Does Prayer WIthout Ceasing Work?

 Eagle Village Chapel

God’s Power Principle For Today:  “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us”  (2 Cor. 2:1-12).  “Therefore, (I once heard an old country fire balling preacher say, when you run into a therefore, do not move on until you know what it is therefore!)  “Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you”. (Mark 11:24).

Hey Gang:  A few years back, I read a book by John DeVries, founder of Mission India by the title of “Why Pray?  My confession is, I have asked that question many times and even stopped praying for a season because I did not think God was listening. 

You see, I got into a time when I tended to measure the success of my prayers by what I received from Him in very short order.  There is an add on Television advertising Wentworth Finance; the people are shouting “I want my money and I want it now”.  That was kind of my attitude when I went to the throne room for a specific need. 

Have I had total victory over that, to a degree, but I must admit that battle has not been completely won.  When I see the continued escalation of man’s inhumanity to man, I wonder why God does not zap the culprits or send His Son to collect His sheep and get about cleaning up this world for the coming millennium.  The answer is always the same, “Not My Will but the Father’s will be done.”  It may sound strange, but on this issue, Jesus will take his orders from Abba Father.

But grey hair does tend to open memories of past times when I praised God that He did not answer my prayer. There was no question that God was a huge part behind the Village.  But I also remember times when my prayers were more like pie-in-the-ski that, if granted would have taken us down a path which we had no scar tissue of experience to wisely use. 

I remember one day when I drove by the Reed City Airport and saw the sign “FOR SALE”! My salivatory glands began to work overtime.  I said, ‘Look Lord!  Would that not be the perfect place for the Village Vocational Training Program.?”   Being an old air traffic controller, I could see myself sitting in my new office in the control tower.   God said, “If I would have given that to you there would be no Eagle Village today.”

I used to pray, “Lord, “If you just gave us a whole bathtub full of money, we could fill this oasis with hurting kids and families.”  His answer was always, “Trust and obey for there is no other way”.
When the deed was signed and we now owned 543 acres, my Father-in-law mentor said, “Be advised you are now the proud owner of a property with nothing on it and you are about to set out on a journey that will be filled with alligators and deep pits.” 

As John wrote in his book on prayer, when we have a specific need, we should put the development of the solution in God’s hand and shut up.  When Cathey, my daughter, assumed the role of Super Eagle of the Village, she inherited a very sick, near death entity.   On that very day her mom and I began a process that has continues today.  We knew from past experiences that the recovery and success of Eagle Village would be measured by where prayer was placed on the operational chart.

Our challenge to each one, if you are not willing to pray sacrificially, and as Paul challenges us, “Without ceasing” please do not sign up to be a prayer warrior.  I believe the prayer warrior ring that surrounds the Village today is the catalyst that has produced the changes and victories that have become a wonderful testimony to God’s grace.  Realize when you commit to pray for anything, when you fail you leave a hole in their covering. That Satan dearly loves!!!

Do you want to do something great in God’s Kingdom? Then join the prayer warrior brigade and help build an ever growing covering over and around the Village through the power of your prayers.

Blessings,

Gramps

PS You can be a prayer Warrior simply by praying regularly.  But if you want to join the team and receive information go to www.eaglevillage.org/prayer.

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