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  "path": "/2026/03/23/prayer-is-food-for-the-soul/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-23T05:05:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://juicyecumenism.com",
  "tags": [
    "Wesleyan",
    "Ps. 35:18",
    "1 Thess. 5:17",
    "Ryan N. Danker",
    "John Wesley Institute",
    "here",
    "please consider a gift today here",
    "Prayer is Food for the Soul",
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  "textContent": "_“You may as well expect a child to grow without food as a soul without private prayer.”_ -John Wesley\n\nJohn Wesley believed in the power of prayer. He experienced it. And he encouraged faithful Christians to pray together in worship and to set aside time for what he often called “private prayer.” In this quote from a letter that he wrote to the Methodist societies in Bristol in 1764, his view of the necessity of prayer is clear to see.\n\nOur prayer lives are multifaceted. We are called in the Old Testament to pray together “in the great congregation” (Ps. 35:18). St. Paul famously wrote in the New Testament that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), which Wesley described as “the fruit of always rejoicing in the Lord,” but can also be described as having a constant awareness of God’s presence. At times, our prayers may be a response to the challenges of life.\n\nFor Wesley, prayer is the heartbeat of the Christian life. A Christian life is a life of prayer.\n\n“Private prayer” is another element within this life of prayer. This can mean simply sitting with the Lord and bringing to Him our praise and our concerns. It can also be structured prayer. My own routine is to use the service of Morning Prayer from the _Book of Common Prayer_ , with its Scripture readings, written prayers, and time for extemporaneous prayer. The important thing is to be intentional.\n\nWesley used both written prayers, such as the Prayer Book, but also less structured times of prayer. Next to what is now known as Wesley’s Chapel, the center of Methodist work from the 1770s onward, you’ll find his home. It’s a classic eighteenth-century townhouse with four floors. But just off of his bedroom is a small room with a window.\n\nIt was in this small room that Wesley often prayed. I don’t know if he had a kneeler in the room, but if you look on the floor, you can see the marks where he knelt in prayer. He spent hours in this room in prayer. It is for this reason that the room is often called “the powerhouse of Methodism” and it is holy place. Many pray there to this day.\n\nFollowing Jesus’ example, who so often went away by himself to pray, Wesley prayed because he knew the power of prayer; a power that is available to each and every one of us at every moment, food for our souls laid on the table for us and ready now.\n\n* * *\n\n_Ryan N. Danker is director of the_ John Wesley Institute_, Washington, DC_.  _This is reposted from a weekly JWI newsletter that can be subscribed to_ here_._\n\n* * *\n\n**P.S.** The ministry of the JWI is made possible by faithful donors like you. Our mission is to equip the church with solid, accessible, scripture-based teaching from the Wesleyan tradition, please consider a gift today here!\n\nThe post Prayer is Food for the Soul appeared first on Juicy Ecumenism.",
  "title": "Prayer is Food for the Soul"
}