A few years ago, a man in our church who understood the importance of praying through received a prophecy about an amazing blessing that was coming to him. Most believers would have rejoiced momentarily over that prophecy and then forgotten it; but not this fellow. He recorded it and played it again and again.
He prayed over that prophecy. He stood on it in faith and spoke it out. He used it to wage the good warfare against the Devil and fight the fight of faith (1 Timothy 1:18).
It took some tenacity for him to hold to that prophecy. It took some spiritual determination to stay with it in prayer. But I’m sure if you asked him about it today, he’d tell you it was well worth the effort. He’d tell you he was glad he prayed it through because in time, the prophecy was fulfilled in the form of millions of dollars that came to him suddenly in the most unexpected way.
If you don’t know how to pray something through, don’t worry about it. Instead, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He is the expert. He’ll lead you and train you every step of the way. So just keep looking to and depending on Him.
That’s what our old-time Pentecostal predecessors did. They didn’t have a hundred books on how to pray. They didn’t have ten steps and five fail-proof formulas. They just had a heart for God, a Bible in their hands, and the help of the Holy Spirit. That’s how they learned to pray through.
If they did it, we can too!
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26 – 31
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!”