2 Corinthians 5:21
Precious pray-er, never has it been more important than it is right now for us to spend time meditating on the right standing we have with God through the blood of Jesus. Never has it been more important for us to take time to worship the Lord and fellowship with Him over what He has done in us.
It’s during those times that the Holy Spirit increases the awareness of our union with Jesus and the authority we have because we’re in Him. It’s during those times that He can, as Ephesians 1:17 – 23 says, give unto us “… the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” flooding our hearts with an understanding of the power and dominion that is at work through us in Jesus’ name.
Of course, the Devil (who is desperate to keep us ignorant of our dominion) will use external pressures to convince us we are too busy to take time for such fellowship with God. He will try to rob us of it by overwhelming us with the natural demands of living. We may even feel driven because of the world crises around us to jump prematurely into warfare kinds of prayer without preparing for it first through fellowship with God and time in the Word.
When that happens, we must be aware the Devil is strategically attempting to keep us grounded. His aim is to so entangle our consciousness with the affairs of this life and with natural circumstances that even if we do find time to pray, we will be firing at him from below and not from above.
We are much less dangerous in that position.
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 22:29 – 37
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!”