I'm a big believer in prayer, friends.
I believe that God hears our prayers and
he still answers prayers.
Jesus taught his disciples how to pray when
they began to have a desire to pray
by watching him pray.
There are two principles in prayer that move
the Almighty to answer prayer, and these two
principles are as powerful as thunder and lightning,
of which I speak are desperate prayer and
importunate prayer.
Desperate prayer is clearly evidenced in the life
of Hannah, who prayed for her son, as
seen in 1 Samuel chapter 1.
We read in verse 15 of this desperation
in prayer, And Hannah answered and said, No,
my Lord, I am a woman of a
sorrowful spirit.
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
but have poured out my soul before the
Lord.
I really believe, friends, that God looks upon
the one desperate in prayer who pours their
soul out to God in prayer like a
drink offering.
And our Lord Jesus spoke of the other
principle in prayer, and that is importunate prayer,
as seen in Luke's gospel in chapter 11
and verses 5 through 8.
And he said unto them, Which of you
shall have a friend, and shall go unto
him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend,
lend me three loaves, for a friend of
mine in his journey is come to me,
and I have nothing to set before him.
And he from within shall answer and say,
Trouble me not, the door is now shut,
and my children are with me in bed.
I cannot rise and give thee.
I say unto you, Though he will not
rise and give him, because he is his
friend, yet because of his importunity he will
rise and give him as many as needeth.
I remember one night there was a pounding
on my front door.
At first I tried to ignore it, but
it grew louder and more fervent, so I
got out of bed and walked down the
hall at two in the morning to find
my next-door neighbor in her pajamas.
With a scared look on her face, some
intruder had gotten into her home, and she
had rushed out the back door to safety,
and ran over to our house to call
the police.
But it was her incessant pounding that got
me out of bed, and got her the
result she was looking for.
Some of my most memorable times in prayer
have been between the hours of midnight and
dawn, when all is quiet and my soul
is in tune with my Creator, and I
beseech him in desperate and importunate prayer.
I believe God takes note of the child
of his who is willing to come at
an inconvenient hour to pastor him in prayer.
This importunity in prayer moves God and startles
angels.
We read of Elijah, who bowed heaven by
bowing himself to the ground and praying seven
times for heaven to send rain.
And he said to his servant, Go up
now, look toward the sea.
And he went up and looked and said,
There is nothing.
And he said, Go again, seven times.
What would have happened if Elijah had stopped
praying at the sixth attempt?
I believe there never would have been that
downpour rain out of a blackened sky.
It's that prayer of the one more time
that grips the attention of the Almighty.
Let me share with you, friends, a story
that always quickens my heart to pray more.
Listen to this story, friend, about a praying
wife who prevailed with God in prayer for
her husband.
And if you have a lost loved one
whom you've been praying for, this story will
be an encouragement to you to pray once
more for them.
This true story is related about a man
called Charlie Waterman, as told by William Schubert,
the co-laborer of John Song.
Here now is that story.
Every Sunday we had converts and along in
March we had Charlie Waterman, the converted streetcar
conductor, come to tell his story.
He told how he had been a drinker
and a gambler and how his wife had
prayed for him 17 years and how he
would curse her and spit on her while
she was trying to pray with her children
until finally she decided she must leave him.
Even her pastor advised her to leave him
for the sake of the children.
So when he'd gone several days on one
of his sprees, she finally decided it was
too much and packed everything and was about
to call a taxi to take them to
her mother's when the Lord said to her,
pray once more.
So she knelt down and said, Oh God,
show Charlie where he is going.
And while she prayed in Pasadena, he was
over in a dive on the east side
of Main Street in Los Angeles.
Something said to him, Charlie, if you don't
repent, you will go to hell.
He went into the next room and drank
down a big swig of whiskey and as
he did so, he looked right down into
hell.
He said he saw the fires of hell
and the lost souls being tortured by the
demons and one of the demons came right
up after him.
Then Charlie cried out, Oh God, save me.
Everything came clear and he was sober and
walked out of that place and went home.
On the way he telephoned his wife to
meet him and call old sister so-and
-so, whom she had had been praying for
him, but he refused to repent.
They prayed for him until he prayed through
about 2 a.m. Then the three of
them raised the neighborhood by shouting.
I love that story, friends, because if you've
been praying for a lost loved one and
perhaps you become discouraged and not seeing that
person turn to the Lord, be like that
wife of Charlie Waterman and pray once more.
Be like Elijah, who said to his servant,
go again.
He said it seventh times and it was
the seventh time that did the trick.
I believe God pays attention to desperate and
importunate prayer.
Oh friend, don't ever quit praying for a
lost loved one.
Keep praying for them.
Pray one more time.