If we realize that God hears our prayers, what could be the holdup in this area you’ve been praying about for so long? Where is the breakthrough? Where is the manifestation? Where is the increase? Where is the fruit? Where is the healing?
Most of the delay in prayer has to do with demonic forces. Then there are other circumstances when we have made bad decisions and have to deal with the consequences. And still in other cases, God is delaying our breakthrough in order to bring us to a place where we can handle the thing He is trying to bring about in our lives.
Believe it or not, there are blessings that come in seasons of desperation. Without these seasons we would not be able to build the spiritual strength and character we need to withstand the weight of God’s glory. Neither would we have the depth of anointing needed to minister to others and bring the glory of God to the nations.
These five prayer strategies show up in the lives of men and women of God whose backs were against the wall. They prayed prayers that got results, and through their times of desperation they learned to do the following:
1. Get Even More Desperate
Don’t hide your feelings from God. Get to the house of God, the house of worship, and pour your heart out to Him. I am reminded of the time King David said, “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor” (2 Sam. 6:22), in response to his wife’s judgment of his actions in the presence of the Lord. Don’t let people tell you it doesn’t take all that praying and worshipping and crying and dancing to get God’s attention. Sometimes you need to get loud for God to hear you over the crowd and for Him to walk in your direction and ask, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Luke 18:42; see Luke 18:35–43.)
2. Persevere
Don’t give up or give in to the taunts and torment of the enemy. Keep pressing and praying. Your prayers will reach a tipping point in heaven, and angels will be released to act in the heavenlies on your behalf.
3. Seek God’s Presence
As you seek God, He will reveal to you the truth of His Word. He will give you direction about the things that need to be purged from your life so you can be restored and revived.
4. Make a Vow to God and Keep It
All that God does for His people is based on covenant. The faithful ones receive the blessing of His covenant instead of the curses. Recommitting yourself to God is a way to have the blessings of heaven poured out over your life.
5. Prophesy
As you come out of the wilderness, and as God brings deliverance in answer to your prayers, you will be filled with joy and gladness. Your faith will grow to new levels, and you will begin to believe God beyond what He has done for you. You will begin to see visions of God’s favor, mercy and, most of all, His glory reaching out to the ends of the earth. You will begin to believe that the desperate times we are facing as a planet will be eradicated.
The one thing you want to develop more than anything else in your life as a believer is your prayer life. Prayer is the primary way that we talk to and hear God. It is the gateway to worship, prophecy, direction, wisdom and so much more. My book Desperate Prayers for Desperate Times (Charisma House, 2018) will help you to become strong in prayer no matter what situations you face in life. {eoa}
Apostle John Eckhardt is overseer of Crusaders Ministries in Chicago, Illinois. Gifted with a strong apostolic anointing, he has ministered throughout the United States and overseas in more than eighty nations. He is a sought-after international conference speaker and has authored more than 20 books, including Prayers That Rout Demons; Prayers That Break Curses; Prophet, Arise!; and God Still Speaks. Eckhardt resides in the Chicago area with his wife, Wanda.
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