Author: Phil Shappard
Submitted: December 11, 2021
Tell us a little about yourself. I worked for more than 30 years at the Moody Bible Institute first starting at radio station WMBI in 1983. It was there that I started working on extending the pulpit ministry of pastor and author A.W. Tozer from a library of his recorded sermons. It was quite by accident in late 2019 that my ears picked up on a rather different voice that Mr. Tozer used in one of his prayers from his Chicago church. After transcribing it and sharing it with friends, I transcribed yet another. It was actually the responses from friends as well as my own heart that God used to prompt me to locate and transcribe close to 200 pastoral prayers of this great man of God. Approaching the Almighty contains 100 of them.
What was your motivation behind this project? Whether one has read or listened to A.W. Tozer they are struck with his keen insight into the person of God. Few Bible teachers today devote so much of their public ministry to the exploration of the many attributes of God. Mr. Tozer did! Studying Tozer's authoritative thoughts founded upon prayer, Scripture and the writings of the church fathers, peals back many years of lost thought on the majesty and grandeur of God. These teachings and more specifically, his actual pulpit prayers reveal much of the secret behind his effectiveness over the seventy-five years since he penned his first book.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? A.W. Tozer would be the first to say it is important to learn to pray out of your heart. He said once that the best prayer is not the form of a prayer someone else has written, but in saying that, he immediately remembered that all 150 Psalms are the recorded prayers. He believed they teach us how to pray and that we in the spirit of them "can have a spontaneous utterance of prayer." Therefore, in alignment of what Mr. Tozer said, it is my hope and prayer that God will use these prayers as a pattern for those behind the pulpit as well as those sitting in the pew, to come into a more fruitful experience as they too approach God in prayer.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Having a library of messages and prayers by the famous Christian thinker and undisputed teacher on the attributes of God, one cannot but be affected deeply by the contemplation of what he has spoken and written. Most people know Mr. Tozer from his writings. I in turn had listened to him for several years before reading any of his books. This project in particular caused me to examine my own prayer routine which revealed it was far from what God's Word showed it should be and could be. I have now found the secret of praying with an open Bible and engaging our Heavenly Father more in dialogue as speaking with One who is immensely pleased with me coming to him and is as one whom is a friend and cares deeply for me with a steadfast love.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? First and foremost, the ministry of Dwight L. Moody and his first superintendent, Reuben Archer Torrey were both instrumental in establishing within me a desire and heart-longing to be all that I can possibly be by the power and indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Mr. Tozer once said, "you can be as spiritual as you want to be." Such a simple, but profound statement. It falls upon my will to fully implement its commencement here with completion only occurring when present someday with the Lord.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: If your time of prayer is anything but a sweet time of communion with your Savior, get a copy of this book and examine the words of a man who was known for his deep thoughts on the character of God. Somethings only come to the human heart through prayer that is based thoroughly on Scripture.
