"Keep on praying because the Father does listen. He loves our company, he wants us to endure in prayerfulness and he is eager to do whatever is best for us."

"Most of us are far too busy for our own spiritual good."

"Authentic Christianity is a supernatural walk with a living, dynamic, communicating God."

"If you have pumped your fist at God, the good news is that you can come back into fellowship with him right this minute."

"Approaching Christianity as a brand explains why the majority of people who identify themselves as Christians live no differently than other Americans yet spend enormous amounts of money on Christian products."

"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."

"Sin is plenty strong enough to create an ever-widening gap in one's relationship with God. The wider the gap, the less likely we are to pray. And the less we pray, the wider the gap becomes."

"We have all swallowed the cultural punch that believes institutions are both the means and the end of God's mission in the world."

"The heart and soul of the Christian life is learning to hear God's voice and then developing the courage to do what he asks us to do."

"We can have no deep, ongoing fellowship with God unless we obey him - totally."

"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."

"If your ear is open to the afflicted, God will keep his ear open to you."

"One reason we stop praying or let our prayer lives fade is that we are too comfortable."

"Have we clothed our faith with the forms of our American culture to the point that our Christianity has morphed into something entirely different - a folk religion altogether consumerist in spirit and content?"

"Are you expecting God to fill your needs? Are you asking him to do so - regularly, earnestly and persistently?"

"Unconfessed sin cuts off our communication with the Father."

"If you let even a little sin into your heart, it's going to contaminate your prayers. Your Christian life will not achieve its full potential."

"The most common cause of unanswered prayer is prayerlessness."

"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.'"

"A lot of spiritual gains come through pain, hurt, struggle, confusion and disappointment."

"If you're tolerating sin in your life, my friend, don't waste your breath praying unless it's a prayer of confession."

"The greatest prayer motivator in existence is answered prayer."

"Our prayers can be more than empty wishes, vain hopes or feeble aspirations – but only when they are prayed from faith-filled hearts."

"There are two main principles I've picked up over the years as they pertain to cultivating the type of faith that moves mountains. The first is this: Faith comes by looking at God, not at the mountain. The second is this: God gives us faith as we walk by his side."

"How do you pray a prayer so filled with faith that it can move a mountain? By shifting your focus from the size of your mountain to the sufficiency of the Mountain Mover and then stepping forward in obedience."

"When I pray, I'm not just telling God my problems, but rather I'm turning over my biggest concerns to him. It's only when I've put them in his capable hands that I can go about my day in his strength and freedom."

"If the request is wrong, God says, "No." If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow." If you are wrong, God says, "Grow." But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!""

"Prayer busters (causes of unanswered prayer) are prayerlessness, unconfessed sin, unresolved relational conflict, selfishness, uncaring attitudes, and inadequate faith."

"As you walk with God, your faith will grow, your confidence will increase and your prayers will have real power."

"If the disciples were capable of making wrong requests - requests that were self-serving, patently materialistic, shortsighted or immature - I feel sure that we are too. Fortunately God loves us too much to say yes to inappropriate requests."

"When I lump all my sins together and confess them en masse, I neglect to feel the pain or embarrassment or shame that should be elicited in me."

"We don't take confession seriously enough. If we did, our lives would be radically different."

"If you're a parent, you know how incredibly good it feels when one of your children spontaneously thanks you for something. God is our Father, and he, too, is moved when we express our thanksgiving."

"Confession is probably the most neglected area of personal prayer."

"Adoration in prayer reminds us of God's identity and inclination. As we list his attributes, lifting up his character and personality, we reinforce our understanding of who he is."

"When the spirit of adoration takes over and we begin pondering God's attributes, we soon say from the heart, 'I am praying to a tremendous God!' Which only motivates us to keep on praying."

"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."

"Adoration in prayer purges our spirit and prepares us to listen to God."

"I sometimes wonder if my requests are legitimate. So I'm honest with God. I say, "Lord, I don't know if I have the right to ask for this. I don't know how I should pray about it. But I hand it over to your now, and if you'll tell me how to pray, I'll pray your way.""

"Developing prayer fitness is similar to developing physical fitness: we must follow a pattern in order to stay balanced."

"Sensing the carelessness and one-sidedness of our prayers, we start to feel guilty about praying. Guilt leads to faint-heartedness and that in turn leads to prayerlessness."

"Out-of-balance praying leads to no praying at all!"

"Before bringing a request to the Lord, it's a good idea to ask: If God granted this request, would it bring glory to him? Would it advance his kingdom? Would it help people? Would it help me to grow spiritually?"

"Playing around is one thing; following an established regimen is quite another. It's true with exercise equipment and it is true with prayer."

"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.""

"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-honoring prayers are not simply shopping lists. They are more than cries for help, strength, mercy and miracles. Authentic prayer should include worship, submission, requests, and confessions."