1  The Hebrew wrote only the consonants YHWH. Later traditions followed the New Latin JHVH and added vowels from the Hebrew for “Lord” to remind them to read Lord instead of the divine name. This was never intended to be read “Jehovah.”

1  Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1946), 253.

1  Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer (New York: Abingdon Press, 1931), 7.

2  James Orr, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939), 112.

1  Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: The Magnus Press, The Hebrew University, 1967), 163–164.

2  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 1, Exodus, by George Rawlinson, 163.

3  The verb “began to talk” is third person feminine singular, showing Miriam was doing the talking, while Aaron stood beside her.

4  Quoted in Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), 42.

5  Joseph A. Seiss, Gospel in Leviticus (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1860; reprint, Grand Rapids; Kregel Publications, 1981), 29–30 (page references are to the reprint edition).

1  Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), 54.

2  Leon Wood, Distressing Days of the Judges (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975), 287–295.

3  Lockyer, All the Prayers, 60.

4  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 4 1 Samuel, by R. Payne Smith, 143.

5  Lockyer, All the Prayers, 64.

6  Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., n.d.), 360.

1  Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), 82.

2  This being an Old Testament means of showing divine approval (cf. Lev. 9:24; 2 Chron. 7:1), it was very likely the way God demonstrated His acceptance of Abel’s offering while Cain’s offering remained rejected and unburned (see Gen. 4:4–5).

3  Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, vol. 19, Word Biblical Commentary Series (Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1983), 36. Even though this study will not examine all the psalms, the reader is urged to do so, personally praying their words whenever they are appropriate. The discipline of reading the Book of Psalms for spiritual encouragement and profit is strongly recommended. Three psalms each day, in addition to other Bible study, will strengthen your prayer life.

4  Lockyer, All the Prayers, 103.

5  Asaph as a Levite had no inherited portion in the Land (see Num. 18:20–21). The Lord provided for them however.

1  Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes, vol. 2 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., n.d.), 388.

2  Harold Lindsell, When You Pray (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1969), 141.

3  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 6, 2 Chronicles, by P. C. Barker, 242.

4  J. Ridderbos, Isaiah, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985), 315. See also Stanley M. Horton, “A Defense on Historical Grounds of the Isaian Authorship of the Passages in Isaiah Referring to Babylon” (Th.D. diss., Central Baptist Seminary, Kansas City, Kans., 1959), 131.

1  Harold Lindsell, When You Pray (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1969), 33.

2  Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes (London: Ward, Lock & Co., n.d.), 388.

3  Kenneth Leech, True Prayer: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1980), 146.

4  See W. Carley, The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (Cambridge, Mass: Cambridge University Press, 1974), 68; and Charles L. Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), 65; and Douglas Stuart, Ezekiel (Dallas: Word Books, 1989), 102.

5  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 13, Joel, by J. J. Given, 23.

1  John Monro Gibson, The Gospel of St. Matthew (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1900), 236.

2  J. C. Macaulay, Devotional Studies in St. John’s Gospel (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1945), 209.

3  Ibid., 210.

4  William David Spencer and Aida Besançon Spencer, The Prayer Life of Jesus (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1990), 188.

5  Ibid., 192.

6  Ray C. Stedman, Jesus Teaches on Prayer (Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1975), 159

7  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 15, Matthew, by A. Lukyn and B. C. Caffin, 543.

1  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 2, John, by R. Reynolds, 243.

2  Stanley M. Horton, What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), 137–139, 258–359.

3  Some ancient manuscripts read in Acts 2:1 the Gk. homou, “together,” instead of homothumadon, “in one accord.” The meaning is not essentially changed in this context.

4  See Appendix 1, “Contemporary Application of Agreeing in Prayer.”

5  A. W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian (Calcutta; Evangelical Literature Depot, 1964), 28.

6  Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1885), 105–106

7  A few late manuscripts add 6:13b: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.”

8  William H. Erb, The Lord’s Prayer (Reading, Penn.: I. M. Beaver, Publisher, 1908), 87.

9  Stanley m. Horton, The New Testament Study Bible: Matthew, vol. 2, The Complete Biblical Library (Springfield, Mo.: The Complete Biblical Library, 1989), 109.

10  Benjamin Wilson, The Emphatic Diaglott (Brooklyn: International Bible Students Association, 1942), 27.

11  Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer (New York: Abingdon Press, 1931), 30.

12  W. F. Adeney, in H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 15, Matthew, by A. Lukyn and B. C. Caffin, 248.

13  Ibid., 382.

14  Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, vol. 5 (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1921), 30.

15  Chadwick, Path of Prayer, 70.

16  R. A. Torrey, How to Pray (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, n.d.), 66.

17  Edgar R. Anderson, “The Holy Spirit’s Role in Prayer and Fasting,” in Conference on the Holy Spirit Digest, vol. 2, ed. Gwen Jones (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1983), 225–229

18  The words “and fasting” are found in some ancient Gk. mss., but not in others. Textual evidence seems to point to insertion rather than deletion of the words. They are therefore omitted from many contemporary translations. We do know that Jesus said it would be appropriate for His followers to fast after He left them (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:20; Luke 5:35). Prayer coupled with fasting would indicate an intensity or urgency to the prayer.

19  Lukyn, Matthew, 178.

1  “Tarrying meetings” in the early part of the twentieth-century Pentecostal revival brought great blessing and helped many who had been taught against a personal baptism in the Spirit. They needed the opportunity to open their hearts and minds to the truth. But many at the Azusa Street mission in 1906 were baptized in the Holy Spirit after only a few minutes of prayer and praise. Myrle (Fisher) Horton, the mother of Stanley M. Horton, received in about ten minutes.

2  Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed. Trans. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979).

3  Tim Munyon, “The Scourge of Individualism,” Advance, 1 January 1990. 9.

4  But John probably used “fire” as a symbol of judgment, while the “tongues of fire” here seems to be a symbol of God’s acceptance. See the discussion by Stanley M. Horton in What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), 140–142.

5  For example, the people chose the seven in Acts 6:5, and the “appointing” of the elders in Acts 14:23 was done by means of an election. The Gk. word used actually means Paul and Barnabas “conducted an election by the show of hands.” The context also speaks of prayer and fasting.

6  Horton, What the Bible Says, 151.

7  The Gk. word is used of money tables in Matt. 21:12, Mark 11:15, John 2:15, and of a bank in Luke 19:23. In view of Acts 4:35, where money, not food, was distributed, “money tables” are probably referred to here.

8  E. M. Bounds, Preacher and Prayer (Chicago: The Christian Witness, n.d.), 25, 27.

9  Memoirs of the Rev. David Brainerd (New Haven: S. Converse, 1822), 458–459.

1  For a discussion on this, see Stanley M. Horton, What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), 137.

2  Medieval rabbis sometimes called these interested foreigners “proselytes of the gate,” because they stood at the gate of Judaism but did not fully enter in to become a proselyte or full convert. They listened to and believed the Old Testament Scriptures in the synagogue, but had not accepted circumcision and did not follow the dietary laws. See R. A. Stewart, “Proselyte,” J. D. Douglas, ed. The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids; Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1962), 1047.

3  A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1948), 7.

4  For a discussion on this, see Horton, What the Bible Says, 157–158.

5  Donald Gee, Concerning Spiritual Gifts (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1949), 44.

6  Horton, The Book of Acts, 193.

7  See Appendix 2, “Contemporary Experience of Spiritual Warfare in Prayer.”

8  While in prayer, a pastor was strongly impressed to tell a certain lady in the community that she had come to her last opportunity to receive Christ. Meeting her and her husband in a local grocery store, he conveyed the word to her as gently as he could. She responded by saying she had tried church, but was not interested. The following day, while driving to work very early, she was struck by another car and killed instantly.

9  Some ancient manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark end at 16:8, but many manuscripts do have 16:9–20. It is possible that the end was accidentally torn off the original manuscript that Mark himself wrote and that later he wrote vv. 9–20 as a summary of what had been contained in the original ending.

1  Stanley M. Horton, What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), 189–190.

2  “The very nature of things” refers not to “Mother Nature” here, but to the customs inherited from our ancestors. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed. Trans. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 869.

3  Orthodox Jewish men now wear a hat or skullcap (yarmulke) when in prayer, but there is no evidence that this goes back to New Testament times.

4  Some scholars believe that “uncovered” includes the idea of loose, long, flowing hair. See Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987), 509.

5  “Amen” is a Heb. word meaning “surely.” It accepts something as being true and valid.

6  Alexander B. MacDonald, Christian Worship in the Primitive Church (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1934), 108–109.

7  Cf. New Testament passages, such as Eph. 1:3–10; Phil. 2:6–11; 2 Tim. 2:11–13; Titus 3:4–7, which have the form of hymns.

8  Harold Horton, Gifts of the Spirit (Nottingham, England: Assemblies of God Publishing House, 1934; reprint, Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1975), 136 (page reference is to reprint edition).

9  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 20, Philippians, by R. Finlayson, 177.

10  Fp [also called F2], Codex Augiensis; Gp [also called G3], codex Boernerianus, both from the ninth century A.D.

11  Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testament with a Commentary and Critical Notes, vol. 6 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., n.d.), 560–561.

1  Albert Edward Ayd, in R. L., Brandt, Praying with Paul (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1966), 7.

2  I have personally done this, maintaining the practice to great advantage and with delight for over a quarter of a century.—R. L. B.

3  Examples of His praying as a man are dealt with in chap. 7.

4  A. W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian (Calcutta: Evangelical Literature Depot, 1964), 91.

5  Brandt, Praying With Paul, 55.

6  Ibid., 59.

7  Ibid., 60.

8  W. Graham Scroggie, Paul’s Prison Prayers (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1981), 33.

9  Robert Service, Collected Poems of Robert Service (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1940), 5.

10  Scroggie, Prison Prayers, 49.

1  “The apple of the eye” refers to the pupil (conceived of as a sphere). We are very protective when someone tries to touch our eye, wanting to damage it. God is just as concerned over His people.

2  Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testament with a Commentary and Critical Notes, vol. 6 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., n.d.), 761.

3  In H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 21, James, by E. C. S. Gibson, 80.

4  Manuscript B, Codex Vaticanus. (Probably a copist’s omission.) The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is undoubtedly meant.

5  Charles Bigg, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude, The International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1902), 191; J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), 206.

6  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids; Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 22 1 John, by A. Plummer 142. I once confronted a brother who had caused a split in a small and struggling congregation. It became necessary to deal rather firmly with him, but afterwards I was distressed for having confronted the man so straightforwardly; so I began to pray earnestly for him. As I prayed day after day, however, a growing conviction settled upon my spirit that my praying was in vain, and that the man had sinned “a sin that leads to death.” To my knowledge the man has not served God from that day to this.—R.L.B.

1  See Appendix 3, “A Contemporary Angelic Appearance.”

2  Heb. teqa‘—“was dislocated.”

3  H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1950), vol. 2 Numbers, by R. Winterbotham, 254.

4  Others take the meaning of Gabriel to be “God has shown himself strong.” This is the first time an angel is identified by name.

5  Michael, “who is like God,” is the only other angel identified by name in the Bible. Jude 9 calls him “the archangel” or chief angel.

6  See Appendix 3, “A Contemporary Angelic Appearance.”

7  A. Gk. negative command in the present tense means to stop doing something you are already doing.

1  A story is told of a boy who urged his father to go to a revival meeting. The father said, “I don’t need that excitement. I’m established.” Later, one cold morning the family car would not start. The father tinkered with a few things and then said, “I don’t know why this car won’t start.” The boy replied, “I know, Dad—it’s established!”

2  Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1868), 15–16.

3  James Burns, Revivals: Their Laws and Leaders (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1960), 71 (page reference is to reprint edition).

4  Someone has compared the Holy Spirit’s work to the concentration of the rays of the sun through a magnifying glass. The Holy Spirit does work in a general way, just as the sun warms. But when the Holy Spirit can work through a united local body, the fires of revival begin to burn.

5  “Personal Narrative,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards, in Walter Blair, et al., The Literature of the United States (Chicago: Scott, Foreman and Co., 1953), 131.

6  Memoirs of the Rev. David Brainerd (New Haven: E. Converse, 1822), 123.

7  Ibid., entry for August 8, 1745.

8  Colin C. Whittaker, Great Revivals (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1984), 49.

9  Ibid.

10  John Wesley, Journal (Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.)

11  Ibid.

12  J. Edwin Orr, Campus Aflame (Glendale, Calif.: Regal Books, 1971), 25.

13  L. G. Parkhurst, Jr., Charles G. Finney’s Answers to Prayer (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1983), 125.

14  Finney, Lectures on Revivals, 99–100.

15  Burns, Revivals, 33.

16  Whitaker, Great Revivals, 85.

17  Burns, Revivals, 334.

1  See Appendix 4, “Contemporary Testimonies of Answered Prayer.”

2  Heb.: Baruch ’Attah, Adonai, Melek Ha-‘Olam.

3  Marvin Wilson, Our Father (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1989), 157; see also Jakob Petuchowski and Michael Brocke, eds., The Lord’s Prayer and Jewish Liturgy (New York: The Seabury Press, 1978), 21–86.

4  A. W. Tozer, Of God and Men (Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960), 106.

5  Personal experience of R. L. Brandt.

6  R. L. Brandt, Praying with Paul (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1966).

7  Thomas Lofton, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in Family Worship,” in Conference on the Holy Spirit Digest, vol. 2, Gwen Jones, ed. (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1983), 186–191.

8  See 1 Chron. 29:20; 2 Chron. 29:28–31; Acts 1:14, 24; 4:24–31; 12:5; 20:36.

9  Armon Newburn, “The Significance of the Altar Service,” in Conference on the Holy Spirit Digest, 168–174.

10  R. L. Brandt.

11  R. L. Brandt, Charismatics, Are We Missing Something? (Published by and available from the author, 1520 Westwood Dr., Billings, Mont., 59102), 85–99.

1  William Edward Biederwolf, How Can God Answer Prayer? (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1910), 24.

2  William Ernest Hocking, Types of Philosophy (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1939), 12.

3  Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986), 306–308.

4  Peter R. Baelz, Prayer and Providence (New York: The Seabury Press, 1968), 30.

5  C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1964), 20.

6  Harold Lindsell, When You Pray (Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers, 1969), 59.

7  John Elliot Wishart, The Fact of Prayer: Its Problems, and Possibilities (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1927), 221.

8  Ambrose, bishop of Milan (374–397 A.D.), was an eloquent preacher and hymn writer, with great political influence. He sought to make the church dominant over the collapsing western Roman Empire.

9  Wishart, Fact of Prayer, 222; see also Lindsell, When You Pray, 87.

10  Biederwolf, How Can God Answer Prayer? 111.

11  Robert Shank, Elect in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Election (Springfield, Mo.: Westcott Publishers, 1970), 157. (The entire book is worth studying with respect to this question.)

12  Lewis, Letters, 38.

13  Erickson, Christian Theology, 405.

14  Biederwolf, How Can God Answer Prayer? 108.

15  See Wayne R. Spear, The Theology of Prayer (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 18.

1  The district superintendent at the time was Rev. R. L. Brandt.