Thoughts for Life: #92 Prevailing Prayer Involves Time

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: Prevailing in prayer until God's answer is given involves the investment of time.

Any prayer answer worthy of prevailing prayer is worth all the time that you can invest in it. It may involve time spent in prayer on repeated occasions as well as priority on your heart, so that you return to this special petition whenever you have free time. (Several pastors uniting in prayer, Google image)

Persevering prayer takes time. Alexander Whyte said,

"Prayer worth calling prayer, prayer that God will call
true prayer and will treat as true prayer, takes far more
time by the clock than one man in a thousand thinks."
(Sanders, Prayer Power Unlimited, 108.)

Bounds adds,

"Prayer which is felt as a mighty force is the mediate
or immediate product of much time spent with God.
Our short prayers owe their point and efficiency to the
long ones that have preceded them. The short,
prevailing prayer cannot be prayed by one who has
not prevailed in a mightier struggle of long continuance."
(Bounds, Power Through Prayer, 43-44.)

Samuel Chadwick emphasized, "To pray as God would have us pray is the greatest achievement of earth. Such a life costs. It takes time." (Sanders, Prayer Power Unlimited, 108.)

When Jesus said, "Give ... to God what is God's" (Matt. 22:1), He surely included a major portion of our time as due God. The Lord's Day belongs to God, and it is a great day to spend in prevailing prayer for the church, the community, loved ones, unsaved friends, and God's work on the mission field. How much time do you average alone with Jesus on His day?

Let me urge you to set apart a period of hours on the Lord's Day to prevail for your prayer priorities. Perhaps God will often guide you to fast for one or more meals to add more time and intensity to your prevailing.

If we are really serious about prevailing, there is away to find time. But a person unwilling to sacrifice some good things in order to have time to prevail with God should not expect great answers from God.

We do not know how long these Bible saints (E. M. Bounds,
Jacob, Elijah, Daniel and David) prevailed in prayer. We do not know how long our Lord prayed when He got up early in the morning to get alone with the Father.

He seems to have spent some three hours in Gethsemane on the night of His arrest. But it is suggested that He had gone there night after night for similar prayer time. (Luke 22:39).

He prayed for our world because He loved our world. He still prays today because He still loves us and our world today.

We cannot really love our unsaved friends very much if we are unwilling to pay the price of prevailing for them in prayer. The "Unknown Christian," who blessed many by his writings during the early decades of our century, wrote,

"The wonder is ... that we can ever get up from our knees
if we realize our own need; the needs of our home and
our loved ones; the needs of our pastor and the church;
the needs of our city — of the heathen and Mohammedan world! (Bounds, Power Through Prayer, 44.)

Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana (With Jean's impressions added)

Mighty Prevailing Prayer
#92 Prevailing Prayer Involves Time
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 158 -160) Zondervan

Google image of kids praying

Let's pray-

Father, Your leading us in our prevailing prayers is for the good of those we pray for, and it is our request today, that Your Spirit cause us to be willing to give ample time for answers.
We see that in order to wait on Your timing for answers, we simply must continue praying prevailing prayers when the request deserves it, and to not give up.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

(2 Chron. 19:13 KJV) "Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight."

(2 Kings 22:19 a, c) "Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD ... I also have heard thee."

(Prov. 8:17 KJV) "I love them that love me: and those that seek me early shall find me."

Today's quotes-

~ David McCasland: "What's the best gift we can give to God today? In gratitude, humility, and love we can give ourselves completely to Him — heart, mind, and will. It's just what the Lord is longing to receive from each of us."

~ Oswald Chambers: "How many of us are letting Jesus Christ take us into His school of thinking? The saint who is thoughtful is like a man fasting in the midst of universal intoxication. Men of the world hate a thoughtful saint. They can ridicule a living saint who does not think, but a thinking saint—I mean of course, one who lives rightly as well—is the annoyance, because the thinking saint has formed the Mind of Christ and re-echoes it. Let us from this time forth determine to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (p. 9 of Devotions for MORNING and EVENING with OSWALD CHAMBERS

“Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins and thankful, acknowledgment of His mercies.”
― Unknown Christian, The Kneeling Christian

Our popular post today:

#62 Draw Near to God

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 who desires to do effective spiritual warfare than personal prayer...

Upcoming posts-

The Fear that Grips Humanity

18th- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes

#93 Plan Your Prayer Time

21st- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#94 Persevere Till You "Pray Through"

23rd- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

Growing in the Wind

25th- Saturday's post by Mark DeHann