A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle

Grace Sight #13 is A Call to Prayer.

J.C. Ryle in his study

To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven.  It is to be in the road to hell.  --J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) wrote a classic tract titled "A Call to Prayer".  It is amazing how something written two centuries ago can be so applicable to the Christians today.   In it he writes the following observation:

I have looked careful over the lives of God's saints in the Bible.  I cannot find one whose history much is told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a person of prayer.  I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."  I find it recorded as a characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." 1 Peter 1:17; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Psalm 14:4 

I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days.  Some of them, I see, were rich, and some were poor.  Some were learned, and some were unlearned.  Some were Episcopalians, and some were Christians of other names.  Some were Calvinists, and some were Arminians.  Some have loved to use liturgy, and some to use none.  But one thing, I see, they all had in common.  They have all been people of prayer. 

Here's an overview of the content.

Introduction
"Men ought always to pray."  Luke 18:1
"I will that men pray everywhere." 1 Timothy 2:1
I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, DO YOU PRAY?

The outline of the body of the tract is as follows. 

I. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDFUL TO A PERSON'S SALVATION.


II. I ASK AGAIN WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE A HABIT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE SUREST MARKS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN.


III. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE THERE IS NO DUTY IN RELIGION SO NEGLECTED AS PRIVATE PRAYER. 


IV. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS AN ACT OF RELIGION TO WHICH THERE IS GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT.


V. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE DILIGENCE IN PRAYER IS THE SECRET OF EMINENT HOLINESS.


VI. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE NEGLECT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CAUSES OF BACKSLIDING.


VII. I ASK, LASTLY, WHETHER YOU PRAY BECAUSE PRAYER IS ONE OF THE BEST MEANS OF HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT.


Let me speak a parting word to THOSE WHO DO NOT PRAY.


Let me speak, lastly, TO THOSE WHO DO PRAY.

Conclusion:  "I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying church. My Heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this tract is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that they are not praying amiss."--J.C. Ryle

I hope this outline has wet your appetite to read the full text of J.C. Ryle's tract at the Revival Library.  You may also purchase it for $2.99 from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Call-Prayer-J-C-Ryle/dp/0972237402.