When I think about the great need there is right now for believers to rise up and pray about the coming invasion of God’s glory, I am reminded of something the Lord said to me more than 25 years ago. It made such a great impression on me at the time that I have never forgotten it. And the closer we get to the coming of Jesus, the more I am reminded of it.
Actually, the Lord first spoke the words to me and a close friend of mine one night after we’d finished reading a book about Reese Howells. A tremendous praying man, God used brother Howells to pray out every major battle of World War II—before those battles were ever fought! Through his prayers, he cut a spiritual path for those battles to be won. He prayed in advance about the liberation of the Jews from the concentration camps. He prayed out the plan of God so the victory could come.
As my friend and I read together about the spiritual exploits of Rees Howells, we realized that God would always need people like him—people who would see what God was doing before He did it and then pray out His plan. At the end of the book, we found out that brother Howells realized it too because just before he died he asked God, “Who is going to take my place? Who will stand in this place of prayer?”4
As we considered those questions, the Lord spoke to both my friend and me at once and said, “There will come a time when you will begin to walk with Me and I will use you like I used this man in the end times.”
God didn’t speak to us just about ourselves, either. He told us that He would raise up a great army of praying people in the last days—people who would respond to Him quickly and accurately in prayer, people who would stand in places of authority and pray out the great plan of God.
Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:9 – 12
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!”