Contents & Introduction (Could You Not Tarry One Hour?)

CONTENTS
Preface ………………………………………….........………………..........................5

 

Section One
Preparation
  Chapter 1          His Name Is Not Henry!..............................................................11
  Chapter 2          A Radical Change...................................................................... 17
  Chapter 3          Read the Red and Pray for the Power....................................... 23
  Chapter 4          The Highest Call of All............................................................... 29
  Chapter 5          A Divine Progression.................................................................. 35
  Chapter 6          Lord, Teach Us to Pray............................................................... 41
  Chapter 7          Could You Not Tarry One Hour?................................................. 49

 

Section Two
Promises： “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
  Chapter 8          Appropriating Gocfs Names....................................................... 55
  Chapter 9          Appropriating God’s Promises.................................................... 67

 

Section Three
Priorities： “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. ’’
  Chapter 10       God’s Kingdom in You and Your Family...................................... 81
  Chapter 11       God’s Kingdom in Your Church and Nation……...................……91

 

Section Four
Provision： “Give us this day our daily bread. ’’
  Chapter 12      Being in God’s Will ……..............................................................103
  Chapter 13      Meeting God's Requirements..................................................... 113

 

Section Five
People： "And forgive us our debts，as we forgive our debtors. ’’
  Chapter 14     Getting Along With Everybody..................................................... 123

Section Six
Power： “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. “
  Chapter 15     Putting on God’s Armor............................................................... 135
  Chapter 16     Building a Hedge of Protection ...................................................147

 

Section Seven
Praise： “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.”
  Chapter 17    Obeying God’s Most Dynamic Commandment........................... 157

 

Section Eight
Prerequisites, Patterns, Participation
  Chapter 18    Putting First Things First............................................................. 167
  Chapter 19    Patterns to Follow....................................................................... 177
  Chapter 20    For Ten's Sake............................................................................ 183
  Prayer Guide.................................................................................................... 189
  Notes................................................................................................................ 191 

 

PREFACE
 In the cold, black night of Christ’s betrayal, His disciples could not tarry one hour with Him in prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, while Jesus earnestly prayed in such agony of spirit that His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground,  His disciples, ignorantly oblivious to the eternity-shaping events about to transpire, slept. Jesus, heavy and sorrowful in spirit, awakened His sleeping disciples and asked, “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?’’ (Matt. 26:40).
 

 Mirrored in that tragic scene is the plight of the church today. Jesus, our interceding High Priest, is praying； His disciples are sleeping； and Satan is winning contest after contest by default. It would be impossible to calculate the failures, the ruined reputations, the defeats, the broken homes and the other multiplied tragedies that could have been avoided if believers had prayed. It would be impossible to measure the destruction that could have been turned and the judgment that might have been averted if only God’s people had taken the time to pray. I am guilty, and so are you.
But I didn’t write this book to send anybody on a guilt  trip. I wrote it because I know what it’s like to be haunted by the call to pray, and because I know what it’s like to let interruptions, fatigue and pressures drown out that call. You see, God haunted me for six years with the call to pray before I finally obeyed His plea to tarry with Him one hour each day in prayer. But when I did so, my life and ministry were revolutionized.

 

 I want to make you a promise： Something supernatural happens when you pray an hour a day. It does not hap¬pen overnight, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, the desire to pray becomes firmly planted in the soil of your heart by the Spirit of God. This desire crowds out the weeds of apathy and neglect, and matures into the discipline to pray. Then one day you discover that prayer is no longer just a duty or drudgery； instead, the discipline of prayer has borne the fruit of delight. You find yourself eagerly longing for your daily time with God.

 

 The supernatural work of prayer continues and begins to possess and reshape every area of your life. You notice that your heart is no longer devoid of the presence and promises of God. You discover how to set, maintain and pray God’s priorities in your life； you learn how to ap¬propriate God’s provision for your needs. Life moves into a new dimension as you begin to experience greater joy and fulfillment in your relationships with people. And as you begin to walk, not in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the Spirit, you discover how to move in the power of God and stand in the victory Jesus has won for you.

 

 How do I know? I know because that is what happened to me as I obeyed the call to pray. I know because that is what happened to the believers after Christ’s ascen¬sion. Think about it： What transformed the slumbering 
disciples, disheartened believers and vacillating followers pictured in the final chapters of the Gospels into the determined, driving, unified army of the book of Acts? What made them into a mighty, spiritual army that seized difficulties and turned them into opportunities； an army characterized by clear-headed, incisive decisions instead of foggy thinking and confusion； an army that, in one generation, turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ? Prayer. Prayer that unleashed the power of God and tapped into His infinite resources.

 

 What will transform the slumbering disciples, dis-heartened believers and vacillating followers today into a mighty, marching army with deliverance as its song and healing in its hands? Prayer. Prayer that snatches the vic-tories Jesus won for us out of Satan’s greedy clutches. Prayer that storms the gates of hell.
 If you do not consistently pray one full hour every day but would like to learn how, take the prayer secrets the Holy Spirit has taught me on my knees and begin to prac¬tice them. As you learn to pray the way Jesus taught us to pray, your prayer life will no longer be a frustrating, hit-or-miss experience； instead, tarrying with the Lord an hour in prayer will actually become easy and natural.

 

 Won’t you bow your head right now and pray： ‘‘Jesus, plant in my heart the desire to pray. Enable me to develop a daily consistent time of prayer. Transform prayer from a duty to a delight. Make me a mighty warrior in Your prayer army”?
 Did you pray that prayer? Did you mean it? Then you’d better get your uniform out of mothballs, polish those brass buttons and spitshine your boots because, soldier, God’s army is getting ready to march.