Our guest blogger is Jimmie Davis, who serves on staff at FBS as a Ministry Assistant and is on the Women's Ministry Team. Jimmie is the wife of Sam Davis, the Associate Pastor

Praying Mightily or Not at All

When God has a plan, it is amazing to see how He begins to stir the hearts of His people. God has been drawing my heart toward a deeper prayer life with Him for some months now. He has impressed on me to pray more, to pray more effectively, and to pray more seriously. When discussing this with my husband some time back, I found that God had been doing the same in his life.  All the while, without our awareness, God was drawing our Pastor and his wife, Karyn, to call our church into “Forty days of prayer and fasting.” It seems everywhere I turn there it is again…a focus on prayer.  In our staff devotions on Tuesday mornings…we have been studying “The Lord’s Prayer.”  In our staff meetings on Tuesday afternoons…we have been studying prayer.  Karyn has called the women of our church to pray every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. in The Parlor of our church. She is also calling the women of our church together to pray on Saturday, February 28, 9:00-10:00 a.m.  Everywhere I turn, the focus is prayer.

If you are like me, your prayer life has been erratic at times. Most of the time I pray, but sometimes I don’t.  I tend to pray more when I feel fearful or when someone I love is sick or in trouble. Often I pray when I need a miracle or when I have done and tried everything I know to do.  Recently I was at a political prayer event and heard a clergyman say, “When everything else fails, go to God in prayer.”  I wanted to stand up and shout, “No, go to God first!”  But…then the Lord pierced my heart and I had to face the hard question… Am I guilty of this very thing?  Honestly, I had to confess my sin of trying to do it myself instead of depending on God.  

I am learning that prayer is serious business. Lives depend on it at times. Mountains can be moved when we call on the name of Almighty God. I believe prayer is a real struggle for most of us simply because the devil doesn’t want us to do it. He knows that our prayers summon God to work.  E.M. Bounds, the great preacher and writer on prayer says this, “Mighty evil forces surge around the closets of prayer.” He goes on to say that we must pray mightily or not at all.[1] Dabbling in prayer can be a dangerous habit. When we halfheartedly pray, it can be likened to taking one or two pills of an antibiotic. You may get better for a day or so, but before long the infection comes back with a vengeance. Mighty evil forces don’t give up easily. The Lord has been teaching me that I must pray mightily and never cease. It is amazing when I give God my full attention; He gives me a deeper understanding of spiritual things. The words of Scripture jump from the page and I “get it.”  Praying mightily doesn’t mean eloquent speech. It means that you submit your will to His will and pray from the depths and groaning of your heart to God It is a deep and intimate relationship, not simply a “wish list.”

I encourage you to find a “prayer closet” somewhere to spend time alone talking to the Father. It may be your bathroom, your clothes closet, or simply a chair in the corner of your bedroom where you can be alone with God. Pour your heart out to Him and listen to what He says back to you.  I am also inviting you to join our women every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. in the Parlor and to attend the Women’s Prayer time on Saturday, February 28 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. in the dining hall.  As we approach this “Forty days of Prayer and Fasting” on March 4, 2015, I urge you to ask God now how He wants you to be involved.  Once you’ve tasted mighty prayer with God, you will never want to just dabble in pray again. 

 Jimmie Davis

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[1] Bounds, E.M. “The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer” (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1990)563