others are good with their hands and are called to serve practically. But all have a relationship with God, and there is no higher privilege or calling than prayer. It doesn’t matter what your other gifts are (or aren’t), you are called to prayer. Prayer grasps eternity and touches glory. It is foundational to our whole Christian life and ministry.Thats all :-) Edit - Hey my 100th post! (sorry, i digress...)Edit2- Changed activity to aspect, thanks crsschk!Edit3- a few things, thanks to dorcas' post!Edit4- Clarity on revival in prayer meetings, ta nightwatch!

Hi David,You are on the right track brother.Maybe 'aspect' might be a better fit than'activites'...Great Ravenhill quote there as well. :-)

It might be nice to see a reference to Brother Lawrence in there, he was one of the first referrals by almost all my secondary education era teachers. But that is just a suggestion ;)It definitely demonstrates a possible dimension to prayer. You say this is like an intro, do you plan on having a followup? I would at least include some references to followups, as your article is (as you said) not very deep.

crsschk thanks! Thats the word I was after!PTywama3, i really enjoyed reading Bro Lawrence's stuff too, and agree that he defiantely had a good lot to say on prayer. The "intro" will be followed by articles in the future, but is just that starting point. There aren't any other articles as of yet, but I'll get to them!! things must be short and sweet and simple for it to make an impact in a high-schooler's mind as they surf the net, hence it isn't very deep to those who spend their time on sermonindex . :-P hehe God bless :-)

I thought it was an awesome intro.I'm curious, though, about who this article is going to? Have there been other articles before it? Are these people Christians or no? I just thought it was interesting, especially considering the mention to revival, and was wondering about your target audience.Grace and Peace...

I don't like this part:Some revivals have started as prayer meetings and have spread everythwere in prayer meetings!So, the prayer meetings everywhere were revived? The prayer meetings spread?The prayer for revival spread to all the different prayer meetings?Just a bit hazy about what your trying to say.how about:Some revivals have started as prayer meetings and spread everythwere!

dorcas: thanks for the suggestions, I made those changes. Im not sure what u meant about semi-colins, but thats what MSWord suggested so I put it in! (its out now... :-P )I wasnt sure from your post if you thought there was something that needed to be added?groh_frog: The audience is mainly high-school students...The "intro" will be followed by articles in the future, but is just that starting point. There aren't any other articles as of yet, but I'll get to them!!...the website is to promote prayer, revival and evangelism in high schools :-) Nightwatch: thanks for the suggestion, i clarified it now (well, hopefully). In regard to your questions, try a google search for jeremiah lamphier and the stories that came out of the prayer meeting he started.thanks all for the corrections, this is fantastic, God bless you all :-)

Awesome. What's the website?Grace and Peace...

Thanks!Its not quite ready yet, but I'll let you know when it is! ;-)

Perhaps a bit offtopic, but as you write about prayer anyway I do have a question..You often hear that prayermeetings are very important. So did Leonard Ravenhill state that a church is as powerful as its prayermeetings. (hopefully I quoted this correctly)My question is this, why is it so important that people get together in one room and pray?What would be the difference that if all would pray at home?The only thing I could think of was that the people getting together would pray for the same things.Perhaps a very 'dumb' question, but hey I'm also here to learn. :-)

Perhaps a very 'dumb' question, but hey I'm also here to learnNo such 'dumb' questions, perhaps statements often times and more than a few this fool has made... But love the finish there Warrior4Jah, hardly a day goes by that there is not something to be learned, something to be challenged, something to be rejected or reconsidered, something elevated, Some One to be elevated!What a wonderful thread here. Coops you have struck a chord that resonates deeply, that of prayer. It is such a vast area of endless research in not only the saints experience of days gone by but in our own searching 'research' of ourselves and the possibilities of grasping Gods thought on the matter at hand.Just an encouargement to you as you embark on this mighty task, there is a plethera of resources available as you might well know. Just for future refrence a couple that have been tremendously helpful:The Hidden Life of Prayer By David MacIntyre (Suggested by Len Ravenhill)THE SOUL OF PRAYER By P. T. Forsyth ANSWERS TO PRAYER By George MuellerDoing a search here of course and other notables, Nash, Bounds of course ... David, Paul, Jesus :-)

i'm currently reading The Path Of Prayer - Samuel Chadwicki recommend anyone to read this book, i am still reading it and so far very good and powerful (it's also in recommendations of Ravenhill)Warrior4Jahyou can buy it here local bro, so i recommend it to you! [smile]

Thanks for your helpful responses crsschk and _Disciple_!!I appreciate it. :-)

crsschk, thanks so much for the encouragement! It means alot...Those books you reccomended are my "next on the reading list" thanks for those!_Disciple_, adding your suggestion too!It looks like those prayer ones really influenced Ravenhill, because he has so many on his list, and the reputation he had for his prayer! God bless all :-)

I've found that I still have like 2 books laying around about prayer. Thanks Dez for pointing to them at camp last summer! Reading 'The power of prayer' now.Original title is 'Preacher and prayer' from E.M. Bounds. It's so cool!@ coops, I hope that God can speak through the words you type and get into the hearts of people who will read your articles! :-)