Pray with Passion

Today will feature a guest blog from my friend and author, Kathy R. Green.  She has graciously agreed to share with you all about praying with passion.  I hope that you will be blessed and empowered to go pray after reading this post. Thanks and God bless!

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If you were planning to hire someone to do a job for you I’m sure you would choose the person who displayed the most enthusiasm, and put their whole heart into what they were doing.  When it comes to the work of prayer, God is looking for the same.  He searches the earth for those whose hearts are upright before Him, who will lift up their voices unto Him with zeal and fervency.  It may seem like a tall order, but why would we give our Heavenly Father anything less?  Praying without fervency is like driving a car on low fuel.  Eventually, you will run out of gas before you reach your desired destination.

Fervency in prayer is birthed out of a heart that loves God, and knows who He is and what He can do through prayer.  As we approach God’s throne of grace, we are to come boldly and confidently before Him, but not only that, we must also come with a type of humility and sincerity of heart that will get God’s attention.  All too often Christians pray what I refer to as “popcorn prayers”: short prayers on the run, as they go about their day.  But if we really want to know the heartbeat of God and hear what He has to say, experience the richness of fellowship with Him, and receive answers, then we must be willing to give God all we have to offer in the secret place of prayer.

What could be more disrespectful than trying to engage in a serious conversation with someone you love when their heart is simply not in it and they are not listening to what you have to say?  This is what happens in prayer when we are too busy to take time to pray with passion and when we’re distracted by the cares of this world.  We fail to pray with the intensity and passion that God requires.  Elijah was a man who knew how to tap into the vast resources of heaven, to receive what he needed from the Lord.  He was a man of fervent prayer.

“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].  Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have, [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months.  And then he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual],”

(James 5:16-18 Amplified).

If we want to see the kind of results Elijah saw when he prayed, we must pray with the same earnestness and intensity that Elijah prayed with.  We must get serious with God if we want to get His attention.  God wants us to have warm feelings and be passionate about prayer.  He wants us to pray sincerely from our hearts, then He will hear and respond.

Hannah was another person who knew how to pray with fervency.  She was a woman who knew how to attract the ear of God with her prayers, and she received exactly what she longed for deep within her heart.  You see, Hannah had been childless, until she poured out her heart to the Lord in prayer, and God heard and answered her.

“Hannah was brokenhearted when she prayed, ‘Lord all powerful, I am your servant, but I am so miserable!  Please let me have a son.  I promise to give him to you for as long as he lives, and his hair will never be cut.’  Elkanah (her husband) and his family got up early the next morning and worshiped the Lord.  Then they went back home to Ramah.  Later the Lord blessed Elkanah and Hannah with a son.  She named him Samuel because she had asked the Lord for him,” (I Samuel 1:10-11; 19-20 CEV).

When we learn to pray with passion and sincerity we will see the kind of results that Elijah and Hannah received.  God will surely see us, hear us, and respond to us when we put fourth our best effort in prayer.  The word of God tells us we will find the Lord if we seek Him with all our heart and with all our soul (see Deuteronomy 4:29).

Do you lack enthusiasm for prayer?  If you desire it, God will grant it to you.  He will set your heart ablaze with the spirit of prayer, and it will change your life forever.  When we determine to make prayer a priority in our lives, our spirits will become alive with passion and fervency for prayer.  When we pursue God with passion, we will encounter Him.  And that is where life transformation takes place, because it is impossible to encounter God and remain the same.  God is calling His people back to prayer in this hour.  Will you choose to meet Him in the secret place and send forth earnest prayer?

 

About the Author

Kathy R. Green is the author of Pray-ers Bear Fruit, a wonderful book on the purpose, power, and efficacy of prayer.  She is also wonderful conference speaker and writing mentor.  She has a husband, son, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter; she resides in Dallas, TX.  To learn more about Kathy or to invite her to come speak at your next event, please visit her site.  You may also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @KathyRGreen.

To purchase Pray-ers Bear Fruit, please visit Amazon.com.