Article
Is Grass Growing On Your Path?
August 30, 2019
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16b
Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each man had a secluded spot among the trees where he would go every morning and pour out his heart to God. Over time, the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of the believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."
How is your personal walk with the Lord? Are you running the race with patience, or do you feel that you are barely moving at a crawl? How would you gauge your love and passion for Jesus Christ - hot, lukewarm, cold?
Even as a born again believer, do you find yourself lacking victory over a besetting sin? Do you ever wonder why we lack the power to shake the world for Christ?
"He that is a stranger to prayer is a stranger to power.” Billy Sunday
We cannot place the blame
at
the throne of God. The God who parted the Red Sea, brought down the walls of Jericho, shut the mouths of lions and walked in the fiery furnace, is OUR God.
The God that raised the dead, opened blinded eyes, healed the lame, the deaf, and the leper, is Jesus Christ, OUR Lord.
The God that raised the dead, opened blinded eyes, healed the lame, the deaf, and the leper, is Jesus Christ, OUR Lord.
A middle-aged farm couple was riding in their pickup truck. The wife said to her husband, "We never sit snuggled up in the truck like we used to." The old farmer looked at his wife and replied, "I haven't moved!"
I hear God saying that to His children today.
From a child, I have loved to read. Don't offer me a phone, tablet nor computer; give me a book! I love everything about books. I can mark, underline & highlight to my heart's content. I can put them on a shelf, and they are always available for me to reread time and time. I have read many books on prayer. I have the complete works of E.M. Bounds on prayer. For years, his writings have inspired Christians to pray. But, I have found that you can read everything written on prayer, and still not be a prayer warrior. Prayer is committing to a daily relationship with the Lord.
George Mueller pastored a church with twelve hundred members and was in charge of five large orphanages. He published tracts, books
and
Bibles, and read thirty thousand letters a year. He said, "I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word." It's safe to say there was no grass on his path. What about you?
It's not likely that very many of us can go in the woods or thicket to pray, but we must have a specific place to pray. Jesus said, "When you pray enter
in to
your closet, shut the door and pray to your Father in secret." Matthew 6:6
The closet
He
is referring to is two-fold. It is a physical place. You must have a place where you can shut out everybody and everything.
The closet
is also a spiritual place where we must make every effort to bring our thoughts into captivity and give God our hearts and full attention.
My sister, Ann Lipps Sester, is a prayer warrior. She has one of the most consistent prayer lives of anyone I have ever known. She lets nothing rob her of her time with the Lord. If you spend the night in her home, you can count on being awakened early by her praises and petitions rising to Heaven. Ann loves our annual sister vacations, but she doesn't use that as an excuse to neglect prayer.
When I was battling aggressive, advanced breast cancer, Ann spent many nights with me. Every morning she would find a place in my home to pray. In 1985, Ann was facing
a serious
colon cancer surgery. The morning of her surgery, most of our large family lined the hallway as the nurses rolled her out.
She looked at us with a beautiful smile and said, "I am not afraid; I've already prayed this morning." That was thirty-four years ago, and Ann is still living and still praying "without ceasing." No one will ever be able to say that "grass grows on Ann's path!"
She looked at us with a beautiful smile and said, "I am not afraid; I've already prayed this morning." That was thirty-four years ago, and Ann is still living and still praying "without ceasing." No one will ever be able to say that "grass grows on Ann's path!"
Great prayer warriors are not always visible. Growing up, I attended church with a reticent woman. She didn't hold any spiritual positions in the church, but after her death, her husband made a surprising discovery. She had made her prayer closet in their basement. In the floor, where she always knelt to pray, her husband found the imprints of her knees -- what a testimony!
Do you have lost children or grandchildren? Then pray for God to let someone cross
their path
that can lead them to Christ. Would you love to see a move of God in your church? Then pray for God to lay it upon some man or woman's heart to come to your church.
Effectual, fervent prayer still avails much.
In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul, along with Silas and Timothy, is on his second missionary journey. The three men attempted to go into Asia, but the Lord closed the doors. They tried to go to Bithynia, but once again, they were stopped by the Holy Spirit. Finally, one night in Troas, Paul is given directions from God, and they headed for Europe.
What is causing all these roadblocks for Paul?
Later on the Sabbath, the men attended a riverside women's prayer meeting in Philippi. In that group, was a woman named Lydia. Luke said in Acts 16:14 that she worshipped God. Lydia had abandoned pagan religion and became a "God-fearer." She was praying, seeking the God of Israel, but she needed to know Jesus. Luke also said the Lord had opened her heart so she could respond to the gospel message from Paul.
Lydia became Paul's first convert in that small prayer meeting; her conversion was the beginning of the Philippi church.
When he was an unconverted Pharisee, Paul would pray each morning: "I give thanks that I am a Jew and not a Gentile, a freeman and not a slave, and a man and not a woman."
Paul found himself in Philippi because God rewarded the effectual, fervent prayers of a Gentile woman!
"He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6b
In my humble opinion, the thing the church is lacking, the thing that we need most is genuine, effectual, fervent prayer. Is it evident to those around you that you are faithful to your prayer closet, or is grass growing on your path?
"A person who can pray is the mightiest instrument God has in this world. A praying church is stronger than all the gates of hell." E.M. Bounds
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