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Samuel Chadwick and His Passion for Prayer

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Samuel Chadwick (1860 – 1932) was born in the industrialized north of England and lived to become one of the greatest preachers of English Methodism. He grew up in a devout Methodist family and they shared their faith with their son. Young Samuel developed a strong work ethic and at the age of 8 he joined his father working 12-hour shifts in the cotton mills of England.

He received very little formal education. He was converted at the age of 10 and began the wonderful habit of praying three times a day. He started his preaching career at 16 and became a lay pastor at Stacksteads in Lancashire at 21.

Chadwick had a keen interest in biblical holiness which caused him to search the Scriptures daily to find out how to become more holy and rely less on his own efforts and more on the power of the Holy Spirit. This intense conviction led to Chadwick being filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. As a result of this experience he became convinced that the only hope for the church was that Christians would walk in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

Chadwick, as a young man, developed a great love for preaching and he traveled throughout Europe and North America sharing his passion for holiness and prayer. In addition to his preaching, Chadwick also served as the editor of the Joyful News Magazine for 27 years, became a tutor in biblical and theological studies at Cliff College at age 47, and later served as the college’s principal.

Throughout his life, Chadwick understood the need for and the incredible power of prayer and the importance of being filled with and walking in the Spirit. Below are some of his wonderful quotes on prayer that I hope will inspire you to pray more.1

“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”

“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer – of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat and blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.”

“Nothing would turn the nation back to God so surely and so quickly as a Church that prayed and prevailed. The world will never believe in a religion in which there is no supernatural power. A rationalized faith, a socialized Church and a moralized gospel may gain applause, but they awaken no conviction and win no converts.”

“It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth and mightier than all learning.”

“Prayer-meetings have died out because men did not believe in the Holy Ghost. The liberty of prophesying has gone because men believe in investigation and not in inspiration.”

“The great souls who became mighty in prayer and rejoiced to spend three and four hours a day alone with God were once beginners.”

“If prayer is the greatest achievement on earth, we may be sure it will call for a discipline that corresponds to its power.”

“The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul.”

“We are never really men of prayer in the best sense, until we’re filled with the Holy Ghost.”

“Who can measure the influence of an hour a day spent alone with God?”

“We do not pray to inform God. Neither do we pray to persuade Him, for His love needs neither to be induced nor coaxed.”

“It is wonderful what God can do with a broken heart, if He gets all the pieces.”

“Prayer gives vision in the secret place, intelligence in work, sense in judgment, courage in temptation, tenacity in adversity, and joyous assurance in the will of God.”

“Prayer is the acid test of devotion.”

“He manifests Himself to those who pray in secret as He cannot to those who have no inner sanctuary of the soul.”

“It ought to be possible to give God one hour of twenty-four all to Himself.”

“There is no better way to serve others than to pray for them. There is nothing about which I do not pray.  I go over all my life in the presence of God.  All my problems are solved there.”

“There is no way of learning to pray but by praying. No reasoned philosophy of prayer ever taught a soul to pray. We know not what we should pray for as we ought, and if prayer waits for understanding it will never begin. We discover by using. We learn by practice. Though a man should have all knowledge about prayer, and though he should understand all mysteries about prayer, unless he prays he will never learn to pray.”

“Great grief prays with great earnestness. Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is love if it be not fiery? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers.”

“The one thing that is said to have surprised God is that the voice of intercession had ceased. ‘And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor’ (Isaiah 59:16).”

“The Secret of Praying is Praying in Secret. The secret place of prayer calls for every faculty of mind and heart.”

“Hurry is the death of Prayer.”


1 All of the following quotes are from the websites below:

Inspirational Quotes by Samuel Chadwick

TOP 25 QUOTES BY SAMUEL CHADWICK (of 51) | A-Z Quotes

The Path of Prayer Quotes by Samuel Chadwick

Samuel Chadwick Quotes (Author of The Path of Prayer)

25 Samuel Chadwick Quotes on Prayer – prayer coach

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