Often Satan will try to distract us during our individual prayer times just by pestering us with natural or unrelated thoughts. At those times, by faith we must lay hold of the grace to stay focused on God and take authority over those hindering spirits. Otherwise, Satan will rob us of precious times with the Lord and keep us from being effective in our prayer lives.
One of the funniest examples of those kinds of distractions came from a sermon I heard years ago about a man who was raised in the old Pentecostal movement where they taught people to “tarry” at the altar in order to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This man had come to the altar three times to pray and each time, just as he was about ready to speak in tongues, the most peculiar thoughts would come to his mind.
When a cow gets up off the ground, he’d think, does she get up on her front legs or her back legs? Then he’d get so busy wondering about that, he’d lose the place he had in God.
After a while he’d compose himself, begin to pray again and just as he was about to open his mouth and speak in tongues another thought would come to him. What about a horse? When a horse gets up off the ground, does he get up with his front legs or his back legs?
After being distracted by that thought, he was able to draw himself back into his place in God and start praying again. But as he did, another thought came to him. What about a mule? How does a mule get up?
Finally that poor fellow realized he was being harassed by Satan. He rebuked him, resisted those thoughts, and was gloriously baptized in the Holy Spirit.
That may sound like a silly story but it makes the point that Satan will do whatever he can to keep us from praying. When we set ourselves to pray, he’ll tempt us to think of everything from cows and horses to the laundry that needs to be done today and the dust on the furniture.
He’ll do anything to get our minds off the Lord!
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 26:3 – 4
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!”