Prayer cannot truly be taught by principles and seminars and symposiums. It has to be born out of a whole environment of felt need. If I say, "I ought to pray," I will soon run out of motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. I have to be driven to pray.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 49.
The devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we begin to lift up our hearts to God.
I learned as never before that persistent calling upon the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times, there is simply no other way.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan, 1997.
Brothers and sisters, I really feel that I’ve heard from God about the future of our church. While I was away, I was calling out to God to help us – to help me – understand what He wants most from us. And I believe I’ve heard an answer. It’s not fancy or profound or spectacular. But I want to say to you with all the seriousness I can muster: From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us… No matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan, 1997, p. 27.
Our forebears back in the camp meeting days used to say that if people left a meeting talking about what a wonderful sermon the preacher gave or how beautifully the singers sang, the meeting had failed. But if people went home saying thing like "Isn’t God good? He met me tonight in such a wonderful way," it was a good meeting. There was to be no sharing the stage with the Lord.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 70.
Because I had been a basketball player, it never dawned on me to evaluate people on the basis of color. If you could play, you could play. In America it would appear that there is more openness, acceptance, and teamwork in the gym than in the church of Jesus Christ.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 35.
Most ministries in our church have not begun with a bright idea in a pastors’ meeting. We usually don’t say, "Let’s start a street outreach," and then go recruit laypeople to staff it. We have learned over the years to let God birth something in people who are spiritually sensitive, who begin to pray and feel a calling. Then they come to us. "We want to start such-and -such," they say- and the ministry gets going and lasts. Discouragement, complications, and other attacks by the enemy don’t wash it out.
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 74.