Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for prayer and for reaching the lost is exactly the kind of burden God Himself places on a heart, and it is good that you want to see that small work strengthened and increased. Do not despise the day of small beginnings. The Lord who sees the whole earth is looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully committed to Him, and He delights to take a small, faithful gathering and make it fruitful in His time.
Remember that all true prayer rests on relationship. When you can truly say Father because you have come to Him through Jesus Christ for mercy as a sinner and have been made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, then prayer becomes a living communion. Apart from that relationship prayer has no ground, but as His child you have open access to Him.
The purpose of that communion is not to persuade God to do your will, but to come into agreement with His will so that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer moves in a circle. It begins with God and His purposes, He makes those purposes known to your heart, you return them to Him as prayer, and then He answers. That is why persistence matters. Continuing in prayer is not an effort to change God's mind. It is keeping the door open so that God can do what He has long desired to do without violating the will He has given to people. Often He is waiting until our hearts are in harmony with His purpose, and when we are, the answer comes. Like Hannah who prayed for years until her desire matched God's desire to raise up a prophet, your steady praying keeps you aligned with what He wants to do through you.
That work will never be done by might or by power, but only by the Holy Spirit. This is why fervent, heartfelt prayer matters so much. Scripture says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and it holds up Elijah as an example that God hears and answers the earnest cry of those who walk with Him. It is not the length of the prayer or the amount of time spent on your knees that makes it valid. The prayers recorded in the Bible are often very short. A sincere cry, even unspoken in the heart, offered in the name of Jesus to the Father, and shaped by worship and awe at His greatness, opens the way for Him to act.
Prayer also leads to action. It never replaces obedience, it precedes it and then goes with it. To pray and then to set a watch, to pray and then to go out, is the biblical pattern. That is why your desire to not let the outreach be set aside for rain, heat, sickness, or the everyday excuses Jesus described, like buying land or trying oxen or attending to family matters, is so important. The last instructions of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples, to preach the gospel to every creature, to be His witnesses, remain paramount. When prayer is real, it is joined to wise and faithful steps of obedience. The love of Christ compels us, because we no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose for us, and that same love compels us to urge others to come to His feast.
I join you in asking the Father to pour out on you the Spirit of grace and supplication, to deepen your burden for souls and your labor until Christ is formed in others, to draw to Himself those He is calling, for no one comes unless the Father draws him, and to keep the evil one from hindering you as you pray and as you go out. May He grant you more opportunities to gather for prayer, steady and effective outreach, and true conversions that show the fruit of repentance, as with Zacchaeus, and may the word of the Lord prevail in your area. May you find the full joy that comes from spending time with the Father and seeing Him answer, and may He make those who turn many to righteousness shine like stars forever.
Remember that all true prayer rests on relationship. When you can truly say Father because you have come to Him through Jesus Christ for mercy as a sinner and have been made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, then prayer becomes a living communion. Apart from that relationship prayer has no ground, but as His child you have open access to Him.
The purpose of that communion is not to persuade God to do your will, but to come into agreement with His will so that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer moves in a circle. It begins with God and His purposes, He makes those purposes known to your heart, you return them to Him as prayer, and then He answers. That is why persistence matters. Continuing in prayer is not an effort to change God's mind. It is keeping the door open so that God can do what He has long desired to do without violating the will He has given to people. Often He is waiting until our hearts are in harmony with His purpose, and when we are, the answer comes. Like Hannah who prayed for years until her desire matched God's desire to raise up a prophet, your steady praying keeps you aligned with what He wants to do through you.
That work will never be done by might or by power, but only by the Holy Spirit. This is why fervent, heartfelt prayer matters so much. Scripture says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and it holds up Elijah as an example that God hears and answers the earnest cry of those who walk with Him. It is not the length of the prayer or the amount of time spent on your knees that makes it valid. The prayers recorded in the Bible are often very short. A sincere cry, even unspoken in the heart, offered in the name of Jesus to the Father, and shaped by worship and awe at His greatness, opens the way for Him to act.
Prayer also leads to action. It never replaces obedience, it precedes it and then goes with it. To pray and then to set a watch, to pray and then to go out, is the biblical pattern. That is why your desire to not let the outreach be set aside for rain, heat, sickness, or the everyday excuses Jesus described, like buying land or trying oxen or attending to family matters, is so important. The last instructions of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples, to preach the gospel to every creature, to be His witnesses, remain paramount. When prayer is real, it is joined to wise and faithful steps of obedience. The love of Christ compels us, because we no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose for us, and that same love compels us to urge others to come to His feast.
I join you in asking the Father to pour out on you the Spirit of grace and supplication, to deepen your burden for souls and your labor until Christ is formed in others, to draw to Himself those He is calling, for no one comes unless the Father draws him, and to keep the evil one from hindering you as you pray and as you go out. May He grant you more opportunities to gather for prayer, steady and effective outreach, and true conversions that show the fruit of repentance, as with Zacchaeus, and may the word of the Lord prevail in your area. May you find the full joy that comes from spending time with the Father and seeing Him answer, and may He make those who turn many to righteousness shine like stars forever.
