Most of us would be shocked if someone ever suggested that we are in any way like Ananias and Sapphira. We would never purposely go before God pretending to be something we’re not. Yet sometimes when we pray, we slip into it unaware. Say, for example, we’ve been praying for years about the outpouring of God’s glory. We might have started out with a genuine longing for demonstrations and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We might have begun with hearts inspired by deep and fervent hunger for God.
Then, when our prayers brought results, we decided to keep praying that way so we could see more of the same. That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if we’re not watchful, the prayers that once sprung from our hearts can, over time, become just an outward form. We can find ourselves praying certain things just because we remember that it brought results in days gone by.
We may not even notice that the fire and passion that was behind our first prayers has now begun to fade. We may not realize that we are pretending to be something we’re not by giving lip service to that which inwardly we’re not truly crying out for anymore. It may take a while for it to dawn on us that somewhere along the way, we’ve started praying with our heads instead of our hearts.
What can we do when that happens?
We can stop focusing so much on the things we are praying about and focus instead on the One we are praying to. We can make drawing near to Him the number-one priority of our lives. We can purposely keep turning our affection toward Him until our hearts are so intertwined with His that our prayers once again spring forth from the depths of that divine fellowship. In other words, we can obey the command of Proverbs 23:26, “My son, give me your heart.”
Scripture Reading: Psalm 27:8
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!”