PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING - Louis Gervais

PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING

Hello and greetings in the Name of the Son of Him to Whom Prayer without Ceasing was Made, Jesus Christ!

“Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” –Acts 12:5

King Herod had put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. This pleased the Jews, so Herod had Peter arrested too. The Christians prayed without ceasing, pleading for Peter’s life. Other translations say “prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God” or “earnestly” . They were begging God the Father to spare the life of one of His sons, their brother, Peter.

In answer to these prayers, the Lord sent an angel which led Peter out of prison. When Peter showed up at the prayer meeting the saints didn’t believe Rhoda until they opened the door. What can we learn from this? There have been times when I felt that the Lord had laid a prayer request on my heart which I was supposed to pray for. Sometimes I prayed faithfully and it was blessed; at other times I neglected those prayer projects and I bitterly regretted it. If God truly leads us to pray about something or for someone then He should find us obediently doing so because prayer is a good work just as preaching or testifying are good works. “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” –Luke 5:16

We see in Acts chapter 12 that prayer can pave the way for divine intervention in the midst of otherwise hopeless circumstances. The spiritual life of a believer is not a game. Where we are in our walk with the Lord is not a trivial matter which has no impact on the lives of others. With salvation comes responsibility and disobedience has ramifications. I don’t think Adam and Eve would have so easily eaten of the forbidden fruit if they knew what generational consequences their sin would have. May God strengthen us by His Spirit to glorify His Son through wholehearted obedience shown in persistent prayer. Amen.

“But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” –Nehemiah 6:9c

My grandmother, Mr. van Niekerk and Mr. Kussman still need to come to know the Lord as their personal Savior. In March 2012 during the first outreach I experienced in South Africa, Keith Daniel preached at a church in Sasolburg. A young man, Wikus, stayed behind after one of the services and—by all appearances—got saved that night at the age of 17. This week I heard that he passed away in March of this year at the age of 21—almost exactly four years after seeking God’s forgiveness. Wikus died in a farm equipment accident. This serves as a reminder that death often comes unexpectedly and we should not procrastinate in sharing or accepting the Gospel.

Mr. Paulsen and I had a good week scheduling a part of next year’s Vaal Triangle Tour. If you would please, pray that we will have an abnormally blessed year-end convention next month and that I would continually walk in the will and council of the Lord.

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” –James 5:17 . “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.” –Psalm 34:15 . “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” –Matthew 6:6

–Louis Gervais