Prayer

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23)

Do you know someone who is heading the wrong way? Someone struggling with an overwhelming problem or temptation?

Pray—earnestly pray—for that one. The verse above is when prophet Samuel told the Israelites how he would continually keep them lifted up before God. “

• J. Sidlow Baxter pointed out that our loved ones may “spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”
• In Colossians 4, we meet a man whose prayers for others were so powerful that he received special commendation in the Bible: Epaphras … “a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (v. 12).
• Oswald Chambers said, “By intercessory prayer we can hold off Satan from other lives and give the Holy Ghost a chance with them.

No wonder Jesus put such tremendous emphasis on prayer!”

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Excerpted from the book “Sanctuary : finding moments of refuge in the presence of God” by David Jeremiah