Bill Hybels
American author, speaker, and the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.
One prayer routine that is balanced and easy to remember is found in the word ACTS, an acrostic whose four letters stand for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
God is no more intimidated by childish demands for instant gratification than are wise parents.
One reason we stop praying or let our prayer lives fade is that we are too comfortable.
God is committed to developing a people who will reflect his character in this world, and his character always expresses concern and compassion for the afflicted.
Authentic Christians are persons who stand apart from others. Their character seems deeper, their ideas fresher, their spirit softer, their courage greater, their leadership stronger, their concerns wider, their compassion more genuine and their convictions more concrete.
The key is to practice praying - and to practice praying regularly, privately, sincerely and specifically.
Playing around is one thing; following an established regimen is quite another. It's true with exercise equipment and it is true with prayer.
Developing prayer fitness is similar to developing physical fitness: we must follow a pattern in order to stay balanced.
By forcing us to look closely at our requests, prayer purifies us.
The time of day we choose for prayer doesn't matter, so long as we keep it faithfully. Prayer must be part of the rhythm of our daily lives.
A key ingredient in authentic Christianity is time. Not leftover time, not throwaway time, but quality time. Time for contemplation, meditation and reflection. Unhurried, uninterrupted time.
How would you feel if your prayer requests were made public, displayed on a billboard or marquee? "Dear Lord, make me famous. Make me rich."
If you have pumped your fist at God, the good news is that you can come back into fellowship with him right this minute.
The idea that God doesn't care about his children is rooted in a lie, plain and simple.
People who are serious about something always make room for it in their schedules. If prayer is important to you, then you'll find time to do it.
Adoration in prayer purges our spirit and prepares us to listen to God.
Be wary of insisting that you know better than God about when a prayer request should be granted. God's delays are not necessarily denials. He always has reasons for his 'not yets.'
Prayer is a bridge from despair to hope.
Supplications are requests that you make of God. And truly, nothing is too big for God to handle or too small for him to be interested in.
Our prayers can be more than empty wishes, vain hopes or feeble aspirations – but only when they are prayed from faith-filled hearts.