# The Hour That Changes the World ![rw-book-cover](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aEEQl%2BzPL._SL200_.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Dick Eastman]] - Full Title: The Hour That Changes the World - Category: #books ## Highlights - as Matthew Henry said generations ago, “Whenever God is preparing to do something great in the earth, He first sets His people a-praying!” ([Location 104](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=104)) - I cannot imagine a day without the worship and wonder of waiting on God’s presence for a single hour. I invite you to share in this joy. It could change your life, and your world as well. I’m convinced it will make your day! ([Location 110](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=110)) - “Oh! One hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasures and delights of this lower world. David Brainerd (1718–1747) ([Location 116](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=116)) - Prayer is the vision of the believer. It gives eyes to our faith. In prayer we see beyond ourselves and focus spiritual eyes on God’s infinite power. Prayer is also man’s ultimate indication of trust in his heavenly Father. Only in prayer do we surrender our problems completely to God and ask for divine intervention. ([Location 124](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=124)) - Dr. E. Stanley Jones explains, “In prayer you align yourselves to the purpose and power of God and He is able to do things through you that He couldn’t do otherwise. For this is an open universe, where some things are left open, contingent upon our doing them. If we do not do them, they will never be done. For God has left certain things open to prayer—things which will never be done except as we pray.”4 ([Location 141](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=141)) - To spend little time with Jesus is to accomplish little in Jesus. Simply stated, there is no true spiritual growth apart from the devotional habit. Consistency in prayer is the evidence of true commitment. As David Hubbard shares, “Our prayer expresses our commitment to Christ. By talking to God we affirm our basic decision to depend on Him.” ([Location 153](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=153)) - Adam Clarke warns, “Apostasy begins in the closet. No man ever backslid from the life and power of Christianity who continued constant and fervent in private prayer. He who prays without ceasing is likely to rejoice evermore.”7 ([Location 157](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=157)) - Harold Lindsell cautions, “Prayer does not come naturally to men. It must be learned. Learning to pray . . . includes knowledge of the laws governing prayer as well as experience gained in the practice of prayer. Prayer must be nourished and cultivated if it is to grow.”11 ([Location 187](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=187)) - I had always believed God answers prayer, but my prayer life was never consistent. During a devotional transformation, I was gripped with the realization that Jesus asked His disciples only one question specifically related to the subject of prayer. During His intense experience in Gethsemane, Christ approached His sleeping disciples. Speaking first to Peter, Jesus asked, “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40 NKJV). Suddenly I realized Jesus was speaking to me. I, too, was a follower of Jesus. I was being challenged to make a daily sacrifice of at least one hour of my time specifically for prayer. It was my choice. No one would force me. I could either sleep or pray. I chose the latter—a decision I shall never regret. ([Location 199](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=199)) - One hour each day for an entire year equals 365 hours, or 45 continuous “eight-hour” days. Imagine asking your employer for six weeks off work next year so you can spend the time with Jesus praying for the world. That’s the power of giving God just sixty minutes a day (when projected for a full year). ([Location 251](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=251)) - The goal of all praying is summed up in the expression “Hallowed be thy name.” Hallowed is a New Testament expression used only in reference to the name of God. The Greek word for our word hallow is hagiazo, meaning “to revere or to sanctify.” Since sanctify means “to set apart,” our prayer time should include several moments, at the very outset, when God’s name is set apart strictly as the object of our divine worship. During these moments of praise our sole purpose is to bring glory to God with our words. God declared through the psalmist, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me” (Ps. 50:23). ([Location 271](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=271)) - Brother Lawrence, a sixteenth-century monk, accurately summarized this thought when he wrote, “The end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshipers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity.”1 ([Location 279](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=279)) - What is praise? First, praise is the vocal adoration of God. Adoration is the act of rendering divine honor, esteem, and love. ([Location 281](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=281)) - Only praise puts God in His rightful position at the very outset of our praying. In praising God we declare His sovereignty and recognize His nature and power. ([Location 288](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=288)) - So, we must first draw our attention to God in prayer before we draw our attention to self. ([Location 291](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=291)) - praise is unselfish. ([Location 293](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=293)) - Paul Billheimer relates, “Here is one of the greatest values of praise: it decentralizes self. The worship and praise of God demands a shift of center from self to God. One cannot praise God without relinquishing occupation with self. Praise produces forgetfulness of self—and forgetfulness of self is health.”3 ([Location 293](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=293)) - Praise sparks victory. ([Location 299](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=299)) - Preaching on this passage, Dwight L. Moody said, “Solomon prevailed much with God in prayer at the dedication of the temple, but it was the voice of praise which brought down the glory that filled the house.”4 ([Location 303](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=303)) - Where do we find God’s presence? In Psalm 22:3 we are reminded that God inhabits “the praises” of His people. ([Location 306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=306)) - The full meaning of praise can be captured only in its Old French origin, preiser, which means “to prize”! To praise God is to prize God. The word prize means “to value, esteem, and cherish something.” During our times of praise we cherish and esteem God with our words of adoration. ([Location 314](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=314)) - First, we should praise God for His name. ([Location 320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=320)) - Secondly, we should praise God for His righteousness. ([Location 326](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=326)) - Righteous means “meeting the standards of what is right and just.” God does more than meet certain standards; God is the standard. All that a prayer warrior can imagine concerning God’s faithfulness, justice, and mercy may become a theme for these moments of praise. ([Location 328](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=328)) - Thirdly, we should praise God for His infinite creation. ([Location 330](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=330)) - Finally, we should praise God for His Word. ([Location 334](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005BOXFMU&location=334))