The reception given to the former books and the words of appreciation from many quarters have encouraged us to continue the publication of the “Glory” series. To decide which subject should be the focus of this latest book caused much exercise before the Lord and gave plenty of food for thought. It has been considered wise to deal with something that is an integral part of Christian life and is seemingly so much neglected, namely the subject of the Christian’s prayer life. The amount of helpful exposition freely available seems very limited. Many books collate experiences of godly saints who have had their prayers answered. While this can be most encouraging, we need to get beyond human experience and build our lives with God upon the solid rock of the Scriptures as understood by the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit.

It is, once more, our desire that the saints will be challenged and edified as a result of this publication. We long that deeper communion and a more sincere life of dependence upon God will be the result of grasping the truths contained in the following pages.

To keep the book within reasonable bounds it has been necessary to omit some prayers recorded in the Bible that may have highlighted an area of truth that a reader may deem to be extremely important. Among the many obvious omissions are the prayer of Jabez, the prayers of Elijah and of godly women, but we make no claim that this book is an exhaustive treatment of the subject. We beg forgiveness for the undoubted shortcomings of the book. We have sought to be selective so that the main truths requiring exposition will be covered and perhaps more than once. Since different authors, who do not read each other’s contributions, write each chapter, repetition is bound to occur but we do not think this is necessarily a fault.

Once more we wish to thank all the authors who willingly gave of their valuable time to contribute to another book. Without their support these volumes would not be possible. The hours spent alone and the sacrifices of family and social life are generally unappreciated, but we know that every sacrifice for the Lord and His people will be fully rewarded at that soon coming day of review. Also, we acknowledge the practical fellowship received that enables these books to be published and freely distributed.

Proof reading, grammatical corrections and consistency of presentation are matters that take hours of reading and real concentration. So we again express our thanks to our brother Roy Reynolds, who has the main burden of proof reading, our brother Walter Boyd and our sisters Ruth Nesbitt and Joanna Currie, who have been very diligent in ensuring that we present to our readers a book of which we need not be ashamed.

Brian Currie, N. Ireland, June 2011.

1. “Assembly Testimony” is a bi-monthly magazine which is available on request from John Gordon, ‘Elhanan’, 25 The Rowans, Banbridge, Co. Down, BT32 4DQ, N. Ireland. His email address is johngordon-at[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk.