Prayer 101
If we ever needed to be a people of prayer, now is the time. If our fellowship and other fellowships ever needed to be houses of prayer, it is now.

Most of the great prayer warriors of the faith firmly believe that God will not fulfill His will alone, that He will perform only after His people agree with Him in prayer. If this is true, and I believe it is, then we need to become a praying people who truly want His kingdom to come and His will to be done in all aspects of our lives and throughout the world.

Two Types of Prayer
When I think about different types of prayer, I really see only two types.

* Prayer that originates out of our own needs and the needs of others.
* Prayer that originates in God’s needs.

Hopefully, our needs are lost in God’s will.

Prayer - Not as Mysterious as Some Think
I also don’t think that God meant for prayer to be as mysterious as some people believe. Prayer is really nothing more than having a conversation with God. In any conversation, it’s important to not just speak, but to listen. The same is true with prayer. In any kind of prayer, we need to cooperate with God’s desires and find His heart about a matter, His will. The words we say on earth should be nothing more than a reflection of God’s will in heaven.

So many times we lazily engage in prayer without stopping to be still enough to see what God’s desires are. Carelessly, we throw out a flood of words hoping we hit something, but that’s not what God desires. Michael Bynum used a great analogy one Wednesday evening. He said that God desires disciplined snipers who will wait until just the right moment, warriors who with just one shot will nail it every time.

The Cycle of Prayer
Within any given moment, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are having an ongoing conversation with the Father. When we pray, we are, in essence, entering into this cyclic dialogue. Jesus is interceding to the Father; the Holy Spirit is taking what the Father says back down to earth where it strikes our hearts and we pray it. The Holy Spirit then takes our prayer back to Jesus who takes it to the Father who then acts on it.

Watchman Nee says that prayer is to God’s will as rails are to a train.

“The locomotive is full of power; it is capable of running a thousand miles a day. But if there are no rails, it cannot move forward a single inch. If it dares to move without them, it will soon sink into the earth. It may be able to travel over great distances, yet it cannot go to any place where no rails have been laid. Such is the relation between prayer and God’s work.”

Our task in prayer is similar to John the Baptist’s task, to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. Our prayers prepare the way for God’s will to be done right here, right now.

Prayer – Not Just an Activity but a Lifestyle
Like worship, prayer should be more than a spiritual activity. It should be our lifestyle. We can, like worship, pray anytime. I see it as a spiritual, household duty, a discipline. God expects us to pray. I also see prayer as a privilege, for it is the very activity that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are engaged in right now. (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8: 26-27, 34)

Today, Jesus invites us to join Him in His father’s business and in His father’s presence. He asks if we will also be willing to lay aside our lives before God for the sake of others, for the sake of the harvest. Why? He delights in having relationship with us and enjoys sharing His life with us. His business is our inheritance, and His home is our home.

The Backlash
When we learn to hear God and pray His will back to Him, our prayers will shake up hell and affect Satan’s plans. Prayer that originates in God is always effective against the darkness.

For this reason, we may find hindrances to prayer. After all, we are in the middle of a war between two kingdoms: God’s and Satan’s.

By the way, there are no civilians in this war. Rest assured. Satan will do anything to discourage or distract us from prayer. After all, our gain is his loss.

Watchman Nee notes several ways that Satan may resist us when we begin to pray:
* He may attack our trust in the Lord, making us feel unworthy or unable to pray.
* He may even make us think that God isn’t listening or doesn’t care.
* He may attack us physically or mentally or emotionally. When we are tired or sick, we often do not pray.
* He may attack our designated time to pray, filling our life with unexpected happenings or visitors or tasks.
* He may attack our constant fellowship with the Lord, making us feel as if there is an invisible, oppressive barrier alienating us from God.
* He may distract us from the darkness by turning our attention toward other things.

If Satan cannot discourage us in the above ways, he may try to wear us down with little things. Scripture says that it’s the sneaky little foxes that often do the most damage.

For instance, we may push ourselves too much physically or not eat correctly or sleep enough. Before too long, we’re too tired to pray. Maybe we put off reading our Bible or worshipping or spending time with Him until later which becomes tomorrow which may eventually become next week or next month. How can we pray if we’re not fellowshipping with Him? Maybe our emotions are a little unsettled. We may be a little restless today, a little unhappy tomorrow, and a little depressed the day after. Eventually, we lose our peace and joy and forget the task that we were assigned to do. (Nee – Let Us Pray)

The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. – Lev. 6:12. Somehow we must keep the fire burning. Somewhere the inconsistencies have to stop so that we can jump into the divine prayer cycle of our Father. To be effective in prayer, we must be alert and available to God. We must be able to hear Him. The cycle begins and ends with Him.

Prayer, though one of those wonderful mysteries of God, isn’t some mysterious something, somewhere out there. It is simply breathing back to God what He wants to do.

Yes, the scriptures do say that He knows our needs before we even ask. So, why do we have to ask? Asking builds our faith and plants us firmly in this powerful, interactive relationship with the living God.

I honestly don’t know if we’ll be able to survive the days to come if prayer isn’t a priority in our lives. Throughout the years, many of the great men of God have said that our weakness is most easily manifested in prayer. Nothing else in the spiritual realm reveals our inconsistencies more than this activity or the lack thereof. Now is not the time to sleep.

Prayer is not just smoke that eventually vanishes; our prayers are collected and considered precious in heaven. One day, these prayers will be revealed for all to see. “The four living beings and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each held gold bowls filled with incense – the prayers of God’s people.” (Rev. 5: 6-8)

The legacy of any church or of any man is never about what the man did or could do but about what the living God has done in and through that man. It is His work in and through us that is the legacy. His kingdom is our inheritance. Furthermore, He’s only just begun. “O Sovereign Lord, you have only begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?” (Deut. 3: 24)

~ dhandy

FIRST COME THE TEARS, THEN COMES THE FIRE, AND AFTERWARDS COMES THE HARVEST!

The Vineyard of Prayer: An excerpt from Frances Roberts’ Come Away, My Beloved

O my child, the days are fraught with burdens that need to be borne upon the shoulders of faithful prayer warriors. Where are the ones who are willing to make themselves available to the Spirit for this ministry? Lo, I say, the Word sown shall dry up like carelessly strewn seed if it be not watered with tears of intercession. Ye cannot in yourself lay this ministry upon thy soul, but ye can make room in thy life for time apart with Me; and as ye place thyself at the disposal of the Holy Spirit, He shall use thee as a channel when the needs arise.

Nothing is more needful at this present hour than prayer power in full operation, under the direction and in the unction of the Holy Spirit.

I am calling My Spirit-filled believers to concerted and concentrated labor in this, the vineyard of prayer. Hidden from the eye of man, it is wide open to heaven; and the saints in heaven join with you in this operation of the love of God.

Other ministries ye must carry on yourselves alone, but in this ye have mutual fellowship, for those in heaven have also an intercessory ministry for their brethren yet on earth.

Rejoice to be granted the privilege of so sacred a task. Count it most precious, and guard against the intrusion of distractions. Nothing is more important in My sight of all that ye can do for Me. Cherish it and cultivate it. Live in prayer, and ye shall know a full life of joy and the remuneration of My blessing!

Helpful Tips
I would like to share with you some wisdom that someone shared with me years ago. It has truly been encouraging. You need no man to teach you because the anointing, the Anointed One, dwells in you. He will be your teacher.

Of course, we do bless each other and learn by study, observation, and fellowship, but all of this learning pales in comparison to those times alone with Him. He will teach us if we ask, so don’t be afraid to ask.

* Pray confidently with faith. God does hear. “What does it matter about words, when all thy desire is before me?” (Psalm 38:9) “He who says come doesn’t push us away when we do.” – Amy Carmichael

* Be disciplined. (1 Peter 4:7)

* Be available. Daniel prayed three times a day, and his windows were always open to Jerusalem. In other words, he was available to God. (Daniel 6:10)

* Be willing to wait. Prayer is work, and sometimes the work of God takes time, maybe even years. Pray as long as it takes. (Isaiah 62: 6-7)

* Don’t be afraid. The one who protects our souls from the enemy also makes us vulnerable to the needs of others. We are a body. God unites us to each other in love, and love is always the fuel behind prayer. (1 Cor. 12:26)

* As soon as the burden comes, pray. If there is a real sense of urgency, fast.

* Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray because every spiritual battle, every situation is different. What worked once might not work the second or third times. Prayer cannot be reduced to a formula. It’s about having an intimate relationship with the King of the kingdom and finding out what He desires. (Jer. 33:3)

* Pray the scriptures.

* Be persistent. Bob Jones once said that our prayers are like eggs and we are like hens. We need to sit on those eggs until they hatch. (Luke 18: 3-7)

* Realize that our prayer times may also be filled with worship, warfare, repentance for our own sins and those of the body at large, and prophecy.

* Realize that unforgiveness, bitterness, and selfishness can hinder the effectiveness of our prayers.

* Remember that the struggle you may find in your soul may not be your own. It could be God calling you to pray.

Blogs
For some time now, a kinship-like, online community has been evolving within our fellowship on what is known as blogs. Basically, a blog is an online diary. It is updated more frequently than a website, sometimes even daily. Moreover, the reader of a blog may comment to the writer of the blog or to any of the other people who have commented on the blog. So it’s sort of like having an online conversation. According to Newsweek magazine, blogs are rapidly becoming one of the world’s most popular forms of communication and news. People from all over the world, not just from within our community, can visit someone’s blog.

Each individual blogspot is arranged with the most recent entry first; the rest follows. After so many entries have been written, they are then archived into months, so it is possible to actually read months’ worth of entries.

The entries reflect the personalities of the individuals writing them. For example, Michael Bynum may share a little of his past or a nugget from God. Debbie Handy’s blog is all original poetry. Clay Rowe, a new blogger, may share something philosophical or scientific. Anywho, the topics may range from humor to wisdom, from trials to triumphs, from prayers to praise. Any topic is apropos. David Finlayson’s recent blogs have been about potty-training Kelsey.

Sooooooo, consider yourself invited to visit or join this online community. It costs you nothing, and the rewards are . . . priceless. The church’s website is gadsdenvineyard.org. If you haven’t checked it out in a while, do. Laura Catoe has done an incredible job creating and maintaining it. Our church’s blogspot is gadsdenvineyard.blogspot.com. On it are links to Jim’s, Michael’s, Debbie’s, Kris’, and Tommy’s blogspots. If you want to visit other popular blogspots, visit Tommy Puckett’s blogspot. There you will find links to all the rest of the little bloggers.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Betrayed by one,
denied by another,
deserted by all,
He knew everything,
yet He stripped,
He stooped,
He washed . . . FEET.
Oh what a holy moment -
our servant king’s holy example!
“Do as I have done.”

~ dhandy