YOU MAY BE having a refill at your favourite diner, picking up groceries at your neighbourhood store or waiting for a call from a loved one.
Many things you do may seem ordinary—but bending your knees in prayer has a way of shaping them.
Prayer changes things.
To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees - Billy Graham.
A WIDOW who had been accused falsely went to a judge to clear her name—but the judge paid no attention to her request.
Imagine the secretary telling her that the judge saw no one that day.
She sat at the reception, opened her lunch box, and ate.
And when the judge found that the Widow never left, he said: "But this widow is driving me crazy. She's never going to quit coming to see me unless I hear her case and provide her legal protection." (Luke 18:5)
The judge restricted her access to justice, but she pushed back.
To get answers to prayers, you must persist. Nothing will happen without effort.
PRAYER IS the exercise of drawing on the grace of God – Oswald Chambers.
Mary was at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples were there too.
While they celebrated, they ran out of wine—and she hurried over to her Son.
The host stands on the brink of embarrassment; there are many guests and no more wine.
"Dear woman, is it our problem they miscalculated when buying wine and inviting guests? Unfortunately, my time has not arrived," Jesus replied. (John 2:3-4)
She tells the servants to do whatever her Son tells them to do. And Jesus turned water into wine.
She drew from the grace of God.
Whenever you combine persistence in prayer with a relationship, you have a formidable force.
TOO OFTEN, people think of God as a mountain too high to reach. But thank God for sending his Son.
Jesus wears many hats: he's the Son of God, our saviour and king.
As a Christian, you wear many hats too. For example, you may not be an intercessor, but you're called to intercede. (1 Tim. 2:2)
And God never gives us discernment to criticize but that we may intercede – Oswald Chambers.
THE PLAN of God for every believer is not to sail through life with ease—but to suffer and come to depend on Him. (2 Cor. 4:11)
Mordecai tore his clothes when he heard of the plot against the Jews. Then, he sent a message to Esther.
How am I supposed to see the king? It's known that anyone who approaches him in the inner chamber without being invited is sentenced to death. (Est. 4:11)
But Mordecai warned her not to think that she would escape the carnage.
Usually, we are judged by what we do, but what we don't do haunts us.
Persistence in prayer with a relationship is a formidable force
PRAYER LAYS hold of God's plan and becomes the link between his will and its accomplishment on earth – Elisabeth Elliot.
Esther had courage, and she knew God. But if the stage isn't set, nothing can be guaranteed.
Esther understood she needed to hem her affairs in prayer, and her future would come less unravelled. So, she called for a three-day fast and prayers.
If you bend your knees, you'll be amazed at what God will do.
SELF TURNS what would otherwise be a pure and powerful prayer into a weak and ineffective prayer – A. W. Tozer.
She made a sacrifice—she wasn't selfish.
ANY CONCERN too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be turned into a burden – Corrie Ten Boom.
Esther was so concerned that she was willing to give her life.
She went into the King’s quarters as an intercessor, but he saw her as his wife and queen.
And when she appeared before him, he said: What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? I'll provide you with anything—even half of my kingdom—all you need to do is ask. (Est. 5:3)
Turn your concerns into burdens and lay them at the foot of the cross.
Bringing it Together
PRAYER IS a process you must push through daily.
Men may spurn your appeal, reject your message, oppose your argument, despise your person, but they are helpless against your prayers – J. S. Baxter.
Never stop praying.