Prayer is the greatest privilege of any believer’s life, yet it is often the most neglected. Do we ever wonder why prayer is so difficult to maintain as a part of our Spiritual Disciplines? There can be many reasons such as lack of discipline, or lack of hunger, or too many distractions, or just not realizing how powerful and important prayer is.
It has been said that God does nothing except through prayer. Jesus said we should always pray and not get faint or grow weary. Paul told the church of Thessalonica to pray without ceasing. So prayer is critically important to us.
During the next 40 days, I feel a sense of urgency to call the church together to pray for many within our local body and also for the church at large. I feel a sense of urgency to pray for our nation. This is an election year and we must seek God for the right men and women to fill our government offices, local or federal.
The church of Jesus Christ desperately needs prayer as so many are compromising with the philosophy of the world and this philosophy is slipping into many pulpits. We need to pray that our church pastors and leaders will preach the uncompromised gospel of Jesus Christ and that the church will once again experience the power and presence of God as did the early church. We too want the reputation of being a people who turn our city upside down.
So, during the next 40 days, what if we would “tithe” a portion of our day to prayer and seeking God? So, let’s remove our average sleeping time of 8 hours (does anyone really sleep this much daily?J) and tithe on the remaining 16 hours. This means we spend 1.6 hours or approx. 96 minutes each day in prayer, praise, mediation or the pursuit of God in His Word. Just 96 minutes would be less time than most spend watching TV at night.
Those present two weeks ago at Impact remember the incredible manifested Presence of God during our service. Many were touched, healed, saved, refreshed during this time and will never be the same again. I believe I heard the Lord say “I’m teaching you little by little how to steward My Presence”. Prayer is key to the manifested Presence of God. Prayer is key to revival. Prayer is key to repentance and we must pray at all times.
I’m inviting you to join me in this 40 day pursuit of God. No registration is required and no entry fee is demanded. Just 96 minutes of your time each day.
Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about.’ (NET)