The Devil will tell us that if we don’t stop praying and take care of this or that urgent matter, our lives or our ministries will fall apart before tomorrow. But the fact is, if we’ll put prayer first, if we’ll obey God and make prayer the priority of our lives, God will give us grace to get the other things done as well. He will expedite our efforts in the natural realm. He will so bless the work of our hands that we’ll get more done than we could have in twice the time without prayer.
That’s part of the reward God gives the faithful pray-er!
To receive that reward, however, we’ll have to get tough on the distractions. We’ll have to quit saying, “Well, I’m going to pray as soon as I can make time in my schedule.” Instead we’ll have to say, “By the grace and power of almighty God, I am going to pray today. No matter what may come, I refuse to allow Satan to rob me of my prayer time!”
We’ll have to heed God’s call, get our priorities straight, shut the door on the clamor of life, and pray.
There’s no doubt about it; we’re living in the days when the enemy is coming into our world like a flood. But we don’t have to let it go under. We can be the intercessors God is looking for. If we’ll make prayer our priority, God will raise up a standard and drive Satan out of our churches, our families, and our nation.
If we’ll pray, we can live in glorious peace even in turbulent times like these.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:5 – 18
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!”