“When you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you openly.” Matthew 6:6
Dear Ones:
It was during the days of Habakkuk, a time of great violence, lawlessness, and pending judgement, that he would pray: “O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years.” (3:2) There is no doubt that he prayed this prayer many times, as was the case of Nehemiah, when he and his brethren prayed for the solution to Jerusalem’s ruined walls. The question then must be asked, “What effect did the prayer have upon Habakkuk when he prayed this? And what effect did it have on the nation?”
According to the words of the Lord Jesus, the first place of prayer is in the “closet,” that place of aloneness with God. It is there that God reveals Himself to the heart, and moves in answer to prayer. Later on Jesus would speak of two believers praying: “…If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 18:19) It is essential to see that prayer before and to the Father begins alone with God. But then, as two believers are led by the Spirit to pray, and they agree with regard to what they pray, “…it shall be done for them of My Father.” In both cases, we see prayer made, and the Lord moving in answer to prayer. In Acts 12, we find Peter in prison, Herod desiring to have him killed. We find that “…prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” (v. 5) The result was that God sent an angel to deliver Peter, saving him out of the hands of Herod. What then is the power of prayer…alone with God, then two believers agreeing with one another, and finally, as a church body praying steadfastly in faith? The answer to the question resides in the response of the Father, who is faithful to intervene.
The Psalmist prayed: “Will You not revive us, (make us to live), again: that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Ps. 85:6) What would God do in our individual hearts if we were in earnest, and persevered in such a prayer? He would answer it, and this certainly by a greater conviction of His presence, provision, and blessing. He would stir our hearts to seek to know Him, for He would draw out our hearts to Him. What would occur if two believers agreed to pray this prayer? What about a whole church? The God who answers the solitary soul alone with Him, will answer the two believers, and the whole church. WHO will believe it? WHO will pray in such a determined, and specific manner?
Dear Father, teach us to understand that You see and know all things, not only seeing us in the solitary place, but gazing deeply into our hearts. Grant us the desire to pray for Your intervention to meet the deep needs of our hearts, and the hearts of those for whom we pray. Give us grace to take You at your word, and pray accordingly. With thanksgiving, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad