(1 Cor. 2:9 – 10 KJV)
Oh, what amazing things I’ve seen God accomplish through corporate prayer!
I’ve seen Him alert believers about upcoming wars and battles both spiritual and natural. I’ve had the privilege of helping as those battles were prayed through—sometimes years in advance.
One group in our church prayed about the Desert Storm conflict in Iraq two years before it took place. We kept a journal as we prayed about it. If anyone had called us, we could have told them exactly what was going to happen in that war.
Some people might say that’s remarkable. They might chalk it up as an unusual event. But the fact is those kinds of things happen in Spirit-led corporate prayer meetings all the time.
During one meeting I led in the southwestern United States, the Holy Spirit actually uncovered a terrorist sleeper cell.
That’s the truth!
As I prayed out loud in other tongues, a Federal Marshal who was there heard me say something about an Al-Qaeda operation in a white building. At the same time, the pastor who was hosting the meeting had a detailed vision of a white apartment complex with a certain kind of fence around it. After the service, he told the Federal Marshal what he’d seen.
For an entire year, the Marshal watched for a building that fit the description. Eventually, he received a report about some suspicious activity in a particular apartment complex. When he went to check it out, he realized it was the white building the pastor had described. Sure enough, an Al-Qaeda operative was living there.
During another prayer meeting in a country overseas, a CIA officer was present. That officer heard me pray out in a language that only he understood the location of a terrorist military training camp. He already knew the camp existed. The government had been trying to locate it for some time, but they’d never been able to find it. The next morning, the Intelligence Agency of that country’s government raided and closed down that camp.
“But, Lynne,” you might ask, “doesn’t it take some kind of special prayer calling to pray like that?”
No, it doesn’t. All it takes is:
- The written Word of God
- The leading of the Holy Spirit, and
- The corporate anointing
If we’ll dare to put those three wheels in motion, we can all have those kinds of adventures. Even if we feel like a novice, we can get on that Holy Ghost tricycle and ride!
Scripture Reading: Acts 1:1 – 14; 2:1 – 4
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!”