1 Samuel 16:7
The heart means everything to God. That’s an obvious truth revealed time and again throughout the Bible, yet sometimes even praying people seem to forget it. We get interested in principles of prayer and in certain facts and truths about it. We start putting a priority on praying the right thing in just the right words. We start focusing on form and let the heart become a secondary issue.
But the heart is never secondary to the Lord. It is always primary. It doesn’t matter how perfectly we adhere to the scriptural principles of prayer. It doesn’t matter how right we are in what we say when we pray. If our hearts aren’t fervent and turned wholly toward God, our prayers aren’t hitting the mark.
If you doubt that, read in Acts chapter five about Ananias and Sapphira. They were a part of the early Church at a time when believers were regularly selling houses and lands and giving the proceeds to the apostles to help meet the needs of the brethren. No one told church members to do that. They weren’t doing it out of duty or so that they could get a return on their giving and get richer.
They were doing it because they’d fallen so in love with the Lord and with each other that their heart’s desire was to give. Acts 4:32 (Amp) says, “The company of believers was of one heart and soul.” Their giving was simply an expression of their hearts.
The offerings of those early Christians could accurately be described as qorban. A Hebrew word which is translated sacrifice in English, qorban actually means to draw near. The saints in Jerusalem were truly giving sacrificially because they were inspired by an earnest desire to draw near to God, and that made their offerings holy and precious to the Lord.
Ananias and Sapphira, however, brought a different kind of gift. Although it appeared to be the same as those of their fellow believers, Ananias and Sapphira didn’t give with a pure heart. They were pretending to be something they weren’t. Naturally speaking, their money would have met the needs of the Church just as well as everybody else’s did. Judging purely from externals, you might think they should have been in line for a great blessing and a return from God on their giving.
But they didn’t get blessed. They didn’t get an abundant return. They got rebuked in the presence of the Church. Then they died.
Ananias and Sapphira proved that no matter how right our actions may seem to be, if the heart behind them is wrong, the whole thing is unacceptable to the Lord. Their story will forever remind us that in prayer—as in giving—the heart is the primary issue to God.
Scripture Reading: Acts 4:32 – 5:11
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!”