Tag Archives: travail

Praying Prayers that Shake Things

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108220532We get a snap shot of the disciples praying in Acts 4:29–30. Peter and John had gone to their own Because of the threats from the Sanhedrin. Then all of them began asking the Lord to move in their behalf with power from on high, praying that they might see signs and wonders, enabling them to speak the Word with boldness. When they had finished, the place began to shake, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Resulting with them going forth in power.

When was the last time the place where we were praying began to shake from the power of God? Maybe we haven’t been touching God in prayer like we should. Lord Tennyson said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”

Prayer is to revival and God’s outpouring as evaporation is to a cloudburst of fresh rain. You can’t have the one without the other. As we pray, it’s like the evaporated water, ascending to the heavens. The clouds of heavens fill full of the prayers of saints. Then the clouds move to a dry and thirsty place, to pour down the

What we sow is what we shall reap. So then, let me ask, what are we sowing? (tweet)

rains of revival on the cracked desert soil of humanity. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” It is through prayer that we sow, cultivate the hard soil and reap a plentiful harvest. What we sow is what we shall reap. So then, let me ask, what are we sowing?

When the church begins to press in, laying hold of the promises of God, then we will finally come to the place of reaping God’s best. D.L. Moody once said, “The world has not yet seen what God can do through a person completely dedicated to Him.”

Will we stand in the gap before the Lord? Well, it is time that we answer that question with a thundering yes! This country is in need of a militant, praying church, possessing the land that the Lord has given us through tenacious prayer. Let me end with an inspiring story in history from David Shibleys’ book, A Force in the Earth.

“In 1806 a group of students at Williams College in Massachusetts sought refuge from a sudden rainstorm in a haystack. As the rain beat down, they turned their retreat into a prayer meeting. They asked God to use their lives. As they prayed, their

When the church begins to press in and lays hold of God’s promises, then we will reap God’s best.       (tweet)

faith rose to believe God could use them significantly to fulfill Christ’s great commission. When the rain subsided, they left with the rallying cry, “We can do it if we will!” This unobtrusive meeting went down in history as the Haystack Prayer Meeting. Today, this spontaneous prayer time is seen as the beginning of the mission Continue reading →

I Want It Now!

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200157668-001A society surrounded by the convenience of instant everything, brings a slow death to the tenacious spirit. Many people want prayers answered before their lips stop moving, unfortunately, many times, it doesn’t happen that way. The scriptures teach us in Colossians 4:2, “to continue earnestly in prayer,” and in Romans 12:12, it says “continuing steadfastly in prayer.”  We are exhorted to be persistent in our prayer life.

Jesus shares a parable in Luke 18:1-8, driving home the point of persistent prayer. It says, “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily…”

                        A society surrounded by the convenience of instant everything,                                   brings a slow death to the tenacious spirit.    (tweet)

            When I was young, I was told that if I asked or prayed for something more than once I would be praying in unbelief. That’s totally contrary to scripture! The continual knocking or coming to the judge brought the widow’s answer. The Bible does say in James 1:6-8, that we must have faith when we pray, but being continuously in prayer doesn’t mean you have unbelief. On the contrary, I think it indicates that you do have faith in God. Your action of continual asking shows you believe He will answer.

I like what Marilyn Hickey says, “Prayers are like seeds that are watered daily. Different ones take different lengths of time to sprout and to grow.” If you think about the farmer’s process, he plants his seed then waters it day after day until he sees a sprout breaking through the soil. The farmer is like the diligent believer who plants his seed and then through continual prayers of faith waters it until the answer breaks through and comes to pass. Keeping with this analogy, if praying continually is wrong then the farmer watering his seed daily would also be wrong.

                    Many people want prayers answered before their lips stop moving,                          unfortunately, many times, it doesn’t happen that way     (Tweet)

            Let’s look at I Kings 18:41-45. We see Elijah telling Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of an abundance of rain.” Then Elijah went to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray. That’s when this story gets very interesting. After Elijah prayed, he sent his servant to look for rain clouds. Six times his servant checked and didn’t see anything, Elijah continued in prayer. The scriptures say, “Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’ The downpour from that small cloud broke three and a half years of drought. This all happened because Elijah wouldn’t quit praying—he had faith to be steadfast in prayer.

            Living a life of prayer will always be a life of adventure and power. Ephesians 6:18 tells us, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication … with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”  In other words be tenacious and persistent in prayer. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see the answer to your prayers immediately. Keep knocking on Heaven’s door.

The Breaking point of Breakthrough

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Glacier1This morning while in my prayer time I felt the Holy Spirit gave me a picture lesson.  Many of the great glaciers in Alaska have worked their way down the slopes to the ocean. The face of these glaciers advance when more accumulation of snow and ice begin to mass then actually melts.

So these Ice Rivers begin to slowly move down the least resistant path just as a normal river that we are accustom to does. They are slowly being coerced by gravity at such slow speeds that you cannot see the movement unless you measure it or visit where they meet the ocean.  This is one of Alaska’s most common boat tours. People come to watch huge slices of the glaciers breaking off and crashing into the ocean. It makes such a splash that it sends ripples of gigantic waves and icebergs speedily going forth affecting all that’s in its ways.

We have continued to pray and stand for God’s purposes in our lives and communities for years. Through it all there are times of great spiritual accumulation and increase and there are times of dryness, melting and decrease in the spiritual climate.

But as we press into God there is a shifting and movement that begins to happen. Whether we see it or not! Though the evidence might seem prehistoric or even non-existent the result screams “we’re wrong”. Just as in the case of the glaciers, if you are on the mountain top or along the glacier in a valley somewhere, you cannot see the movement at all. But it is moving and carrying rocks and debris for miles and even grinds it to powder along the way. This massive scraping and eroding of anything that stands in the way causes the surface to become smoother and ultimately pick up speed.

Yet, unless you are down on the vast sea and open ocean you cannot see the true affects. Isn’t it much the same way in our spiritual lives? Unless we get down where the rubber meets the road or in the midst of the sea of people going about their miserable daily lives we will not see the results of our cry for revival.

People may come to watch the great splash and waves of revival from everywhere. But, without the courageous and unselfish spiritual intercessors that contend high in the mountains and down in the midst of the valleys for revival there would be no movement or let alone waves of refreshing that crashes into the sea of humanity.

Our contending in prayer is making a shift and movement! Whether you are seeing it or not the results in the valley you’re in, is definitely happening.

There is coming in the near future a wave of revival and crashing interruption of God’s glory that will send ripples in every direction affecting everything in its way.  Marriages, rebellious children, lost loved ones, physical afflictions and so many other things that need a wave of God’s glory to change them.

Don’t quit now!

It’s coming so get ready and anticipate it!    It seems slow but it’s so close!     It’s “Slow Close”.