E. M. Bounds Books: A Guide to All 10 and Which to Read First
E. M. Bounds wrote more about prayer than almost anyone of his time. He was a Methodist preacher in the American South who gave his last years to praying and writing, and he died in 1913. Only a few of his books came out while he was alive. Most were prepared from his manuscripts after his death, chiefly by his friend Homer W. Hodge, who called them the "Spiritual Life Books." For his life story, see who was E. M. Bounds.
TheWay Library has ten books by Bounds, all free to read online. Seven are about prayer. The other three are about heaven, Satan and the resurrection. Here is what each one covers and where to begin.
Where to start
If you have never read Bounds, start with Power Through Prayer. It is his best-known book and one of his shortest, about two hours of reading. Next read Purpose in Prayer, which makes the case for persistent, definite prayer for every believer. After that, choose by interest: the Bible's praying saints, the prayers of Jesus, or the promises and answers of God.
A simple order for the prayer books:
- Power Through Prayer
- Purpose in Prayer
- The Essentials of Prayer
- The Reality of Prayer
- Prayer and Praying Men
- The Possibilities of Prayer
The prayer books overlap. Bounds came back to the same convictions again and again: God works through people who pray, prayer must be earnest and persistent, and a holy life and real prayer can't be separated. Each book comes at those convictions from a different side.
The prayer books
Power Through Prayer
Twenty short chapters on the prayer life of the preacher. Bounds' point is that God works through people, not methods, and so the man in the pulpit matters more than his sermon. The book opens with the line many readers know him by:
Men are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.
Power Through Prayer, Chapter I
It was written for ministers, but any Christian who serves others will find it searching. See our Power Through Prayer summary, or read Power Through Prayer.
Purpose in Prayer
Thirteen untitled chapters on why prayer matters and how to pray with a definite aim. Bounds builds on God's word to His Son in Psalm 2, "Ask of Me," and argues that the progress of God's kingdom waits on the prayers of His people. The book's best-known teaching is on importunity, praying until the answer comes. It is also full of stories: Wesley praying for wind at sea, George Müller's deck chair, Hudson Taylor's ship and the bedridden woman who prayed for Moody in London.
More praying and better is the secret of the whole matter.
Purpose in Prayer, Chapter III
For a closer look, see our Purpose in Prayer summary, the book's best quotes, and what Bounds teaches about importunate prayer. Read Purpose in Prayer.
The Essentials of Prayer
Thirteen chapters that pair prayer with other parts of the Christian life: humility, devotion, praise and thanksgiving, trouble, consecration, compassion, praying together, and missions. It is the most practical of the set and a good choice for a small group, since each chapter stands on its own. It begins with the whole person:
It takes the whole man to pray, and prayer affects the entire man in its gracious results.
The Essentials of Prayer, chapter 1
Read The Essentials of Prayer.
The Reality of Prayer
This book turns to Jesus as the teacher and example of prayer. After opening chapters on prayer as a privilege, Bounds studies Christ's teaching on prayer, the prayer incidents in His life, the Lord's Prayer, His prayer in John 17 and His prayer in Gethsemane. The last chapters are on the Holy Spirit as our helper in prayer. Bounds defines prayer near the start:
It is communion and intercourse with God. It is enjoyment of God. It is access to God.
The Reality of Prayer, chapter 1
If you want to learn to pray from the Gospels, read this one. Read The Reality of Prayer.
Prayer and Praying Men
A book of Bible biographies. After two chapters on the praying saints of the Old Testament, Bounds gives a chapter each to Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Hezekiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Samuel and Daniel, then several chapters on Paul as a man of prayer and his requests for prayer. Of the Old Testament leaders he writes:
Prayer is the one thing which stands out prominently in their lives.
Prayer and Praying Men, chapter 1
It works well alongside your Bible reading, one person at a time. Read Prayer and Praying Men.
The Possibilities of Prayer
The chapters here move from prayer and the promises of God to the wide reach of prayer, its history, answered prayer, prayer miracles, and prayer and God's providence. Bounds argues that prayer moves God to act and gathers many accounts of answers from Scripture and Christian history. It pairs naturally with chapter 9 of Purpose in Prayer, which makes the same point in brief. Read The Possibilities of Prayer.
The other books
Heaven: A Place, a City, a Home
Bounds insists that heaven is a real place, not a vague idea, and then writes about it as a state, a kingdom and an inheritance, and finally as a home. Along the way he covers the graces that fit a believer for heaven, the Christian's citizenship there, suffering and heaven, and the hope of meeting again those who have gone before. It is a comforting book for anyone who is grieving. Read Heaven: A Place, a City, a Home.
Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow
A study of what the Bible says about the devil: his beginning, his personality, his work in the church and the world, his power and his methods. The final chapters are on the Christian's defense, and they come back to prayer, watchfulness and leaving the devil no room, from Paul's words "Neither give place to the devil." Read Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow.
The Resurrection
One of the books Bounds published in his lifetime. He defends the resurrection of Jesus and of the body against the doubts of his day, and writes about Christ as the firstfruits, the nature of the raised body, and the hope it gives believers. Read The Resurrection.
The Ineffable Glory: Thoughts on the Resurrection
A later book on the same subject, built largely from the same material as The Resurrection and arranged under new chapter headings, such as "Not Another Body but the Same" and "Our Bodies Changed Instantaneously at Second Coming of Christ." If you have read one, you have read most of the other. Read The Ineffable Glory.
A note on these editions
The texts of The Possibilities of Prayer, Heaven, Satan, The Resurrection and The Ineffable Glory were restored from scans of the first printings and are still being proofread, so you may find an odd word here and there. The other five come from proofread transcriptions.
Why read Bounds today
Bounds is not easy reading. His sentences are short and blunt, and he doesn't let the reader off the hook. But his books keep finding new readers because he writes as a man who prayed, not as a man who only studied prayer. He calls Christians back to the closet, to the Bible and to the God who answers.
Start with Power Through Prayer, then go on to Purpose in Prayer. You can see all ten books together on the E. M. Bounds author page or browse more books on prayer.