Do you have a big prayer concern? Most of us do. Big concerns require big prayers. There are some difficulties that must be taken seriously and then prayed about with great intensity. We must pray like we mean it and then some.
My pastor shared a story of a father who had three grown sons who had been taught the ways of spiritual life but had walked away in another direction. His sons had chosen to live life without much thought of God and without any desire for the spiritual. This gravely troubled the father. He knew his sons were missing the most important element in life, their spiritual well-being and their relationship with God. This grieved the father and was of great concern. He decided there was only one thing to do and that was to go after it by committing himself to prayer on their behalf. It would not be a light treatment, either. I do not know if he fasted or not, but that is quite possible. The two go hand-in-hand.
The father made a choice to go to God in fervent prayer. He went off to a quiet location away from his home and responsibilities. For days he devoted himself to prayer, not just any kind of prayer, but deep prayer in regards to his three sons. He kept at it for days. He would not be deterred from his prayers and was determined to stay with it until there were visible results. After some time, things began to happen. One by one his sons contacted him to tell him about their spiritual awakening, each had encountered God in a new way and God had become real to them. All three sons were changed. It took the father giving up his time and agenda to focus his energy and purpose on the need for God in his sons’ lives. The father, also, became a changed man by having gone through this powerful experience. You see, you can’t pray focused prayer and not have it also change you. We have to empty ourselves of all our stuff and in the process we become cleansed and fit vessels for God’s enabling.
Not all prayers will have dramatic endings or the ending we expect. But this I do know to be true, all answers to our prayers will have God’s touch and response and will be according to God’s plan.
I am convinced we don’t pray as we ought most of the time. Some of our prayers may be self-focused or even selfishly focused. Have you learned to give your greatest concerns to God? Have you learned to say open-ended prayers like ‘show me what you would have me to do’ when talking with Father-God? Part of the deal is that we must surrender our will and way to seek God’s will and way. That is a very hard thing to do until we know God as our spiritual lover who cares deeply for us and has our best interest at heart. Once we feel, know, and understand this, then we are able to pray with fervency of heart, and we find ourselves wanting to serve Him in a very natural way. Our love for God gives us service-oriented hearts. Intimate prayers flow from a soul that is connected with the divine energy that flows from the God-head.
A few years back I wrote a speech about mothers for Mother’s Day. I had a greater purpose, however. My real purpose was to show, challenge, and encourage people to learn to pray with fervency, with meaningful prayer that makes a difference. For the follower of Christ, the depth of the experience is in relation to the expediency of the prayer. This type of prayer is effective and faith-bound, gracious and trust-filled. Prayer like this is prayer that people who effect change will engage in. It is attached at its very core to a living, dynamic, centered life in Christ.
I chose to pivot my talk on strong women of the faith. The common thread was where these women’s strength lay. They were strong because their prayers were fervent and passionate. We, as a people, like that which is real and genuine, not fake or disingenuous. What I shared with my audience was real, not fake, and it was based on historical facts. The women I talked about were Jesus’ mother, Samuel’s mother, Augustine of Hippo’s mother, Hudson Taylor’s mother, Mother Teresa, my grandmothers, my mother and a few others. All of these women prayed fervently and were devoted in their beliefs. They prayed for their children and were strong women of God. Their prayers were not middling prayers; they were powerful, fervent, relentless, and effective.
God recognizes sincerity when He sees it.
The stories supported the claim that strong prayers, prayed by sincere people, receive powerful answers from God. I shared about my own mother, who, during my growing up years, in the morning sat on the couch to read her Bible and would pray while we practiced the piano before catching the bus for school. I told how Augustine’s mother, Monica, went to mass every day, helped the poor, was devoted to God, and how she continually prayed and begged God for her son’s salvation; his conversion was astounding and remarkable, and is still impacting lives today. I told how Hudson Taylor’s mother went away for several days all the while praying for her teenage son to turn his life to God and how she didn’t return until she was convinced he had given his life to Christ, which he did during her time away. I talked about Mary and her response to the message from the angel, her virtue and awe exhibited by the words in her Magnificant, and how her heart broke to see her son on the cross. I spoke of Hannah, whose passionate prayer caused Eli, the priest, to deduce that she was drunk, but her prayer, and God’s response, contributed to history one of the spiritual greats, a man of God.
God answered these women’s prayers. None of their prayers were mediocre prayers. These were heart-wrenching requests of God, filled with petition and praise, and with humble acknowledgement of the God who hears and acts according to His good pleasure. Promises to God were made in their prayers, and kept. Some required sacrifice and unselfish giving on the part of these women. I think of Hannah, who promised her son to God. They knew the full surrender their prayers required and the devotion of their hearts to God and His perfect will. God, indeed, answers all prayer. The effectual prayer of a righteous person avails much.
I will begin the series, Prayer, People, and Power, next week. I hope you will join me.
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