Luke 22:40 – 42
If we as believers are going to become vessels so full of God that we can flood the earth with His glory, we must offer ourselves to God like Rees Howells did by surrendering completely to His will. We must be delivered from the spirit of the world and its pleasures. We must cast off our fleshly desires and begin to desire the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the earth more than we want the pleasures of this world.
One of the first steps is to pray the prayer of consecration.
But let me warn you: there’s almost always some wrestling involved in that kind of praying. When God begins to show us what He wants us to do, our flesh will often rise up and say, “I don’t want to do that! I don’t want to go apologize to that person. It will embarrass me. I don’t want to give up my television time and read the Word instead. I enjoy watching television! I don’t want to be kind to that person. He’s been mean to me! I don’t want to go to the church and pray tonight. I’m tired and I want to go to sleep!”
Initially, we may be shocked and disappointed to discover that our wills are so far out of line with the Lord’s. We may be tempted to condemn ourselves for not immediately and automatically desiring to make every sacrifice God requests of us. But we can encourage ourselves with this: Jesus went through the same kind of wrestling (on a much more significant scale, of course) in the Garden of Gethsemane.
When He faced the cross, knowing He was going to bear the weight of the world’s sin, He didn’t want to do it. His soul became so sorrowful and heavy that He fell on His face and asked God if there was any way He could bypass that part of the divine plan.
In the process of bringing His soul into line with God’s will, Jesus underwent a massive struggle. But God strengthened Him through it and brought Him out in the right place. He brought Jesus to the place of full consecration where He could honestly pray, “Father, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
God will do the same for us.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:30 – 46
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”