36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Have you ever prayed for something specifically for a VERY long time? Have you ever prayed specifically while serving and worshipping the Lord (not out of compulsion but out of love) and with fasting? (Ouch) I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to slack off when the answers do not readily come. Anna serves, for me, as a wonderful example of persevering in prayer. Prayer is one of the most difficult commands given in Scripture. To me, that is so sad! It is the greatest gift given to us. We, through the blood of Jesus, have access to God’s ear and we take it so lightly. We are too busy in our minds to pray. We are too busy in our hearts to pray. We are too busy in our bodies to pray. We are too busy, we are just too busy. We must believe that all of our activity is of greater importance than spending time on our knees (or our faces) with the Creator of the Universe. We must believe that, because we live what we believe. Something is indeed wrong with this picture! Below are just a few of the rich examples Scripture states about prayer:
And on and on it goes. The Bible is replete with examples on prayer. Abraham was a prayer warrior, David was a prayer warrior, Paul was a prayer warrior and Jesus, our Savior, was a prayer warrior: 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 (NIV)
Jesus was always going off alone, usually to a mountaintop, to pray. That in and of itself should give us pause! If it was important enough for Jesus to do it how much more important it is for us! His prayer life was so effective that His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. There is achieving power in believing prayer. How do we make practical application here? While I am no expert, I have found the following helpful in my own prayer life:
These are only a few practical prayer tips. The main thing is just to pray. God isn’t as concerned with the words as He is with the heart – the purity and sincerity of one’s heart in God’s presence is of utmost importance. He is not interested in a feigned character! He already knows our hearts anyway – nothing takes Him by surprise. Persevere in prayer my friends, and like Anna we will see God’s hand move!