Earth-Shaking Prayer

 

EARTH-SHAKING PRAYER

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” - Acts 4:31

The American Church needs men and women of prayer. There is a dire need for people who will get serious about prayer. There's too much wimpy praying going on in our churches. Instead, we need men and women who will really reach God in prayer. We need people who will grab hold of the horns of the altar and refuse to let go until an answer comes. We need saints who, like Jacob, will wrestle all night with God and then say, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” (Genesis 32:26)

Sadly, these days prayer is just a segment of a church service. That is not what God intended. God said, “...mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56:7). Persecution drove the early church to pray. These days, concerts and potlucks are popular at church, but prayer is not. I'm certainly supportive of concerts and potlucks, but prayer is far more important.

It seems like the only time we treat prayer seriously is when we have a personal crisis. Our knees rarely touch the floor unless a situation become bleak. When a crisis is behind us, we tend to go about life as usual, void of prayer. How tragic!

Our nation is morally and spiritually bankrupt. To be honest about it, our nation is disintegrating before our eyes. Yes, we complain about the state of our nation, but few are praying about it.

I believe we need God's people to return to the prayer closet. We need prayer warriors to bombard heaven with constant petitions. Christians need to do more than simply repeat old stale prayers. We need to seek the Father's face. We need to pray and continue to pray until God sends the answers we need.

When the first century church faced intense persecution, they prayed. The Bible says, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” It was an earth-shaking prayer! Notice three things about their prayer:

1. DESPERATION

First of all, they prayed with desperation. The believers had been commanded not to preach in the Name of Jesus. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. The church did not call a lawyer. Instead, they called on God. Like them, we need to be desperate in our prayers. When we pray with desperation, God really moves. We have many reasons to pray with desperation. These are desperate times. As I've already written, our nation is self-destructing. Churches are dying. Marriages are ending. Hatred is growing. Souls are perishing. Yes, these are desperate times. The reason we aren't desperate is because we slowly get accustomed to the dire situation we are living in. When we consider all that is hanging in the balance, we need to desperately cry out to God for help.

2. DEPENDENCE

Secondly, the first century believers needed God to help them in their trying hour. They prayed with dependence, trusting God for the breakthrough that they needed. They didn't pray for the persecution to be removed. Instead, they prayed for greater boldness to preach the Word. Our problem in America is that we are too independent. We think we can solve our own problems. We have mastered the art of doing church. We have padded pews, paved parking lots, expensive Bibles, great sound systems, impressive lighting, and polished musicians. We have much that the early church didn't have. Yet we lack the one vital thing that they did have. They had the power of God. We need that today. We need to pray with dependence.

3. DETERMINATION

Finally, they prayed with determination. They refused to give up, in spite of the opposition they faced. They sought God until the answer came. We need to pray with such determination today. We need to continually file our petitions with the Almighty. Don't allow discouragement rob you of a blessing. You could be one request away from seeing a breakthrough. Don't give up because revival could be right around the corner. The answers you've been seeking may be one prayer away from becoming reality. Pray with determination!

The place shook when the believers prayed in Acts 4. The place shook when Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God in Acts 16. There are times when things need to be shaken up.

We need earth-shaking prayer today! Our nation needs it. Our churches need it. Our homes need it. We need it ourselves.

Let's not be content with anything less.