Let's Pray Like We've Never Prayed Before...
Friends! Anyone besides me ready for the political hoopla to cease and desist? Who knows where we’ll be come November 3rd, post-election, but the good news is the commercials will be off the air. Better yet, as our daughter-in-love, Diana, reminded us the other night, God will still be on the throne.
No worries, I refuse to talk politics. Even better news: There is one wonderful, blissful way to stay distracted from all of it: prayer. Fervent prayer at that.
With t-minus four weeks until the election, let’s talk about a book by Anne Graham Lotz: The Daniel Prayer—Prayer that Moves Heaven and Changes Nations. It’s become my favorite prayer manual.
A forever fan of the Graham family, Anne, in particular, holds a special place in my heart. Years ago when we read her book, The Magnificent Obsession—Embracing the God-Filled Life, for Book Club, she agreed to Skype with us from her home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Unfortunately a few days prior to that meeting, she learned her husband, Danny, had been scheduled for a procedure on his heart the very day we were to Skype.
He’s since gone to be with the Lord, God bless him and their family. At the time, however, he wasn’t in good health and this procedure was needed as soon as possible. Anne’s hands were tied. We, of course, understood.
Anne went above and beyond, recording a video message for us, personally addressing our Book Club gals. They were tickled pink that night at our meeting. The fact she took the time to do that for us in the midst of all she was juggling still tugs at my heart.
Anne begins The Daniel Prayer by discussing the dire condition of our world. She says, “There are three reasons I believe God’s patience may be running out:
One: We have willingly intentionally, deliberately taken the lives of almost 60 million children. Most of these abortions were not done for medical reasons, but for the convenience of the mother as a means of birth control.”
Two: Our defiance of God’s institution of marriage.
Three: Our abandonment of the nation of Israel.”
Anne adds, “…it is especially concerning to see the United States of America, a nation founded on faith in God and dedicated to His glory by our first President and the Continental Congress, defy Him, seek to remove Him from public life, and rebel against His ways.”
Her solution? (Which is available to all of us…) PRAYER. Prayer straight from Daniel in the Bible. (See Daniel 9:1-23) Daniel’s prayer gives us a beautiful model which Anne walks us through, giving us excellent examples we can use anywhere, any time.
The book’s divided into four parts:
Preparing for Prayer,
Pleading in Prayer,
Prevailing in Prayer, and
Patterns for Prayer.
It’s the Patterns for Prayer that are my absolute favorite. They include prayer that’s:
“Centered,
compelled,
confident,
contrite, and
clear.”
She especially addresses (and warns us about) spiritual warfare. Throughout the book she offers beautiful, pertinent Scripture to help us with our prayers.
She dots humor throughout each chapter which is a welcomed relief from the serious subject matter. I got tickled at her confession about having trouble waking earlier each morning to pray.
She finally marched out and bought an obnoxious alarm clock which so severely startled her and Danny the next morning, they nearly each had a heart attack! It was that same clock, tho’, that helped her conquer what she called her “blanket victory.” Hey, whatever it takes, right?
She said, “Prayer helps us anchor our faith in God. It’s like setting our spiritual compass so that regardless of the twists and turns during the day, the needle of our focused faith always turns to God.”
While the humor is fun, Anne’s pressing questions are not! (Oh, but they’re good medicine!!!) For example, she says, “When Daniel bowed his knees to God, it was an outward gesture that revealed his inner attitude of humility, reverence, submission, and allegiance to the One so much greater than himself or any earthly king or world ruler.”
Then she poses, “When was the last time you prayed on your knees? Try it. The difference your outward position makes in your inner attitude as you pray may surprise you.”
Anne believes the Daniel Prayer is “a 911 call for urgent help. The Daniel Prayer is storming the gates of Heaven with what Eugene Peterson calls ‘reversed thunder’—praying God’s Word back to Him…” (The prayers in the back of the book walk you straight thru’ Scripture.)
She shows us five characteristics of the Daniel Prayer we can all strive for in our prayers. Check these out:
Anne’s book is a rich resource you’ll return to over and over. (She later wrote a Bible study workbook with wonderful videos from this book. My Tuesday Bible study group did this and LOVED it.)
To close, let’s receive Anne’s encouragement from chapter 7:
Crazy fun fact: I actually wrote this post before the last election, in 2016. When I was reviewing previous posts, I remembered writing about The Daniel Prayer, but I didn’t remember the timing of it my post…funny—we desperately need it for this election too! Prayer is obviously a timeless tool.
Let’s close with a comforting quote from Max Lucado, also before the 2016 election—while perfectly fitting for our 2020 election:
“Understanding God’s sovereignty over the nations opens the door to peace. When we realize that God influences the hearts of all rulers, we can choose to pray for them rather than fret about them. Rather than wring our hands we bend our knees, we select prayer over despair.”
Amen and amen. Let’s pray like we’ve never prayed before.
‘Til next time!
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