Section (7~8) (Could You Not Tarry One Hour?)

SECTION SEVEN
PRAISE: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. ’’ 

 

CHAPTER (17)  OBEYING GOD’S MOST DYNAMIC COMMANDMENT

 

 As we previously noted, the Lord’s Prayer opens and closes with praise. Praise is the Word’s most dynamic commandment.  Why do I make that claim? Because regular worship and praise reconstitute God’s people一restore us to the spiritual state that God intended一and give believers the dynamic一the supernatural energy and force—so vital to victory, wholeness and harmony. Therefore, we need to learn how to let our hearts go out to God in praise and thanksgiving, magnifying and exalting His perfections and mighty deeds and thanking Him for all His benefits.

 

 The Bible states that the unrighteous refuse to offer praise to God (Rom. 1:21； Rev. 16：9), but God’s people always have been and always will be people of praise. It isn’t surprising that the Word of God reveals many ways to express our love, gratitude and worship to the Lord. A survey of the Scriptures reveals we are to praise God with our mouths, through our bodily movements and through the playing and singing of music.

 

 Three Hebrew words in the Old Testament demonstrate how believers are to use their mouths in praising 
God. Hallal means “to be vigorously excited； to laud, boast, rave, to celebrate.” This type of praise is done with a loud voice. Barak is “to bless, to declare God the origin of power for success, prosperity and fertility； to be still.” This praise may be quiet and hushed, while another Hebrew word for praise, shabach, means “to commend, address in a loud tone, to shout.” As we set our hearts to worship God acceptably, the Holy Spirit will teach us how and when to use our mouths in offering praise to God.

 

 Bodily movement is also associated with praise, as we see in two Old Testament words for praise. Todah means ‘‘to extend the hands in thanksgiving/* Yadah is “to worship with extended hands—to throw out the hands, enjoying God.”
 It is time God’s people realized that raising the hands in worship is not a new charismatic fad； rather, it is a scriptural principle. For instance, the psalmist commanded, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord” (Ps. 134:2). Four times Psalm 107 urges longingly： “Oh that men would praise [yadah] the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.’’

 

 So as you worship God, obey the leading of His Holy Spirit. Don’t be afraid to stand, kneel, bow, dance, clap your hands or lift them to the Lord. Each of these forms of praise is perfectly scripmral when done decently and in order.
 We are to use not only our mouths and our bodies in worship； we are also to employ music in praise. Zamar means “to pluck the strings of an instrument, to praise with song,” and tehillah is the word for singing in the Spirit or the singing of hallals or psalms. We can worship God through singing and playing songs of praise. 
Obeying God's Most Dynamic Commandment

 

 We must not be afraid to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to let Him teach us how to use our mouths, our bodily movements and our music to worship the Lord.
 After we have brought our petitions to God our Father, we should return to praise. The words, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever,” are idle words to most people. Many believers do not realize that God has lovingly invited us to become participants in His kingdom, His power and His glory.

 

The Kingdom

 

 “For the kingdom is the Lord’s,” declared the psalmist, and Jesus said, “Thine is the kingdom” (Ps. 22：28； Matt. 6:13). But Jesus also said, “Fear not, little flock； for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
 Paul also teaches that we are partakers in God’s kingdom. “Giving thanks unto the Father...Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:12-14). To Timothy Paul declared： “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom： to whom be glory for ever and ever’’ (2 Tim. 4：18).

 

 Therefore, as you pray, “For thine is the kingdom,” praise God your Father who delivered you from the power of darkness and translated you into His kingdom of love and light. Make the faith declaration： “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom.” Give God praise because He has invited you to be a participant in His kingdom. 

 

The Power

 

 David wrote, “In thy hand is power and might” (1 Chron. 29： 12), and he declared, “Be thou exalted, Lord, 
in thine own strength： so will we sing and praise thy power” (Ps. 21-13). God made the earth by His power (Jer. 10:12) and will rule by His power forever (Ps. 66:7). 

 Yet God our Father has made us participants in His power. He gives strength and power to His people (Ps. 68:35) and gives us power to get wealth (Deut. 8： 18). He gives power to the faint (Is. 40:29) and keeps us by His power (1 Pet. 1：5). God our Father, who raised up Jesus, will raise us up by His mighty power (1 Cor. 6： 14).

 

 Jesus declared, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy： and nothing shall by any means hurt you’’ (Luke 10： 19). Just before His ascension, the Lord instructed the disciples： “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you： but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). In Acts 1：8 we read again the words of Jesus promising the power of the Holy Ghost： “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you： and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

 ” Paul instructs us to ‘‘be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Eph. 6:10). And in 1 Corinthians 4:20 he affirms： “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.’’
 Give praise to God your Father because He has invited you to be a participant in His power and has made His power available to you.

 

The Glory

 

 “Who is this King of glory?” asked the psalmist. “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle” (Ps. 24：8). “Glory and honour are in his presence” (1 Chron. 16:27). God Himself declares： “I am the Lord： that is my name： and my glory will I not give to another, neither 
Obeying God’s Most Dynamic Commandment my praise to graven images” (Is. 42：8).

 

 What is God’s glory? It is the manifested perfection of His character, especially His righteousness. We know all people fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23)，yet He has invited believers to be participants in His glory. Jesus made this possible, as we see in Hebrews 2:9,10. Jesus, in suffering for the sins of mankind, brought many sons unto glory. Paul assured believers that if we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified together (Rom. 8:17). Suffering was of little consequence to Paul, for he knew that the present sufferings cannot be compared with the glory which eventually will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). As we behold the glory of the Lord—the character and ways of God exhibited through Christ一we are slowly changed into His image by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3： 18), and the character and ways of the Father and Son are formed within us. Brought into Christ’s likeness, we will enter eternal blessedness, for God our Father has called us unto His eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10).

 

 Is it any wonder Paul charged believers to “walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:11,12)? Give praise to God because He has invited you to be a participant in His glory. David urges believers to witness to others of God’s kingdom, power and glory：

 All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord； and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power； to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations (Ps. 145:10-13).
We praise You, Father, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, yet You have invited us to become participants. May we never enter or leave Your presence without humbly bowing before You and offering a sacrifice of praise. May we proclaim with David： 

 

 Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom； you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you； you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name (1 Chron. 29:10-13， NIV).

 

 

Review Questions

 

1. -------------------------------  is the Word’s most dynamic commandment.
2. Hebrews 13:15 states： “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of   

    ---------------------to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
3. The Lord's Prayer opens and closes with  ----------------------------------------------   
 
4. God has made provision for us to share in His kingdom, power and glory. That provision is

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
5. Now that you know how and what to pray, will you ask the Holy Spirit to transform

    your heart into a house of prayer? If so, why  not put that desire into words

    in the space provided below? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Prayer Outline

 

I. The kingdom
   A. Praise the Lord because He has translated you out of the kingdom of darkness

      and into the kingdom of love and light.
  B. Make the faith declaration： “The Lord shall preserve me from every evil work,

      and preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom.M
  C. Praise God because He has invited you to be a participant in His kingdom.

 

II. The power
  A. Praise the Lord because He has invited you to be a partici¬pant in His power.
  B. Meditate upon the power of God your Father. Measure your problems against His mighty,

      miracuk)us works and His great love for you.
  C. Make this faith declaration： “lam strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I have been endued with power from on high. Qreater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. My Father gives me strength and power to get wealth. He gives power to the faint. As my day so shall my strength be. He keeps me by His power. He has given me power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall by any means hurt me.’’

 

III. The glory
  A. Behold the glory of the Lord—the character and ways of God exhibited through Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to change      you into the same image by forming Christ within you. Ask that you be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 
  B. Ask the Lord to help you walk worthy of Him and to help you serve Him as He deserves to be served.
  C. Praise Him and give Him glory. 

 

 

 

SECTION EIGHT
PREREQUISITES, PATTERNS, PARTICIPATION

 

CHAPTER (18)  PUTTING FIRST THINGS FIRST

 

 The years 1972-1978 were a struggle for Melva and me, as we frantically juggled unbalanced priorities and impossible schedules. As if the thousand young people in our youth group at Beverly Hills Baptist Church were not enough to keep us busy, Melva drove about 40 miles one way to work on her master’s degree at North Texas State University in Denton, while, I drove almost 40 miles to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth to complete my master’s. It was during those years that our three children were born in rapid succession. Our friends probably referred to my wife as “Melva the saint.” She was amazing. But I wasn’t measuring up to the man of God that I wanted to be.

 

 What troubled me? The anointed presence of God seemed to be receding in my life. Why? Because I was not rising early day by day, worshipping my Father, praying and receiving from Him what I needed.
 I was not beginning each day by entering into God’s presence with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. I was carelessly neglecting God’s exceedingly great and precious promises by which we are partakers 
of the divine nature (see 2 Pet. 1:4). I was not always allowing Him to be my righteousness, sanctifier, peace, healer, provider, banner, shepherd and the overflowing present One within me. Therefore, I often took His names in vain.

 

 Because I did not set the rudder of my life (my tongue) upon God’s priorities for my life by daily declaring, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in me, my family, my church and my nation,” my priorities seemed to be upside down much of the time. Money was tight, so we barely scraped by every month. We tithed and gave offerings, but because I wasn’t specifically, tenaciously praying every day, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we weren’t prospering in many areas.
 

 Furthermore, because of my faults and failures, I also had a problem from time to time with feeling “accepted in the beloved’’ (Eph. 1：6). I continually asked God to forgive me for things of which I had repented long before, forgetting that I was purged from my old sins (2 Pet. 1：9). I sometimes had the notion that I was on probation with God and that someday, if I became good enough, He would accept me.

 

 For years I did ‘‘Protestant Penance.” In the Roman Catholic Church you do penance by repeating a pre¬scribed act a certain number of times to show sorrow for sin and to get yourself to the place where you feel forgiven. But in Protestant churches, we don’t do that. (You see, we’re more “spiritual.”) Instead, when we do something wrong, we spend two weeks, or two decades, kicking ourselves. Am I right? That’s “Protestant Penance.” But actually God freely forgave us the moment we confessed our failure to Him.

 

 I did not rise every morning and say： “I confess every known sin to You, Lord, even the ones I don’t know I 
have committed. I accept that You have forgiven me, and I also set my will to forgive those who sin against me.,,  Therefore, it took a long time for the truth to dawn on me： By begging over and over for God to forgive a particular sin or failure, I was remembering what God had forgotten.

 

 I fought battles with fear and depression, but most of the time I lost. How could I expect to win against a wily, well-armed foe when I wore no armor and did not know how to wield effectively the sword of the Spirit or skillfully employ the shield of faith to ward off his ruthless attacks?
 How could I fight the good fight of faith when I did not pray in my prayer language daily and live in an attitude of prayer?

 

 Praise did not continually flow out of my spirit to God. I did not know that I could put on the garment of praise (tehillah) for the spirit of heaviness by singing songs of praise to God （Is. 6l：3）.
 And the truth had not yet registered in my spirit that God my Father has made me a participant in His kingdom, power and glory. But since 1978, when the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer outline, I have entered into the presence of Jesus every day. And what have I received in return?

 

Promises

 

 Each day of my life I thank God that, because of the blood of Jesus, I can call Him Father. I praise His glorious names, appropriate His mighty promises and seek to sanctify His name through my manner of living.

 

Priorities

 

 Although I am busier now than ever before, I enjoy peace inside me, in my home and in my church. Why? 
Because I pray daily over myself, my family, my church and my nation, declaring that God’s priorities in those areas be set in order. I boldly declare that God’s righteousness, joy and peace shall come and that His will shall be done.

 

Provision

 

 No longer am I the anxiety-ridden victim of frustrating circumstances. Instead, I am learning to experience the abundant provision of Jehovah-jireh, the One who sees our needs ahead of time and makes provision for them, because I do not take God’s blessings for granted. Every day in prayer, I set my will to make God’s kingdom my priority, and then I pray through on my needs, claiming and receiving God’s promised provision, and each day He gives me my daily bread. You, too, can experience more and more freedom from frustration by setting your priorities straight.

 If daily bread is a constant struggle for you, don't be anxious and fret about it. God gave me a personal prom¬ise that you, too, can claim： “The day you answer the call to pray, I will begin to meet your needs.’’

 

People
 

 If you are plagued by guilt or problems with people, remember, you must forgive. That doesn’t just happen automatically. Every day we need to forgive our debtors before we can receive God’s washing and cleansing, and then set our wills to forgive those who may wrong us that day. As we learn to forgive and release our offenders and offenses to God, we become candidates for the supernatural.

 

Power

 

 If you want to stop letting the devil push you around, if you want to leave him sitting in the dirt for a change, you must learn to put on the whole armor of God each day and to pray a hedge of protection around yourself, 

your loved ones and all you have. Learn to overcome Satan in the place of prayer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of your testimony because if you do not, you will be overcome.

 

 These are some of the benefits that have come to me since I learned to give priority to prayer in my daily life. These benefits can be yours as well. The Word of God makes it unmistakably plain. If we are to take our places as participants in God’s kingdom, power and glory, we must answer the call to pray!
 Think about this： If Jesus needed to pray every day, how much more must we. Now, in order to document the importance of prayer in the life of our Lord, I want you to stop just a moment and meditate with me on one day in His life. Mark, in the first chapter of his Gospel, records such a day.

 

 After walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and calling Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him and become fishers of men, Jesus went to the synagogue at Capernaum. There He taught the people, concluding His message by casting an unclean spirit out of a man who had disrupted the service.
 Then he went to the home of Peter and Andrew and healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. That evening when the sun set, the whole city gathered at the door of Peter’s home. They had brought to Jesus everyone who was sick or possessed with devils, and He healed them.

 

 Can you imagine how exhausted Jesus must have been when He finally pillowed His head late that night and drifted off to sleep? But look at the next verse, Mark 1：35： “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
 That pattern continued throughout Christ's ministry. Indeed, at the place of prayer Jesus found the power and guidance He needed to fulfill His Father’s will each day. He was the Son of God, yet He prayed. Jesus was the busiest, most important man who ever walked the face of this earth, yet prayer was the primary focus of His life. Isn’t it time that you made an agreement with the Lord to meet Him every day at the place of prayer? If you choose an early morning hour, set your clock. When the alarm goes off, don’t turn it off, roll over and mumble all the reasons why you need more rest. If you do that, within a few days you won’t even hear the alarm. Instead, when it’s time to pray, roll out of bed and get dressed. If drinking your morning coffee or having breakfast before you pray will help you wake up and con¬centrate on what you’re doing, then those extra minutes in the kitchen will be well spent.

 

 To develop an effective prayer life, you must overcome these three enemies of prayer： interruptions, drowsiness and wandering thoughts. Therefore, let's learn right now how to attack and defeat these enemies.

 

Interruptions

 

 The telephone and the doorbell can become dire enemies of the believer who seeks to make a discipline of prayer. That is why many busy people choose to pray early in the morning before these distractions begin. The psalmist David had neither a telephone nor a doorbell, but he did have at least eight wives, ten concubines, twenty-two kids and a kingdom to run. It is not surprising, then, that one of David’s prayer times was early in the morning. David said： “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord； in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Ps. 5:3). 

 

 On the other hand, Susannah Wesley, the mother of nineteen children (two of which were John and Charles who founded the Methodist movement), chose from one to two o’clock each day for her time with the Lord. Every day at one o’clock in the afternoon, Susannah Wesley closed her bedroom door, knelt beside her bed, spread her open Bible before her and talked with God.
 Think of it! There were no supermarkets, elementary schools, department stores, fast food restaurants, washers and dryers or modern-day kitchen appliances in Susannah' time. This woman, who was also a preacher’s wife, had to make the family’s clothes and wash them by hand, clean up after, cook for and home-school all those children, yet she made time every day for an hour with God. How would you like to try to explain to Susannah Wesley why you can’t find time to pray?

 

 You may be saying, “Larry, an early morning prayer time simply will not work for me.” I understand. Many people, ministers included, don’t get to bed before mid¬night. Therefore, I’m not trying to induce you to choose an early morning hour to pray, even though that might work best for me. There’s nothing ‘‘holy’’ about 4 a.m. What is important is that you choose the time best for you and begin praying an hour every day.
Learn to flow with the Holy Spirit. For instance, your clock may be set for 5：3O in the morning, but the Holy Spirit of God may awaken you at 3：3O a.m. and say, “It’s time to pray.” Or your usual prayer time might be 8 p.m. If at 6：30 that evening you sense the Spirit of God stirring your spirit and calling you to prayer, obey His prompting. Don’t be bound to a clock； instead, be obedient to the Spirit.

 

 You see, prayer is not just an hour a day. An hour a day is important only if it develops in us an attitude of 
prayer for the whole day. Jesus moved and ministered in a spirit of prayer because prayer occupied a much greater place in His life and ministry than just one solitary hour before dawn. That’s what must happen in our lives if we are to become victorious warriors instead of weary worshippers. Paul summed it up for us when he said, “In him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17：28). That’s it, my friend. That’s the secret. God help us not to settle for anything less.

 

 Whether you choose morning, midday or evening as your prayer time, it is important that you have a set time and place to pray. Jesus, in teaching His disciples to pray, instructed： “...When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret” (Matt. 6：6). That means that you need to choose a quiet, private place to pray and meet God every day. It doesn’t have to be a fancy place； just a chair beside which you can kneel will do. But having a set time and place to pray will help defeat those interruptions. 

 

Drowsiness

 

 How can believers defeat the enemy of drowsiness when they pray? Some of John Wesley’s early Methodist leaders who were determined to overcome this problem actually soaked towels in cold water, wrapped them around their heads and went right on praying! That’s not the method I’d choose, but I certainly admire their tenacity. If you find yourself dropping off to sleep every time you kneel, cradle your head on your arm and close your eyes to pray, why not try sitting or standing? Or why not try walking as you pray? Scoot a chair or table out of the way and walk back and forth across a room, or pace up and down a hall. You will quickly grow accustomed to the “path.” Then you will be able to concentrate solely on prayer and defeat  the enemy of drowsiness.

 

Wandering Thoughts

 

 If your thoughts wander and you have difficulty concentrating as you pray, defeat that enemy by praying aloud instead of silently. Putting your thoughts into words and praying them aloud helps you focus your mind on what you’re doing. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Jesus commanded： “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11：2).Once you learn to defeat interruptions, drowsiness and wandering thoughts, within just a short time the desire to pray will have matured into the discipline to pray. And as you discipline yourself to pray, that discipline will be transformed into holy delight.
 Don't worry if some days as you pray you shed no tears and feel no emotion. Those times when you feel the least like praying may be the times you most need to pray. Besides, God is moved not so much by your tears and your emotions as He is moved by His Word and by your obedience and tenacity.

 

 Always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and pray over each request in the manner He directs, for God has sent His Spirit to come to your aid in prayer and plead in your behalf with groanings too deep for utterance (Rom. 8： 26). Learn to be sensitive by using your prayer language, pray¬ing in the Spirit and listening for the Holy Spirit’s promptings. At times the  Spirit will lead you to take verses of Scripture and turn them into petitions or bold declarations of your faith. At other times, you will find yourself weeping and travailing over an urgent need. Sometimes you will break into worshipful singing or laughter as God’s peace and joy flood your heart. Don’t try to make any two prayer times identical. Follow the omniscient Holy Spirit’s quiet nudges and forceful 
impressions, for His choices and leadings are never wrong. So be sensitive. Be flexible. Be obedient. Don’t grieve the gentle Holy Spirit by demanding your own way.
 

 Pastor B.J. Willhite, our minister of prayer at Church on the Rock who has risen to commune with God early every morning for over 30 years, explains prayer like this： “Some days you’re digging holes. Some days you’re planting poles. Some days you’re stringing wire. And then one day the circuit is completed, and you make contact!”
 God your Father makes this promise： “When you answer the call to pray, I will begin to meet all your needs.” How about it? Are you ready to make an appoint¬ment with God each day to seek His face in prayer? Just name the time and place. He won’t be late. 

 

 

CHAPTER (19)  PATTERNS TO FOLLOW

 In Waco, Texas, they did a survey and found out there were more Baptists in Waco than people! That’s a true story. If you are a Baptist—even if you’re not一you’ve probably heard of W.A. Criswell, a patriarch in the Southern Baptist Convention. How I appreciate and love that dear man.
 After I had pastored for several years at Church on the Rock, Criswell called and requested that my elders and I come to his office in downtown Dallas. We were sur¬prised and delighted by his invitation to visit First Baptist Church, where he pastors.

 

 We “small-talked” with this gracious, gentle servant of God for about 30 seconds. Then Criswell turned to me and said, “I want to ask you a question. Why aren’t you a Baptist?”
I was born, raised and educated a Southern Baptist, so I was ready for the greatest rebuke of my life.
Perhaps sensing my apprehension, he phrased the question another way. “If it were not for the Baptists, son, you could not read or write. Why aren’t you a Baptist?” “Dr. Criswell,” I began hesitantly, trying to figure out where he was coming from, “have you got a moment?” 
 “Yes,” he replied graciously. So I shared my testimony一 how Jesus had saved me in the midst of a nervous break-down in a mental ward, healed me and called me to preach. I told Criswell about reading the red and praying for the power as a student at Dallas Baptist College and how I found myself speaking a language I had never learned after praying, “Lord, if there’s power in this gospel, give it to me!”

 

 I continued sharing with this beloved pastor, telling him of my call to pray and how that call had haunted me until I answered it. I described how I obeyed God and began a church in Rockwall, dedicated to the principle of rising early in the morning, praying and then obeying God’s voice.
 Not knowing exactly how much Criswell wanted to hear, I hesitated. As I did, he leaned forward and, with tears rolling down his lined cheeks, signaled me to stop. “That’s enough.” he said, not quibbling over our doctrinal differences. Taking my hand in his, he said simply, “You’ve done it the Bible way.” Then we wept together for a few moments.
“Dr. Criswell,” I asked as I wiped my tears, “what is your secret? You’ve spent forty successful years in the same church.”

 

 I shouldn’t have been surprised at his answer. “I get up every day and spend the first five hours with God. I spend the first hour in prayer； the next two hours in study； the next hour in meditation； then in the final hour, I get to thinking about what I ought to do the rest of the day.”
 After the appointment as I walked out the door, Criswell asked, “Do you know this man Cho? I’ve read all his books and heard his tapes, and I'm so intrigued by him.”

 

 I told Criswell that I had met Cho and, in fact, was scheduled to preach the very next week in his church in Korea. I promised to tell Cho that Criswell wished to meet him.
 That next week I sat beside Cho at a banquet table. Out of the clear blue he turned to me and asked, “Do you know this man Criswell? I’ve read all his books and listened to his tapes.”
Talk about “holy chemistry”! Then I said, “Dr. Cho, I spoke with Dr. Criswell last week, and he said the very same thing about you.”

 

 As soon as I got back to Dallas, I called Criswell and inquired, “What would you say if I said Dr. Cho would be willing to preach on a Sunday night at First Baptist Church in Dallas?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Criswell replied, ‘‘I’d say, ‘Praise God, let’s do it!’ ”
 So that’s how, in the fall of 1984,1 accompanied Cho to First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas on a Sunday night. Cho preached and after the meeting was over, the staff slipped out quickly and put us into a limousine. There I sat with my two pastoral heroes. I wanted to be as quiet as a mouse and take it all in.

 

 Criswell opened the conversation. “Now, Cho,” he began, “I have admired you for many years, but Fll be quite frank with you. After reading your books and listening to your tapes, I had concluded that what you have done in Korea was strictly a sociological phenomenon一 something that probably couldn't have happened at any other time in history, at any other place in the world. But then I met this kd here.” He gestured toward me. “So, Lea,” Criswell continued, Mwould you tell me how you got it from Seoul, Korea, over here to Texas?” 
I cast a knowing glance at Cho, then responded： “I pray, and I obey!”
Well, I had a glorious time at supper that night because these men of God were so honest, so transparent. Criswell said, “Cho, I hear that you pray.”

 

 I should tell you that Cho had preached that morning in our eight o5clock service. Before the service began, my elders and I were in a small prayer room behind the platform interceding when Cho and his assistant, Cha, entered. When I invited them to join us in prayer, Cho replied softly, ‘‘I have prayed. I have already spent three hours in prayer this morning for the service.”

 

 Even so, he and Cha knelt and prayed with us a little longer. When the service began, Cho ministered under a powerful anointing. I happen to know that Cho also spent two more hours in prayer in the afternoon before going to First Baptist Church that evening to preach for Criswell. So Criswell was correct： Cho prays!
That night at supper Criswell jokingly confided, “Cho, when I pray 15 minutes, I feel as if I’ve worn God out and worn myself out, too. How can you pray as you pray? How do you do it?’’

 

 I’m so glad Cho did not give Criswell a traditional Pentecostal answer such as, “I speak in tongues and you don't." Instead, Cho smiled graciously, and said, “Every morning I get on a 'running track’ in the Spirit, and I circle that track. I know when I’m one-fifth of the way through, two-fifths, four-fifths and then, finally, I know when I’m done. Then, if I have time, I run it again and again, just as a runner would circle a track.”
The conversation continued for some time that eve¬ning. The next morning Cho and I played golf. At least I played golf. Cho was busy communing with the Holy Spirit. He would hit the ball, turn, get back in the cart  and not even watch to see where his ball went. It was the funniest game of golf I have ever played.

 

 Finally, I got up my courage and asked, “Dr. Cho, what is the running track you were telling Dr. Criswell about last night?’’
 I listened in amazement as Cho rapidly descried many of the same principles I had learned about prayer from the Holy Spirit. Something leaped inside me in excited confirmation as Cho confided that his “prayer track” is the Lord’s Prayer； the “laps” he runs around that track are the six timeless topics of the model prayer that Jesus gave His disciples.

 

 Did those early disciples follow the prayer pattern Jesus gave them? Yes, historical literature records that they did. The early Jewish-Christian document The Didacbe instructed early Christians to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times daily (pidacbe 8:2-3). And Christ’s desire for His church has not changed.

 

 It is to be a house of purity, prayer, power and perfected praise. At what point are you in that divine progression, clay temple of the most high God? At which stage will your prayer life be this time next year? Desire? Discipline? Delight? It’s your choice. If you do not begin to pray, you will not be any further along with the Lord next year than you are right now.   The Spirit of God longs to teach you to walk in the yoke He has fitted for you. Everyone wants to change, but change demands desire and discipline before it becomes delightful. There is always the agony of choice before the promise of change. Therefore, we must consciously, deliberately choose to go on with God.

 

 If we pray the Lord’s Prayer as it should be prayed, we choose to obey the major messages of Christ’s life and ministry. We sanctify the name of God in our worship and in our walk. 
 We repent, place God’s priorities before our own and become a part of His kingdom movement. We set our wills to forgive and to live in right relationship with God and others. We tenaciously pray specific prayers for our daily provision. Clad in the whole armor of God and encircled by His hedge of protection, we resist temptation and defeat the devil and his evil powers. And we give praise to God our Father who has made us partakers in His kingdom, His power and His glory.

 

 You have my word on it. Something supernatural happens when you take your next step with God. He walked me right out of a psychiatric ward. He led a hippie named Jerry Howell into the ministry. My dad took God’s hand and walked away from a life of alcoholism and misery. If you are ready for God to do a new thing in your life, you must take your next step with Him.
Someone is asking you that question right now, and His name is not Henry. His name is Jesus. 

 

CHAPTER (20)  FOR TEN'S SAKE

 

 Cho once lamented to me： “Americans will give their money, sing songs, build buildings and preach, but they will not pray,” But, thank God, the Lord is changing all that. The Spirit of intercession, the praying Holy Spirit, is overcoming our flesh.
 We are in the first stages of the most life-changing, nation-shaping move of God since the beginning of the world. God is birthing a prayer revival—not a doctrine, not a teaching built around the charisma of men, but a spirit of intercession that is invading the lives of His peo¬ple. Why? Because the word has gone out： mediation or annihilation.

 

 Who among us is not aware of God’s gathering storm of judgment? Towering thunderheads of divine wrath loom on the horizon, and prophetic rumblings of impending calamity reverberate throughout the land.
 Centuries ago, Abraham watched such clouds of calamity collect over Sodom and Gomorrah. And one day the Lord delivered a dreaded message to Abraham’s doorstep—in person. From that visit and from the events that transpired, we can distill four principles that  enlighten our understanding and inspire our intercession. The principles pertain to the prevailing ignorance of the wicked and to the preserving influence, the persevering intercession and the powerful impact of the righteous. 

 

The Prevailing Ignorance of the Unrighteous 

 

 The unrighteous are unaware that God holds inquest on the moral condition of cities, but verses 20 and 21 of Genesis 18 confirm this awesome fact：
 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous； I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me； and if not, I will know. Then followed Abraham’s elo¬quent, urgent intercession in behalf of the cities： “[If] there be fifty righteous within the city： wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein. And the Lord
said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes’’ (Gen. 18:24,26).

 

 Four more times, Abraham reverently pled with God for the city’s welfare, each time lowering the number of righteous people required to stay God’s hand, turn judg¬ment and avert destruction. Would the Lord destroy the city if there were forty-five righteous? Forty righteous? Thirty? Twenty?
 Abraham was not merely haggling with God, who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11). Abraham knew God’s long-suffering, compassionate nature； therefore, he stood before Him and pled one last time for mercy. “Would the Lord destroy the city if He found ten righteous there?” And God answered, “I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” (Gen. 18:32). 
 

 The ungrateful, ungodly inhabitants of Sodom would have been amazed to learn the value the Lord sets on the righteous. The entire city could have been spared for the sake of ten righteous people within its walls； indeed, only Lot, the one righteous man in Sodom, and his family were saved (Gen. 19： 16).
And if Sodom’s inhabitants could have overheard the Lord’s assurance to Abraham that if fifty, forty, thirty, twenty or even ten righteous people could be found in Sodom He would not destroy the city, they would have been stunned by this staggering truth： It is not the presence of evil which brings the mercy and long-suffering of God to an end； rather, it is the absence of good.

 

The Preserving Influence of the Righteous

 

 The haughty enemies of God who undervalue and persecute those who live ‘‘soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” are also unaware of the preserving influence of the righteous (Titus 2:12).
According to Sam Shoemaker’s book Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men, the nineteenth-century church historian William Lecky credited John Wesley with saving England from revolution. All across the island 

Wesley had set up little companies of twelve. Each group had a leader, met once a week and helped hold each other up to Christian standards.

 

 Judge for yourself： Did that small remnant, which lifted the moral and spiritual level of the nation, keep England from going the way of France, where in that same century revolution toppled the government? What would have happened in France if they had had a John Wesley or a spiritual revival to preserve it from decay and destruction?

 

 Remember： God would have spared Sodom for the sake of ten. Some say this would have been approximately 
one-tenth of one percent of the city’s population just a sprinkling of salt in the midst of massive decay, a glimmer of light in gross darkness. Yet, in God’s eyes, ten righteous people would have been sufficient cause to spare Sodom.

 

The Purposeful Intercession of the Remnant

 

 Abraham’s intercession for Sodom was the result of divine communication： “And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” (Gen. 18： 17). The Spirit sometimes inspires people to pray by showing them things to come. God reveals His intentions to His friends, thus inviting their intercession.

 

 Although God invites our intercession, our prayers must be in line with God’s character and His covenant with mankind. Note that when Abraham brought before God the reasons why his request should be granted, the motive behind his intercession was not small, selfish or shortsighted： “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ...Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:23,25). God is bound by His nature and by His covenant with mankind； He can do nothing that is not inflexibly righteous. Therefore, Abraham appealed to

God to preserve His name and honor before the world. He also pled God’s perfect justice. God would not destroy the righteous with the wicked, the innocent with the guilty. Was it not better that the wicked be spared mercifully than that the righteous be destroyed unrighteously? 
 

The Powerful Impact of the Righteous God has given us this unwavering assurance： If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways； then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14). But God has also given us this sobering alternative： And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it： but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them；

I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath： their own way have

I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God (Ezek. 22:30,31).

 

 The church is sometimes prone to measure influence by numbers and nickels. But we cannot use our arithmetic to estimate the impact of the righteous； God saves by many or by few. I am not intimidated to declare to you that God has called me to enlist, instruct, encourage and inspire 300,000 believers to pray. On one scale that is a lot more than Sodom’s ten, but on another scale it isn’t. That is one-tenth of one percent of the population of the United States. God will not allow this nation to destroy itself if His people will repent over the sins of our nation and seek His face. If we will pray, destruction will be averted and judgment can be turned.

 

 My question is, Will you pledge to pray one hour a day for yourself, your loved ones, the ignorant and the unbelieving? Will you promise to intercede for God’s spotted, wrinkled church? That is our only hope. Believe it. Through our National Call to Prayer Network, your prayers will be linked with the petitions of thousands of prayer warriors who have already enlisted in this mighty prayer army.

 God is setting a mark upon the foreheads of those who sigh and groan for all the abominations of the land (Ezek. 9：4-6). As in Ezekiel's day, destruction will not come near any man upon whom that mark is set. 
May the pledge of God Himself echo in our ears and drive us to our knees： “I will not destroy it for ten's sake" 

 

 

PRAYER GUIDE

 

I. ‘‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
  A. Picture Calvary and thank God you can call Him Father by virtue of the blood of Jesus.
  B. Hallow the names of God corresponding with the five benefits in the New Covenant, and make your faith     

      declarations.

II. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.”
  A. Yourself
  B. Your family (mate, children, other family members)
  C. Your church (pastor, leadership, faithfulness of the peo¬ple, harvest)
  D. Nation (city, state and national political and spiritual leaders, a specific nation)

 

III. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
  A. Be in the will of God (prayer life, church, work habits, obedience in giving).
  B. Believe it is God’s will to prosper you.
  C. Be specific.
  D. Be tenacious. 

 

IV. ‘‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors/*
  A. Ask God to forgive you.
  B. Forgive and release others.
  C. Set your will to forgive those who sin against you.

 

V. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
  A. Put on the whole armor of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
    1. Loins girt about with truth
    2. Breastplate of righteousness
    3. Feet shod with the preparation (readiness) of the gospel of peace
    4. Shield of faith
    5. Helmet of salvation
    6. Sword of the Spirit which is the Word (rhema) of God
    7. Praying always in the Spirit
B. Pray a hedge of protection. (The Lord is your refuge, your fortress, your God； in Him will you trust.)
   1. Because you have made the Lord your habitation
   2. Because you have set your love upon Him
   3. Because you have known His name

 

VI. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.’’
 A. Make your faith declarations.
 B. Return to praise. 

 

NOTES
Chapter 8
1. Brad Young, The Jewish Background to the Lord’s Prayer (Austin, Tex.： Center for Judaic-Christian Studies, 1984), 9.
    Chapter 10
1. Brad Young, The Jewish Background to the Lord's Prayer (Austin, Tex.： Center for Judaic-

    Christian Studies, 1984), 15. Chapter 11
1. Donald Gee, Concerning the Spiritual Gifts, Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1972), 58.
    Chapter 13
1. Kenneth Hagin, The Art cf Intercession (Tulsa, Okla.： Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1980)，139, 141.
    Chapter 20
1. Samuel Shoemaker, Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men (Grand Rapids, Mich.： Zondervan, 1965)，103-

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION
 If you want to join with Larry Lea in praying one hour a day, please write to the address below. Your name will be included with the other Christians uniting to meet the goal of 1,500,000 praying daily. You will also be kept up-to-date with the Prayer Ministry.
Please write today.
The Prayer Ministry
P.O. Box 81286
San Diego, CA 92138-1286