RHYTHMS OF PRAYER

Most of us remember the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den from our childhood. That is part of the value and beauty of stories. We never forget them. The other officials in the Persian Empire devised a scheme in their jealousy of Daniel to have anyone praying to anyone but Darius the King in the next month to be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel’s response says much about his character.             

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” ^[1]

It is interesting to see that Daniel had a pattern of praying 3 times a day. Do you have a daily pattern of prayer? Our minds were created in a way that makes rhythms and patterns necessary. A great part of growing as a Christian involves developing patterns of obedience. And this is especially true of prayer.

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Da 6:10). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

A BLAST FURNACE OF PRAYER

 “It is unthinkable that we would send thousands of people overseas without covering them with a blast furnace of prayer.”– Tom Elliff, IMB president

In this week’s blog I want to encourage you to praise God and pray with me for a mighty work I see Him bringing about in our day. The International Mission Board has begun a training program called The School of Prayer For All Nations.
Their website, http://www.imb.org/main/pray/ , has this invitation, “IMB invites you to be a burning ember in the blast furnace of prayer emanating from our International Learning Center in Rockville, VA.  Join other intercessors and participate in an experiential school of prayer,
which will inspire and equip you:

To walk closer with God
To pray more fervently for spiritual awakening
To intercede more effectively for missionaries and the nations
To mobilize others to join you in prayer”

There are 3 more dates for this school in 2013, September 2 – 6; October 28 – November 1;
December 2 – 6 and 11 weeks scheduled for 2014.

Pray with me for God to use this school and other means to produce a prayer army to shake the earth.

 

A LISTENING HEART

Are you praying for a listening heart? In 1 Kings 3 Solomon pleased God by praying for a discerning heart. The word Solomon used was a participle of "SHIMAH," the same word used in Deuteronomy 6:4 “hear.” Solomon asked specifically for a listening heart, to know how to govern God’s people and to know right from wrong. We need listening hearts even to know what to pray. I do not want my prayer life to be driven by lust or pride or rebellion or unbelief or anything in my sinful nature. We need the Spirit of God to give us listening hearts for His great grace and mighty power to be unleashed in our prayers.

PRAYING WITH JESUS

I could have titled this blog posting, PRAYING FOR PRAYER 3. I will explain that yet. But let me begin by asking how we see Jesus praying in the Gospels. He prayed all night before choosing His disciples. Have you ever prayed all night long? In the garden before the cross, He was amazed that His disciples could not even watch with Him for an hour. After feeding the multitude Jesus went up on the mountain to pray alone. Do you go from exhaustion and success directly to extended prayer? In fact prayer seems to have been woven into our Lord’s daily life. You cannot see him clearly if you do not observe Him in prayer.

It seems to me to be the height of arrogance to enter into any undertaking without extended prayer. How do we think we could make an impact on the world without the power of God that Jesus clearly depended on?

But you say, that was Jesus. We could not pray like Him anymore than we could walk on water. And I would certainly agree with you. That is why we need to walk in fellowship with Him allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire and enhance our prayers. O Father, work in my life, in our lives, today to pray more like Jesus.

 

PRAYING FOR PRAYER 2

Are you praying for prayer? I am praying for a movement of prayer. I am also praying for prayer in my own life. Prayer is grace from first to last. Would you like to become a mighty prayer warrior? That very desire is spawned in you by the Holy Spirit. It is grace. And you can pray for discipline to pray. You can pray for courage in your prayers. You can pray for God to encourage you when you are discouraged. You can ask God to remove the barriers in your heart to prayer. Pray for God to be mightily glorified in your own prayer life.