Prevailing Prayer Day-Eight Devotional Series

There are so many distractions in modern life that keep us from praying. There are the cell phones, tweets, Facebook, television at home, and the radio in the car. These are all good things, but they can keep us from praying. How can we listen to God when so many voices demand our attention? How can we pray when there are so many interruptions?

We can’t “come apart” into some mountain retreat and turn our backs on the bustle of life. No, but we can set aside time early in the morning or late at night for prayer. Begin your fast with a vow to pray at the same time each day. America faces a crisis. When you can’t do anything about the problem, you can pray. God can do something.

Jesus tells the story of a sleeping man awakened by his neighbor who was knocking at his door frantically to borrow some bread in the middle of the night (Luke 11:5-10, ELT). The sleepy man replied, “Leave me alone, I’m sleeping, and so is my family.” The neighbor kept pounding on the door until he got the bread he needed. Jesus noted, “Though he will not rise and give him because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So I say to you, ask; it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:8-9, NKJV).

Many years ago I learned this verse by remembering the first letter of each command, i.e., A for Ask, S for Seek, K for Knock. So ASK is an acronym which reminds us how to pray.

During the 10-day fast you may experience fatigue, discouragement, doubt, or even many seemingly innocent obstacles. You must enter God’s presence with an iron will, determined to pray to the end. God honors our faith when we express it in determination. Wesley L. Duwel in his book, Prevailing Prayer, tells us why we should persevere in prayer:

To prevail is to be successful in the face of difficulty, to completely dominate, to overcome and tie up. Prevailing prayer is prayer that pushes right through all difficulties and obstacles, drives back all the opposing forces of Satan, and secures the will of God. Its purpose is to accomplish God’s will on earth. Prevailing prayer not only takes the initiative, but continues on the offense for God until spiritual victory is won. (Wesley L. Duwel, Prevailing Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), n.p.)

God knows our flesh is weak, and many times our inner man can’t stand for God. The night before Jesus died, He took His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. He asked, “Watch with Me” (Matt 26:38, NKJV). Jesus went alone to pray and came back and found them sleeping.

“What! Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:40-41, NKJV). God knows that our physical bodies are not trained to stay on a 10-day fast. Not only should we pray for a miracle in our nation, we should ask God to strengthen us to keep our fast to the end. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13, NKJV).

We must pray long, and at times we must struggle against our doubts, or our pessimism. The Christian life is not a coffee break, nor is it a summer vacation. The Christian life is a wrestling match and a battlefield. There is an enemy, Satan, who opposes God and therefore he opposes all that you are doing. Satan will oppose your fast, just as much as he opposes the faith project for which you are praying. So keep on praying.

The issue is “who will win—God or Satan?” Pray through obstacles, and pray through discouragement; don’t give into your pessimism. Jesus encourages us, “Keep on praying and never give up” (Luke 18:1, CEV). Severe life-changing issues demand our complete dedication. Paul reminds us, “We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world” (Eph. 6:12, CEV). Therefore, nation-changing miracles demand our complete dedication and our complete prayer-asking.

Prevailing prayer is an attitude that we learn in God’s presence. So to learn this lesson, determine not to give up. Make a vow that you will keep your Daniel Fast to the end. Pray until you finish your Daniel Fast and pray until you get an answer - by Elmer Towns©

-My Time to Pray-

• Lord, I am weak; give me strength to complete this Daniel Fast.

• Lord, I have completed seven days; help me pray and fast until the 10 days are up.