The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer

by E.M. Bounds

E.M. Bounds truly followed the charge to pray without ceasing. It was as normal and essential to him as breathing. But though he was in prayer constantly, it never became a chore to him. Throughout his life, whether he was ministering to troops during the Civil War or bringing God's Word to his congregation, E.M. Bounds relished his time in conversation with God.
Though only two of his books were published in his lifetime, The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer combines all eight of Bounds's classic treatments of prayer.

Genres: Prayer, Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Christianity, Spirituality, Religion

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Edward McKendree Bounds was a Methodist minister, revivalist, author and lawyer.

Unsuccessful in the California gold rush of 1849, E.M. Bounds returned home to Missouri and became the state’s youngest practicing attorney at age 19. In his early twenties he was deeply impacted by the Third Great Awakening, and at age 24 he was ordained for ministry. During his lifetime he pastored churches, traveled as an evangelist, served as a Civil War chaplain, edited a Christian periodical and was a devoted husband and father. But E.M. Bounds is best known for prayer. His daily habit was to spend the time between 4 am and 7 am praying. His writings on prayer are widely acclaimed to be among the finest of any author before or since.

Reviews

[David Mullen]

If you want to know just how much things have changed in the last 150 years, in terms of spirituality and faith, you should read this book. Then again, if you want to see just how little they have changed you should also read this book, for the challenges Bounds lays forth are essentially the same ones we would lay before Christians today. Questions are the order of the day: Do you want to lead,Do you want to pastor, Do you want to preach, teach, be a missionary, see God change the world...Bounds has only a one word answer for you, and it's the same as his (highly recommended) book. Prayer.

[Clarkboys6]

How much do you value your sleep. If you decide to go on this journey with E.M Bounds, be prepared for a life-changing experience. For anyone desiring a deeper walk with Christ and a more intimate relationship with God, this book is required reading. No longer will you be content with a few stolen moments in distracted prayer. Bounds will convince you that your powerless walk and constant hunger for more of God is but a symptom of a stunted prayer life. If you are content, complacent, and satisfied with superficial Christianity...avoid this book at all cost. It will drive you to your knees!

[Lara]

One of the best quotes in the book that has stuck with me... "Praying will either make you leave sinning or sinning will make you leave praying!" Classic great book!

[Wendy Huffman]

One of the best books on prayer I have ever read. Excellent book on the vitally important privilege of communicating with the Almighty, very personal God. I would highly recommend this book to all of my friends. It will challenge, chide, and encourage simultaneously! I will read it again. And again.

[Ron Murphy]

My favorite Christian book of all-time...if you want to learn how to pray, this is the only book you'll need (besides the Bible, of course....Occasionally, I want to go back and reread works that have moved me and encouraged me in the past. And if it's a personal relationship with God you want, there is no better "how-to" book. Church life I'm kinda tiring on but growing a deeper relationship with God is something I'm always desiring.

[Kathy]

This book will make you reevaluate your concept of prayer and your faith in God's willingness and ability to answer those prayers. Bounds conveys the fact that superficial prayers are empty and pointless, and that earnest prayers are an essential part of a Christian's relationship with the God of all creation. You won't read this and come away with the same mindset of "surface" praying. It contains all eight of Bounds' books on prayer. Highly recommended!

[Heather]

Let's say that if prayer were hard work (and it is), this is the whip that drives me to my knees. It's divided into sub-sections that make it a book that can be worked through over a long period of time (I still am). I love that he calls prayer a "struggle" and a "wrestling" with God. Read it. You'll be glad you did.

[Cindy]

Can't say enough about this book. Introduced it to my husband and he agrees, it is the best book on prayer. It is challenging to read. But so worth it. If one is interested in prayer, this is a must read book.

[Keila]

No personal library is complete without The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer! It will forever change what you think about prayer. It will change your life.

[Scott Shafer]

This is an excellent book that every Christian needs in their personal library. E.M. Bounds classics on prayer will motivate you to the prayer life that God desires for all of his children to have.

[Carrie Daws]

I'm marking this done for now because I've finished the first book in the collection and I need to sit and soak in all I've read. This is not a light-hearted read for someone wanting to know more about prayer. Instead, it's deep and thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring. This is a book I will return to many times over the next several years, both to remind myself of what I've read and to read a little more.

[Seth]

I loved this book! I highly recommend it!! Have you ever been convicted about your lack of sufficient praying? This book stirs that fire! Read this book and watch God continue to prod you to spend more time with Him!

[Andy Anderson]

Great book on a man who prayed great prayers. Awesome book on prayer.

[Joshua Butler]

Need to pray more

[Joshua Pearsall]

this book has many great things in it, and many things I would call a stretch of the biblical text. There definitely many good nuggets, but in things such as "Daniel conquering the nation" and how seriously the people who rejected Jeremiah to his prayer I would argue are being exegeted incorrectly.

[Bret James Stewart]

This is a collection of eight short volumes by E.M. (Edward McKendree) Bounds. He is less known than many Christian authors. He wrote other books, but he always loved prayer, and one gets the feeling that his books on prayer were his favourites. Bounds was a Methodist Episcopal South pastor and writer in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The denomination was also known as the Southern Methodist Church, and it is now defunct; through various mergers, it survives today as the United Methodist Church. His daily practice was to spend several hours in morning prayer. His devotion to the practice shines through in his collected works on the subject.

This book is well-made. I read the hardcover version, which I really like because hardbacks are sturdier, last longer than paperbacks, and I also like to open books and lay them on a table so I can take notes and/or do research without having to open and close the text repeatedly, and hardcover books are conducive to this. The cover art is an attractive retro piece I assume was on an individual book.

The books included in the collection:
Power Through Prayer
Prayer and Praying Men
Purpose in Prayer
The Essentials of Prayer
The Necessity of Prayer
The Possibilities of Prayer
The Reality of Prayer
The Weapon of Prayer

Chapters are short, so the reader may want to approach the book as a devotional, reading one or two chapters per day. For some reason, Bounds sometimes chose to have consecutive chapters with the second a continuation of the subject and title of the first—perhaps they were originally serial for journal publication as the author was the editor of two denominational journals over the course of his career. In this collection, this seems unnecessary as they could have been readily combined. In such a long work on prayer, there is some repetition. This would not be as noticeable in the individual volumes, but it stands out in the collection, with all the material together. Bounds seems to be Dispensational in his theology and practical in his approach. Overall, the volume is not heavily scholarly. There are some (generally partial) in-text references to authors and other books, but there are no footnotes or indices, so this is not the greatest book for those doing research except for those satisfied with biblical citations. Bounds’ goal was praxis, and I posit that the lack of references would have been less of an issue in the individual books as he wrote them. The author’s style is approachable, and he writes directly to the reader, often in the first person plural. This results in the book seeming to be conversational. This is an antiquated stylistic, though some authors use this approach today.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the subject of prayer and the application of the same. The text could also be used selectively, with the reader engaging only with those portions related to a topic of interest . I am a completionist at heart, and I have a hard time reading only a segment of a book aside from books designed for this purpose such as encyclopedia, so I read the book cover to cover. It was not a waste of time as I took it slowly, reading two or three chapters at a time to keep the material fresh and distinct. Overall, I would rank the book 3.5 stars, but, since Goodreads only allows full star rankings, I bumped it up to 4.

[Candace Jane Coran]

Prayer is my all in all, to experience the depths of God...

I would recommend this book to all in the modern church of today...holiness is not to be left to early history books, we all need a revival in our prayer closets today. I want all of God in my life and prayer must be number one in securing His presence.

[Khari]

I can't really say I enjoyed this book.

I read it, there were some parts that were quite convicting and many more parts that didn't make sense.

Sometimes the author contradicts himself and so that made it even more difficult to understand.

A good book to read if you are interested in living a more prayerful life.

[Peter Yoshonis]

Reading through the epic became a walk through the life and experiences of EM Bounds. I cannot point to one significant aspect of this work, but through reading it th call to prayer and images of inspiration have grabbed me... Loved this!

[Rod Jetton]

This book gave me so much more faith in my prayers. It is 7 books packed in to this volume and each of them will show with scripture how God answers our prayers. It will make you a better Christian and a better praying Christian. I try and read this book each year.

[Larry Taylor]

a spiritual classic ... must read for every believer

[Michelle]

The best book on prayer I have ever read! I am slowly making my way through this one, but I have learned so much already.

[Sandra]

an awesome and insightful book... difficult to read the first time but mighty and powerful blessings flow from the words... Take your time with this one.

[Angie]

Great book.

[Laura]

The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer by E. M. Bounds (1990)

[Jeff]

most complete and beneficial study of prayer I have ever read! Excellent stuff.

[Ken Cheeseman]

The best collection on prayer.

[Shiloh]

This is an amazing resource, I would read a chapter for my devotional time. It was very inspiring.

[Vaughn]

Wonderful compilation of Bounds' writings on prayer.

[John Richardson]

Prayer is the lifeline of the spirit and E.M. Bounds is the long-standing authority on prayer. This complete volume should be read yearly in my opinion.