Psalm 42:1–2
After more than 30 years of ministry, I’m convinced that if we want to pray Spirit-led prayers, we must be Spirit-fed pray-ers.
We must stop focusing so much on what is flowing out of us (or the spiritual results we’re producing) and concentrate more on what is flowing into us. We must make our fellowship with God our number-one priority. If we do that, we’ll have no problem living for Him. We’ll have all the spiritual resources we need to reach out with God’s love through our prayers, our words, and our deeds to a lost and dying world.
“But, Lynne,” somebody might say, “I do spend time in the Word every day! I consistently try to draw near to God. But for some reason, the rivers of the Spirit aren’t flowing through me like they should. I’m still coming up dry.”
I have the same problem myself sometimes. I was reminded of the reason for it one day when I was watering the flowers in my back yard. I had turned the faucet on and dragged the hose over to the flowerbed when suddenly the water just stopped running. Totally perplexed, I shook the hose and waved it all around trying to get it to work.
Still, no water came out. Eventually, I figured out what the problem was. My husband, standing behind me where I couldn’t see him had put a kink in the hose.
Of course, he got a good laugh out of that. And I got a spiritual revelation.
I realized that my reborn spirit is much like that hose. Sometimes it has a kink in it and the water of the Spirit can’t flow freely through me. If I don’t make the proper adjustments, such kinks will dry up my prayer life. They will keep me from being a blessing to the world by stopping up the rivers of Spirit-led prayer.
Remember that the next time you find yourself drying up in your prayer closet. Instead of pushing yourself to continue pumping out great quantities of prayer (for revival in the church and all your unsaved relatives and everything else in the world), take some time to feed on the Word and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Replenish your spirit by spending time just communing with Him.
Then ask Him to show you if you have any kinks in your heart that are getting in the way.
I can tell you from experience, He will.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 25:1–21
Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
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!”