Although the term “praying through” is not specifically found in Scripture, the principle of praying through is taught and demonstrated throughout the Word of God.
Jesus Himself presented it quite clearly in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke chapter 18 where He taught that we “ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up)” (verse 1 Amp). In that parable, the widow did not ask the unjust judge for protection and justice against her adversary one time and then quit. She did not plead her case just once or twice. She approached the judge with such consistency and insistence that, in the end, he did what she wanted because her continual coming wore him out!
Clearly, our God is not an unjust judge. The Bible promises us that He will protect and avenge us speedily. But for Him to do for us and through us all He desires to do, we must come before Him with the faith and tenacity of that widow. We must say in our hearts, “God can and will answer my prayer. Therefore, I will not give up on it until every hindrance is removed. I will stay before the Lord with His promise on my lips until the fulfillment of it has come.”
My, how much that kind of prayer is needed today, and how rarely it is offered! The Church is suffering terribly from the lack of it.
I can say without hesitation that the only reason the Church today is not enjoying the miracles, signs, and wonders the early believers enjoyed in the book of Acts, and the only reason the Church is not growing and the Word is not prevailing now as powerfully as it did then is because Christians have abandoned the prayer place. We have spent more time in committee meetings than we have on our knees. We have substituted human ingenuity for the supernatural power that is released only through persistent prayer. And we have lost much as a result.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:11 – 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!”