A CALL TO PRAYER - LAST INVITE

 Greetings,

"And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."  Luke 22:44

We have all experienced agony. But agony like this—none of us have known, except Christ. This agony forced a response from Him in His praying: "He prayed more earnestly." When was the last prayer meeting you attended that had agony? That had earnestness?

We don’t use the word earnest much in our churches anymore. And few Christians know what this experience is. It is written of David Brainerd that when he began to pray, there were several inches of snow on the ground. His prayers were filled with agony and earnestness, and by the time he concluded, the snow around him had melted. Leonard Ravenhill described how his father would take him into a prayer meeting with several other brothers in Christ. There, they would pour out their petitions, supplications, and intercessions for their city, for souls, and for the state of the church. Such praying was marked by agony and earnestness. They would begin in the cold, where you could see their breath; but by the time they were done, their jackets were off, and sweat was on their brows.

Oh, that we may learn to pray with such agony and earnest endeavor!

What is there to be in earnest and agony about?

Our divisions and distractions within SBC life? Another pastor leaving the ministry because of sin? Another broken home? More abuse? More drug deaths?

And have you ever meditated on the horrors of hell? I fear too many pastors never preach on it. They preach often on heaven, but little to nothing on hell. Yet, you cannot preach one without the other. And I mention the horrors of hell because of the state of our world and our nation.

Many of you know these statistics better than I do, but this is a rough estimate of our condition: there are 8 billion souls on this planet. Of these, 1 billion are children under the age of accountability, and just over 1 billion are estimated to be born-again Christians. That means 6 billion souls are one breath away from hellfire for all eternity.

Is this not part of the agony and earnestness of Christ in the garden as He was willing to take on our sin and be separated from His Father to become the perfect sacrifice and atonement?

And what shall we say of our own nation? It is estimated that around 15% of our population are born-again Christians. This means that 85% are without Christ as their Lord and Savior. David said, "Is there not a cause?" Is this not cause enough for us to be in agony and more earnest in our prayers for the Lord’s kingdom?

The Issue of Our Faithfulness in Prayer

Many confess they know they should pray more, yet they don’t. Then, there are those who confess that their church has no real prayer life—prayer is limited to opening and closing services and blessing the offering. To even mention prayer meetings marked by anguish, fervency, and earnestness only makes us lament how utterly we have failed in maintaining the spirit of true prayer.

"My house shall be called a house of prayer."

Crisis, death, and great sorrow often serve as catalysts that move men to pray more earnestly. The news of a sibling, church member, son, or daughter committing suicide or being addicted to drugs with horrible consequences would force any of us into prayer "being in agony."

But why must we always wait for a crisis to pray more earnestly? Not all prayer must be marked by agony or deep anguish, but to never experience these attributes in prayer is to lack much in prayer.

Brethren, when was the last time you were broken in prayer?
— Weeping over souls and their eternity?
— Weeping over the sins of our nation?
— Weeping over the brokenness and sin in our churches?

A Call to Prayer

You are being asked to join in this day of prayer to heed Christ’s call: that we are to be houses of prayer and men and women of prayer. We are to be daily engaged in this great privilege of prayer.

This live stream will allow speakers to share their hearts for prayer within SBC life. They will set before us prayer targets to engage in and to pray in agreement over.

On Sunday, Feb. 23, you are being asked to set aside specific time in your church services to pray for the SBC—praying for real revival to come upon us and for a spiritual awakening to reach the lost masses in our nation, cities, and homes.

On the first Thursday of each month, would you join us in fasting for revival and awakening across our nation and the world?

Until,
Dan Biser
rdbiser@live.com

  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

QUESTIONS REGARDING 100 HOURS OF PRAYER FOR SBC

 Greetings, Those that have joined us and participated in these protracted prayer meetings, are understanding of what this call to prayer is and how it works. But there are those that we are inviting and they have many questions as to how all this works. Here is a lists of questions to help you understand better what the "100 Hours of Prayer for SBC" is all about: What is it? - It is a continual prayer time, lasting 100 hours straight. Starting at Monday, October 7 at 8 AM (EST) and going through till Friday, Noon (EST) to finish. How is it set up? - During these 100 straight hours, it is set up in 15 minute increments. This creates 400 time slots to be filled to cover all 100 hours with someone praying.  Why? This is created as a catalyst to prompt a continued spirit of prayer for SBC life. Our great need in all of SBC life is for the fulness and power of God's Spirit to do His kingdom's work. We need God! And prevailing prayer receives the blessing of God and help...
Read more

#1 Invite Letter for 100 Hours of Prayer for SBC - 20024

 Greetings, "And David said, What have I now done?  Is there not a cause?"  I Samuel 17:29 David had heard the words of Goliath. He had heard him defy the armies of Israel, and blaspheme the Name of his God. A holy anger welled up in him to do something about it. All the others, including his own brothers, feared and fainted before Goliath. But David contended with those of the army soldiers of Israel, and his own brothers that something must be done against this uncircumcised Philistine. David asked two questions: 1. "What have I now done?" 2. "Is there not a cause?" Set before you now are these same two questions. I ask of you the same questions in light of our current status. "Evil has come in like a flood" (Isaiah 59) upon our land, our cities, our families, minds and hearts of men and women, and even within the churches. God declares in Isaiah 59, that when evil does come in like a flood, that He raises up a standard against this evil. There...
Read more

CONTINUE IN PRAYER #2 Invite Letter for 100 Hours of Prayer for SBC

 Greetings, "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" Colossians 4;2 We are just under one month away from our "100 Hours of Prayer for SBC". We are set to gather as many from SBC life to have a continual spirit of prayer for the work of God to be done in us and through us. The work of God does not come about by the means of men, but by prevailing prayer. Oh, that every SBC church, over 40,000 were to be powerhouses of prayer for the kingdom of God. Truly such a spirit of prayer would enrich the church to accomplish much of the kingdoms business around the world. Have you ever pondered that all of God's work, in and by the church, has come about when God sets His people to pray. Such prayer is seeking His face, calling upon His Name, and waiting and being still to know, in our minds and hearts, that He is God.  SBC life survives and flourishes by a spirit of prayer that prevails. But the church retreats and sinks into self and sin, when the ...
Read more