Out of nowhere, two giant, unexpected prayer needs rocked the pages of my prayer journal this week.
But at first, they rocked me.
What do you do when out of the blue you are assailed by unforeseen news or circumstances? Sometimes, I go to tears and, often, fears. But most of the time my initial reaction is, “Lord, what do I do? What do I do?” I am frantic. I want to fix it. I want to change it. I want to make it right.
So, when those two giant, unexpected prayer needs rocked my world this past week, I headed to familiar territory: tears, fears, and Lord-what-do-I-do-what-do-I-do-mode. But I didn’t tarry there very long. Why? Because I knew what to do.
Pray.
Pray the right way.
Pray the new way God has been teaching me to pray.
As I told you last week, God has been doing a new work in my life – specifically, in my prayer life. He is teaching me how to pray in new ways. And as I have been praying this week, He is encouraging me to pray earnestly – which I used to think meant bowing my head and worrying with my eyes closed.
But let me show you what praying earnestly really means by using this fantastic example from Acts 12:
“About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.” Acts 12:1-4 NLT
When the early church heard about Peter’s arrest and imprisonment, which immediately followed Herod’s execution of James, I’m pretty sure there were tears – and definitely fears. But look what else they did:
“But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.” Acts 12:5 NLT
What is earnest prayer? Earnest prayer is intense prayer. Earnest prayer is extended prayer. Earnest prayer is extensive prayer.
When used as an adjective, the Greek word “earnest” means “to stretch out, extend, as the hand; to cast out, let down, as an anchor from a ship.”1
I love the way that definition paints a picture of what earnest prayer looks like. It is praying with outstretched hands before the Lord. It is anchoring ourselves within the strong arms of God when life’s circumstances thrust us into stormy seas.
Has your world been rocked this week by unexpected news or circumstances? Perhaps, like me, God wants to teach you a new way to pray. Even if you’re tearful, fearful, or in a frantic state of Lord-what-do-I-do-what-do-I-do, in reality, you’re in the perfect place to practice praying earnestly. So, are you ready to learn something new? Then let me show you how to start:
“Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 KJV
1Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, second edition, June 1992), 1618, p. 910.