In this classic eBook on prayer, author E. M. Bounds paints a clear and complete picture of The Necessity of Prayer. The book's fourteen chapters develop the relationship between prayer and faith, trust, desire, fervency, importunity, character, conduct, obedience, vigilance, the Word of God, and the House of God. Concerning Bounds' unceasing burden for prayer, Claude Chilton, Jr. wrote, "He prayed because the needs of the world were upon him. He prayed for long years, upon subjects which the easy-going Christian rarely gives a thought, and for objects which men of less thought and faith are always ready to call impossible." It is difficult to read one chapter of a book by E. M. Bounds without being impressed with the overwhelming need for prayer in this world and with the great privilege believers have in being able to approach with boldness the throne of grace and to take God at His word.
One who knew this author personally testified that everything Bounds wrote was for the salvation of his readers. The weight, the gravity, the conviction with which E. M. Bounds speaks on prayer make this and all his books a treasure for those who want to know God as he did. Be sure to take advantage of the other books on prayer by E. M. Bounds available from Olive Tree.
Edward McKendree (E. M.) Bounds (1835-1913) As a young adult, Bounds was ignited by a great revival, and left his legal practice to serve the Lord, becoming an ordained Methodist Episcopal preacher. Shocked by atrocities committed against his countrymen by the invading Union Army during the Civil War, Bounds peacefully refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the Union and was sent to prison, where he continued his ministry among the inmates. Eventually released and sent away, he became a Confederate chaplain on the front lines, praying for his men within sight of them as they fought. After a full year of intense public intercession from Bounds and the surviving men of Franklin, the demoralized town experienced revival. The tireless compassion of this man, who would spend hours each day in intercessory prayer, continued to the end of his life. W. H. Hodge, who was mostly responsible for the publication of E. M. Bounds' books, developed an intimate friendship with the prayer warrior: "At last," he said, "I have found a man that really prays. I shall never let him go. He drew me to him with hooks of steel."
