Let’s look at the elements of an effective prayer life.
Effective Prayer Involves Fervency.
The Bible teaches that we are always to be “fervent in spirit” (Rom. 12:11). W.E. Vine says the word translated “fervent” means to be hot, to boil.
When the desire to see the answer come is intensified so that it absorbs all the energies, then the time for the fulfillment is not far away. This is the desire that brings the answer. It is creative desire (Reidt).
In the winter of 1942 and 1943, I found myself taken up with a desire for God to move. I did not conjure it up, it was put there, no doubt, by God. You see, what is happening in the move of the Spirit of God, revivals and so forth. It doesn’t come as the result of somebody’s praying yesterday or even last week. It is the result of the prayers of yesteryear.
During those war years, it seemed as though many of our churches dried up. People were busy going to war, or working in war plants, and so forth. In our Pentecostal churches we had an abundance of tongues and interpretations, but seldom, if ever, did we see any other gifts or manifestations of the Spirit.
I found myself almost unconsciously praying, “Dear Lord, may the more mighty gifts and manifestations of the Spirit come into manifestation and operation, the gift of special faith, the working of miracles, the gifts of healings.”
When I was praying about it, it was a consuming desire. I did not care or even suspect that God would use me. I didn’t really even want Him to use me. It would suit me just fine if I was behind the scenes where I could pray and nobody ever saw me.
God carries out His will upon the earth through the Church.
God doesn’t make us do anything. We have a will of our own. We have to will to respond to the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit doesn’t use force. If He did, He’d make everybody get saved today and we’d go into the Millennium tomorrow.
It is the devil and demons that drive and force people.
The Holy Spirit leads and guides; He will give a gentle push. Be determined to respond to the Spirit of God. Respond to those urges to pray. Sometimes there is a leading; sometimes there is a burden. Become sensitive to Him.
Sometimes we’re insensitive to what He’s saying in our spirits, because we live too much in the mental realm. And we pass by these things. When God lays that desire on your heart, that is your supreme desire for the Lord. God dwells in you. And He is the One who activates the desire. It is God’s supreme desire for people to be delivered.
God is not halfhearted about anything. Since it is His supreme desire, it also becomes the supreme desire of the one called on to intercede. It is cooperation with God. “For we are laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9).
Effective Prayer Must Include The Element Of Perseverance.
Wilford Reidt sums it up well: “When the Holy Spirit lays it upon a person’s heart to intercede, the intercession should not stop until the answer is given or the burden lifted. In my experience where for the most part I do not know for whom I am interceding, I have had burdens last for hours and even days.
I had to do usual work, but all the time there was that inner groaning in my spirit. The times when I had opportunity to get alone with God, the burden intensified. There is no rule to follow. Each person will do as God directs.”
The reason persistence is an ingredient of intercession is that it is easy to throw off a burden and forget it. It is an awesome responsibility to feel that someone’s life may depend on your intercession. Not many believers are willing to accept it. So those that are willing are usually kept very busy.
Effective Prayer Sometimes Involves Fasting.
In some cases fasting may be necessary. There is no hard and fast rule. The prayer warrior will do as occasion shall serve him. If he deems fasting necessary, then fast (Reidt).
The reason is, there are no hard and fast rules about fasting. It is to be done as the occasion arises.
Fasting does not change God. He is the same before you fast, while you are fasting, and when you get through fasting. But fasting will change you. It will help you keep the flesh under. It will help you become more susceptible to the Spirit of God.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.