Open Bible, Open Heart
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16 (NLT)
When we think about “prayer warriors,” we tend to think about those who pray loudly in tongues and wage war in the heavenly realm. While this is true, many prayer warriors throughout the ages have prayed quiet prayers. How we pray is really not what moves His hand to change lives and the course of history. God is looking for hearts devoted to Him. Hearts that will trust Him to move heaven and earth. Once a week, in the next few weeks, I will talk about other “prayer warriors” whose prayers dramatically impacted individual lives, communities, cities, nations and sometimes the world. Today I will talk about John Wesley.
When John Wesley was first ordained as a minister in 1735, his preaching had little impact on his listeners. This changed in 1738 when he heard an excerpt from Martin Luther’s book on Romans. This radically transformed his life. He “felt his heart strangely warmed." This experience helped him understand the importance of a holy life, which he realised was possible only through the transforming power of God’s grace and not through works. His profound transformation changed everything, including his prayer life.
The Mountain Of the Lord
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. Psalm 24:3-4 (NIV)
John Wesley believed that the first few hours of the day belonged to God. He would rise at 4 AM every day to seek God for the first two hours. In his later years, Wesley was known to spend up to eight hours a day in prayer. He had a tiny room next to his bedroom that he used as a prayer room where he could pray undisturbed. It is believed that he always prayed with the Bible open, ready to receive a word from God from Scripture or a personal word. John Wesley’s prayer life gave birth to the Methodist Church. Today tens of millions of people call themselves Methodists.
When we read about John Wesley’s prayer life, we can become intimidated. We may even feel guilty when we think about our own prayer life. In the busy world we live in, most of us find it difficult to dedicate time to pray. Some of us are not “morning people,” which makes it difficult to focus on praying and reading the Word early in the morning. God has created each of us uniquely. Therefore, our prayer lives will be unique.
If we have difficulty finding time to pray, we can start with just 10 minutes and build on that over time. What is important is that we pray. It doesn’t have to be in a particular space. We can pray wherever we find ourselves- as we prepare to start our day, in our car, at work, in the supermarket, as we prepare dinner, before we go to bed. The place and time of day aren’t important. God is looking for those who will ascend His mountain with pure hearts devoted to Him. Those whose spiritual ears are open to hear from Him when they pray. Those who trust His miracle-working power to bring about radical transformation in our spheres of influence.
Every Christian needs a half-hour of prayer each day, except when he is busy; then he needs an hour. St. Francis De Sales
Reflection:
Will you come? He is waiting.
Prayer:
Lord, you see the busyness of my life. Help me be intentional about abiding in you in prayer. Help me to have an ear to hear what You want to say to me when I pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.
