Driven to My Knees

Are you taking to your knees often in prayer? Are you asking others to pray with you and for you on critical issues? Who’s got your back? The better the connections, the brighter the illumination.

April’s Awakening, Day 7

Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most. Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning his laws, so that he can do through us what he wants the most.

 —Agnes Sanford

To pray is to cast off your burdens, it is to tear away your rags, it is to shake off your diseases, it is to be filled with spiritual vigor, it is to reach the highest point of Christian health.

 —C. H. Spurgeon 

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.

 —Abraham Lincoln

The great masters and teachers in Christian doctrine have always found in prayer their highest source of illumination.

 —H. P. Liddon 

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Romans 15:30 NIV 

Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 NIV  

            There is no better guidance to seek than God’s. Ask Him for direction in the choices you must make. Ask Him to give you illumination on the puzzles of life you face. Ask Him to mold and shape you into that perfect vessel that He can mightily use. Don’t be afraid to be driven to your knees in prayer often, and don’t be fearful or ashamed of asking trusted others to pray for you and with you on those troublesome and difficult matters. It is good for you to humbly ask them and good for them to humbly respond by praying for you. It’s all about making the proper connections and seeing things clearly through God’s eyes. It is comforting to know that a trusted friend “has your back” covered in prayer. Seek not always what to get, but better what you can give and do for God and others. You will find that praying diligently for others does wonders for yourself.

Prayer Warrior

Intercession is not for the faint of heart, but the rewards can be the most gratifying. None is more noble than the prayer warrior.

April’s Awakening, Day 6

A prayer warrior is a person who is convinced that God is omnipotent—that God has the power to do anything, to change anyone, and to intervene in any circumstance. A person who truly believes this refuses to doubt God.

 —Author Unknown  

Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints have to carry on intercession for all men.

 —Oswald Chambers

None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.

 —Martin Luther  

I have benefited by my praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them, I have gotten something for myself.

 —Samuel Rutherford  

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Colossians 4:12–13 NIV

            If you have read Book 1 in this devotional series, Renew My Heart, O God, then you should remember Epaphras, the prayer warrior who wrestles constantly in prayer for others that they may “stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” Epaphras was the prayer warrior, the intercessor, who repeatedly was standing in the gap, lifting up prayers on behalf of the fellow believers. An intercessor is a true servant of God who has such a heart for people that the greatest joy comes from seeing answered prayer. Seeing people come to Christ, chains of sin broken, addictions overcome, pain and turmoil released, hope gained, and transformed lives into images of Christ are the rewards of the prayer warrior. Intercession is not for the faint of heart, for the battles and wars raged in the spiritual realm are like trench warfare and you’re the front line, and sometimes you’re all alone, and lives are at stake.        

            If you have a heart for people, and to see lives transformed and changed into the image of Christ, and have a heart for prayer—then be the prayer warrior, like Epaphras, who constantly wrestles and does battle in the spiritual realm to see God’s mighty hand move. Someone has always been praying for me. Someone has prayed for you. Be the one who is praying for someone now.

Childlike Simplicity

It’s best to keep those doctoral dissertational prayers confined to your war room prayer closet. There’s no better prayer in public than simple and to the point.

April’s Awakening, Day 5

Follow the leading of simplicity in prayer, there can never be excess of it, for God loves to see us like little children in his presence.

 —Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Prayer is ordained to this end that we should confess our needs to God, and bare our hearts to him, as children lay their troubles in full confidence before their parents.

 —John Calvin  

Some men will spin out a long prayer telling God who and what he is, or they pray out a whole system of divinity. Some people preach, others exhort the people, till everybody wishes they would stop, and God wishes so, too, most undoubtedly.

 —Charles G. Finney 

The fewer the words, the better the prayer.

 —Martin Luther

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:5–8 NIV 

            It’s good for the soul to laugh at ourselves, and since God created us in His image, He must be laughing frequently at us too! When it comes to prayer, especially public prayer, oftentimes an innocent childlike simplicity is best. It is good to pray as specifically as we can and to expound upon the details, but oftentimes, that’s more for us than necessary for God. Being as clear as we can helps to solidify our prayer request in our own mind. Spoken words are powerful, and well-chosen words even more powerful and effective still. And nothing is better than claiming in prayer, God’s written Word. Yet short and simple can be just as effective, and eloquence is not required. If we just open our heart and let our true desire be expressed, that is enough.

God Is One Prayer Away

It takes just one prayer—your prayer—to fill your temple or the temple of the person next to you with the full glory of God.

April’s Awakening, Day 4

Prayer is the natural and joyous breathing of the spiritual life by which the heavenly atmosphere is inhaled and then exhaled in prayer.

 —Andrew Murray

Don’t forget that God is a prayer away. No, there is no quick fix for every obstacle you will face in life, but if you are a Believer, you have the very thing that will bring peace in times of trouble (John 14:27). Pray to God and He will answer. He promised to never leave or abandon you.

 —Creflo Dollar

Prayer does not change God, it changes us. It deepens insight, increases intuitive perception, expands consciousness. It transforms personality. 

 —Wilferd A. Peterson, “The Art of Living Treasure Chest”

There may be times when you are the only person on earth praying for someone else—and your intercession can change that person’s entire life.

 —Joyce Meyer, “The Power of Simple Prayer”  

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:14–15 NIV   

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

2 Chronicles 7:1 NIV 

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV   

            One prayer. The glory of the Lord fills the temple. You, beloved believer, are now God’s temple. One prayer. And the glory of the Lord can fill you and transform you into the most magnificent of temples. God and His miracles are just one prayer away—your prayer. Don’t ever think that your prayer is not good enough or powerful enough to bring the glory of the Lord to this earth and to fill an empty, abandoned temple and make it glorious and new in Him. He’s just one prayer away, maybe for you, maybe for someone you don’t even know. Just one prayer.

Prayer Carries You Aloft

Prayer is meeting with God in a timeless transforming miracle of love. You need to be meeting with Him often.

April’s Awakening, Day 3

Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability.

 —François Fénelon  

That prayer has great power which a person makes with all his might. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor heart rich, a foolish heart wise, a timid heart brave, a sick heart well, a blind heart full of sight, a cold heart ardent. It draws down the great God into the little heart; it drives the hungry soul up into the fullness of God; it brings together two lovers, God and the soul, in a wondrous place where they speak much of love.

 —Mechthild of Magdeburg 

When I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spirit and all my soul lift itself up without any care or effort of mine, and it continues as it were suspended and firmly fixed in God, as in its center and place of rest.

 —Brother Lawrence 

Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Psalm 143:1 NIV 

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12–13 NIV

            Prayer is the energy force that allows your spirit and soul to ascend into the spiritual realm of God Himself. There in His presence, as your spirit mingles with His, His transforming power takes hold and molds and shapes you as the Potter shapes the clay into a beautiful masterpiece. It is as if time stands still in His presence and He has sculpted you into something brand new.  The old is removed and His marvelous newness imparted to you. The great God has filled the little heart. He is the lover of your soul and He loves to make you new. Enter into His presence with thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and let Him restore your spirit and regain all that you’ve lost. Meeting with God is a wonderful transforming miracle of His love.

Prayer Is Personally Possessing God

What do you consider to be your ultimate possession? If it’s not a strong relationship with God, you’re settling for way less than best.

April’s Awakening, Day 2

A godly man is a praying man. As soon as grace is poured in, prayer is poured out. Prayer is the soul’s traffic with heaven; God comes down to us by His Spirit, and we go up to Him by prayer.

 —Thomas Watson

Prayer should never be regarded as a science or reduced to a system—that ruins it, because it is essentially a living and personal relationship, which tends to become more personal and also more simple, as one goes on.

 —E. Underhill  

Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life. Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him.

 —Sadhu Sundar Singh  

He withdrew about a stoneʼs throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:41–44 NIV  

            Our prayer is our direct line of communication to God and it is our prayers and God speaking to us that establishes and continually strengthens that relationship. We pray to make our requests known, but we should pray to grow a deeper intimacy and a continual fellowship with Him. That should be our priority, for if that relationship is strong and deep, then our lives will be filled to overflowing with every good thing and our souls will be at peace with joy in abundance. The greatest gift and possession that we could ever have is Him. Truly, if our relationship with Him is strong and in order, our lives will be in order and not lacking anything.

Heaven’s Answer Is Waiting

To get the answers and solutions, you need to ask the right questions. Everything starts with prayer.

April’s Awakening, Day 1

The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.

 —S. D. Gordon 

Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.

 —Billy Graham 

Of all the duties enjoyed by Christianity, none is more essential and yet more neglected, than prayer.

 —François Fénelon 

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 NIV 

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13–14 NIV   

            Why bother to pray, when God already knows what you need? Why ask, when God already knows the outcome and how it will all turn out? We pray and we ask because it turns our hearts and minds to Him. We shift our focus and let our heart be expressed and thoughts be spoken. The act of praying strengthens us and our relationship with Him. The sweet incense of our prayers allows the floodgates of heaven to be opened and God’s blessings and favor to be released. Sometimes He answers with a yes, sometimes no, and sometimes wait—he’s got something better in store. Regardless, prayer is powerful and effective and when spoken according to His will, the perfect answers and solutions will come. Heaven’s answers are waiting—we just need to pray and ask the questions.