…[Jesus] told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who abased himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 14:7 – 11)
I haven’t always thought of that parable in connection with prayer. But a few years ago, the Holy Spirit showed me that it contains a vital spiritual principle praying people need to know. It teaches us that if we want to go places with God in prayer, we must first humble ourselves and give His Spirit the place of honor.
Even if we have some things in our hearts we think we should pray about, we should not just barrel ahead and assume that is God’s leading. We should start out very reverently and submit to Him. We should purpose to decrease and allow the Holy Spirit to increase, taking the place in prayer He gives us and resting in it until He says, “Friend, come up higher!”
Sometimes we forget to do that. We start looking, instead, at how somebody else is praying and say, “Hey, I want to do what they’re doing!” But that doesn’t work. There are degrees in prayer, and it may be that person has ascended to a higher degree than we have. Instead of trying to elevate ourselves to that place, we must simply be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be content to follow Him.
If we will do that, if we will be humble enough to learn the flow of the Holy Ghost and be in tune with Him, He will most certainly lead us to higher places in God.
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 15:33
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
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!”