You’re not going to learn the details of your divine purpose just sitting in church services. You’re not going to get the revelation of it by standing in prayer lines hoping for a prophetic word. Even if you get such a word, it will only be a fragment of truth—and fragments aren’t enough.
For you to walk out your destiny, you need to know the details and God wants you to have them. He knows more about your future right now than you know about your past; and He is eager to tell you about it. But He can only do it if you’ll spend time fellowshipping with Him. He can only do it if you’ll separate yourself from phone calls and television and all the other distractions of life to spend time at His side communing with Him about your purpose.
Some people claim they don’t have to separate themselves like that. They say they talk with God as they go about their daily business. It’s good to do that. It’s good to fellowship with God all day long. But you still need times when you get alone with Him, times when you get quiet enough to hear Him more accurately.
Jesus needed those times. We see in the Gospels that He often got up long before daylight so He could spend time by Himself in prayer.
If Jesus needed to do that to discover and fulfill His divine purpose, we do too.
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 29:11 – 13
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!”