It's Time to Pray Again

I was slowly waking from a deep sleep. Enjoying that hazy moment when you slowly move from the dream world to waking reality. Suddenly, I heard Holy Spirit speak these words loudly in my spirit, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

It was spoken with such authority and confidence, that immediately I was fully awake. I sat there in my bed, hearing the words over and over again.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

I knew that Holy Spirit was speaking to me. He was reminding me that prayer is what makes things possible. Prayer is important. Prayer is not something that you do to simply fill in the time. Prayer changes the course of history. Prayer shakes the circumstances. Prayer births new things. Prayer empowers people.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

I sat there in my bed with all these thoughts racing through my head. I leaned over to get my Bible and look up the verse in the scriptures. I found the verse and read it in context:

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5: 16 – 18 Emphasis added)

“And he prayed again.”

It hit me right in my spirit. It almost felt like Holy Spirit was shouting at me.(Of course He wasn’t, but sometimes His voice is so loud inside you that it almost feels like everyone around you can hear it!) I read the verse again:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17 – 18)

He prayed again.

I simply started crying. I knew what Holy Spirit was saying to me.

It’s time to pray again.

I know this seems like a simple instruction to you, but to me, it was a fresh instruction.You see, it is not that I have not been praying. Prayer is an integral part of my life. I am an intercessor and I pray about everything. I lead corporate prayer. I teach on prayer. I am more comfortable praying than I am doing just about anything else in my life. And so when God says to me, “It’s time to pray again.” I know that the season is changing and a new assignment is being released.

That morning, my thoughts immediately went to the last time He gave me an assignment like this. It was back in 2015. At that time I had stepped out of ministry and did not feel as if I could pray for anything. I had been through a very difficult time in my life after experiencing burnout and what felt like a complete loss of vision and purpose. I was just starting to find my feet and cautiously look towards the future, when Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Will you pray again?”

I knew He was not talking about personal prayer, but rather He was asking if I would be willing to step back into a place of corporate prayer for people and nations. At that time, I did not want to pray. I thought I was not qualified to pray. I felt I had nothing to offer and that God could surely find someone else who would be able to pray far better than I could. I was not certain that my prayers could avail anything!

I told God all this in no uncertain terms, but Holy Spirit was persistent. He kept asking me whether I would pray again and I kept telling Him that I was not the right person. Some of you have heard me tell the story of how this all came to a head in the basement of a friend’s house over a stopped up toilet!

I was staying with a friend and the toilet became blocked. Now usually, my trusty husband would quickly deal with something like this for me. But alas, I was alone and had to handle this crisis alone. Thankfully I found a plunger in the bathroom, so I googled how to unblock a toilet. (Yes, there are step by step instructions with pictures. Thank you Google!)) I set about trying to clear the toilet. I can tell you from this experience, it is not as easy as they make it look. I was plunging away and this toilet would simply not unblock. I became so frustrated that I threw the plunger on the floor and walked out of the bathroom.

I sat down on my bed and let God have it! “You want me to pray for people to be healed and nations to be reformed, but I am praying for you to help me unblock this toilet and I cannot even do that right, because it is still blocked! I told you God, I just cannot pray anymore. Prayer does not work!” After I vented my frustration and anger, I just sat there in the silence.

“Try again, “ said Holy Spirit. I heard the words as clear as a bell.

The frustration and anger welled up in me again and I replied, “I am going to do this one more time and if this toilet does not unblock on the first attempt, that’s it. You don’t ask me to pray again and we settle this thing.” Holy Spirit never responded.

Disheartened, I picked up that plunger, went back into the bathroom and halfheartedly plunged it into the toilet bowl.

And wouldn’t you know, that bowl unblocked and flushed clean. I collapsed on the floor in tears. Grateful to God. Thankful the toilet was finally cleared. Repentant for my attitude and between the tears, I said, “ Yes God, I will pray again.” Shortly after that He sent me into a prayer assignment and opened up doors for me to lead and teach on prayer all around the world.

So this time when I heard Holy Spirit say to me, “It’s time to pray again”, I knew exactly what that meant. A new season of prayer was beginning. God was calling me deeper into prayer. This time I did not bother to argue with God. I simply said, “yes Lord, make me ready to fulfil your purpose.”

Even as I write this, I know that many of you have heard a similar call from the Lord. I know this because God is awakening an army of intercessors in our day. Prayer warriors who know how to get hold of the horns of the altar and pray through - as the Pentecostal old-timers always said.

As you look around the world, I know you see what I do. Never has the need for God been greater than it is today. Never have there been more lost, anxious and depressed people than we have today. The nations are in uproar. The future is uncertain. And God sees it all. He hears the cries of people drowning in their sorrows and lost in their sin. "The harvest truly is plentiful, it's time to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  Matthew 9:37-38 (Emphasis mine)

It is indeed time to pray again. You may have experienced a famine, but it’s time to pray again. The heavens might have been closed to you in recent years, but it’s time to pray again. You may feel that your prayers have not been answered, but it’s time to pray again. And if you have been praying and your prayers have been answered, it is still time to pray again.Even if you feel that you do not know how to pray, I tell you it does not matter, it’s time to pray again.

Wherever you are in you journey, all God needs is a 'yes' in your spirit and He will cause you to be one whose fervent, effective prayers avail much. The world needs Jesus and He is looking at you asking, “Are you ready to pray again?”