R.A.Torrey was a pastor and evangelist in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Early in his service to the Lord, he joined with D.L. Moody and soon was evangelizing around the world. Some say that God brought over 100,000 souls to faith in Jesus through Torrey's evangelistic ministry.
Torrey longed for more Christian workers to take an active part in bringing the message of salvation through Christ to a lost and dying world. His straightforward style of evangelism has shown thousands of Christian workers how to become effective soul winners. (R.A. Torrey on the Christian Life, pg. 984)He shares some wise, and pertinent, advice regarding prayer in our daily lives:
“Oh, men and women, pray through; pray through! Do not just begin to pray and pray a little while and throw up your hands and quit; but pray and pray and pray until God bends the heavens and comes down.”
Before a word of petition (a prayerful request) is offered, we should have the definite and vivid consciousness that we are talking to God, and should believe that He is listening to our petition and is going to grant the things that we ask of Him. We should look to the Holy Spirit to really lead us into the presence of God and should not be hasty in words until He has actually brought us there.
The first quote points us towards Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Pray without ceasing. It's far more than coming up with things to pray about to fill a set aside amount of time in prayer. It's persisting in prayer (worship-based prayer, prayers of thanksgiving, requests, and more) until we recognize God's presence. Then, once we've prayed to that point, continue further in prayer.
Torrey's second quote speaks for itself.
Our lives, our relationships with God and others, and our world, are changed as we pray; if we'll pray.
