Jesus said, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do."
"That," says E.M. Bounds, "is the Divine declaration, and it opens a vista of infinite resources and possibility."
Throughout his ministry, Bounds rose to pray at 4 a.m. and prayed until 7 a.m. Out of this deep prayer experience, he could say, "Without prayer, the Christian life, robbed of its sweetness and beauty, becomes cold and formal, and dead; but in the secret place where God talks with his own, the Christian life grows into such a testimony of Divine power that all men will feel its influence and be touched by the warmth of its love...That, surely is the purpose of all real prayer and the end of all true service."
E. M. Bounds (1835–1913) practiced law for three years before he entered the ministry; he served as chaplain during the Civil War. He is the author of a number of books on prayer, including Power Through Prayer, Prayer and Praying Men, The Weapon of Prayer, and many others.
Scott Harrison is a graduate of the American Repertory Theater Institute in Massachusetts and founder of Ironweed Productions, a theater company in Santa Fe, New Mexico.