Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- You Cannot manufacture this fire of the Spirit, but you can prepare for it, welcome it, pray until you receive it, and refuel it to keep it from dying out. Such flaming prayer at times causes sleep to vanish and makes the heart hungry to fast.
Worked-up emotion is cheap; human zeal is sometimes offensive. But Holy Spirit-empowered prayer brings fire from heaven, fire in the soul, and exhilaration of spirit. (Google image, Manifestations of the Holy Ghost) [Excellent article on answers asked]
Bounds wrote, "Fire is the life of prayer; heaven is reached by flaming importunity rising in an ascending scale." Heaven pays little attention to casual requests. God is not moved by feeble desires, listless prayers, and spiritual laziness. God rejoices to see a soul on fire with holy passion as the heart reaches out o Him.
Both heaven and hell respect earnest, bold, insistent prayer. There is no place for timidity in intercession. We are to come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). God has no time to waste on so-called prayers which are only passing fancies of some lukewarm soul. Isaiah lamented, "No one calls on thy name or bestirs himself" (Isa. 64:7 BERKELEY; "arouses himself," NASB).
Importunate praying is so absorbed in the need and God's answer to the need that all else is disregarded. This is the secret of effective prayer. Jesus' illustration of the importunate widow was given after the disciples had asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray."
Urgent prayer increases in intensity until the answer comes. Prayer can be an ever more intensive sequence of ask, seek, knock, and fast. The man caught up in such praying cannot stop because he knows the will of God and must see the glory of God.
Even after God has given you His promise in some special quickening of your heart, you must press on in active faith. Elijah knew God had promised to send rain, but Elijah persevered seven times in continued prayer, with his face between his knees (1 Kings 18:41-46).
Daniel knew God's promise to deliver the Jews, but Daniel interceded until God sent His archangel to deliver the answer and tell Daniel how greatly beloved he was (Dan. 10:10-11, 19). God was working in power, but Paul kept pressing the prayer battle day and night for all his converts and churches.
(Chapter 27, p. 202-203, italics added for emphasis)
Father, help us prepare for the coming of the fire of Your Spirit among us. May we welcome it, receive it and keep refueling it to keep it from dying out! Our desire is to have flaming prayer that we even don't care about vanishing sleep or our urge to fast for effectiveness of our prayers.
We are beginning to see that importunate praying is to be so absorbed in the need and for You to answer the need, that it causes us to disregard normal actions and thoughts. This will be the secret of our effective praying, to desire Your fire to consume our praying, setting us on a path that causes us to burn with desire to see Your will done.
Today's Bible verses-
Micah 7:7 "But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me."
~ What we leave our children will live on once we're gone. Will they have received what really matters? Is it riches, cars, mansions and other earthy things? Our sowing seeds of faith in God in them and leaving godly examples, will inspire them and others to walk in faith. God's truth tells them they'll be gathered with other believers, together with us, to meet the Lord after death.
Today's Popular post-
Take a Special Step of Faith
Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- 5. Take a special step of faith. You are already living in faith, seated with Jesus far above all the forces of Satan. God has given you His directions. Now it is time to take the initiative; it is time to act on your faith. Don't tremble before your "Red Sea." March across it on the dry land the Lord will provide for you.
Make sure to watch the replay of Jill and Mark Savage's Roadmap to Rebuilding Trust and how you can:
- trust again even if you feel betrayed now and think you can’t get past it
- How to get your spouse on board even though they may feel like there’s no hope and are completely disconnected
- How to avoid the pain of falling back into a marriage the 'way it was’ before trust was broken
- How to move your marriage from hurtful to hopeful while building a happier, healthier marriage and a wildly engaged connection
The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,
located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,
broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15
You can view past services too.
I pray for the fire of God every day
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