In yesterday’s devotion I spoke about having a passion for praise. Having a desire to praise Jesus at all times will always fill our hearts with the joy of the Lord. Today I would like to talk about why having a passion for prayer is just as important and the most powerful weapon we can yield against our arch enemy – the devil.
Throughout the Scriptures we see how great men of prayer were able to accomplish great things for God. Men such as Abraham, Moses, and Daniel did great exploits for God precisely because they sought the Lord through their intercession for others. Now while prayer has many facets such as adoration, confession of sin, thanksgiving, and intercession I would like to primarily focus on intercession in this devotion.
Interceding for the needs of others is something that God has given us the great privilege to exercise as often or as little as we like. I have found in my own Christian walk that the more time I spend with Jesus the greater the burden He has given me to pray for the needs of others. While I love reading the Bible, praying for the needs of others has become a great passion in my soul.
Now while intercessory prayer is hard work, it is rewarding work. I have found that Satan will try everything in his power to get me not to pray because he knows how powerful believing prayer can be. While our minds can tend to wander when we pray, I have found in my own life that keeping a daily prayer list, and committing to daily prayer over it, has helped me immensely in staying consistent in prayer. While praying daily takes discipline it is a sacrifice I gladly make because I know that God is listening.
My friends hiding God’s word in our heart can prevent us from sinning and praying God’s word from our heart can prevent Satan from winning. Prayer activates the power of God in amazing ways. And as we live a holy life we can be confident that God will answer our prayers as we pray for His will to be done in the lives of those we pray for.
May the following quotes on prayer help develop your own passion for intercession:1
“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” ~ J. Sidlow Baxter
“Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
“Prayer is the way you defeat the devil, reach the lost, restore a backslider, strengthen the saints, send missionaries out, cure the sick, accomplish the impossible, and know the will of God.” ~ David Jeremiah
“The great battles, the battles that decide our destiny and the destiny of generations yet unborn, are not fought on public platforms, but in the lonely hours of the night and in moments of agony.” ~ Samuel Logan Brengle
“Prayer is the easiest and hardest of all things; the simplest and the sublimest; the weakest and the most powerful; its results lie outside the range of human possibilities-they are limited only by the omnipotence of God.” ~ Edward McKendree Bounds
“The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity…if we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.’” ~ Hudson Taylor
“We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.” ~ Andrew Murray
1 All of these quotes are from the following website: https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/prayer.html