"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).
The following comes from a tract sent by "Midnight Call Ministries", and is taken from Dr. Wim Malgo's book, "Called To Pray."
" Why do we need to pray? Because God the Father tells us to "...call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15). Aside from the fact that the Lord takes our cries concerning our outer troubles to heart, those who read His Word with an open and honest heart will inevitably come into inner difficulties. This is when the Father says to "...call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify."
The Son urges, "...men ought always to pray..." (Luke 18:1). "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). Notice how Jesus urges us to pray increasingly. "Ask" is a passive action. "Seek" is already an earnest perseverance. "Knock" means coming into the very presence of God until He opens the door of the inner sanctuary.
God the Holy Spirit wants to pray through us: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we now not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). Thus when the triune God encourages us to pray, He also gives us His promise that He will bring it to pass...
Why is prayer powerful? Because when we pray, three people immediately become involved: God, Satan and ourself.
The eternal God has solemnly committed Himself to answer the prayers of His children.
* He hears: "...the Lord will hear when I call unto Him" (Psalm 4:3).
* He answers: "...I will surely hear their cry" (Exodus 22:23).
* He refreshes: "They looked unto Him, and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed" (Psalm 34:5).
* He gives great strength: "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psalm 138:3).
* He fulfills: "...the desire of them that fear Him, He also will hear their cry, and will save them" (Psalm 145:19).
* He anticipates our request: "...Before they call, I will answer..." (Isaiah 65:24).
* He reveals: "...great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).
Finding Him in prayer is the key, You already have the answer to your prayer when you find Him: "...ye shall search for Me with all your heart and I will be found of you..." (Jeremiah 29:13-14).
Satan begins his violent opposition. The invisible world of darkness gets into such a state of turmoil and alarm whenever a man or woman goes to the Lord in prayer (Ephesians 6:12, Revelation 12:12). The one who prays comes under attack because of all the satanic activity that is going on today. This is by means of an invasion of spirits from below, and that is due to the Lord's imminent return.
but because the powers of destruction are active as never before, our prayer lives must increase or we will not survive. We will slowly but surely begin to yield to temptation.
However, the Holy Spirit initiates a counter attack against Satan's works and we are drawn into the realm of Gods' power. Something wonderful happens to our personalities when we pray. Do we become stronger? On the contrary, we become weaker. But our weakness leads to our reliance on the living God! As we pray, our weakness becomes united with His unlimited, all-powerful strength. Joy breaks through to our hearts, "...when I am weak, then am I strong" (2nd Corinthians 12:10); "I can do all things through Christ with strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13); "In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psalm 138:3). So then why do some people allow themselves to become so deceived by Satan? Because they do not pray. "
Dr. Wim Maglo then goes on to name three Biblical people who experience the power of prayer; Jacob, Jabez, and Jehoshaphat, and how they relied on the Lord alone.
" Allow yourself to be separated from your own abilities, possessions, flesh and blood, self-satisfaction, your own strength and from your presumptuous manner of knowing better. then you will have nothing left - and yet you will have everything! You lose yourself, but you gain Him! Your own nature will be broken, but you have broken through to Him. After you have separated from all earthly, temporal things, you will become more intimately bound to Him, the Eternal One. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!
Who won't experience the power of prayer? Stubborn, irreconcilable people. Jesus said, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25). Will you not be reconciled today with your neighbor or your relative? Forgive him for Jesus sake, for you too have been forgiven much!
* Those who have fallen away from the Lord. What is a backslider? It is a child of God who has departed from his stand for the Lord, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2:5). From what works have you fallen?
* Those who do not pray. The more negligent you are of this work, the less desire you will have to pray. Has your prayer life become increasingly superficial and hurried? If so, it is because you have fallen away, you are a backslider!
* You have become negligent about reading Scripture. You can no longer say with Job, "Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips: I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). Come back you wayward child of God!
The Power of Prayer. It is available to you. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart! Confess to Him your condition! I can assure you that He wants to make you a powerful person of prayer. His blood will cleanse you from all sin!
Dr. Wim Malgo "
By George Konig
Sept. 3, 2006
www.georgekonig.org
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