What was right to pray yesterday may not be right to pray today. So we must continually have fresh revelation from the Holy Spirit.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“Don’t go into this headfirst or you will mess it up!”
I’ll never forget the day the Spirit of God spoke those words to me. I was in prayer, talking to the Lord about a particular situation that I had been watching and praying over for more than eight years. The Holy Spirit had given me revelation about it in the past, so I was stunned that such a warning would be necessary. I just assumed I was still being led by the Holy Spirit.
Is it possible that I’m not praying in the Spirit about this anymore? I wondered. Could it be that I’ve slipped over into my own, natural understanding, and I’m in danger of praying out of my head now instead of my heart?
I knew the answer had to be yes. Otherwise, such a warning would be unnecessary.
After I thought about it, I realized we all need that warning at times. In fact, the longer we’ve prayed and the more we think we know, the more important it becomes. Those of us who are seasoned pray-ers can easily fall into the habit of praying the same things again and again just because we’ve always prayed them. Instead of praying what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us today, we can end up praying what we remember (or what we think we’ve figured out) about what He said to us in times past.
But that’s praying headfirst and it’s always a mistake!
We can’t assume that the way God led us to pray last month or last year about the government, or the nation, or our church is the way He is leading us to pray now. Times and seasons change. When they do, our prayers must change with them so we can stay in step with the plan of God.
What was right to pray yesterday may not be right to pray today. So we must continually have fresh revelation from the Holy Spirit. We must watch daily for His leading and pray what He is speaking right now to our hearts.
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”