Purpose and Power in Prayer

"Effective prayer is prayer that attains what it seeks.  It is prayer that moves God, effecting its end."
                                                                   Charles Finney




During the nineteenth century, Charles Finney's ministry surged across the American terrain like an unrestrained tsunami.  He is widely acknowledged today as one of America's foremost evangelists and its greatest revivalist.  It was Finney that marched this country out of the eighteenth century and facilitated the conversion of more than a half a million people without the assistance of technology or mass communication.

Finney's revivals sparked the Second Great Awakening and are largely responsible for the country being called a Christian nation.  He rallied the country around the Bible and the power of prayer.  His style of evangelism has influenced many, including Dwight L. Moody and Billy Graham.

When asked about the secrets of success regarding his ministry, Charles Finney attributed his effectiveness to prayer.  He was very deliberate in how he prayed, what he prayed, and co-laboring with the Holy Spirit in his prayer.  These ingredients are what gave him both the strategy and the power to see a mighty move of God.

Faith was an essential ingredient in Finney's prayer life, as was the Word of God.  When the Scriptures tell us that "whoever believes in Me [Jesus] will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.  Whatever you ask in My Name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it" (John 14:12-14), Finney took God at His Word.

He believed there are two major mistakes we make when we pray: we pray too small and we pray too generally.  Specific answers require praying with specificity.  Mighty moves of God require big faith and knowing how big God is.  We do not have to fight for our victory; we are already fighting from a position of victory.

Too often in our lives we pray from a defensive position instead of an offensive one.  During these days in which we live we need to be aggressive in our prayers- for our families, our communities, and our nation.  We are definitely in a war and that requires committed warriors who are submitted and obedient to the will of God.

The caveat to being a warrior is that we also must be immersed in God's love.  Belligerence is not God's way.  Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

Charles Finney describes such an encounter  He said, "The Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul.  I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me.  Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it any other way.  It seemed like the very breath of God..."

Truly experiencing God's love transforms our prayers from being a needs based endeavor into becoming relationally based communication with God.  As we acknowledge that God's power and authority is far above our own, we know that we can fully trust and depend on Him to meet our needs.  When our hearts become aligned to the very heartbeat of Christ, we understand that all things important are related to His kingdom, His power, and His glory.  In other words, it becomes all about Him.

America desperately needs a prayer revival.  This revival will first start in the lives of individual believers.  Leonard Ravenhill, author of Why Revival Tarries, expounds on this precept.  He says, "God can move mountains but prayer moves God."

One of the prayers that Charles Finney prayed daily was that God would lead him to the person who was the nearest to death so that he could lead them to the Cross.  Daily, God honored this prayer.  Almost daily, Finney saw new converts added to God's kingdom.

We have been given authority to pray big prayers.  Our responsibility is to rule this earth through prayer.  Oswald Chambers said, "Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."

God has an agenda for every aspect of our lives and for every person in our lives.  He calls us to lay hold of His promises and to persist until we see the answers materialize or until we see Jesus face to face.  The rest is up to Him.

We all should have several things and people for which we are standing in the gap.  Our strength comes from our joy which comes from our prayer.  This is what strengthens our inner man with might and gives us both purpose and power in our prayer!


Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to put on holiness, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience...  forgiving one another and binding us in love which brings perfect harmony.  Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and help us to be thankful.  Let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing us in all wisdom.  Help our actions (word and deed) to be in Christ Jesus as we give thanks to the Father through Him ( Colossians 3:12-17).

Put Your Spirit upon us and Your Words within us and our offspring from this time forth and forevermore (Isaiah 59:21).

Help us to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and to go forth making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Help us to observe all that You have commanded us to do and to teach others to do the same.  Thank you that You are with us always. (Matthew 28:19-20).

We give You all the praise, glory, and honor in Jesus' Name (1 Peter 1:7).  Amen.