Essentials of prayer — Key Ideas to Explore

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Authors: Bounds, Edward M. (Edward McKendree), 1835-1913, Hodge, Homer W. (Homer Werle), 1859- [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2024 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Prayer -- Christianity Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 36,805

Reading time 161 min

Text sections 20

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #73271

Edward M. Bounds examines prayer as an all-encompassing act involving the whole person, humility, devotion, and consecration, with recurring emphasis on holiness and self-examination.

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,” tells of Paul’s praying, and how much he put into it. It is not a docile request, not a little thing, this sort of praying, this “striving with me.” It is of the nature of a great battle, a conflict to win, a great battle to be fought. The praying Christian, as the soldier, fights a life-and-death struggle. His honour, his immortality, and eternal life are all in it. This is praying as the athlete struggles for the mastery, and for the crown, and as he wrestles or runs a race. Everything depends on the strength he puts in it. Energy, ardour, swiftness, every power of his nature is in it. Every power is quickened and strained to its very utmost. Littleness, half-heartedness, weakness and laziness are all absent.

Just as it takes the whole man to pray successfully, so in turn the whole man receives the benefits of such praying. As every part of man’s complex being enters into true praying, so every part of that same nature receives blessings from God in answer to such praying. This kind of praying engages our undivided hearts, our full consent to be the Lord’s, our whole desires.

God sees to it that when the whole man prays, in turn the whole man shall be blessed. His body takes in the good of praying, for much praying is done specifically for the body. Food and raiment, health and bodily vigour, come in answer to praying. Clear mental action, right thinking, an enlightened understanding, and safe reasoning powers, come from praying. Divine guidance means God so moving and impressing the mind, that we shall make wise and safe decisions. “The meek will he guide in judgment.”

Many a praying preacher has been greatly helped just at this point. The unction of the Holy One which comes upon the preacher invigorates the mind, loosens up thought and gives utterance. This is the explanation of former days when men of very limited education had such wonderful liberty of the Spirit in praying and in preaching. Their thoughts flowed as a stream of water. Their entire intellectual machinery felt the impulse of the Divine Spirit’s gracious influences.

And, of course, the soul receives large benefits in this sort of praying. Thousands can testify to this statement. So we repeat, that as the entire man comes into play in true, earnest effectual praying, so the entire man, soul, mind and body, receives the benefits of prayer.

“If two angels were to receive at the same moment a commission from God, one to go down and rule earth’s grandest empire, the other to go and sweep the streets of its meanest village, it would be a matter of entire indifference to each which service fell to his lot, the post of ruler or the post of scavenger; for the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.”――JOHN NEWTON.

To be humble is to have a low estimate of one’s self. It is to be modest, lowly, with a disposition to seek obscurity. Humility retires itself from the public gaze. It does not seek publicity nor hunt for high places, neither does it care for prominence. Humility is retiring in its nature. Self-abasement belongs to humility. It is given to self-depreciation. It never exalts itself in the eyes of others nor even in the eyes of itself. Modesty is one of its most prominent characteristics.

In humility there is the total absence of pride, and it is at the very farthest distance from anything like self-conceit. There is no self-praise in humility. Rather it has the disposition to praise others. “In honour preferring one another.” It is not given to self-exaltation. Humility does not love the uppermost seats and aspire to the high places. It is willing to take the lowliest seat and prefers those places where it will be unnoticed. The prayer of humility is after this fashion:

“Never let the world break in, Fix a mighty gulf between; Keep me humble and unknown, Prized and loved by God alone.”

Humility does not have its eyes on self, but rather on God and others. It is poor in spirit, meek in behaviour, lowly in heart. “With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.”

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Edward M. Bounds opens Essentials of Prayer by insisting that prayer engages the entire person—not merely the intellect or emotions but the will, the body, and the spirit. The book’s structure moves through a series of linked conditions: humility, devotion, praise, trouble, God’s work, and consecration. Each chapter builds on the previous one, creating a cumulative argument that prayer is both a discipline and a relationship. Bounds frequently contrasts superficial religiosity with genuine, costly devotion, warning against self-deception and empty forms.

The Whole Man in Prayer

The first chapter sets the tone by asserting that prayer is not a partial or occasional activity but one that demands the full engagement of the believer. Bounds writes that prayer “takes in the whole man,” implying that mental distraction, emotional coldness, or physical lethargy undermines its effectiveness. He repeatedly uses the phrase “whole man” to emphasize totality, a motif that recurs throughout the text. The language is direct and exhortatory, often shifting into short, imperative sentences that mimic the urgency of the subject. Bounds does not offer a systematic theology of prayer; instead, he presents a series of moral and spiritual demands, each tied to a specific aspect of Christian character.

Humility as the Foundation

In the second chapter, Bounds links prayer directly to humility, arguing that pride blocks genuine communion with God. He draws on biblical examples—the Pharisee and the publican, the centurion’s faith—to illustrate that prayer must begin with a lowly posture. The editor, Homer W. Hodge, notes in the foreword that Bounds’s own life exemplified this quality. The chapter’s structure alternates between doctrinal assertion and practical warning: “Prayer and humility are inseparable.” Bounds’s prose is repetitive for emphasis, a technique that reinforces his central claim that without humility, prayer becomes a hollow ritual. The recurring image of the “broken heart” appears here and later in the chapter on trouble.

Prayer, Praise, and the Discipline of Thanksgiving

The fourth chapter introduces a shift in tone: Bounds insists that prayer must include praise and thanksgiving, not merely petition. He argues that gratitude is a discipline that shapes the soul, and that neglect of praise leads to spiritual dryness. The chapter moves between exhortation and reflection, with Bounds quoting Scripture and occasionally citing hymn lines. The structure mirrors the book’s overall pattern: a thesis is stated, then expanded with biblical support, then applied to the reader’s life. Bounds’s voice is pastoral but firm, warning against “murmuring” and ingratitude. The chapter’s placement after “Prayer and Devotion” suggests a deliberate progression from inner disposition to outward expression.

Consecration as the Goal of Prayer

The eighth chapter, “Prayer and Consecration,” draws together earlier themes by presenting consecration as the natural outcome of persistent prayer. Bounds defines consecration as “the voluntary set dedication of one’s self to God,” a phrase he repeats with slight variations. He contrasts true consecration with popular, superficial versions that lack prayer. The chapter includes an extended quotation from the seventeenth-century writer Gotthold, whose testament bequeaths his soul and family to Christ—a striking image of total trust. Bounds’s argument here is cumulative: prayer leads to humility, devotion, praise, and finally to a life wholly given over to God. The structure of the book itself mirrors this journey, moving from the individual’s inner life to outward service.

Bounds’s method is not analytical but hortatory: each chapter circles around a central virtue, reinforcing it through repetition, biblical citation, and pointed application. Readers will find the book most useful when taken slowly, one chapter at a time, allowing the cumulative weight of Bounds’s argument to press home. The editor’s foreword suggests that Bounds wrote for the “salvation of his readers,” and the text indeed functions as a spiritual exercise rather than a theological treatise.

There’s something about Essentials of Prayer that kept returning to me quietly, especially its gentle insistence on humility before God. It felt less like a lesson and more like a slow exhale. I found myself thinking of The Shepherd Psalm: A Meditation — Themes and Context afterwards, how both seemed to sit with the same quiet trust, as if prayer were simply resting in a presence already near.