When it comes to recommending books, this can be a subjective thing because people have their favourite authors and different tastes. But for what it’s worth, I’ve listed below some books that I would highly recommend.

Prayer
The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer is a must-read for anyone who wants to go deeper and higher in their prayer life. It is a collection of Bounds’ smaller books, and is both ‘deep’ and yet easy to read. I highly recommend it. It had quite an impact on my life when I first read it ten years ago.

If you like smaller (and cheaper!) books, two of the best are Mighty Prevailing Prayer by Wesley Duewel (containing inspiring stories) and Don’t just stand there.. Pray Something by Ronald Dunn (very practical). Another excellent book is Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill which may be harder to obtain these days.

For biographies of men of prayer, two of the classics are Praying Hyde (edited by E.G. Carre) and Reese Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb. Praying Hyde moves me every time I read it.

Evangelism
In my opinion, one of the best ever books released on evangelism is Charles Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner. It is over one hundred years old, but very readable and practical. Some excellent modern books include The Way of the Master by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, That none should perish by Ed Silvoso, and Out of the Saltshaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert.

Revival
Leonard Ravenhill’s classic Why Revival Tarries is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of the church, and particularly for preachers. Wesley Duewel’s Revival Fire is an excellent survey of history’s revivals and is one of those rare books you can read time and again. The Welsh Revival by Thomas Phillips recounts the thrilling story of the 1859 revival – containing eye witness accounts – and The Welsh Revival of 1904 by Eifion Evans is also good reading.

Church growth
The popular Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala (1997) is the best modern book I’ve read on church growth. It emphasises prayer, not methods. Much of it is biographical, tracing the growth of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York City.

Preaching
The books on preaching that have had the biggest impact on me are Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (excellent), The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper, and Preaching with freshness by Bruce Mawhinney. Preaching for impact by Australian author Kel Willis is also excellent.

Missions
The Challenge of Missions by Oswald J. Smith is high-impact book, and Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan a real thought provoker and should be read by every missions committee. There are simply too many great biographies to name, but for me, some ‘on the top shelf’ are Gladys Aylward – The Little Woman (Aylward & Hunter), King of the Cannibals – the Story of John G. Paton (Jim Cromarty), A chance to die (Elizabeth Elliot‘s biography of Amy Carmichael), Goforth of China (Rosalind Goforth), and the excellent biography of C.T. Studd by Norman Grubb.

Prayer is God’s appointed means by which His children receive requested blessings. It is the means by which we receive intervention from Him. When we pray, God stretches out His hand and intervenes in the affairs of life. He grants wisdom, heals illnesses, supplies grace, provides employment, sends rain, opens barren wombs, softens hearts, grants Holy Spirit power, saves souls, revives churches, provides marriage partners, heals broken hearts, and raises up labourers for the mission field. He does all this in answer to prayer!

Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

He wanted us to expect answers! When we pray, we can anticipate there will be action! God will DO something.

Now of course, the timing is variable. God sometimes answer prayer breathtakingly quickly. But other times He allows a delay. He does this in His wisdom, and to teach us perseverance. But He does answer prayer! We can rest assured that asking and receiving is the normal experience for a faith-filled child of God. He wants us to believe that.

• Jacob prayed for deliverance from Esau and was delivered
• Hannah prayed for a son and was given a son
• David prayed that God would turn Ahithopel’s counsel into foolishness and God did it
• Elijah prayed for a drought and received a drought, and prayed for rain and received rain
• Nehemiah prayed for mercy in the sight of a king and mercy was granted
• Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and though Peter faltered, his faith did not ultimately fail
• The early church prayed for boldness, signs and healings, and were granted all three (Acts 4:29-30, and then the 3 answers – Acts 4:31, 5:12, 5:16)

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Thousands of believers throughout history have found from first-hand experience that God answers prayer. God wants us to experience this as well. He wants us to utilise prayer as the means of acquiring intervention from Him. Oh what a joy it is to receive an answer to prayer!Jesus said, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

May He find us praying with faith and expecting answers.

E.M. Bounds (1835-1913) was one of history’s most prolific writers on prayer. He was a man of prayer, typically rising at four o’clock every morning to spend time in prayer, usually praying until seven o’clock. He wrote classics such as “Power through Prayer” and “The Weapon of Prayer.” His books have been compiled into one volume – “The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer” – a truly inspirational work. Here are some of his quotes on prayer:

“The key which unlocks the vast storehouse of God is prayer.”

“A person who can pray is the mightiest instrument Christ has in this world.”

“the prime need of the church is not men of money or men of brains, but men of prayer.”

“When the church is in the condition of prayer God’s cause always flourishes and his kingdom on earth always triumphs. When the church fails to pray, God’s cause decays and evil of every kind prevails.”

“If the pastors are prayerless, then will the people follow in their footsteps.”

“It was claimed for Augustus Caesar that he found Rome a city of wood, and left it a city of marble. The pastor who succeeds in changing his people from a prayerless to a prayerful people, has done a greater work.”

“Prayer must come first.”