Heart's Desire . . . Prayer to God

A Week of Concerted Prayer at Bethlehem

Article by

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

Are you satisfied with the fervor of your desire for the conversion of sinners and the holiness of saints?

No.

Therefore, let us go hard after God again in the first week of 1986. Let us cry to the Lord with our brothers and sisters around the world, “Rekindle us, Lord!” "Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him!” (Joel 2:14).

There are over ten ways to participate. Not all can do all. But all can do something. Read the enclosed list of possibilities. Pray about the extent of your participation. Fill out the response form. Turn it in at the prayer table by the office Sunday. Wear your button to declare your involvement and support for week of prayer.

Maybe you have an idea of prayer that we have not even dreamed of. Go for it. Prayer partners and teams are especially powerful. Satan quakes at united prayer. Gather at your work or your campus. Gather for five minutes or five hours. I can still remember the first time someone ever cared enough to pray over the phone with me. It took one minute. It was unforgettable. Try it.

What about your family? Come on, dads! This is the year to think through your priorities and start something new at home. Pray about it. Doodle over it on a piece of paper. Surprise the family. It may be as simple as saying to your wife: “Let's make January a month when we go in each night after the kids are asleep and lay our hands on them and pray for them.”

Read Joseph Alleine's Alarm to the Unconverted. It will teach you to pray like this:

Lord, I desire to be holy as Thou art holy, and to be made a partaker of Thy holiness. I love Thee, not only for Thy goodness and mercy, but for Thy holiness and purity. I take Thy holiness for my happiness. O, be to me a fountain of holiness. My willful sins I do henceforth forsake; and for mine infirmities that cleave unto me, though I would be rid of them, I will strive against them continually. I detest them, and will pray against them, and never let them have rest in my soul.

Friday night, January 10, beginning at 10:00pm, has the potential of changing your life. It is possible to pray all night! This will be our fifth all-night prayer meeting at BBC. Come and see how it is done! You will never be the same.

Pray for me as I prepare for these two messages from Romans 10:1,

Pastor John