Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night (I Sam. 15:11) When is the last time that your soul was so troubled about something that you cried out to the Lord all night long about it? For me, the answer is simple: Never. But I am not satisfied with that answer. Why? Because my soul has certainly been troubled greatly over many things, but I have never heeded God’s call to spend a night with Him wrestling in prayer. That’s what prayer often is- wrestling. Whether I’d fall asleep trying really isn’t the issue. The issue is whether I’ve accepted God’s invitation to join Him by trying in the first place. Is prayer that important? It was vital to the Son of God, so obviously it should be vital to us. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to watch Jesus pray? One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. ***When he finished***, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray (Lk 11:1). Jesus prayed in a manner that sparked a desire in his disciples to pray like Him. One of the great blessings of praying with other believers is hearing how they pray. Everyone is different- but it is so encouraging to hear how others call out to God. You can learn so much from being involved in corporate prayer. The school year has begun. If you have children or grandchildren or friends' children in school, whether it is pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school home school or college, I encourage you to intercede. If you are a student, I encourage you to intercede WE NEED TO STAND TOGETHER AS A CHURCH AND PRAY FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR SCHOOLS. Who else is going to do it? I know that none of you are so naïve as to believe that schools are a safe haven for our kids. They may be physically safe, and even that is in doubt these days, but are they spiritually safe? If we don’t push back the powers of darkness, who will? We have the authority to do it. Did you know that? If you think we have to sit back and just take it, you are sadly mistaken. All is not lost. The battle has already been won! We are simply involved in a clean-up operation. Let’s make sure the victory is enforced—together!
_________________Todd
In full disclosure I actually wrote this several years ago for a church I was attending. I have been going through my old emails to clean out my inbox. It is still relevant for us today, particlarly for me, since I **still** have not spent an entire night wrestling in prayer. What's wrong with me?In fact, my prayer life in general has stinked of late. No excuses; it's time to get cracking.
In fact, my prayer life in general has stinked of late. No excuses; it's time to get cracking.
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
After Greg posted that "do you remember compilation" from Keith Daniel, I tried to find the original sermon and found similar ones but not the same. I heard: "You are as real as your quiet time"and quoting Moody he said "This book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this book""Soak yourself in the bible!!"and he begged me not to neglect the quite time.I still had these ringing in my ears and was upset because my greatest fear was that one day I would not be real, and I knew I was not real, and I opened SI sighing what excessive post would I find this time? But it was not that, It was for my heart when Frannie posted (in Miracles..) this Restraining Prayer: Is It Sin? By Andrew Murray "Thou restrainest prayer before God" (Job 15:4I heard the clear calling to prayer, but one thing is hearing and an other is doing. I secretly use visiting SI as an excuse not to pray.
Hi Greg,I think that is a wise view on the matter. I know a pastor who regularly checks up on the workers of various ministries -- from Sunday School teachers to deacons. It isn't done to embarrass anyone. It also isn't done so that this particular pastor is looking for absolute adherence to very specific teachings or sectarian views of the church, fellowship or denomination. Rather, he is simply checking to see if they've been praying and studying the Word of God.
_________________Christopher
