I believe it is time to be praying for all our loved ones - the prodigals & those God has laid on our hearts - may this encourage you to pray earnestly!
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UNLEASHING THE POWER OF GOD
I pray it blesses all who read these words as it did those who heard them on Jan 24th 2007 here in my home church. God Bless Rev Ron Morrow
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"If we schedule a banquet, we can pack the church. But when we schedule a prayer meeting, we' are fortunate if a dozen people show up."I listened intently as the silver-haired pastor of one of the largest churches in America sat in his office and poured out his heart. As we talked, this humble, heavy-hearted servant of God reflected on those days earlier in this century when he was frequently privileged to witness the outpouring of Gods Spirit in genuine revival.
The secret to those extraordinary movements of God was not to be found in the methods, the music, the promotion, or the preaching. There have been many revivals without great preaching, singing, or promotion. But there has never been a mighty revival without mighty praying.
Prayer is to revival what labor is to childbirth. The woman who expects to have a child must endure labor pains and travail for a period of time prior to the joy of seeing that baby born. Likewise, there will be no revival apart from our willingness to agonize through the labor pains of prevailing prayer.
Prayer moves the hand of God to defeat the attacks of Satan against the Kingdom of Christ. The reality of this truth moved Samuel Chadwick to write: "The one concern of the Devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
Prayer unleashes the limitless, supernatural power of God into our circumstances. The marvelous promises of the Lord Jesus regarding the power of prayer stagger the imagination.
"If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14). "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 18:19).
"All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22).
Throughout history, Gods children have tested these promises and proven them to be true without exception. The pattern is generally the same: In the midst of dark and desperate days, Gods people humble themselves and cry out to Him for deliverance; in accordance with His promises, God hears from heaven, extends mercy, and moves to meet the needs of His children; as a result, His name is glorified among the lost. Without exception, when Gods people have united in specific prayer, He has heard, answered, provided, delivered, empowered, conquered--whatever was needed.
The glorious outpouring of Gods Spirit at Pentecost was birthed in a ten-day prayer meeting. The vibrant band of believers that "turned the world upside down" had no doubt about the priority or the power of prayer. In response to prayer, they enjoyed one of the greatest harvests of souls that the world has ever known. Demons, dungeons, disease, and disbelief were no match for the supernatural power of Christ that was released as a result of those first century prayer meetings.
Such mighty answers to prayer were not limited to the early church. Twenty centuries of church history are punctuated with accounts of divine intervention in response to united, fervent prayer. Although the earthly applause and recognition in times of spiritual awakening may be granted to the gifted orators and personalities who occupy the pulpits, I believe that heavenss headlines highlight those humble men and women who devote themselves to the ministry of intercession. Think, for example, of the great revival years ago in Lewis, the largest island of the Outer Hebrides . Students of revival will associate the name of Duncan Campbell with that gracious visitation.
Few, however, are familiar with Peggy and Christine Smith. Peggy was blind; her sister, Christine, was crippled with arthritis. Though little-known by men, they were well-known by God. Unable to leave their cottage even to attend church, these two godly elderly ladies sought God unceasingly until He opened the windows of Heaven and poured out a mighty manifestation of His power that engulfed the entire island of Lewis .
More than two centuries earlier, a little-known pastor in rural Epworth , England , knelt in his study and pled with God to send revival to his nation. As he frequently requested his wife to keep their 17 children from interrupting his prayer time, Samuel Wesley probably never imagined that the answer to his prayers was running up and down the hall outside that study. God raised up two of those children, John and Charles, to shake a continent for Christ.
Charles Grandison Finney stands as a giant in the records of revival in America . Only eternity will reveal how much of the spiritual fruit of his ministry was the result of the prayers of Abel Clery and Brother Nash. Day and night, isolated in dark, damp accommodations, these two prayer partners battled the forces of darkness as Charles Finney preached. In community after community, the fire of God fell in response to their earnest, prevailing prayer. And still today, God answers prayer! Space would not permit me to recount the literally hundreds of miraculous answers to prayer this ministry has experienced in church after church across America .
Specially-called times of extraordinary prayer have resulted in satanic strongholds being torn down, the bonds of sin and selfishness broken, and the glory of God dramatically released into hearts, homes, churches, and communities. With all my heart, I believe that God is able to turn the heart of this nation back to Himself. It is nothing for the omnipotent God of the universe to bring that hardened skeptic to repentance and faith, to reconcile that marriage that has been devastated by bitterness and unfaithfulness, to change or replace godless, humanistic legislators and civic authorities with God-fearing rulers, or to rekindle fresh love, devotion, and power in lifeless, backslidden churches.
But God has committed Himself to move in response to mens humility, dependence, and faith expressed through prayer. The unspeakable blessings of revival are reserved for those who wait for God in prayer (Isaiah 64:4). But the sin of prayerlessness ties the hands of God and limits His power. With a grieving heart, the ancient prophet cried out, "There is none that calleth upon Thy name; that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee . . . " (Isaiah 64:7).
God is so eager to pour out His reviving presence that He is diligently seeking for intercessors. "I sought for a man among them that . . . should stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none" (Ezekiel 22:30). Our generation has tried every conceivable way to experience spiritual reality. The need of the hour is not for more or better preaching, promotion, entertainment, programs, organizations, seminars, conferences, television and radio broadcasts, techniques or methods.
We are engaged in a battle "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).
The battle cannot be won with weapons and strategies designed and engineered by men. This battle must be waged and won in the prayer closet. Casual praying will not suffice. We must pray fervently. Oh, that God would endue us with the spirit of the Weeping Prophet: "Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven . . . Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord . . . " (Lamentations 3:48-50; 2:19).
Intermittent, sporadic praying will not do. If our generation is to experience genuine revival, we must pray persistently. Prayer must become as vital and natural a part of our lives as breathing. We must pray when we can feel the presence of God, and we must pray when the gates of heaven seem to be locked against us. Like the needy widow in Jesus' parable, we must knock relentlessly on the door of heaven, until God hears and answers. We must pray when it is convenient, and we must pray when great sacrifice is required. We must pray when we are strong, and we must pray when we feel that we have no strength left to pray. We must pray when we have time to pray; and we must pray when the demands on our schedules seem more than we can bear.
Listen to the words of Samuel Chadwick, a man who lived his life before the throne of God: "There is no power like that of prevailing prayer--of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Always there is the cost of passion unto blood.
Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God."
Dear friend, you may be a pastor, a teacher, a housewife, a factory-worker, a student, a businessman. Regardless of the way that you are serving God, will you respond to His call to pursue a life of prayer?
With humility, with boldness, with hearts made clean by the blood of Jesus, with reverence, adoration, tender love, and faith, let us draw near to God; let us press close and feel His heart; let us earnestly intercede on behalf of His church and His world; and let us cling to Him until He floods every crevice of our dark, sin-sick world with the glorious, healing light of His presence
Used With Permission: Rev Ronald Morrow
