I recently wrote a post about prayer and some prayer resources (here). In the comments Aaron Hann suggested Ole Hallsby’s book on prayer. I was able to pick it up on Amazon for a buck. I’m really glad I did. Thanks, Aaron!
Ole Hallsby was a Lutheran minister and author in Norway. He was born in 1879 and died in 1961. As an outspoken opponent of the Nazis, he was arrested and detained in a concentration camp for two years. (Wiki)
To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door, giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them.
What I loved about Hallsby’s approach to prayer is that he presents the exercise of prayer as something that anyone can do. And as especially effective when the one praying comes from a perspective of helplessness.
Helplessness is the real secret and the impelling power of prayer. You should therefore rather try to thank God for the feeling of helplessness which He has given you. It is one of the greatest gifts which God can impart to us. For it is only when we are helpless that we open our hearts to Jesus and let Him help us in our distress, according to His grace and mercy.
This takes prayer out of the realm of the well-spoken, super-spiritual, special connection with God prayer professionals and puts it down on the level with the worst of us.
I need not exert myself and try to force myself to believe, or try to chase doubt out of my heart. Both are equally useless. It begins to dawn on me that I can bring everything to Jesus, no matter how difficult it is; and I need not be frightened away by my doubts or my weak faith, but only tell Jesus how weak my faith is. I have let Jesus into my heart. And He will fulfill my heart's desire.
This is a major theme of the first part of the book, laying the ground work for addressing several issues connected with prayer, including some of the problems that we have with prayer. Other themes include wrestling in prayer, forms of prayer, problems of prayer, the school of prayer and the spirit of prayer. He addresses an intriguing question: Does God need our intercessory prayers?
We have learned that to pray in the name of Jesus is the real element of prayer in our prayers. It is the helpless soul's helpless look unto a gracious Friend. The wonderful results which attend prayer of this kind can be accounted for only by the fact that we have opened the door unto Jesus and given Him access to our helplessness.
I appreciated almost everything he has to say about prayer. Some of it was a reminder of how important it is to make prayer a major part of our day. On purpose. Otherwise, the Enemy will make sure we remain distracted enough not to bother to pray.
You will begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you do; and that you can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have an opportunity to do so, either alone or with others, while at work, while at rest, or while walking down the street. Anywhere! We can make use of our time in no better way.
One thing that Hallsby addresses near the end of his book is praying about the end of our life. He tells a very good story about this - you’ll have to get it and read it for yourself! - which encouraged me to pray about something I don’t usually like to think about!
Make your hour of departure a subject of prayer. Pray frequently about it. Pray like the aged countess did: "My God, wilt Thou for Christ's dear sake My hour of parting peaceful make !" (Translation by P. A. Sveeggen) … It has taught me to pray about my death. Not only that I might die saved through the blood of Christ, but also that I might glorify God by my death; and that my dear ones might be left behind with the full assurance that I died as a sinner saved by grace.
I hope that these brief quotes will inspire you to spend some time with Hallsby on the subject of prayer. This book has encouraged and inspired me to spend more time in prayer.
What resources have blessed you in your prayer life?
"One thing that Hallsby addresses near the end of his book is praying about the end of our life."
I work for a charity here in the UK called Faith in Later Life that works to encourage discipleship and evangelism amongst older generations, and I often think that the best thing we could do to curb our culture's "othering" of older people is to consider and pray into our later years from as early an age as possible. Thanks for this John, this is an important reminder.
Also, "Books for a Buck" sounds like a good name for a reading group.