History shows us that every time the church
prays there is breakthrough. How did the church pray? Why was
their prayer so pleasing to God? Why did their prayer touch
the heart of God?
They gave God these three things:
1. Prayer of sweat
2. Prayer of tears
3. Prayer of blood
When we pray, we need to sweat like Jesus and
give our tears for unsaved souls. Our tears need to become blood.
Some people say, “I’ve been praying and praying
and nothing has happened yet.” There is something wrong
with that picture. If you pray like Elijah, Stephen, Peter,
or Jesus, something will happen. The problem is that you are
not praying like them. You don’t give the prayer of sweat,
tears, and blood, but you expect miracles to take place. The
Word says that to whatever measure we sow, we will reap. To
think otherwise is arrogant. If we sow one seed, we will have
a small harvest, but if we sow a hundred or a thousand seeds,
we will have a greater harvest.
Your attitude with prayer is the same
as sowing seeds. The measure of your sweat, tears, and blood
makes all the difference. Blood means life. Let’s examine
our heart right now: how much have we been giving our life?
Everybody believes that these are modern days, so Christians
are trained to live a comfortable life. It starts with the way
that we serve God, the way that we pray. We serve God in the
most comfortable way possible. We pray in the most comfortable
way possible. We find the easiest way to serve God and pray.
In the meantime, the church is falling asleep
and has stopped praying. Because the church has stopped praying,
the devil runs the church and this nation. He has brought homosexual
sin, the sin of abortion, and many different false religions
into the church and this nation. If we want the gospel to come
back to this country, then we must pray. These are the last
days. God commands the church to pray. The day before Jesus’
crucifixion, He took three disciples to the garden of Gethsemane
to pray. Jesus prayed until His last breath.
Daniel always prayed at a certain time every
day. He opened the window, looked at Jerusalem, and prayed.
He prayed this way three times a day, always at the same time
each day.
Daniel 6:10-11
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home.
And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem,
he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed
and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early
days.
Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making
supplication before his God.
Daniel was a praying man. He leaned on God
for everything. He prayed for his nation. Therefore, in the
time of his trial, God sent His angels to take charge over Daniel’s
life and protect him in the den of lions.
Prayer is like our spiritual savings
account. We all need to have a spiritual savings account. If
we don’t have a prayer life, we cannot understand the
Word of God or be an effective, powerful witness for God. If
we stop praying, or when we don’t pray, the power of God's
will not manifest through us. He
will not send His angels to protect us and help us. Through
Daniel’s prayers, God sent His angels to deliver Daniel
from the hands of the enemy. Through Daniel’s prayers,
God changed the king’s heart and brought great victory
to Judah.
Daniel 6:12-24
And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the
king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that
every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except
you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”
The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according
to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”
So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel,
who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard
for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but
makes his petition three times a day.”
And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased
with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and
he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then
these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know,
O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no
decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast
him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel,
“Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver
you.” Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of
the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and
with the signets of his
lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting;
and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went
from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and
went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den,
he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke,
saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God,
has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver
you from the lions?”
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My
God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that
they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him;
and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”
Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that
they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken
up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him,
because he believed in his God.
And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who
had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them,
their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them,
and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to
the bottom of the den.
If you are a prayer warrior, you will
walk from glory to glory and from victory to victory. You can
run the good race all the way to the end, you can have an abundant
life, but you must pray.
It doesn't matter how busy your schedule is,
you must make time to eat. Through the food we eat, our body
is healthy, strong, and has energy. Just like that, it doesn’t
matter how busy your schedule is, you must make time to pray.
Jesus prayed all the way to the end.
The garden of Gethsemane is like the tabernacle
in the Old Testament. Jesus went up to the garden of Gethsemane
often to pray. On the day before Jesus’ crucifixion, He
crossed the Brook Kidron and went to the garden of Gethsemane
to pray.
Luke 22:39-45
Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed,
and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place,
He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw,
and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is
Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will,
but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from
heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more
earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling
down to the ground.
When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples,
He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why
do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
Jesus’ disciples fell into temptation because they did
not pray. When Jesus came to the garden of Gethsemane, He withdrew
from them about a stone’s throw away. He knelt down and
prayed. This tells us that everyone has his own place to kneel
down and pray. Even inside the temple there is a place for priests,
and for chief priests. Chief priests went to the mercy seat
once a year. Just like that, there was a place for Jesus, and
a place for the disciples to pray.
How did Jesus pray? Why did Jesus pray? The
Holy Spirit will minister to us and teach us about the attitude
of prayer. These days we have lost the attitude of prayer. The
church has lost the attitude of prayer. We need to learn from
Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer.
The Gethsemane prayer of Jesus:
Jesus knelt down and prayed.
Jesus’ prayer glorified God.
Jesus gave the prayer of sweat turning to blood.
Jesus knelt down and prayed
Jesus’ prayer was emergency, desperate,
agonizing prayer. It was a matter of life and death. When we
study the book of Acts, chapter 7, verse 59, we see that when
the council stoned Stephen he was desperately calling on God
and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 7:55-60
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand
of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and
the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and
ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city
and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at
the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen
as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud
voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”
And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Stephen was a man of prayer. He lived a prayer
life all the way to his last breath. Through his prayer, heaven
was opened and he saw the angels. Also, when Peter prayed for
Tabitha’s life, he knelt down and prayed. When we kneel
down and pray, it means that we put God high above. Everything
is under God. It also means that we put ourselves in a very
lowly place. We must pray kneeling down.
There are times when we can pray walking around
or standing up. There are many different types of prayer. But
Scripture shows us that kneeling down is the most effective
type of prayer. When Jesus knelt down and prayed, His sweat
turned to blood and God sent His angels to strengthen Him to
go through His persecution. Some people might say that kneeling
down is religious prayer, but every great man and woman of God
has prayed kneeling down. Even our Most High God, our Lord Jesus,
prayed in that position. Through that prayer, God strengthened
Jesus to save the whole world.
Look at Stephen. He knelt down and cried out
with a loud voice. Then he fell asleep and went to heaven. All
the way to the end, Stephen put God high above everything. Even
in the midst of pain, Stephen prayed kneeling down.
The first church prayed, but as time passed
by people changed the way that they prayed. When we pray, we
need to let God know that we are weak and that we truly need
His strength, power, and mercy. He is the One who needs to help
us take care of our problems. But these days, people have changed
their attitude of prayer. Many people want to pray the easiest
way. People don’t want to kneel down.
