I love this quote from Spurgeon.

Because hidden in the layers is the true struggle of the Christian walk.

Prayer.

The apostle Paul continually admonished the Churches of the New Testament to pray.

Yet, prayer meetings continues to be the least attended meetings in the modern church.

I wonder how much we could do for our families and our country if we did more talking to God than talking to man?

I believe in the power of preaching.

But, oh, for it to come from a place of prayer.

I love these verses:

Romans 12:12 …rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer…

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing;

1 Timothy 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

Paul was serious about prayer!

Because it is the avenue to the heart of God through Jesus the Christ.

Prayer is the thing that connects our hearts to His.

But prayer is hard. We want to pray but we don’t want to, you know?

It requires focus, purpose, faith.

In our city, we have a monthly prayer meeting called MyHOP — My House of Prayer.

Two churches gather to worship and pray into the purposes of God for our county, our churches, for the families and businesses.

The meetings have an average attendance of 50.

And they are the best, absolute best times of prayer and worship I experience all month.

The music is often off the charts.

Sometimes I feel the residuals of our prayers and worship through the night into the next day.

Even though I know this about the MyHOP meetings, I usually go into them tired, feeling hectic, wishing I wasn’t the worship leader, sometimes on edge, wondering, “Why do we do this?”

Because we love Jesus.

Because we are commanded to be devoted to prayer.

Because the Father hears our prayers.

Because He is faithful.

One of the regular prayers is for safety in our country. We pray against crime and abuse.

Recently I heard on the Sheriff on the local talk radio show announce that crime was down over five percent in our county. Especially domestic abuse.

And crime was down over all in the state of Florida.

He said, “We don’t know what causes these ebbs and flows in crime but we’re glad to see them.”

I shouted to my windshield. “I know! The prayers of the church. Our prayers.”

At that moment, my eyes filled with tears and I knew it was true. The Lord was hearing our prayers.

What if the difference between a corrupt government and a good one was the prayers of the saints?

What if the abortion tide could be turned by devotion to prayer?

Or human trafficking or the jobless rate?

What if it didn’t matter what the elected officials did but how the elect of God prayed?

I think we’ve vastly underestimated the effectiveness of a righteous man’s prayers.

We must be devoted to prayer.

Turn our lives inside out and upside down to make the time to pray. To be at the corporate prayer meetings.

Jesus said, “My House will be called a House of Prayer.”

I don’t think there’s any force in heaven and earth that can stop this declaration.

So, get in on the ground floor. 😉

Start a prayer meeting at your church. In your home.

Add some good worship music.

Pray the Scriptures.

Make declarations.

Have faith that He will hear and respond!

I have many more answered prayer testimonies.

How about you? Isn’t your faith increased when He answers your prayers?

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