Each supports and strengthens the other; each is essential in its own right. Desire has more to do with hunger and urgency.
Fervency has more to do with passion and zeal. Desire is born in need; fervency is born in love. we need eyes that see the need, and a heart burning with love.
Love opens your heart to God, who alone can meet all the needs. Love is the very nature of God. His heart is aflame with love for us and for his world.
The flame that burns in the heart of God will set your heart aflame if You will draw close enough to Him. His love radiates to your heart.
As you pray, His love places on your heart deep concerns for the needs He sees and wants you to see. His love, as it imbues you, makes your prayer a sweet perfume before Him (Ps. 141:2).
God's love is dynamic. It adds love, desire, and zeal to your praying. Said Charles Finney,
"You must have so much of the love of God—a love
like God's love for sinners—in your soul, that you are
ready for any sacrifice or any labor. You need to feel
as God feels...a love for souls."
Unless you have this, he asserts, your
"prayers for this object will have little heart and no
power with God." (p. 323, Sermons on Gospel Themes)
Andrew Murry insisted,
"It is the very nature of love to give up and forget
itself for the sake of others. It takes their needs and
makes them its own, it finds real joy in living and
dying for others as Christ did...true love...will become
in us the spirit of intercession...true love must pray."
(pp. 40-41, Ministry of Intercession."
The dynamic of fervency has been called the law of earnestness. How many prayers fail for lack of it!
Richard Watson, a theologian who lived about two hundred years ago, wrote,
"Prayer without fervency is no prayer; it is
speaking, not praying. Lifeless prayer is no
more prayer than a picture of a man is a man"
Acker adds,
"Incense can neither smell nor ascend without fire;
no more does prayer unless it arises from spiritual
warmth and fervency.... Cold, lifeless and idle
prayers are like birds without wings...mere lip prayers
are lost prayers." (pp. 31,33, Teach Us to Pray).
Missionary pioneer Adoniram Judson knew how to prevail. He wrote,
"A travailing spirit, the throes of a great burdened
desire, belongs to prayer. A fervency strong enough
to drive away sleep, which devotes and inflames
spirit,...belongs to wrestling, prevailing prayer. The
Spirit, the power, the air, and the food of prayer
is in such a spirit." (p. 59, Necessity of Prayer).
Isaiah lamented, "no one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you" (Isa. 64:7) . Israel was in need, but no one was rousing himself to prevail in intercession for the nation.
The Hebrew word means to rouse oneself, awake, incite. You must awaken and deepen qualities of concern, love, and zeal within yourself. You must wake yourself spiritually and prevail.
(Google image and my emphasis added)
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana
#42 The Dynamics of Fervency
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 73-74) Zondervan
Let's pray-
Father, may we begin to understand the importance of prayer and how much it has an effect on everything we do.
Please increase our desire and fervency in our efforts to pray for what concerns us, so we'll know You hear us and respond favorably on our behalf.
The Spirit, the power, the air, and the food of prayer, which drives away sleep, and devotes and inflames our spirits,...belongs to wrestling, prevailing prayer.
Oh, that we will learn to accomplish this for the Kingdom in our local churches! In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Today’s Bible verse-
(Col. 2:2, 3) "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; (v.3) In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Today’s quote-
"You can do more than pray, after you have prayed. But you can not do more than pray until you have prayed. And just there is where we have all seemed to make a slip at times, and many of us are yet making it—a bad slip. We think we can do more where we are through our service; then prayer to give power to service. No—with the blackest underscoring of emphasis, let it be said—NO. We can do no thing of real power until we have done the prayer thing." (Taken from p. 14 of QUIET TALKS ON PRAYER by S. D. Gordon).
Our thought today-
Many have a wrong image of Who Jesus is. This is why some people have become discouraged and reject His trying to draw them to Himself through various means of communication, even personally speaking to them.
Our question today-
Will you answer Christ's loving call on your life, and allow Him to bring you into His best plan He's had all along for you? He waits...as He loves you, my friend.
Upcoming posts-
The Lord Prepared a Way for Me
14th- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes
Exemplary Christianity
15th- Sunday evening's post by James H. Cagle
#43 We Need New Mighty Movements of the Soul
17th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#44 The Most important Measure of Prayer
19th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
A popular post-
C. Peter Wagner: Drawing near to God is the second lesson. This has to do with our personal prayer life. Prayer in general is a broad subject with many extremely important facets. But none as more important for a Christian...
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