CALLING THE CHURCH TO
PRAYER AND FASTING
They had so much of the love of God that it showed up in all of and all power. Jesus had emptied Himself for His mission. He
their relationships. Because they loved God, they had time for said that of Himself He could do nothing. He performed all of
Him. Because they loved the brethren, they had time for fellow- His ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He prayed
ship. Why, they even had time to pray and to have revival. continually. Sometimes He prayed all night.
There was a prayer meeting, worship service, Bible study, or The disciples watched His personal life up close night and
revival almost every night. Do we remember their secret? It was, day. He taught them. He shared profound truths with them. He
simply, prevailing prayer. loved them. He did miracles abundantly. He sent them out to
cast out devils, heal the sick, and preach the gospel of the King-
A Modern Discovery
dom (Luke 10). They came back from their mission thrilled with
I can’t tell you exactly when we made this discovery, but I the power that was operating in their ministries. Then one day
can tell you how expensive it was. Somewhere along the way in while Jesus was away from them, a man asked the disciples to
the Pentecostal Movement, we discovered that we could have cast the unclean spirit out of his son (Matthew 17:14-21). Scrip-
church even if God didn’t show up. We have our songs and our ture says, “They could not.” They were embarrassed. They had
good singers. We have great preachers who can expound the done it before; what was wrong this time?
Word in marvelous detail. Because we have committed to live When Jesus returned, the man turned to Him with his need.
right, we don’t have to pay the “sin tax” anymore. Life is now Jesus ordered the unclean spirit out, and the son was delivered.
much easier, and we are really not in need of anything. So in As soon as the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked, “Why
too many cases, church is a comfortable routine. Most of us can could we not do it?” Jesus answered that it was because of their
tell you what happened even if we weren’t there. unbelief. He continued then by explaining that this kind only goes
It wasn’t like that 50 years ago. In those days they called on out by prayer and fasting. We are tempted here to interpret this
God until the “fire fell.” They knew that they could not worship event as a “demon problem,” but Jesus said the problem was their
or survive without the presence of the Holy Spirit. When a man “unbelief.” Fortunately for us this account is preserved so that we
was saved, he was immediately invited to meet with the men in might sort some things out just as the disciples were about to do.
their weekly prayer meetings. The women did the same with
each female convert. The new believer found himself immersed
Prevailing Prayer and Unbelief
in the work of prevailing prayer. It was discipleship 101. It was The disciples could have offered excuses just as we are inclined
prayer university. It was the best training in the world. to do. Their excuses would probably have been better than ours.
They could have said: “Lord, we have forsaken all to follow You.
The Common Denominator
We spend all our time with You and working for You.” But
Without exception, all the great men and women of all time remember that when Jesus prayed, they often slept. When Jesus
have been people who prevailed in prayer. To prevail means to fasted, they had “dinner on the ground.” Now, they were faced
win the battle. There will be no victory without prayer. We are in with the dry rot of “unbelief.” That is the kind of unbelief that
a fierce battle. The Enemy is destroying families and churches, can come to us when we spend our time working for God rather
and our nation itself is on the precipice of annihilation. It is time than first investing in our personal relationship with Him daily.
for Spirit-filled men and women to join the battle. It is time for Like the man whose son was tormented by an unclean spirit,
us to restore anointed praying to our lives, our homes, our the world is searching for help. So long as we are without “pre-
churches, and our nations. God declared that He looked for a vailing prayer,” the world will also testify that they came to us
man who would “stand in the gap” and cry out to God, but He hoping we could help them with their need but we “could not.”
could not find one (Ezekiel 22:30). So judgment came. It could We can be delivered from the affliction of coldness and unbe-
have been prevented through prevailing prayer. But there was no lief. We can be set free from the embarrassment and handicap of
prayer. Is it not time for us to return to Pentecostal praying? Isn’t powerlessness. We can be filled with the “joy of the Lord,” which
the need great enough to demand it? is our strength. We can have a fulfilling relationship with God
the Father every day of our lives. We can have exciting worship,
The Awesome Power of Prayer
love for our brothers and sisters, and a church that is indeed
Jesus’ ministry is an ongoing example to us of the impor- triumphant! What is the key to all this? We already know: It is
tance of prayer. If anyone could have gotten by with little prevailing prayer. Let’s do it! Let’s do it now!
prayer, He would have been the one. He had been with His
Father from before the foundation of Creation was laid. He and
the Father knew each other with total comprehension. Jesus was Al Taylor serves as special assignment field
on His special mission because the Father had sent Him. They representative for Church of God World Missions
understood each other totally. They were both completely and as Prayer Commission chairman.
devoid of sin. They both flowed in perfect love, total knowledge,
EVANGEL • MAR 2008 7
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