Gene Whitehurst is a longtime friend of mine. He is a Christian, a husband, a father, grandfather,  missionary and writer. He and his wife, Dawn, write bible study materials for their mission work, and these are printed in numerous languages. Gene also loves to write! In his spare time he loves writing devotional pieces like the one posted here. I have found that his writing goes directly to the heart and draws ones thoughts upward, to the Lord, in unique and memorable ways. I hope it does that for you today. This short piece is on prayer . I hope you like it. Please send me your responses in the “comments” box.  I’d love to know what your thoughts are concerning this piece.

Thank you for taking time out to read this post. AND don’t forget to pray–and while you are at it, go head–pray BIG!

Linda

Women in Nepal praying big!

“So Peter was kept in the prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” (Acts 12:5 NIV)

When Peter shows up at the door where the believers were praying, they were all surprised;  in awe and unbelief. Their faith was weak–but they had prayed. They prayed fervently.

Their prayers were specific!

It was apparently the early hours of the morning when this took place. They had been praying all night, or in shifts, but they prayed persistently. And their prayers were specific.

They prayed that Peter might be delivered from death and from prison. They felt hopeless because Peter was securely bound; he was heavily guarded and more soldiers stood near by, guarding all of the doors and passageways.

No word is mentioned in their prayers that ‘. . .if it is God’s will. . .’. Their prayers were specific and intentional. “God, get Peter out of there! We know what happened to James–he was executed–and now Peter is scheduled for the same. God, get him out of there!”

They prayed from their hearts!

True, none of the actual words of their prayers are recorded in the Bible. I’m only surmising what and how they prayed.  God had clearly laid Peter’s deliverance on their hearts and they were praying from their hearts! AND God answered their prayers.

Pray persistently!

When God lays something on your heart–pray until you get an answer! Pray often! Pray hard! Pray BIG! Pray beyond your faith and beyond your ability to conceive a solution.  Keep on praying!

Pray in Faith, believing God will answer!

These men and women prayed when there was surely no possible solution–humanly speaking. They didn’t wander off into the night with a sigh and say, “God’s will be done–I’m going to bed. There’s nothing we can do.”

Pray always, without ceasing!

There is something you can do. You can always pray.  So do it! Pray, even if your faith is weak. Pray with out ceasing!  ‘. . .For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17,18)

Written by Gene Whitehurst © 2014 (unpublished)

THINK ABOUT THIS!

• What motivates YOU to pray?
• Do you have to see  the urgency first?