Luke 19:10
As believers, we’re supposed to imitate God like a child imitates His Father; and our God so loved the world that He did something. He didn’t just say something. He didn’t just sit in heaven and holler, “Hey, lost world, come to Me! Come up here to My wonderful heart of love.”
No, God so loved the world that He left the glories of heaven, and in the person of His Son, Jesus, He came to seek and save the whole lost world.
He showed us by example that it’s not enough for us just to sit in our prayer closets and say, “Come to Jesus, lost people.” It’s not enough just to get in prayer and rebuke the darkness that the Devil is using to rule people’s lives. We must go out there and bring them the light!
I realize there are Christians who might argue about that. There are those who would say, “Some people are called to pray and some are called to go. I’m a pray-er, not a goer.”
If that’s true, apparently Jesus didn’t know it because He not only told the disciples to pray, just a few verses later, He commissioned those same disciples to go! He told them to get out into the harvest and minister to the people. He told them to do the works of God, preach the Good News, and tell the lost that the kingdom of heaven had come near them.
He commanded them to pray and obey!
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:1 – 9
Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
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!”