A Call To Prayer
Nathan Cox
1 Timothy 2:8 “I will therefore that men pray everywhere,…
As I look at the spirit of insanity that is sweeping our world, I hear a cry from the heartbeat of God calling men to turn back to Him in a posture of prayer.
We just had an election take place. Some people say it was a revolution against the political establishment. Whether or not that be true, what it did show was that people are looking for strength and direction in the midst of all the chaos happening around us. While as Christians we may have strong opinions about who should or should not be president, the fact of the matter is that no man, woman, or government can turn the moral tide of the nation and dissolve the descent into the abyss of sin. Only God can do that. He does it through a praying Holy Ghost filled people who are striving to have Apostolic revival.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The only thing that will bring a sustained revival, miraculous, apostolic atmosphere will be consistent, sustained apostolic prayer.
REVIVAL OF CONSISTENT PRAYER
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Paul admonishes us to have consistency in prayer. David talked about a consistent time in daily prayer (Ps 55:17). Daniel got thrown in to the den of lions because he refused to let a wicked law stop his consistent prayer time of 3 times a day. (Dan 6:10)
We need a revival of consistent prayer. Daily prayer. Start off every morning with God before we start our day. If we start the day in prayer, we are prepared to handle whatever comes against us during that day. The devil is a consistent adversary, and our flesh is a consistent adversary. To fight a consistent enemy, we can’t be inconsistent in prayer.
Inconsistent prayer makes inconsistent Christians. That’s why some people struggle over the same things without seeming to progress. It’s because they never learn or see the value of praying every single day. E.M. Bounds was quoted as saying, “Prayer is not preparation for the battle, prayer is the battle.” If we are not praying every day, we aren’t fighting every day. Prayer is where the POWER comes from, where victory is won, and salvation is obtained.
When it comes to the salvation of our family, walking in the power of the Holy Ghost, and indeed seeing Apostolic revival, it will only happen when we walk consistently in prayer.
Oh God, give your church a revival of consistent daily prayer until we get into the Spirit and can be led by the Spirit.
REVIVAL OF CORPORATE PRAYER
Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…”
Faithfulness in prayer will create a desire for faithfulness in the church. A church that prays together will stay together. It will grow, it will push back strongholds of hell in a city and have revival.
We need a revival of POWERFUL corporate prayer; where the church doesn’t view all church prayer as an off night but sees it the same as a church service.
Prayer is the foundation for all things apostolic. Thank God for individual prayer, but there is something POWERFUL that happens when the Church joins together in one accord and one place. Sound familiar? (Acts 2:1) Pentecost happens when the church joins together in prayer.
That’s why all of us should make pre-service prayer a priority. Did you know pre-service prayer is Biblical?
2 Chronicles 6:13-42 tells us that at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, all the singers were in place, and the priests were in place. But before the service started, before the first note was played, before the first song was sung, Solomon got down on His knees and began to pray. He opened church with a prayer meeting. The Bible tells us in
2 Chronicles 7:1-2 that as a result of his prayer, the fire came down from Heaven, and the glory of the Lord filled the house so strong the priests couldn’t even enter to minister.
This shows us that the level of fire and glory that takes place in the church service is directly connected to the degree of prayer that takes place before the church service. God is calling his people to have a revival in the prayer room. When revival takes place in the prayer room, it will be followed by an outpouring of Apostolic revival in the church altars.
REVIVAL OF FERVENT PRAYER
James 5:16 …The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
To be fervent is to be mighty in, show forth self, to be active. It’s not the will of God that our prayers be silent, timid, or dry. It’s the FERVENT prayer that availeth/accomplishes much. That’s why some people never see things accomplished in the Spirit because there is no fervency. It’s time for a revival of FERVENT prayer.
Avoid the REPETITION trap. Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions… How many times have we found ourselves saying the same 3 words over and over for 20-30 minutes? While our mind is on distractions?
Saying Hallelujah over and over for 20 minutes is not praying. It’s repeating a spiritual word of worship over and over. Prayer is communication with God Almighty. Imagine if a husband went to his wife in need of help with something and all he did was repeat her name over and over for 20 minutes. Not only would he probably get slapped, but he also wouldn’t receive the help he needed. When it comes to prayer, lets gird up the loins of our mind, remove distractions, stop repetitions, and TALK to Him.
One of the biggest things choking out the power of God in apostolic church services today is dead prayer meetings.
Dead prayer meetings must die. God, let the spirit of timidness die. Let the curse of whispering and mumbling die. Give us a revival of boldness in prayer, where we open our mouths, lift our voices, and pray fervently until the glory falls and chains are broken. Let our prayer rooms roar with the fervent voices of the church.
Imagine if we prayed every day with fervency. Imagine if we all came together at church and prayed with fervency. What could happen?
Pentecost would happen, miracles would happen, REVIVAL would happen.
Before God is calling us to a ministry, He is calling us to prayer! God, let us all determine within our minds that there will never be another dead prayer meeting if we are in that prayer meeting. Let us determine we will never again approach prayer, whether at home or church, with a halfhearted, distracted, quiet mentality.
Let us be determined to have a FIRE in prayer that brings Holy Ghost FIRE in the church and in our homes.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
The above article, “A Call To Prayer” was written by Nathan Cox. The article was excerpted from TOGETHER magazine, Spring 2017.
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
