Dick Eastman wrote in his book, The Hour that Changes the World: “We constantly find Jesus praying. He prayed among hypocrites in the temple, in crowds, on hillsides cluttered with disciples, in crowded upper room, and alone on mountainsides outside Jerusalem. Prayer was more than a part of Christ’s life; it was His life.” [1]
“Prayer sees God’s infinite power. Prayer surrenders our problems to God and asks for Divine intervention.” [2]
Jesus asked His disciples only one question specifically related to the subject of prayer. While in Gethsemane, He asked them, “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” [3]
“Would you consider giving God a daily, sacrificial gift of time. Not just a few spare minutes here or there, but a substantial gift – perhaps even as much as 60 minutes every day? It would be time spent alone with God in personal worship, prayer and reading of His Word.” [4]
Hans Von Staden made this statement about prayer, “When man works man works; when man prays, God works.” A.T. Pierson once said, “Every step in the progress of missions is directly traceable to prayer.” God works through prayer because prayer requires a relationship with Him.
Dick Eastman suggests that we give an hour per day to the Lord to pray. He breaks the hour up into twelve five-minute disciplines. They are praise, waiting, confession, Scripture praying, watching, intercession, petition, thanksgiving, singing, meditation, listening and praise.
WHY PRAISE
“Praise puts God in His rightful position at the outset of our praying. In praising God we declare His sovereignty and recognize His nature and power. Praise decentralizes self. One cannot praise God without relinquishing occupation with self.” [5]
“Not only does praise open our devotional hour to an outpouring of God’s glory, but it sends Satan running. He cannot tolerate the presence of God. God inhabits the praises of His people. Adoration is the antidote to the poison of satanic oppression.” [6]
“The full meaning of praise can be captured in its Old French origin, ‘preiser,’ which means to ‘prize.’ To praise God is to prize God. The word ‘prize’ means to ‘value, esteem and cherish something.’ During our times of praise we esteem God with our words of adoration.” [7]
WHY WAIT
“Waiting on the Lord is a silent surrendering of the soul to God.” [8]
“John of Damascus, the ancient Greek theologian, defined waiting as ‘the elevation of the mind to God.’ It is wholly being taken up with God. God says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Strong relationships are best cultivated in silence.” [9]
WHY CONFESS
“God cannot hear the prayers on our lips often because the desires of our heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly than our desires for Him.” “An awareness of our past failures especially tends to buffet the mind as we pray. Suddenly we feel hopelessly unworthy of offering our petitions. The devil has gained a victory and soon we stop praying altogether.” [10]
“God knows our sin, but we need to know it and confess it. Likewise, we need to confess our utter dependence on God for our attitude, direction, and power to do what is right. The moment we admit that a particular act displeases God, we recognize the responsibility to change it. Sin causes indifference, and it is impossible for indifferent people to change the world.”
“If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened.” [11]
“This is why confession is critical to our praying… It clears the conscience of faith-killing guilt and opens the heart to truly believe God will hear our petitions.” [12]
“Bitterness towards others drains prayer of power. The greatest danger in having enemies is not what they may do to us – it is what we do to ourselves as we allow harsh, bitter, angry reactions to develop.” [13]
King David made three confessions. He confessed his need for divine attitude, divine guidance, and divine unction. Divine attitude: “Renew a right spirit in me.” Divine guidance: “Cast me not away from Thy presence.” Divine unction: “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” [14]
WHY PRAY SCRIPTURE
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” “The Word alone is the source of faith.” [15] “Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, ‘Do as Thou hast said!’ The Creator will not cheat the creature who depends upon His truth; and far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His Word to His own child.” [16]
WHY WATCH
Jesus said to, “Watch and pray!” Peter said to, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.” “Much praying is hampered by a dull, drowsy frame of mind.” [17]
“I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out, reminding God to remember.” “Appointing watchmen to guard walled cities was common custom in Bible days.” The intercessor’s ministry is to keep watch over his community’s well-being by faithfully praying to God for the people. [18]
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you as you pray. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” [19]
“The great lesson for every time of prayer is – to see to it, first of all, that you commit yourself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and with entire dependence on Him, give Him the first place; for through Him your prayers will have a value you cannot imagine, and through Him also you learn to speak out your desires in the Name of Christ.” [20]
WHY INTERCEDE
“Intercession is prayer offered on behalf of another. When the prayer warrior intercedes, he forgets his personal needs and focuses all of his faith and prayer attention on others.” “There are two essential questions the prayer warrior should ask himself as he goes about the ministry of intercession. They are: ‘How much awareness do I have relative to the problems of world evangelism?’ and, ‘Am I aware of how Satan is working to hinder God’s workers.’” [21]
“To intercede is to stand between a lost being and an Almighty God, praying that this person will come to know about God and his salvation.” “Our prayer does not save the sinner, but somehow it serves to prepare his heart for the moment word reaches him of Christ’s love.” [22]
“Four specific times, the apostle Paul spoke of ‘making mention’ of his fellow Christians in prayer. Surely the apostle did not spend his entire waking time praying for every specific need of each fellow Christian. Instead, he confidently lifted their names before God, fully trusting God to bless each of them.” [23]
We need to pray that God will turn the spiritual blindness of unbelievers to sight because, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” [24]
Intercessions for missionaries including names of countries and national leaders:
More laborers to the harvest
Open doors for these workers
Fruit as a result of their efforts
Finances to expand their work [25]
WHY PETITION
“If the royal and divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that He may have, you and I cannot expect to have the rule relaxed in our favor. Prayer is man opening his heart’s door to receive power already appropriated by God. Expressed helplessness is the key to opening that door, thus giving God access to our need. We must define the need.” [26]
“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” “Jabez was bold enough to ask of God a blessing. God not only honored the request but chose to use Jabez as an example of how He longs to answer our sincere petitions.” [27]
“The more specific and complete the petition, the more faith is generated when we bring it to God. The petition should be simple and sincere. Eloquence is not necessary for effective praying. Even the simplest petition, when offered in faith, opens doors to the miraculous. ‘Lord, teach me to ask!’” [28]
WHY THANKSGIVING
“Thanksgiving helps me focus on God’s faithfulness. Thanksgiving might well be labeled ‘a confession of blessings.’ It is during this aspect of prayer that we recognize all of life’s blessings and confess them before God. Like praise, thanksgiving places the believer’s attention where it must be centered to make prayer effective.”
“When Jesus began His prayer to raise Lazarus from the dead and when He began His prayer for food for the thousands of hungry people around Him, He began by saying, “I thank You…” It is precisely when the need brought to us is greater than we could ever meet that we should begin our prayer by saying, “I thank You, Father.” [29] Thank God for His faithfulness in the past. Thank Him in advance for what He is going to do against the overwhelming odds.
WHY SING
The Psalmist says to come before God with joyful songs. “No fewer than forty-one Psalms specifically refer to ‘singing praises’ unto the Lord. The New Testament speaks of singing spiritual songs.” [30]
“Paul and Silas ‘sang praises’ unto God while they were in prison.” God opened their prison doors and set them free. The Lord gave His people victory over their enemies as they went forth into battle singing His praises. Singing praises to God during a difficulty is a prayer of faith; we sing God’s praise for who He is knowing that such a faithful God will not disappoint us. [31]
WHY MEDITATE
“The Hebrew word for meditation (hagah) means to mutter upon.” God tells us to meditate on His law day and night, to observe to do it, and it will make our way prosperous and give us success. The Psalmist says His meditation in the Lord is sweet, and he finds gladness in the Lord.” Scripture meditation lifts us out of self’s squalor to the pure air of God’s kingdom. [32]
Meditations: God – Psalm 62:5; God’s Word – Psalm 1; God’s work – Psalm 77:12; Past victories – Lamentations 3:21-23; Positive thoughts – Philippians 4:8
WHY LISTEN
“Prayer is the soul’s pilgrimage from self to God; and the most effectual remedy for self-love and self-absorption is the habit of humbling listening. Solomon penned, ‘Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so let your words be few.’” [33]
“To listen in prayer is to mentally absorb divine instruction from God concerning specific matters for that day. Our prayer should be a conversation, one in which we listen as much as we speak. To find His Father’s will Jesus spent whole nights listening. Listening implies confidence that God truly desires to speak to us.” [34]
“God, alone, knows the solution to every problem we will face. This listening phase of prayer allows the believer to tune in on God’s solutions. We do not engage in prayer to tell God what to do. Our goal in prayer is to discover what God wants us to do so that He will be glorified.”
“Elijah heard God speak with the sound of a gentle whisper.” During the listening aspect of your prayer you may wish to keep a note tablet handy to record these impressions.” [35]
WHY PRAISE
“Jesus not only taught to begin our prayer with praise ‘Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name,’ but He also taught us to end our praying with praise – ‘For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.’”
“Just as antagonism, hostility, cursing against God exercises and strengthens all that is most abominable, diabolical, and base in the human spirit, so worship and praise of the infinitely loving, lovely God exercises, reinforces and strengthens all that is most sublime, transcendent, and divine in the inner being.” [35]
CONCLUSION
“Accomplishment always begins with a commitment of the will. Without practice no Christian will become a real man or woman of prayer. Practice requires perseverance.”
“Find the very best time for personal prayer. Set a goal of rising 60-90 minutes earlier than normal for at least at several days of experimentation. Those who have no set time of prayer do not pray. The most important appointment I have today is my appointment with Jesus in prayer. Fight all interruptions fiercely.” [36]
“Recognize the overwhelming importance of your daily hour with God. Until we recognize the full worth of our prayers, we will never develop a consistent habit of prayer. To be faithful in prayer is to share with God in His plan to change the world.” [37]
Pray for lost souls that they will ask, ‘Whom can I trust?’ ‘What is my purpose for living?’ ‘When will I really be free?’ ‘Why do people hate religion?’ ‘How can I cope with my problems?’ ‘Where will I go when I die?’”
Eastman’s ministry has reached 800 Chinese cities since he began the one-hour prayer focus.
[1] Dick Eastman, The Hour that Changes the World, Chosen Books Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI © 98, 02, p. 25
[2] Ibid, p. 18
[3] Ibid, p. 23; Matthew 26:40
[4] Ibid, p. 24
[5] Ibid, p. 20
[6] Ibid, p. 31; Psalm 22:3
[7] Ibid, p. 32
[8] Ibid, p. 36
[9] Ibid, pp. 28-39; Psalm 46:10
[10] Ibid, p. 45; Andrew Murray
[11] Psalm 66:18
[12] Ibid, p. 46
[13] Ibid, p. 50
[14] Ibid, pp. 50-51; Psalm 51
[15] Ibid, pp. 54-55; Romans 10:17
[16] Ibid, pp. 56-57; Charles Spurgeon
[17] Ibid, pp. 61-62; Mark 14:38; 1 Peter 5:8
[18] Ibid, p. 63; Isaiah 62:6
[19] Ibid, p. 69; Romans 8:26-27
[20] Ibid, pp. 63-64; Andrew Murray
[21] Ibid, pp. 72-73
[22] Ibid, p. 78
[23] Ibid, p. 79
[24] Ibid, pp. 81-82; 2 Corinthians 4:4
[25] Ibid, p. 81
[26] Ibid, pp. 84-85
[27] Ibid, pp. 88-89; 1 Chronicles 4:10
[28] Ibid, p. 94
[29] Ibid, pp. 95-97
[30] Ibid, pp. 103-105; Psalm 100:2;
[31] Ibid, pp. 106-109; Acts 16:25; 2 Chronicles 20:20-22,
[32] Ibid, pp. 111-112; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 104:34
[33] Ibid, pp. 114-116; Ecclesiastes 5:2
[34] Ibid, p. 120
[35] Ibid, pp. 124-126; 1 Kings 19:12
[36] Ibid, pp. 127-128
[37] Ibid, pp. 135-137
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