I am sure that if you have been in WoF circles long enough you have run across some of the books by Germaine Copeland titled "Prayers that Availeth Much."
Not so well known has been some books by Clift Richards and Lloyd Hildebrand Called "Prayers that Prevail" which I personally liked better than Germaine Copeland's (as far as I know, she is no relation to kenneth and Gloria). However, all of these books contain ready made prayers based on combining several Scripture promises together in order to pray God's Word back to Him in a conversational manner.
I am just wondering how many among the WoFers have used these books in their prayer time?
How many you continue to use them?
Have you received any visible/tangible results from the use of these books and could you share?
If you have used these books, have you felt like you were just kind of "reading to God" rather than just simply having a talk with Him straight from your heart? Did you or do you feel like you are just going through a ritual if and when you use any of these books?
Is there anyone here who knows about these books but are reluctant to use them in your prayer? Could you share your reason?
i will chime in with my answers later so as not to write a long drawn out initial post.
__________________ Let the Scriptures Determine Your Theology, Do Not Read Your Theology into Scripture.
Not something I use myself, though I do have the books.
Amanda (Mrs. Zzub) uses Hazel Hill's book which I cannot remember the name of but is essential similar in terms of idea - Scriptural prayers written in a book. She gets a lot of benefit from it. I often use Bob Yandian's confessions from his website, which I guess is similar. It is not so much about relationship, but about speaking the Word I guess.
I think that goes back to something I am realizing more and more, there is the presence of God which comes through fellowship and the power of God which comes through principles. Many churches have one or the other and many churches don't understand that one is not the other.
We need a relationship with the Lord and a clear understanding of the principles that His power works by.
Slightly off topic, but still in the general area of your question. Keep up the interesting posts, VW.
Blessings,
Ben
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I myself do not have the books. Nor do I have any set prayers I pray. Thanks for posting about the books though. I'll check them out when I get a chance.
I haven't heard of these books but they sound interesting. I have a Charles Capps book called Faith and Confession that has a number of Scripture based confessions at the back which I often use as prayers. I think that there is a lot of benefit in doing it to build your own faith, afterall faith comes by hearing the Word of God. I think that perhaps if this is the only way you pray it could become formulaic (sp?) and impersonal but I know that as I am fairly new to this WoF stuff I have found having these confessiona has been a good starting point for me!
The books sound interesting. I have found that when I really dont know what or how to pray, the Holy Spirit helps and they end up being the best prayers.
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Zzub and I must really be from the only ones from the old school Word-Faith as we are the only two so far who knows about and possesses any of this literature. In the 80s during the highlight of the movement, these books were abundantly popular, especially among intercessory prayer groups.
I have known people to pray prayers from these books and actually received the thing from God that they petitioned Him for. At times I have prayed prayers from some of these books, even in recent months, with positive results. When my wife was pregnant with our third child I prayed some of the prayers from both "Prayers that Availeth Much" and "Prayers that Prevail" for the health of my son and wife.
One day my wife, while still pregnant, got the mumps. This is dangerous to the fetus. I prayed over her and rebuked them mumps and she was instantly healed. I then continued in praying from those books. The boy came out healthy. No problems or complications whatsoever.
However, I do have difficulty with them sometimes as I like to be genuine when I go before the throne and don't want to "read" to God. It would be like my children approaching me and reading their requests to me from a script. I learned to read some of the prayers and the Scriptural principles provided and talk to God at the same time. It is easier to demonstrate than write about. I don't use the books often, but they are very helpful when needing a point of reference for faith in praying about a particular situation. I may the Richards and Hildebrand series of books (the ones currently in print. Many of their best books are out of print) available in our church bookstore and they are among the most popular items.
For those interested, I think they sell them at Christianbooks.com. You can buy many of the out of print books at Amazon.com.
Has anyone ever heard of the Baptist lady, Beth Moore. She has a book titled "Praying God's Word." While it is a good book, it is definitely not WoF and she has some criticism of what she calls "Name it and Claim it." Never used the book but there are good things to learn from it.
__________________ Let the Scriptures Determine Your Theology, Do Not Read Your Theology into Scripture.
I have and like
how to pray R.A. Torrey
prayer and praying men E.M.Bounds
intercessory prayer Dutch Sheets
Bible prayer study course Kenneth Hagin
and more..........
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I have and like
how to pray R.A. Torrey
prayer and praying men E.M.Bounds
intercessory prayer Dutch Sheets
Bible prayer study course Kenneth Hagin
and more..........
Those are all great books which teaches principles of prayer. However, the books I am specificially referring to in this OP are books that actually have prayers written out by which one can read to God.
__________________ Let the Scriptures Determine Your Theology, Do Not Read Your Theology into Scripture.
Heh? Then you definitely wasn't around when the movement was going strong in the 80s. The persecution of the movement was just beginning at that time but was not as popularly received as it is now. During the 80s Dave Hunt wrote a book against Charismatics but most people laughed it off. So did MacArthur but his book was actually somewhat sympathetic at the time. He revised it in the 90s and turned it into a blistering critique. McConnell also had his thesis in the late 80s and that was when the ground began to shake for the WoF.
But before all of that, before the Bakker and Swaggart standards (and even a little after), WoF was a bold movement and lively with a lot of miracles evidencing the teaching. Some extremes were there as well, but I remember that the 80s, for me, was the best time being a WoFer. Bold new teaching and revelation and boldness in walking in the gifts. I miss those days. The nineties brought so much change. Some good, some bad.
__________________ Let the Scriptures Determine Your Theology, Do Not Read Your Theology into Scripture.