The kind of transformation that changes us into the likeness of Jesus doesn’t take place overnight. It happens over time as we stay pliable in the hand of God. It’s a progressive work that must continue all the days of our lives.
Sometimes we forget that. We reach a certain level in our Christian lives and think we have it made. Because our most glaring defects have been changed and we’ve made some spiritual progress, we quit seeking God the way we once did.
Once when I was reading about the apostle Paul in the book of Acts, it occurred to me how easily Peter could have made that mistake. God changed his life and character so dramatically in the early days of his Christian life, he could have assumed there was no more inward work to be done.
Think about it. Just before Jesus died, Peter denied Him three times. Yet, the Holy Spirit so transformed him during the upper room days of prayer and the first Pentecostal outpouring that he boldly preached the Gospel to thousands. During the early days of the Church, sick people were healed when Peter’s shadow fell on them. In Acts chapter nine, we even see him raising a woman named Dorcas from the dead.
Surely, Peter could have gotten satisfied with himself. He could have climbed down off the potter’s wheel and said, “Well, I’m looking pretty good now. I don’t suppose I need to spend much time seeking God for change anymore.”
But, thank God, he didn’t! Thank God, after he raised Dorcas from the dead, he didn’t go on a preaching circuit telling everybody about the great miracle that had happened in his ministry. Instead, he tarried many days in Joppa praying and spending time with God.
And those days made all the difference.
Scripture Reading: Acts 9:31 – 43
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!”