Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Prayer Partners

There is need for discipline in our prayer life. I find it difficult to pray alone. Do I therefore give up on prayer? No. I can find a prayer partner and pray with him/her. I can find? Frankly, it's not like that! God knows the burden in your heart and, in His infinite mercy and grace, He gives you a prayer partner. How does it happen?

I am going through a trial. I am praying, I'm spending much time with God. In such situations, God sends a prayer partner. He may be a member of your local church. When I went through a severe trial for 70 days in the year 1993, God sent me a prayer partner who prayed with me night after night for 50 days in a row. Then victory came!

Similarly, my wife's cousin is going through a severe trail right now. I am going to him and praying with him and his wife. We spend at least half-an-hour in God's presence. We sing a hymn in our native tongue, then share what God has spoken to us through our quiet time/family prayers and then we pray. We pray not only for our own needs [especially, my wife's cousin's trial], but we also pray for the church. This has become a discipline. It is marvellous. We can't stop. The prayer partnership goes one. God keeps speaking. His Spirit brings us together in prayer.

Prayer partnership is essential for a believer's life. I remember when I married, my wife's mother stayed with us. She was a godly woman. There was always some elderly sister from the church who used to come and pray with her. That was long ago. Today I am a prayer partner for my wife's cousin. May we learn prayer partnership. We will learn thereby to effectively bear the burdens of others. We will learn to be intercessors. We will glorify God. Amen.

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