WEEKLY
DEVOTIONS
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more devotionals!! This message is an excerpt from the booklet, "Strong Meat For Strong Christians." Click here for your FREE copy! "THE POWER
OF PRAYER" "If my people, which
are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I
will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and will
heal their land." Ask anyone who has been involved in a great revival
where many souls were saved and they'll tell you it all
began with prayer. Every great move of God is preceded by
prayer. However, there seems to be a lack of desire in
the church to pray. Even though we gain strength and
power through praying... prayer meeting (if there is one)
is the least attended service of all the weekly church
services. Folks will come out to hear a special speaker,
they'll go hear a singing group in concert, they'll come
out to eat Homecoming dinner, they'll even squeeze
Vacation Bible School into their schedules...but when
it's time to pray they stay home!! Friend, the church
that lacks prayer power is a defeated church and the
christian that lacks the discipline to pray is a defeated
christian! In Luke 11:1, the Bible tells us that Jesus was
praying and his disciples were with him. When He had
finished "one of His disciples said to
Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'" The
disciples could have asked Jesus for anything --
but instead, they asked Him how to pray! Friend, of all
the things you can learn in this world, you haven't
learned anything if you don't know how to pray! The South
American President once said, "The difference
between North & South America is: South America was
settled by men seeking gold; North America was settled by
men seeking God!" Daniel was a praying man. The Bible tells us that he
prayed three times a day, even after the king made a
decree outlawing prayer. This little poem sums up what
happened when Daniel was caught praying: When Daniel's
faith was put to the test.... It didn't take long for him
to declare.... That he'd rather try to live with a
lion--Than live one day without prayer! Daniel valued his
relationship with God through prayer more than his own
life. No wonder God sent an angel to deliver him! So,
where is prayer on your priority list? When you stop
praying you become vulnerable to the enemy. If there's
one thing I've learned in my life it's this: prayer will
keep a man from sinning or sin will keep him from
praying! Some people view God as some high and lofty,
unapproachable God who continues to separate Himself from
us because He is too holy to be bothered by us. If that
is your God, then my advice to you is: drop him
and find the real one! The Bible teaches us that
our Heavenly Father actually wants to spend time
with His kids. Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need." God has swung His door wide
open for us to come in anytime we want and talk with Him.
Your Heavenly Father wants to hear from you...how long
has it been since He's heard your voice? In Matthew 26:41, Jesus told His disciples in the
Garden of Gethsemane, "Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak." He
turned, walked about a stone's throw away from them and
knelt down. It was the night before He was to be
crucified. If there was ever a time when Jesus needed the
comfort of His Father it was on this night. The
Bible tells us that Jesus prayed so fervently that His
sweat turned into great drops of blood. Friend, when was
the last time you prayed until you broke the sweat? God
doesn't want to hear you only when you want something. He
wants you to share your joys, heartaches, happiness, and
anger with Him. Tell Him how you really
feel. When Jesus had finished talking to His Father, He
walked back down the path to where His disciples were
waiting for Him. But as He approached them He could see
that instead of praying, they were sleeping. And as the
blood on His forehead glistened in the moonlight, tears
began to fill His eyes. He reached over and gently shook
Peter to arouse him and asked, "Could
you not watch with me one hour?" That
question is being asked of us today. While Jesus is
sitting at the right hand of God interceding for the
lost, the church has been lulled to sleep by the enemy.
It is time for the church to "awake out
of slumber and arise from the dead...redeeming the time,
because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:14,16) We
must stop praying with a "take-it-or-leave-it"
attitude. We must stop praying chance prayers. We must
stop offering that which costs us nothing and realize
that the only power that God yields to is that of prayer! Friend, let me ask you a question: When was the last
time you wrestled while in prayer? Ephesians 6:12 says, "For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places." How do you wrestle against
spiritual wickedness? Through PRAYER! In his book, Why Revival Tarries, Leonard
Ravenhill writes, "We will display our gifts,
natural or spiritual; we will air our views, political or
spiritual; we will preach a sermon or write a book to
correct a brother in doctrine. But who will storm hell's
stronghold? Who will say no to the devil? Who will deny
himself good food or good company or good rest that Hell
may gaze upon him wrestling, embarrassing demons,
liberating captives, depopulating Hell, and leaving, in
answer to his travail, a stream of blood-washed souls? "When believers lacking births become burdened,
and when soul-sterility sickens us, then we will pulsate
with holy fear, and pray with holy fervor, and produce
with holy fertility. At God's counter there are no 'sale
days,' for the price of revival is ever the
same--travail!" We are in a battle. Are you willing
to wrestle your family, your finances, and your joy away
from the Devil? Are you willing to travail before God for
the lost and hurting souls around you? These are the
questions that God is asking and you must answer
them--today! Pastor Yonggi Cho pastors the world's largest church:
Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. This church has
over 700,000 members and more than 50,000 deacons! A few
years ago, I had the privilege of seeing Pastor Cho in
person and hearing him minister at Brownsville Assembly
of God near Pensacola, Florida. I want to share with you
a portion of what he taught us that night. Even though he
now pastors the world's largest church, it wasn't always
that way. In fact, he started with only 30 members! In
his words, "Back then, I did alot of praying. Not
because I was so spiritual...but when you only have 30
members in your church, you have alot of free time on
your hands! So I would pray four to five hours a day. The
first hour or two, I would do nothing but spiritual
warfare against the Devil. Then I would feel a release in
my spirit and the glory of God would fill the room! The
Lord Jesus gave me a vision of a large church that would
turn Korea into a Christian nation. He said if we would
pray and believe, the vision would become reality! "In Yoido Full Gospel Church, our people had to
learn to pray. It was not easy. We began with prayer
meetings at 4:30 a.m.. We added an all-night prayer
meeting on Friday night from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m....and
then the regular ones would come in at 4:30 a.m. and
continue praying. There was always someone at the church
praying! Some grew quickly in spiritual dimensions; some
grew slowly. By coming together we strengthened each
other. Fervency became an earmark. Neighbors saw the
changes. Business associates saw the joy. Sinners were
attracted to the church. As the Holy Spirit made the
truth of our authority in Christ real, our church began
to grow monthly by 10,000 members! Our
Christians now pray for requests from around the world.
Prayer changes Korean believers--and prayer has now
changed the course of our nation!" Powerful words, aren't they? When Pastor Cho finished
his message that night, over 2,000 ministers and laymen
came to the altar to pray and seek the face of God! You
may be thinking, "Well, that's good and I believe
God can do what you've said...but I don't have four or
five hours a day to spend in prayer!" May I say that
God is not interested in the quantity of
your prayer time but the quality of it.
Set aside a certain time when you can be alone with your
heavenly father. He wants to hear from you on a regular
basis. Remember: prayer is where you gain spiritual
strength and where the real battles are
fought! God has placed the responsibility of our nation
not upon the sinners, the politicians, or the Supreme
Court...but upon the shoulders of His people! Don't wait
for the Supreme Court to give you permission to pray
because it may never happen. Instead, get in your prayer
closet, humble yourself at the feet of Jesus, seek the
face of God, and repent of every desire, thought and deed
that is separating you from God. And when you open your
eyes and look around...your land will be healed! To find out more information about the power of prayer, simply use the Bible Study Tools at the bottom of this page!
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