Pray Fervently
1st of October
Isnft every prayer a sincere prayer? It might be sincere, but not necessarily a fervent one. I know that the Bible says: Pray and you will receive, but there are many types of prayers and every prayer doesnft come from your heart and every prayer doesnft move the heart of God. To-day I want to write about the prayers that come from the depth of your heart and touch the heart of God. These prayers can change the lives of people and the atmosphere around us. I will not come with a detailed prescription, but ask the Holy Spirit to help me share some thoughts around this theme.
I would like to start with psalm 28. It starts like this: gTo You I will cry, O Lord my Rock; do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. This describes a person who actively goes into praying. David says about himself that he cries unto the Lord. One is not half asleep when one cries out loud. One yawns then. No, when one cries out, one really wants to get the attention of the other part. There have been times when I have seen a familiar person on the street, but I have not called the person since he or she wasnft important to me. David on the contrary proved by his crying that he really wanted contact with the Living God. David was also quite dramatic by his choice of words. He wanted to go down to the pit if God should be silent to him. One could really say that he was far away from being indifferent.
David also made another active move. He lifted his hands toward God. David used both his voice and his body in order to get the attention of God. He really wanted his prayers to be heard and to be answered.
David was almost in a state of panic when we read psalm 31. In verse 22 we again read: gYou heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You.h Fervent prayers and loud cries are here connected in a strange way.
We can go to psalm 55. It starts like this: gGive ear to my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and hear me, I am restless in my complaint and moan noisily.h David describes in this psalm a real fear and he is desperate for help, the help of God. Desperation is part of fervent prayers. Are you willing to moan noisily?
If a person should ask me for water in a place where there was water everywhere, I would slowly fetch him some water, but if we were in the desert and a person was dying because of water shortage, I would do anything very quickly in order to help. That cry for help would touch my heart immediately.
David repeats himself in psalm 140 by saying: gHear the voice of my supplications, O Lord!h He really is afraid of the proud and ungodly people and prays for protection. He says that he knows that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor. If one doesnft know the nature and character of God, one cannot come before Him with boldness.
In my Norwegian translation I read that David cried out with all his strength. It was forceful. I believe that fervent praying and forceful praying go together. When a woman is ready to deliver her baby, she cannot just lie there passively and wait for the baby to come out. No, she has to work in birth-pains in order for the baby to be borne. She might even scream in pain, but she cannot give up before the baby is out and she can hold the wonderful creature in her arms. Some Christians pray like that should give birth to a baby. That is what they are doing in the spirit. One really needs the help of the Holy Spirit. We read in Rom.8:26 gFor we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercessions for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.h I want you to take notice of the word groaning. When one prays these kinds of prayers, one needs perseverance. When one gets a burden to pray, one should not stop before the pressure of praying leaves. Thatfs what we call gpraying throughh. There was a time when these kinds of prayers were quite popular and they were constantly screaming and groaning in some churches. I do not believe that all of these prayers were started by the Holy Spirit, but we need to come back to the prayers that move the mountains. We have to ask God to send us the spirit of grace and praying.
It is painful to give birth to a baby. Are we willing to enter birth-pains in order to get results? That can also be painful. One doesnft moan and groan if it isnft painful. One might sense the suffering of Jesus or Godfs sorrow over sin and indifference. This is not for a person who lives in the flesh. A fleshly person wants to continue in his sins or seek experiences that cause goose pumps. Do you know that you are borne in order to be Godfs representative her on earth? God wants us well and happy, but He wants us to be His messengers while we are alive. Some people call us gAmbassadors from heavenh. An ambassador must do what his homeland calls him to do and we Christians must be willing to do the same. If the King calls us to pray for hours, we must be willing to do so. Some of you will say: gI am so busy.h Who is your Master? I do not believe that He will ask you to pray for hours when you are at work. The Bible says that we should pray unceasingly in the Spirit. We can pray in tongues everywhere without using our voice. This is another type of praying than the one I write about to-day.
When my children were small, I stayed home and God could call me to pray at odd hours. He saw when I needed to attend to my children and He saw when I had time. He could call me to pray for individuals or concrete things. Other times He called me to join a lot of other people in the spirit and become part of an army. I could sit at home knowing that many others prayed for the same thing. There are times when I do not know what or whom I pray for. I only pray in tongues. I get a burden and keep on till the burden is gone. When I work full-time, He only asks me to do these things occasionally during a week-end. In order to pray fervently, you have to know the Holy Spirit and you have to be obedient. I believe that I will be met by people in Heaven saying that they are there or they were helped because of my intense prayers. You can experience the same.
Doesnft God do anything if I do not shout or moan? Yes, He will see to your heart and He will answer your honest and quiet prayers. When we use fervent prayers, there are many times a great opposition and we are part of a war. I myself, stand in a war for the future. We are more people experiencing the same. We have been promised things several years ago that have not come to pass. The time might not have been right, but we are encouraged to enter the gbirth-pain prayersh now. Daniel prayed fervently for three weeks before he saw the result. In order to get a result, we must pray in faith. We must pray without seeing the gbabyh.
We have experienced that some people are longing more for the gbabyh than others. The more one is longing, the more desperation and the more one prays. Do you remember the widow who gave no rest to the judge? You can read in Luke 18. Jesus says in verse 7: gAnd shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?h I will at the end remind you of the fact that it is God Who is answering our prayers. It is not our merits.
PRAY AND DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mother Else