A Prayer Warrior is familiar with sacrificial prayer

Day and Night Prayer

¹² When this had dawned on him (that God had sent an angel in the middle of the night to deliver him from prison), he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Acts 12:12 NIV

Principle:  A Prayer Warrior is familiar with making the sacrifice of time to pray

I was in college when I helped organize my first 24 hour continuous prayer event.  The University let us use Reid chapel.  We had a 24 hour time slotted poster board and invited students to choose a 1 hour slot to come to the chapel to pray.  We had a few tools to help people know how to spend their time, but we left most of it up to the individuals.  We encouraged people to ask a partner to join them for accountability and encouragement.  I asked my Pastor if he would like to participate.  He and I chose one of the hard 3-5am time slots.  I was very surprised that he would join me, but it made a lasting impression on me.  A Pastor who did not go to our University was willing to get up early in the morning and sacrifice his time to come and pray.

Since that time, I have participated in many extended prayer events which involved not just praying for 1 hour, but all day prayer.  Some of our international Christians are more familiar with praying through the night, not once in a while but regularly coming to the church at 10pm and praying until 6 am.  I found a church group in the Philippines that had a 4 hour prayer cycle that would last for 24 hours.  I have used their material to gather people to pray from 10 pm to 2 am on several occasions.

God is not impressed with the amount of time that we spend, but the fact that we adjust our time to put Him first.  There are no “extra points” or “ribbons” that we can earn by showing God that we are willing to pray at “extreme” times.  In fact, God likes the regular routine of coming to him, when we are fresh and expectant.  BUT, when we carry a burden for others that we cannot shake, and we are seeking God for a breakthrough, he listens.

In our verse, the young church was missing their leader.  He had been taken prisoner.  There was no “bail out”.  All they knew was to gather together to pray.  We are not even sure they even knew “what they were asking God for”.   At least it does not appear that they were expecting a supernatural release for Peter.  Otherwise, the servant girl would have been expecting him to show up in the middle of the night free.  Rather, she thought it was a ghost at the door, revealing her fatigue and surprise.  Yet, God saw and heard the prayers of the young church.  While they were praying through the night, God sent and angel to rescue Peter.  A new boldness came upon Peter and the church as they realized that God was listening.

The Bible is filled with examples of people who were familiar with praying through the night.  Jesus prayed into the night at the garden of Gethsemane while his disciples fell asleep.  Later the church was seen praying through the night.  Paul and Silas were in prison, praying through the night when the earthquake came.  Jesus gave a parable about prayer that anticipated that our passionate pursuit of God would include day and night prayer. And Paul shared how our concerns for others may include the sacrifice of prayer. ⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. I Thessalonians 3:9-10 NIV

Most of us are unfamiliar with sustained praying.  We tell God most of our needs in about 5-15 minutes.  But we can learn the beauty of praying scriptures and unpacking needs at greater levels.  I have led multiple corporate gatherings in which people are surprised at how much we covered in prayer and how quickly 1 hour goes by.  There are multiple resources to help you structure your prayer time.  A classic is Dick Eastman’s book The Hour that Changes the World.

Some other ideas to add to your time:

1     Include worship as part of your prayer time.  Have your favorite songs to sing with on your ipod or Mp3 player.

2     Ask your church for a prayer list of local members and missionaries that you support.

3     Start with 15 minutes set aside to pray and then schedule longer times for prayer.

4     Ask a friend to come and pray with you for 1 hour or more.  God loves it when two people come to him in agreement.

5     Read the Bible aloud while you are praying and ask God to help you to identify prayer  promises to pray.

The important thing to remember is that when God wants to move, He sets his people to a-prayin. The needs in our country and world are great, so God is looking for people who are willing and “doing it”, standing in the gap for others.  Jesus words in the garden to the disciples still reverberate to us today…”Could you not tarry 1 hour with me in prayer?”  How do you answer?

Father, to obey is better than sacrifice.  So, we know that you are not impressed with sacrifice alone.  But we are asking that you train us to be skilled in prayer.  We want to be effective in interceding for the lost and the hurting.  So we ask you to train us.  Teach us to pray like Jesus prayed.  Teach us how to adjust our time so that it really reflects that we believe pray works.  Help us see that you expect us to seek you, that is to seek you with all of our heart.  You hav promised that when we do seek you, we will find you.  Raise up prayer warriors in the last day.  Let us be found faithful looking to you, just like Anna waited and worshiped in the temple night and day until she saw the baby Jesus.  Let us overcome our fears of the unknown of extended time in prayer.  The hour is dark and we need soldiers of light to know that our battle is fought first on our knees.  Thank you for helping us.  In Jesus Name, Amen