We are seeing the fruit of our prayers in the leadership of this nation. God has given us a godly president and I can sense the fresh, cleansing wind of the Spirit that God has been promising. It is beginning to blow through the government of this country and it is a wonderful thing.
God is so faithful! He said that if we would seek His face and pray, and turn from our wicked ways, He would heal our land. Surely, that healing has begun.
Right now, I’m reminded of a verse in Proverbs that says, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Prov. 13:12).
In the past few years, godly pray-ers have been almost heart-sick over the state of our government. But in the midst of it they kept crying out in faith for God to move. Bless the Lord, now He has answered those cries and it is like a tree of life, isn’t it? It’s energizing and refreshing just to see it.
Let’s just shout about it right now. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
You know, sometimes we get so busy with the business of changing things through prayer that we forget to stop and thank God for what He has already done. We fail to take the time to say, “Hey, God has answered our prayers. Let’s just rejoice over that a while!”
It’s important that we do that, not just for the Lord’s sake but for ours. Did you know it’s a proven psychological fact that finishing a task actually re-energizes you? That’s why if you have a dozen projects going and you can’t get any of them finished, you feel drained of energy, overwhelmed…and eventually, you give up. But if you’ll focus in on one (even a small one), finish it up, and take a few moments to enjoy the completion of it, you’ll find you suddenly have the energy and the drive to tackle the next one.
Add to that the fact that rejoicing over answered prayer builds your faith and you’ll see why – even though there are countless things that still need to be prayed about to see this nation through to her divine destiny – we must pause and give God thanks for His great faithfulness and for the demonstration of His great power that we have seen in the past few months.
Praising and thanking God for what He has done will strengthen your prayer life. So do it! Instead of just bulldozing ahead every day with prayers of petition, supplication and intercession, pause and rehearse before the Lord all the victories He has won for you. Recount aloud the prayers He has answered for you personally, for your family, for your Church, and for your nation.
Excerpt permission granted by Mac 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!”