WHY PRAY?

Prayer is the backbone of the Christian walk and without it, nothing can be accomplished in Heaven or earth. By the very power of our tongues’ confession we can move mountains,  fell giants and change the destiny of peoples and nations.

Many of our brothers and sisters have such a small vision of themselves that they don’t even believe that their prayers are heard. Why? Because they’ve not received a revelation of their identity in Christ.

The effectual, fervent prayer of a man or woman avails much Jam 5:17. Two main descriptive adjectives describe what kind of prayer moves God.  The original translation of fervent means to boil, to be hot, having fervor and zeal. According to Strong’s concordance, effectual,  means to energize or be energized. Barclay describes prayers as empowering contact with God. It’s not only a gateway to God for us, but is a channel to God for us! This should get us exited  because we are being plugged into the divine, all-encompassing power  of our almighty Heavenly Father.

Sometimes, we come into God’s presence as if it’s a chore or obligation. I definitely can understand that in light of the daunting, evil things transpiring around the world at present. Even the most passionate prayer intercessor can get disheartened and weary from travailing in prayer. I know that at times, as Holy Spirit  impress on me to pray about horrific events, particularly the ISIS invasion , (and their barbarically bloody way of Jihad) and the fetus marketing  I’m worn out when done and just want t get under the covers.

I would like to share with you how to get reignited with zeal and passion by reading about and meditating on the great prayer warriors of the Bible and how their prayers succeeded. Let us remember that some of them were fearful or young, but God uses those who are not equipped, but available and willing.

Moses

Moses had such an intimate relationship with God, that he was able to reason with the Lord.  His people, the Israelites resorted to idolatry while He was giving Moses the commandments on  Mount Sinai. God told Moses to go down quickly because he was about to consume His own people. Moses prayerful reply was reminding Jehovahah of the covenant He’d made with Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Then the Lord relented. When an intercessor knows his identity in His Heavenly Father, he is able to stand in the gap fr the people he leads. Many times Moses tried to convince God from not destroying the people because of unbelief and rebellion. Most of us are also familiar with Moses most famous exploit, parting the Red Sea.

Gideon

Gideon was a man called out by God as a judge during the period of the Judges  An angel of the Lord appeared and  called him a mighty man of valor!  Gideon replied that his clan, Manasseh was the weakest clan and he was least in his father’s house. His prayerful response was asking the Angel why his people were in such derision and ended his discourse with asking if he could lay out a fleece to prove His promise. God was gracious and listened to Gideon’s reasoning. From henceforth, Gideon boldly destroyed his father’s  Baal altar and later subdued the vicious Midainites! No matter what background or station in life, when God calls us to do great exploits, we can be assured that we will be victorious because He has called us to do it!

Joshuah

Since Joshua’s first escapade with the eleven other spies, he continued to be bold and faithful to God’s commands. He and Caleb didn’t flinch when they saw the size of the giants who occupied the land they were ordained to possess. num 13  Caleb had a different spirit than the other spies.  When Caleb announced to the Isrealites that the protection of the Anakim, ( a certain race of giants) was gone, they still protested because of intimidation of Caleb;s confidence that they tore their clothe and wanted to stone, Joshua, Caleb and Moses. The Lord was angry about their lack f faith and cowardice and  said that the only ones who would enter the promised land would be  Joshua and Caleb. These two men were greatly  favored and revered militarily. In another amazing miraculous episode, Joshua asked Gd to still the sun from going down so he and the army could finish ff their adversaries, 

Nehemiah:

Nehemiah was another beloved man f God who had a heart fr his people the Jews. He was cup bearer to King, Artaxerxes

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

⁸ “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

¹⁰ “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favorin the presence of this man.”

Nehemiah was of an excellent spirit, compassionate and focused to organize the rebuilding of the beloved city, Jerusalem. The walls were breached in many places and broken down completely in others. Even the people’s spirits were broken, but he planned, organized and followed through with the rebuild ed. There were  several daunting adversaries intimidating the workers and who wanted to assassinate Nehemiah. Nevertheless, He prayed and those below him prayed fr God’s strength and success.anon

King Jehoshaphat

2 Chron 20 tells of King Jehoshaphat suddenly being encompassed-by the Moabites, Ammonites and other gro.  He was very afraid and had the people fast.

Lord, the God of our ancestors, you alone are God in heaven. You rule all the kingdoms of the nations. You are so powerful that no one can oppose you. ⁷ You, our God, drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever. ⁸ They have lived in it and have built a sanctuary in honor of your name in it, saying, ⁹ ‘If calamity, sword, flood,^[c] plague, or famine comes upon us, we will stand before this temple, before you, because your name is in this temple. We will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’ ¹⁰ So look here! The Ammonites, the Moabites, and those from Mount Seir—the people you wouldn’t let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt’s land, so Israel avoided them and didn’t destroy them— ¹¹ here they are, returning the favor by coming to drive us out of your possession that you gave to us!¹² Our God, won’t you punish them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We don’t know what to do, and so we are looking to you for help.”

The Holy Spirit came upon the attending prophets and told King Jehoshaphat that the Lord would be with them and t not be afraid.  The King prepared for the victory by appointing singers to give praise before the Lord. They were to march in front f the army. The Lord launched a surprise attack n the armies and thousands f corpses all lay n the ground.

There are many other  stories of the great conquests by  God’s leaders, prophets, kings and servants and time just doesn’t permit me to share them all. They all had several things in common.

Queen Esther

Queen Esther’s story is most amazing because she  started out as an orphan. Her cousin, Mordecia  adopted  and raised her. Esther’s Jewish name is Hadassah and she ended up being chosen as King Xerxes new queen after his former Queen Vashti was dethroned.  From all the many maidens, Esther excelled over them all. But the king  did not know her heritage.   Esther was faced with the greatest crisis of her life when Mordecai revealed an insiduos plane where Haman, the king’s second man in commend, caused King Ahaseraus to write a decree that all the Jews in the Land should be destroyed. When Mordecai found out, he told Esther.  She then called all the people of Susa to fast for three days as well as her maidens.  Esther knew her God and knew that He would deliver her and her people. The king could not change his decree, but  Mordecia convinced her that  it may be her destiny “for such a time as this” to stand and deliver her people. As it turned out, Esther requested to see the King and he heard her request. The king issued a Deere where the Jews would be able to defend themselves if any came to harm them. For this reason was the great queen Esther revered and the Jews celebrate the  holiday of Purim.

ESTHER: IMAGE, INFLUENCE AND STATUS (4)

Daniel

Devote American Christian saints today complain that we are vexed by our  perverted culture, but there is nothing new under the sun. Daniel and  his friends were taken away and forced to live the Babylonian culture. He spent his whole life serving in the royal court of Babylon.Despite the influences of the pagan culture., Daniel thrived, communing intimately with His God. He was so focused, that he prayed three times a day, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem. Daniels’ captorss acknowledged that Daniel’s outstanding wisdom, training and intelligence was from His mighty God.  That dedication to God paid off when Daniel had to endure being thrown int the lion’s den;  Fellow servants of the King, came to accuse Daniel of not obeying the decree to worshiping him alone. The king was grieved because he loved Daniel and so revered the exceptional live he lived because of his God, Yahweh. They pressured the king and Daniel was thrown  into the lion’s den.

In the morning. after a sleepless night, the king rushed to the den were Daniel was and cried, “Daniel, servant of the living Gd, has your God delivered you from the lion’s?” He knew who the true God was. God is always near too those of a broken and contrite spirit. Gd always hears the cries of His children who are in covenant with Him. Do you disbelieve God’s almighty power and ability to save? I urge you to test Him. Taste and see…that He truly is good! You’ll not be disappointed.

God’s great prayer warriors have  several things in common

• They were totally commuted to God
• They were focused on Him alone being the victory over whatever challenge they had to face.
• They were courageous
• Most important, they knew how to worship and revere Him

Jesus, our advocate, intercedes on our behalf. Rom 8:34 When the disciples asked him how to pray, He gave us The Lord’s prayer as a templet. We should always remember  that He isn’t a magic genie or Santa Claus. He is Holy and we should enter in with reverence and honor Him for who He is… Creator of heaven and earth and God of the universe. Blessed are we that whenever we’re in a sudden bind and  can only say a quick prayer, God immediately hears us!  Let us thank Him for all our miracles and provision.

Whenever we feel our prayers aren’t being answered or we feel we are unworthy to have our prayer heard, we should recall and meditate on these aforementioned brethren who believed in their great God and loving father, for He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! If we are in covenant with Father and abide in the vine, every prayer is always heard. It is time for us to enter boldly, with confidence and reverence and expectation.