A Call to Prayer by Randy Hekman

 

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

 

 

Matthew Henry said, “When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them a-praying!” Oswald Chambers put it this way, “Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work; it IS the greater work.” The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”

 

Prayer. So simple, yet so profound. Through prayer, we are ushered into the throne room of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who loves us and who is capable of meeting our every need. It’s a tool that every human—rich or poor, young or old— has access to. Yet, despite its power, prayer is a resource that too often goes underutilized or is totally ignored.  

 

While God hears every sincere prayer prayed in the prayer closet, His ears and heart are particularly in tune with the united, desperate, humble and repentant prayers of His people. Each prayer is like adding another stick to the fires of revival and spiritual awakening.

 

Fellow followers of Christ, will you do your part and add your prayers for God to move mightily in your life, your family, your church, your community and our nation?

 

Some prayer pointers:

 

• Consider that Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but He did teach them how to pray and backed it up with His own example.

 

• Scripture says we have not because we ask not. (James 4:2) We need to ask and keep on asking. In both Luke 11:1-13 and Luke 18:1-8, Jesus encourages us to be persistent in our prayers.

 

• A good guideline for prayer is: if something you desire to pray about: (1) is consistent with Scripture; (2) will glorify God, and (3) is placed on your heart by the Holy Spirit to pray for, then keep praying with faith until God answers.

 

• While there are many excellent resources for prayer, one of the best is the classic by Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer.