As Christians involved in a prayer ministry like Breakthrough, we all know the value of prayer. And as part of an intercessory prayer ministry, we recognize that prayer is work. We also know that this work is the work of the Lord; it is part of God’s plan that we pray and seek God for everything.
As Breakthrough intercessors, we commit to pray for requests that come into the ministry for 21 days in a row, and many times we never hear the results. In our personal prayer life as well we can be discouraged because we don’t see our prayers answered the way we envisioned.
How do we handle the answer that appears to be simply “no”? Do we become discouraged after a while and have a tendency to give up and stop praying? If so, we should remember the story of the woman that pestered the judge constantly until she finally got him to listen to her request. Likewise, we must not give up on our prayers. And the good news from this example is the contrast between the judge and our God who readily wants us to come to Him with our requests.
But what do we do when we have prayed for a special prayer request for a long time, such as a request that a son or daughter gets saved, but our prayers seem to be ineffectual? I believe God gives us an answer in His word in I Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain.”
How do we know that our work is not in vain? The work that is being spoken of here is the work of the Lord. Praying is the work of the Lord, especially intercessory prayer as we are praying for others. Intercessory prayer is selfless. It calls us to be a servant as we pray for others to receive what they need. The Bible says that the servant is the greatest in the kingdom of God.
The first perquisite for assurance that are prayers are not in vain is to be steadfast. The term means to be firmly loyal and carries with it the idea of excellence. How would this apply to prayer? We certainly do not have to be an expert to pray. As a matter of fact, Jesus condemned the religious leaders for their prayers because of their motive – to be seen praying, maybe loudly, so they could be esteemed by others. I believe an excellent pray-er is one who studies prayer and applies biblical principles to prayer. There are many resources available to help be more excellent in our prayers. Breakthrough annually has a prayer conference where excellent speakers share methods of prayer. This conference is taped and if you can’t make it to the conference, look on the website and order the tapes. You will be blessed and it will help your prayer life.
The second perquisite is to be immovable. The idea is to not give up no matter how bad it looks, no matter how long we have been praying without results, we don’t quit. We can become weary but it is clear that God has not given us an out to quit. The answer to apparent unanswered prayer is more prayer. We know this is true of our life’s struggles as well. The folks that are successful are the ones that don’t quit when the times get hard but persevere and they eventually break through to success.
The final perquisite for knowing that our prayers are not in vain is to abound in the prayer. This means we don’t see prayer as drudgery but as a joyful opportunity to meet with the Creator of the universe. Joyful pray-ers view their time of prayer as time spent with God: to be in the presence of God. If we can’t be joyful over that, what will give us joy? True joy comes from knowing that we are in the will of God even though it’s not where our flesh would like to be.
So, prayer is work and it’s the Lord’s work. This verse tells us how we should continue to pray when we get discouraged, by being steadfast, immovable, and abounding. If we are each of these things, we will be assured that our prayers are not in vain.
But what if I don’t ever see what I prayed for come about? Believers do not walk by sight but by faith. We don’t have to see if we trust God, we know His word is true and we exercise our faith to believe it. We remember that we may not see the conclusion of the story, but God promises that our faithfulness in prayer will be rewarded.
So, Intercessors keep on praying.
Is something on your heart?
Six intercessors will pray for your request for 21 days.
