PREVAILING Prayer only prevails through the prevailing spirit it is not a work of man, even of the holiest men and women of God. It is the work of the Holy spirit in you and through your cooperation. Samuel Chadwick, a great minister said “The biggest thing God ever did for me was to teach me how to pray in the spirit”. No one ever becomes a man or woman of prayer except through the Holy spirit.
How can you prepare his way so that the spirit can intercede in prevailing prayer through your being? Remember, you will always recognize that you are far too weak in prayer to prevail. Rejoice! “ The spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom8:26).
Again and again you will need to confess with paul, “Lord I do not know how to pray as I ought. I do not know exactly what all the details are for which I should prevail.” Rejoice. The spirit Himself intercedes for you with groans too deep for you ever to be able to express.
Since the Holy spirit has that burden to help you pray and to prevail through you, God is far more desirous of your prevailing than you ever realized. The spirit groans for you to become mighty in prevailing prayers. He has infinitely many groanings that are humanly inexpressible for you to become mighty in prevailing prayer.
For the many significant needs in the life of others, The spirit wants to make you mighty to prevail for them. God has no other way. He has ordained to bring his will to pass through your being joined to the prevailing intercession of both God the son on heaven’s throne of grace and God the spirit. The spirit longs to possess you more and more fully that he may pray through you more and more prevailingly.
God understands your heart broken confession, even as Paul confessed that he did not know how to pray as he ought.( Rom.8: 26). At the end of Yourself, give yourself again to God in total obedience can you confess with Oswald J. Smith.
Ah, that burden for souls-how it has characterized God’s anointed ones all down the centuries! … a host of … mighty wresters with God. Their, my brethren is experience I crave above all other”.
God desire you to help meditate the light of the Gospel and the saving power of Jesus through your prayer. In redemption, there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1Tim.2:5) But God needs thousands of cooperating intercessory mediators today. By your prevailing prayer, place one hand on the throne of grace and the other on the need of the world Moses did Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daviel did. Will you? Luther did. Wesley and Whitefield did, Apostle Ayo Babalola did, Pa Josiah did, will you?.
Prayer power is not something worked up, its not loudness of voice or physical or emotional self –assertion. It is power of the spirit within your spirit. He will work mightily in you as he prays mightily through you. He will burn the “ought” of prevailing prayer in your innermost soul. He will give you a holy “must” that drives you to your knees.
In this restless, busy age, most of us have never learned to give God time in prayer. We would rather work for God than pray. We will rather attend another service than pray. We would rather watch TV that pray! May God forgive us? Bishop J.G Ryle confessed, “We spend our spiritual strength and forget to renew it. We multiply engagements and curtail prayers… We work when we ought to pray…. The servant whom the Holy Spirit must use must resist the tyranny of work- overwork. He must resolve to be alone with God even if the hours spent with him appear to rob his fellow men of his service”.
Beloved Andrew murray wrote, “Heaven is still as full of spiritual blessings. God still delights to give the Holy spirit to them that ask him. Our life and work are still as dependent on the direct importation of the divine power as they in Pentecostal times. prayer is still the appointed means for drawing down these heavenly blessing and power upon ourselves and those around us. God still seeks for men and women who with all their work of ministering give themselves to preserving prayers.
