"Every time the Lord faced an important decision, He prayed. When He was being tempted to do things by the world's methods instead of the Father's, He prayed (Matthew 4). When it was time to choose His disciples, He prayed the entire night (Luke 6:12). If the Son of God required a night of prayer in order to determine the Father's mind, how long might it take us in prayer to clearly determine our Father's will?" Henry and Richard Blackaby

Let prayer set the agenda of your life. Many of us often worry about our lives. What should we do next year? Where should we live? What school should we go to? These are all good questions that need careful thought. But if most of us were honest, we would admit that we worry needlessly. It is right to get wise counsel and weigh out the options; however when concern turns into unnecessary anxiety, we are not trusting God, who knows exactly how to handle every situation we face. Life becomes simpler when we learn to seek God for every aspect of our plans. Our times spent in prayer will bring revelation of His agenda for us. We can be confident that in the final analysis, it is God who knows what is best for us and what will give Him the greatest glory.

Prioritizing prayer and letting God set your agenda brings great peace. We lived for five years in Asia and experienced the typhoons that are so common in the Indian Ocean. Primarily they move in circles instead of from east to west or north to south. Before navigators understood their movement, they would try to maneuver out of the storm and often suffered serious destruction in the process. With a better understanding of typhoons, navigators have learned to locate the center of the storm—where it is totally calm—and go there. This is much like prayer and discovering God's agenda. As we pray, we are able to circle in on God's agenda and find the center of His will. In this place, we experience His peace. When we try to get out of His will, we find destruction and chaos. Through prayer and renewing our mind in God's will, we discover God's perfect and pleasing will (Romans 12:2).

We must learn to pray about everything and trust in God’s wisdom, which far surpasses ours.  At times we may sense His direction and feel the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit even though nothing may look logical according to our human perspective. I remember a time when my husband and I began to pray about lengthening our ministry time overseas because we felt God might want us to extend our visit to certain countries. We had already been traveling for two months, we were tired, we had much to do in the U.S., and my father was ill, so an extension needed prayerful consideration. There were other reasons why going home would have been the right choice from a human standpoint. The problem is, often God's viewpoint is different from ours. He sees things far in advance and from His perspective, which far surpasses ours. 

Through prayer, we discovered God's agenda. We sensed His peace in staying longer, even though going home would have been easier and seemed more logical. In this case, we felt we had to go with the leading and peace of the Holy Spirit. The real key for us was prayer and waiting upon God, listening and hearing His voice. 
 
We may not know the full picture of why we were to extend our time overseas, but we do know that we had to take that step of faith that was guided and empowered through prayer in order to do God's very best. We knew that we were in the right place and that when we did return home, we had completed what God had for us. 

God loves to hear us pray with fervency and then listen and step out in faith according to His leading. Perhaps there is something you need to pray over regarding God's plan and purpose in your present circumstances. Praying through every decision, listening to His voice, and leaning upon His wisdom will enable you to determine His agenda. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Guidelines to Hear God's Voice in Prayer

"But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7, Amplified).

How can we hear God when we pray? Here are some guidelines to help you hear His voice as you seek Him in prayer:

• Bathe your life in prayer - Pray about all the decisions in your life daily. Ask Him for direction so that you may fulfill His will for your life for that day. Continually bring major decisions to Him in prayer. Pray, listen, and wait with expectancy. 
  
  
• Believe that God does speak to you - Accept the promise in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 
  
  
• Find time to be alone with God - Take time to pray and listen. Most of life is very busy, but time with Him is of utmost importance so we can hear from Him. Often the Lord responds with a thought planted by His Spirit into the mind or heart.
  
  
• Keep a journal of what God says - We can better evaluate guidance and see what God is saying when we journal on a regular basis. Journaling helps us to ponder our thoughts and impressions so we can clearly discern the path God wants us to take. 
  
  
• Test what you hear - What we think is God’s voice may come from the Holy Spirit, the enemy, or from our own souls. Ask the Lord to confirm what you think He may be saying. First John 4:1 exhorts us to test the spirits. It's good to seek confirmation from at least two other Christians before taking action, especially on big decisions.
  
  
• Carefully check all guidance with Scripture - God’s Word is truth. What we think God is speaking should line up with Scripture. This is why we should examine everything carefully with the Bible.  
  
  
• Obey God - We must be willing to act on what God has told us. When we obey God, there is blessing. If we still doubt what we think God is saying, it is good to continue to ask Him for confirmation until we sense His peace.

Let's follow these guidelines and practice listening to God. Let's learn to eliminate the distractions in our life.

"Jesus knew that His mission was not to attract a crowd, but to remain obedient to His Father. It was prayer that set the agenda for Jesus' ministry (Luke 6:12). Prayer preceded the miracles (John 11:42-43); prayer brought Him encouragement at critical moments (Luke 9:28-31); prayer enabled Him to go to the cross (Luke 22:41-42); and prayer kept Him there despite excruciating pain (Luke 23:46). Follow the Savior's example, and let your time alone with God, in prayer, set the agenda for your life." Henry and Richard Blackaby

• To help you to concentrate on prayer, see The Fire of Prayer new blog site.
• Books on prayer: Breakthrough Prayer, Ascending the Height in Prayer, Deeper Still, and 24/7 Prayer Arise.
• Join the Intercessors Arise facebook page for daily encouragement in your prayer life. 
• Have your friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here.
• An Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer is in the initial stages.

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

“To the average Christian the command ‘pray without ceasing’ is simply a needless and impossible life of perfection. Who can do it? We can get to heaven without it. To the true believer, on the contrary, it holds out the promise of the highest happiness, of a life crowned by all the blessings that can be brought down on souls through his intercession. And as he perseveres, it becomes increasingly his highest aim upon earth, his highest joy, his highest experience of the wonderful fellowship with the holy God.”  Andrew Murray

As we each face many challenges and blessings in life, it is critical that we put prayer first in our schedules.  I sense in my heart that we are entering into very deep waters. We always have enough time for the things we value. The greatest key to success in the Christian life is to put God and prayer first. Too many things in life are crying out for our attention. Everything we do must be done through the power of prayer.   

We must learn to put prayer first on a daily basis. It is something we have to give our utmost attention to. The enemy is TOO clever, and he will try to steal our time. This is where he will resist us the most. We need to have a vision for prayer. Vision determines priorities, and our priorities determine our destinies. Put prayer as a high priority in your life.

In Acts 12:5 we read about fervent prayer for Peter by the church. They prayed with intense earnestness. Peter was in trouble! The word “earnestness” in the Greek means “stretched-out-edly”. Their souls were stretched out with intense earnestness toward God. It was like a runner using every nerve and muscle stretched out toward the goal. Jesus also prayed with intense earnestness in Luke 22:44 so that even his sweat became as drops of blood. God desires that we learn to prioritize prayer and seek to be a man or woman of intense earnestness in intercession. The Bible speaks about devoting ourselves to prayer in Colossians 4:2. The Amplified Bible says:

“Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer life, being both alert and intent in your praying with thanksgiving.

Dorthy Haskins in her book A Prayer Guide to Prayer tells about an excellent concert violinist who was asked the secret of her mastery of the violin. She responded, “Planned neglect.” She explained how so many things demanded her time. After breakfast, she would do her normal duties such as straightening her room, cleaning and several other things that seemed necessary. She would then turn to her violin after finishing all her work. But she was unable to accomplish what she should on the violin. So she reversed the order, and neglected everything until her practice period on the violin was completed. That was the secret to her success. How often we are like this violinist and put prayer at the end of what needs to be done. It can be last on our list! It must be first. It must be prioritized in our lives, if we want to have a life dedicated to God’s glory.

We must learn to put prayer first now and not wait. The world is getting worse with each passing day as crime and terrorism increase. With earthquakes killing thousands, financial difficulties, unusual weather patterns, plus lawlessness, famines and needs everywhere - if ever there was a need for prayer, it is now. But you and I don’t have to wait for an emergency situation in our city. We already live in an emergency situation - God has sounded the alarm - Millions do not yet know Christ. The hour is urgent! Throughout history, there were praying individuals who knew the seriousness of the hour and prioritized prayer every single day. Let’s look at some of these examples from history.

Historical Examples

“Christ, who in this as well as in other things is our example, spent many whole nights in prayer. His custom was to pray much. He had His habitual place to pray. Many long seasons of praying made up His history and character. Paul prayed day and night. Daniel’s three daily prayers took time away from other important interests. David’s morning, noon, and night praying was doubtless on many occasions very long and involved. While we have no specific account of the time these Bible saints spent in prayer, the indications are that they devoted much time to prayer, and on some occasions long seasons of praying were their custom.” E. M. Bounds

These prayer warriors put prayer first in their everyday life. Even though some of them had ill health, busy lives or were very old, they still were able to put prayer first.

• 84-year-old Anna - She was very old but prayed and fasted night and day for decades. See Luke 2:36. 
• David Brainerd - He spent whole days in prayer as he cried out for the salvation of the Native Americans. 
• E. M. Bounds - He was an eager and intense man of prayer. He prayed with faith that believed God for the impossible and wrote many outstanding books on prayer. 
• John Hyde - He was a missionary to India who paid a high price for prayer. He spent thirty days and nights in intercession and was ranked as a mad enthusiast in prayer.

We influence others as we, ourselves, spend time in prayer. Our short prayers are effective when we have prayed long ones. We must learn to prevail with God just as these men and women did. Jacob had victory because he wrestled all night with God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the Bible exhorts us to “Pray without ceasing”.

The Cost of Putting Prayer First

Those who pray receive a blessing for now and for eternity that far outweighs the cost. They learn the secret to a joyful and strategic life. But choosing to prioritize prayer has a price tag. It will cost us to put prayer at the top of our responsibilities, but it is well worth the effort. It will cost us:   

• Time - We must devote ourselves to prayer. We may have to give up other good things in order to do the best thing. See Colossians 4:2.
• Energy - Prayer can be hard work and very intense physically. It will take concentrated energy to pray. God may call us to pray in the middle of the night. See Isaiah 64:7.
• A Pure Motive - Prayer is often done in secret. We need to have a pure motive when we pray. God will reward us openly. See Matthew 6:6.
  
• Faith - We don’t often see results immediately when we pray, and this takes great faith. But God does answer prayer in a powerful way if we persevere in faith. See Hebrews 11:1, 6. 

Let’s rise to a new level in putting prayer and intercession first. May God help us to keep it central in our busy life. May He give us the grace to put prayer first, not only when emergency situations arise in our own personal lives, but also as we live in the emergency situation we all face in the end times. I pray that God will encourage your heart to count the cost and say, “yes” to the ministry of intercession. I make a conscious choice to put prayer first every day of my life. I pray that you do the same.

Here at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, every year the staff renews their commitment to prayer. Each year they make a Sacred Trust before the Lord as to what hours they will spend in the prayer room. They actually put it in their weekly schedules. Prayer and intimacy with God is central at IHOP and all work springs from that central commitment. Full-time staff spend 24 hours weekly in the prayer room. Although a high commitment, God gives grace to pray. You may want to make a Sacred Trust before the Lord as to how much time you will block out in your schedule for prayer, worship, and time with God. This helps you keep prayer first in your life. You may also want to watch the webstream here at IHOP to encourage your prayer life - See IHOP Prayer Room.

“They may start from different points, and travel by different roads, but they converge to one point: they are one in prayer. To them, God is the center of attraction, and prayer is the path that leads to God. These men do not pray occasionally - not a little or at odd times. But, they pray in such a way that their prayers enter into and shape their very character. They pray so as to affect their own lives and the lives of others, and to cause the history of the church to influence the current of the times. They spend much time in prayer, not because they watch the shadow of the dial or the hands on the clock, but because it is to them so momentous and engaging a business that they can scarcely quit.” E. M. Bounds

• Have your Friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here!
  
• If you would like to pray for us and get monthly updates, sign up here at Norm and Debbie's Prayer Partner.
  
• Become a member of the Intercessors Arise International Network here. Connect with intercessors and what God is doing in prayer worldwide! Discover many resources and training on prayer in this network.
  
  

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise
deb@intercessorsarise.org
http://www.intercessorsarise.org