A small group of young men who were studying to become ministers made a trip to London. They went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle where they hoped to meet the famous C H Spurgeon. And by chance, or providence, Spurgeon was there. He met with them and extended an offer to give them a tour of the church. During the visit, Spurgeon turned to them and asked if they’d care to see the boiler room. Their responses were ambitionless. But Spurgeon was clearly eager to show them this room in the basement. The visitors expected dusty, noisy machinery, and a drab basement. Instead, when they got to the basement Spurgeon opened a door that presented a room directly beneath the sanctuary where more than 100 parishioners were praying for the upcoming service and their Pastor.
In the toolbox for great praying, I’m convinced you’ll find passion.
- Great preaching has passion.
- Great singing and music has passion.
- Likewise, great praying will oftentimes manifest with passion.
Acts 4:31a And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
I think Acts 4 was a prayer meeting with passion. If they didn’t have passion to begin the meeting, they certainly did by the end. The place was shaken and everyone got filled with the Spirit. And the same could definitely be said about Acts 2 and the 120 attendees.
Sometimes you should pray with fire. Sometimes you should pray with unction. Unction means the anointing has been smeared upon you.
There is an anointing to pray.
The second half of James 5:16 reads, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
effectual fervent— is energeo in Greek. This reminds us of our word energy.
- It means to go to work.
- It is a fervency. Fervent means showing very strong feelings.
As I read into more details of this Greek word I was humorously recalling a line from one of the earliest modern Batman movies when Bruce Wayne realizes the bad guys are doing some really bad things and he must suit up as his crime fighting persona. In such a moment, he says “I’ve got to go to work.” As prayer warriors and intercessors we must sometimes have similar occasions where we are more than ready to suit up in the armor of God and go to work—energeo, pray with effectual fervency.
Don’t feel shamed for praying with feeling. Don’t feel bad for praying with emotion. We need people mature, bold, and willing to pray with intensity.
Is there a furnace in your belly?
2 Tim 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands
Jesus prayed so earnestly in the garden that he must have experienced hematidrosis, a bursting of blood vessels that causes sweating of blood, often due to excess stress. Jesus wasn’t going to avoid the heat of the moment. He went through it. And He prayed with all His might, pouring Himself out in prayer (Luke 22:44).
I heard TL Lowery pray.
I heard Mae Tucker pray.
I heard a young Perry Stone pray.
I heard James Moses pray.
I heard Dotty Russell pray.
I heard the old timers pray.
The next generation must hear us, see us, and feel us pray.
Here’s the link to watch this as a teaching. Nearly 14 minutes with a prayer at the end.
Here’s the link to listen to the audio version of this teaching in a podcast episode.
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