Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.The word "travailed" is a picture of prayer. Now what is this for? "...For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." The Church is about to bring forth a mighty harvest of children - souls.
(Isa. 66:7-8)
Psalm 2:8 says, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." We're instructed to ask - that's prayer.
We talk about a harvest, we talk about nations, but we don't possess them until we ask for them. There is a move of prayer coming, One minister said years ago, "When a spirit of prayer comes on the Church, it's a sure sign revival is on the way." Prayer always precedes revival.
Another example of prayer is in Matthew 21:12. The Bible says, "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves."
The temple had been turned into a flea market. People were being cheated, misused and abused. What did Jesus do? He drove out sin and irreverence. Then He said, "...It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer..." (verse 13).
Jesus drove out sin and irreverence, and then He brought in prayer. Verse 14 says, "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them."
Look at the progression: sin and irreverence were driven out, prayer was brought into the house, and then the blind and the lame came to Jesus, and He healed them.
A healing move broke out. When did the healing move break out? After a move of prayer. Some things will not happen until we have a move of prayer.
When the Holy Spirit comes on the Church with a spirit of prayer, more people will come to a prayer meeting than come to a healing meeting or teaching seminar. People will gather together to pray at their businesses.
People will pray in the morning, people will pray during their lunch hour, and people will pray after work. Prayer will spread like wildfire all across the nation.
God is pulling us like a magnet to pray. There's never been a day like this before. There's never been a season like this before. There's never been a latter rain before. There's never been a harvest before.
We've tapped into something that God has been planning all through the ages, and that is to bring in His final harvest. You and I have a part to play because God needs the Church to pray His harvest in.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.