It is a joy to pray and a joy to receive prayer, I mean one of those serious prayers that shake you. This Sunday I received one, serious, very serious. At the end of the service, I sat down, aware that I had not yet recovered from the fatigue of the day before, the New Year's Day that I had spent exercising the ministry. All of a sudden the lights were turned off and there were two birthday cakes (I suppose it was necessary to have two to make room for all the candles) arriving and happy birthdays bursting out; and before blowing out the candles, they prayed for me. You had to be there to see B turning to another person to ask them to pray for me and at the same moment the Holy Spirit seized and she herself began to pray, copiously, her prayers there which leave you speechless, open-mouthed, listening; it was powerful, it was prophetic, it was anointed, and it was the Spirit of prayer in manifestation.
God had taken things in hand and it was good. I was doubly blessed, first, because a mega divine communication was happening for my own good, something that is actually very rare for those of us who spend our lives caring for and praying for others; and also because it was the perfect illustration of what I had just explained during the announcements on the week of prayer, 5 to 6. Indeed, one of the prayer subjects for this very first week 5 to 6 of the year 2011 is to ask God for a Spirit of prayer on us individually and on the church. We had not yet asked for it and we were beginning to live it.
It is a wonderful thing to be galvanized in prayer like this. When we are seized and led into prayer in this Spirit of prayer, we hear ourselves praying things we had not planned to say, things we had never thought of; it is almost as if we stand a little apart from ourselves and hear ourselves declaring the heart of God in a situation. You are literally galvanized by the Holy Spirit, and your prayer goes beyond yourself. This is what brings a congregation together in large numbers to pray, this is what causes people to agonize over the things of God, to hunger for God, and to feel deeply the burden for the needs of the people and the kingdom of God; and more than feeling them, this is what causes them to pray steadily, persistently, and with determination until the solution is manifested.
I always say that God has a sense of humor. I had just explained the importance of the Spirit of prayer and here is a lively demonstration given in front of everyone just a few minutes later, and I became the first beneficiary as the Holy Spirit took the lead, took us by surprise and inspired someone to pray for me. And what a prayer! I admit, I had to discreetly wipe away a few tears, yes, yes, the great servant of the Lord, plenipotentiary minister of the kingdom of God cried. In reality, I cannot help but think that we are on the right track, because during this whole week of very early morning prayer, the Holy Spirit continues to invade my days by provoking prayers, supplications and intercessions such that He alone holds the secrets.
This is why I often tell people that there are prayers that are best left unanswered if we are not certain we want an answer. I believe this is one of them. So let us not stop, let us continue to ask throughout this year that the Spirit of prayer be upon us, that we may not stop praying, that prayer be like breath, regular, continuous, and habitual, and that God take the lead. I look forward to living the rest of this year in prayer, in the presence of the Master. It is already underway.
Shalom!
You must be logged in to post a comment.