Ray's Blog

Prayer is boring

Written by: Ray Ortlund

“The work of the Spirit can be compared to mining.  The Spirit’s work is to blast to pieces the sinner’s hardness of heart and his frivolous opposition to God.  The period of the awakening can be likened to the time when the blasts are fired.  The time between the awakenings corresponds, on the other hand, to the time when the deep holes are bored with great effort into the hard rock.

To bore these holes is a task which tries one’s patience.  To light the fuse and fire the shot is not only easy but also very interesting work.  One sees ‘results’ from such work.  It creates interest too; shots resound, and pieces fly in every direction. . . . .

The Spirit calls us to do the quiet, difficult, trying work of boring holy explosive material into the souls of the unconverted by daily and unceasing prayer.  This is the real preparatory work for the next awakening.”

Ole Kristian Hallesby, Prayer (Minneapolis, 1944), pages 76-77.

This post was originally published on The Gospel Coalition