To win the battle against the forces of the Devil that have arrayed themselves against us and fought to keep the Church from manifesting God’s glory, we must become fearsome warriors in prayer.
We must have the aggressive attitude the prophet Daniel had when he saw in God’s Word that the 70 years of Israel’s captivity had been completed. Daniel didn’t assume God was going to automatically restore Jerusalem and liberate the Jews just because the prophetic time had come. He set his “face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). He took hold of God’s promise by faith and spoke, prayed, confessed, and made supplication to God about it (verse 20). Supplication is earnest prayer. It is white-hot prayer that boils with passion and desire.
Supplication perseveres and doesn’t stop till it gets the job done. And the job the Church must get done in this day is tremendous.
We must become a body so wholly filled and flooded with God Himself that Jesus is manifested and glorified in the world. We must lift up Jesus by doing the very same works that He did when He was on earth—and even greater works.We must have Jesus in all His resurrected glory manifesting Himself among us so that He can draw all men to Himself.
“Is such a thing possible?” someone might ask.
Oh, yes. It’s not only possible, Jesus promised to do it for us. Before He went to the cross, He said:
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
(John 14:12 – 13)
Jesus said it. The question is, “Are we going to take our stand of faith on His words and fight for them in prayer until we see them come to pass?” I am confident that before He returns, there will be a generation of believers who will do it.
Lord, let us be the ones!
Scripture Reading: Daniel 9:1 – 19
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!”