LISTENING PRAYER: TURNING PRAYER RIGHT-SIDE UP

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Isaiah 56:7. “For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

Jesus cited this prophecy with such zeal that He disrupted those who corrupted the Jerusalem temple with everything other than prayer (Luke 19:45-46). Today, we must take the passion of Christ for prayer seriously.

At Clearwater Church, we do. We are a “House of Prayer.” We are intent on giving the Lord, the Head of our church, what He wants of us. Prayer is part of our church’s spiritual “DNA.”

This will take some explanation.

For the next several postings, I want to encourage us all to re-embrace prayer, but at a higher dynamic than what prayer meetings have become in recent years. And the times in which we live require a revival of prayer – knowing that the prayer of faith can change our world.

It’s time to bring back the priority of prayer — not just “asking prayer,” but “listening prayer.” If you are reading this series of articles on our Clearwaterfc.org blog, this can refresh your zeal for mature praying in your own personal life and in your church. Please stay tuned in to this series.

Let’s begin.

New Testament prayer is a conversation with God. God listens, for sure. But do we? God is an excellent communicator. I observe that we are poor listeners. Listen to the exchange of invitations in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

• He knocks. We open. We invite Him in. He comes in.

• He welcomes us into conversation. We accept His invitation. We commune. We listen.

Our part is to respond to His knock. His part is to provide a sumptuous spiritual meal in which we share.

Clearwater leadership is intent on listening to the Head of the church for wisdom and direction. We are also intent on lifting up everyone here in the spiritual skill of listening to the Lord in prayer. Seven times Jesus challenges the New Testament church, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Let’s discover our capacity to listen to the voice of the Spirit.

We’ll help you do this. How?

First, we will be thrilled to focus on the promise of Jesus regarding the Holy Spirit He would send. The Author of the Word of God would be sent to us as the means of His communication with us. The Upper Room Discourse of John 13-17 will thrill us with the possibilities. I will summarize these truths in the next installment.

Second, I will present the five questions we ask in “listening prayer.” Rather than telling God things He already knows (Matthew 6:8), we want to set discover the pathway for our conversation with the Lord where we ask, wait, and listen to find out what is on His heart.

Third, you will be blessed to consider the practical prayer times we offer for you to get help in your own prayer journey, and to learn “listening prayer” from mature intercessors who know how. Be encouraged. Help is on the way. You can learn to hear at a deeper level His still small voice within.