Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- Prayer is hard work and more. There are wonderful times of refreshing in prayer, but there are also times of hard, unglamorous, unspectacular labor in intercession. Prayer is realism. Mountains are to be moved; demons are to be routed.
The superficial Christian resents prayer that is work, wrestling, warfare. Then suddenly there is a tragic accident, terminal illness, or imminent death. Then the superficial Christian pleads for the prayer of those who know how to prevail. Suddenly he wants nothing less than importunate praying. (Unsplash, image, by Geron Dison)
Prayer is wrestling, like Jacob at Jabbok. the wrestling may be quietly wrought, but it will be in an agony of earnestness. The word in Colossians 4:12 concerning Epaphras was that he was agonizing in payer: "He is always wrestling [literally, "agonizing"] in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."
Is that an accurate description of your prayer for your friends, for your church, for your nation? Paul pleaded for this kind of agonizing importunity on his own behalf: "I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me" [literally, "to agonize with me in prayer"] (Rom. 15:30).
When Moses stood in the gap for Israel, he engaged in agonizing importunity. It was agonizing importunity when Paul prayed for the unsaved Jews:
"I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race" (Rom. 9:1-3).
It was such agonizing importunity in Gethsemane when Christ's prayer perspiration
turned to great clots of blood, falling down on the ground (Luke 22:44 WEMOUTH).
You can learn to prevail in prayer. You can learn to prevail over yourself and over Satan until God sees and sends His angels to hasten the answer. It will often take time. It will usually grow out of your ever-deepening life of intercession. You must learn to persist until the answer comes. You must learn to be so Spirit-controlled in your praying that He leads you step by step until you prevail.
Only He can give you the urgency until your whole being cries out to God and refuses to be stopped by Satan or discouraged by delay. You will not pray thus for every need nor will you pray this way each day. But as God directs, the Spirit will place that urgency in your soul.
Your urgent prevailing prayer may increase in intensity until you are truly wrestling in prayer. This is soul wrestling, not a physical wrestling. This is the prayer that prevails over all the power Satan hurls against God's will. This is the prayer that brings God's miracle power to bear on man's need. Oh, my beloved brethren, let us prevail in prayer. I ask this in the name, and for the glory of Jesus, our Savior. Amen
(Chapter 27, p. 203-204, italics added for emphasis)
Father, thank You for wonderful times of refreshing prayer. Help us when we have times to wrestle with hard, unglamorous and unspectacular labor in intercession. In times of moving mountains that obstruct Your progress in activities and in routing demons who are working against what is Your will for Your church, may we be diligent in effective, determined praying.
Jacob, Paul and Moses stood in the gap for Your people, as they engaged in agonizing importunity prayer. Christ experience such prayer while in Gethsemane, as He agonized over what He could see was what the Father was asking Him to do. It took three hours of urgent prevailing prayer for Him to fully surrender to His going to the cross to provide the sacrifice for humanity's sins.
Today's Bible verses-
Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Jeremiah 32:27 “'Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?'”
Job 42:2 “'I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.'”
John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Ernie Miller-
~ Have you noticed the various friends the Lord has placed in your life to help propel you through life’s challenges? Have you noticed how they’ve put God first in their lives, and are offering you tangible examples of how to be better disciples of Christ? May we be thankful for such friends, as they should be valued and appreciated.
Today's question-
We are not just an organization like other groups, but are largely inspirational. We are to be a unified global body of believers in all that the Lord Jesus did and taught. We are encouraged to seek unity with other Christians of like faith and personal devotion to Christ. (See Eph. 2).
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.
Ezxellellent word
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