The Power of Prayer

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.  ¹⁷Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  ¹⁸He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. -Psalm 55:16-18 (KJV) 

The best way to begin the day is with a time of prayer and meditation.  The problem is a good many of us are in no condition to do much of anything early in the morning.  I am reminded of the church bulletin misprint which said, “A church dinner will be held right after the morning worship service. Prayer and medication will follow.”  Obviously the word was intended to be “meditation,” yet we know how this feels.  Early in the morning we can be so out of it we think we might need a little “prayer and medication.”   

If you are not a morning person then I know how you feel.  The Lord is transforming me into a man who cherishes the early morning hours before sunrise so that I may engage in a time of concentrated prayer.  Most mornings I rise around 4:45 AM for the purpose of having an early morning prayer and devotional time.  I never used to get up this early, yet after taking on the 40 day prayer challenge last winter I now continue to arise before dawn for prayer.

I share all of this to encourage you; if I can make this transition then you can as well.  God is faithful and He will empower us to depths of faith we would not have believed possible.  Take the challenge to pray with greater urgency and devotion.  If you are willing I encourage you to take on the 40 day prayer challenge.  Take your calendar, choose a starting date, and mark off 40 days.  Arise each morning at 4:00 (or at least 4:30) and spent an extended period of time in prayer and Bible reading.  I promise the experience will change your life (You will, of course, have to go to bed earlier!) 

If you have questions about this challenge, or simply wish to let me know how this worked for you, then I want to hear from you.  Email me at dkbsoulman@gmail.com.   

I look forward to hearing of what the Lord is doing in your life.