Scriptures of Encouragement ~ I Have Come Because of Your Prayer

Our little country church was considered a community pillar, at least in days gone by. In its heyday, we were told, its walls were bursting with families. Church pews held many people hungrily searching for God. Excitement had filled the halls; the glory of God beamed in the sanctuary. And  then, as so often happens, a stillness settled on the congregation. Negativity permeated its heart. The church's outreach turned inward and a death quell extinguished its light.

But God had other plans. He sent David and me to restore His joy to this precious church.

When we arrived there was a strong sense of sadness and defeat. Week after week we worked diligently, but made little headway. One Wednesday night after church services, David and two other men became desperate for God. They began to pray earnestly - fervently - for God's favor. They boldly asked for revival.

The harder the men prayed, the stronger the spiritual opposition fought back. Let me say that again. The harder the men prayed, the stronger the spiritual opposition fought back. They were tempted to give up, yet each of them understood they were on a heavenly mission. For weeks the men sought God together, often into the wee hours of the night. People began to sense a stirring in the congregation, an awakening. The pews began to overflow with church members who had long before left its chambers.

And then revival burst forth!

David was baptizing several each Sunday. A drunken man showed up one Sunday stating that God awoke him in the night and he knew he had to be saved. A prostitute appeared on another Sunday and walked away a new creation in Christ. It was totally amazing! But I ask you: what would have happened if David and the men had stopped praying?

Goodness, do I have an answer for you! Are you ready? Let's look at Daniel, chapter ten.

Daniel had been fasting and praying for twenty-one days - mourning over the plight of Israel. On the twenty-first day an angel appeared to Daniel and said this, "Do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia" ~ Daniel 10:12,13, NIV

Did you catch what the angel told Daniel in verse thirteen? He said that the prince of the Persian kingdom (a principality of darkness) resisted him for twenty-one days. Twenty-one days! The exact amount of time Daniel had been praying. The angel had been dispensed with an answer to Daniel's prayers the moment he began to pray, but it took him twenty-one days to reach Daniel because of the spiritual warfare. What if Daniel had stopped praying?

What if you stop praying about a particular situation?

How often have we waited for God's intervention only to become distracted by the frustration of the seeming silence or impatient with the slow progress? And in the distraction we cease to pray.

I have learned that when you think God is doing nothing that is when He is dong the most. He promises to hear us when we cry out to Him. He promises He will answer us. When we are in a season of waiting we must believe that God is working. We must resist the notion that He is ignoring us. We must. That idea is contrary to God's word.

Always, always, remember this: "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results" ~ James 5:16, NLT



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If you received Morning Glory via email, please visit the Morning Glory  page. I'm featuring Jaci Velasquez singing, "On My Knees". Oh! What a beautiful way to spend a moment with the Lord. Sweet blessings to you, Nan