Could You Not Tarry One Hour?

Recently I came across a book by Dr. Larry Lea entitled, Could You Not Tarry One Hour. I kind of set it aside but God kept drawing me to it. It is a book about his prayer life, but a book that will translate into any believer’s life. It reminded me of what I at times have seen and experienced: the awesome power and love of our mighty Savior.

On Wednesday nights we’ve been studying the Book of Genesis. In the Tuesday morning men’s Bible Study we’ve been studying Mark. And this past Thursday I began meeting with the Disciple 4 group to lead them in the study of Revelation. And our family Bible reading has concentrated on Acts. God has used all of these to push me to the realization that for me to be transformed I need God. I can’t do it on my own and neither can you.

In the Book of Acts after Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples are pretty much the same as they were in that Garden: still sleeping. But Jesus told them to go and pray and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they did!! What made them into the mighty, spiritual army that seized difficulties and turned them into opportunities? What made them into an army characterized by clear-headed, incisive decisions instead of foggy thinking and confusion (which is where I am too much of the time)? And what made them into an army that, in one generation, turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ? PRAYER, plain and simple. Prayer that unleashed the power of God and tapped into His infinite resources.

What will transform the slumbering disciples, disheartened believers and wishy-washy followers of Christ into a mighty army with deliverance as its song and healing in its hands. PRAYER. Prayer that snatches the victories Jesus won for us out of Satan’s greedy clutches. Prayer that storms the gates of hell.

Florence Sherrill knows what I’m talking about. She has seen God work through earnest, deliberate prayer that won’t quit until God answers that prayer or changes the way we pray.

Yesterday, Laurie, Faith, and I were traveling back from Monroe where I conducted a wedding. We stopped randomly at a rest area and ran into someone we had not seen in a while. That person needed us IN A BIG WAY; needed our encouragement and prayers. Was that a coincidence? ABSOLUTELY NOT! It was a God-ordained moment manufactured by Him because we were open to His leading. As I told you, I made a commitment to pray and yesterday morning with all I had to do to get ready for the wedding, I made myself spend nearly an hour in prayer and study. Since I have made that commitment I have been blessed to lead 2 persons to Christ and to see coincidences like the one I just described that are nothing more than the results of obedience to Christ’s call.

I believe God is calling His church to pray. But to many of God’s people, prayer is a lost art. The desire to pray is not something we can work up in our flesh. In other words, if the only motivation to pray is because we as Christians are supposed to or because I preached on it, we will fail. Prayer is not something we work up in our flesh. In verse 41 of Matthew 26, Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” You see, the desire to pray must be birthed in us by the Holy Spirit. Like me, you can ignore or drown out God’s voice in a variety of ways. With all the chaos, confusion, pain, suffering, and tragedy of people walking a path that leads away from God and towards an eternity separated from Him, do you not hear God calling you to pray? Do you not sense that inward yearning to really know the God who created you and redeemed you? As Richard Foster once said, “Prayer is not a technique, it is a falling in love.”