Edward M. (Edward McKendree) Bounds

Born in Shelby County, Missouri, in 1835, Edward McKendree Bounds first trained as a lawyer before entering the Methodist ministry. He later became widely known as E. M. Bounds, an American author and clergyman whose books centered especially on prayer and the inner life of faith.

His life crossed several callings. In addition to pastoral work, he served in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and sources describe him as having lived through the Civil War era in ways that strongly marked his ministry and writing. Readers still return to him for his direct, practical style and for the seriousness with which he treated prayer.

Bounds died in Washington, Georgia, in 1913. Only a small part of his work appeared during his lifetime, but his books continued to circulate afterward and helped establish him as one of the best-known Christian writers on prayer.