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| PentecostalTheology.com
I sincerely believe that if you can improve your prayer life you will improve your whole life. The God of the universe has invited us into fellowship with himself. He welcomes us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Like the great Persian King who held out the golden scepter to his bride Queen Esther, we may approach his majestic throne without fear. This is no earthly throne, this throne belongs to “Our Father who art in Heaven.” In some unexplainable way beyond my comprehension, the humble soul is lifted from earth to God’s celestial basilica to appear before the One and Only Potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus provides an example for us. Early in Mark’s Gospel we read, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35. Here we see the Master practicing what He preached. He was “seeking first the kingdom of God.” Luke records his nighttime prayer habits. “In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He continued all night in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12
The Apostle James, the brother of the Lord who wrote the epistle that bares his name was a man of great prayer. His letter has these three short but powerful lessons on prayer. “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” James 1:6 “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” James 4:2 “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 James’ ongoing life of prayer, specifically his worship of God and petitions for forgiveness on behalf of others. His dedication to prayer is such that his physical body reflected it: “his knees became hard like those of a camel.” It is because of this phrase that James is often referred to as “camel knees.”
Martin Luther went into town to get a haircut. While sitting in the barber’s chair the Barber, being a deeply Christian man asked the famed theologian how he could improve in the art of prayer. Dr. Luther asked, “Do you know the Ten Commandments?” Of course, said the barber. Well, pray each of the commandments, asking God to infuse them into your life and love toward God and your fellow man.” On the next month’s visit, the barber remarked how this had changed his life and asked, “Is there anything else I could add to my prayers?” Dr. Luther told him to pray the same way using the beatitudes of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount.
There was a young pastor who felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to pray the prayers of Paul found in Ephesians chapters one and three and Colossians chapter one. Daily he would go over to the church while no one else was there. He prayed these prayers over himself and his congregation. He continued to practice this pattern for several months. His preaching began to change as his heart was flooded with illumination from the Holy Spirit. Passages of scripture would come to life as he read and studied. His life and preaching were so much improved that the people in the congregation began to make comments about the change. This pastor was Kenneth E Hagin.
George Whitfield was known to rise hours before daylight, light a candle, lay his bible on the floor in the candlelight, and read, pray, and weep at the Master’s feet. Whitfield shook two continents with his powerful preaching. His ministry significantly impacted the Great Awakening that blazed across the United States during the 1730s and 1740s.
As I said at the beginning, I sincerely believe that if you can improve your prayer life you will improve your whole life. I pray for you, dear friend, that our God would fan a fresh fire into flame on the altar of your heart today. As Elijah of old called fire down from heaven and that fire consumed both the sacrifice and the altar, God would send a blazing, holy flame of prayer in your spirit. May it consume you and send you forth with a gospel glow that will become a beacon “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among who ye shine as lights in the world.”
