Acts 2:17, 19
We are living in the final hours of this age. God’s mighty plan is about toculminate in the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit the earth has ever seen. We are on the verge of witnessing those things that Peter preached about onthe day of Pentecost: the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, prophecies, visions, dreams, wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath.
Those things will happen because God said they would. There is no questionabout that. It is settled.
What is not settled, however, is how fully we as individual believers will partake of them. For us, these questions remain: will we experience the fullest measure of this wonderful outpouring? Will our families, our churches, and our nations experience all of the end-time glory that God desires to give? Will God’s plan be completely fulfilled in us?
Certainly we want the answer to all those questions to be yes! We don’t want to miss out on a single sign, wonder, healing, or miracle that God wants us to have in these days. And the only way to ensure that we don’t is by following the example of Epaphras.
A New Testament believer who, according to Colossians 4:12, labored fervently in prayer for the believers in his day to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, Epaphras realized that it is possible for Christians to be only in the permissive will of God. It’s possible for us to be “kind of” in the will of God. If we don’t pray earnestly and consistently about the fulfillment of our divine destiny, we can end up doing the work of God and having a measure of success yet miss out on His highest will for us.
In this day particularly, that would be a great tragedy.
So if you’ve gotten busy with natural things lately and grown slack in your praying, stir yourself up again. Contend in prayer for the full manifestation of God’s plan in your life, your family, your church, your city, and in the whole earth.
Ask God to let you see and know the plans He has both for you and for those He has called you to pray for. Once you see those plans, never—never—let them go. Contend for them in prayer until they come to pass in every detail. In the days ahead and in the ages to come, you will be eternally glad you did.
Scripture Reading: Colossians 4:12
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!”