God Help Me Pray

Tim Franklin

Freedom Christian Center

Luke 22:45 “…and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping...” NKJV “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” John Wesley

John Wesley knew well the place of prayer, and was often criticized by the church because of his rigid commitment to prayer and his demand that new believers be disciplined to prayer and the Word. Wesley knew the power of prayer, he walked in the spirit of revival and looked for those men who would give themselves to the place of prayer. God still looks for those kind of men, for communities that give themselves to Him in prayer. He can work through a praying church―not a prayerless one. He can work through praying Saints―not prayerless ones.

Is it no wonder, that Jesus would declare “My house shall be called a House of Prayer”? He did not call it a house of planning, a house of strategic thinking, a house of pleasure or a house of ease. He called it a House of Prayer―because that is what He wanted us to identify with. He was imparting to those who would follow Him, that if you desire anointing, supernatural strength, God’s help, God’s favor, then you must give yourself to prayer.

The apostles knew and esteemed the prominence of prayer in their lives. Jesus personally taught them to pray. He left His prayerful mark on their lives with the example that He lived before them. Long before daybreak; long after the sun went down; slipping out during the day; Jesus taught His disciples to pray. After their failure to pray in the garden, on the night Jesus needed them the most, their hearts were eternally marked with commitment to the place of prayer. Never again will we fail like that!

In Acts, they now began to understand that the Kingdom of God had been entrusted to them. Jesus was counting on them. They could not afford to be found prayerless, again. They put prayer first in their lives. They put prayer first in this new community called the church. They esteemed prayer in order that they would bring the people of the region to the highest place of faith and holiness. They ‘stirred themselves up’ to take hold of God. They prayed like Elijah who prayed until his prayers squeezed rain out of a drought. They ‘gave themselves to prayer’ and it was obvious to all. Even smart, well learned men took note that these uneducated men had been with Jesus in the place of prayer, continued to be found in the place of prayer and were turning the world ‘upside down.’

Oh, that Brevard County would experience the presence of praying Saints. Saints who will not say “NO” to prayer, be distracted from prayer, or give up on prayer. May this county know the fierceness of a people who call on God. May it live under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, brought on by tireless Saints, crying out for mercy in prayer. Oh, that Brevard would be awakened to the Presence of God brought on by the thunderous praying of the church. God works through men, men who depend upon Him and seek His counsel and strength in the place of prayer.

Where is the church that boasts of power?
Is she too weak to rise this hour?
Will she sit here idly by,
While souls to a Christless hell go die?
God forbid! Don’t let it be!
Lord put your holy fire in me!
Let it burn and blaze so bright and
Wake me to pray both day and night
Crying out for the souls of men
Crying out for the souls of men.
Give me a holy passion that will not end.
―Song written by Tim Franklin & Dan Walton

MyHOP! Join us this Friday night April 1st, 7 p.m. at Our Father’s House to pray.

I Walked Among Crowds of Worshipers

Pastor Gary Stebbins
Church on the Rock - Melbourne


The introduction to Psalm 42 says that it was written for the choir director. Perhaps it was intended as a song expressing the cry of the human heart. “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.” (Psa 42:1, NLT)

We live in a world that has become very sensual and the heart of man ‘longs after’ many things that this life has to offer. Can I say that my heart ‘longs after’ God more than the many other desires that I have? The psalmist goes on … "I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” (Psa 42:2, NLT)

The writer of this Psalm not only ‘longs for’ God, but has an overwhelming desire to experience the very presence of God. “When can I go and stand before him?” There is no sense of shame or guilt, or even fear of standing before God, simply an overwhelming desire to experience the grace and love of God. God is a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, but He is also a God of great love and compassion.

“Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, "Where is this God of yours?" My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! (Ps 42:3-4, NLT)

In the middle of the his despair, the writer gives us a picture of how much he enjoyed going up to the house of God to worship with other believers. These were times of great joy, filled with expectation at the thought of worshipping God together with others whose hearts also ‘long for’ Him.

As I read Psalm 42, my cry was, “God cause my heart to long for you more than for anything else that this life has to offer.” Not only that, “God cause me to desire to worship you with other men and women who love your presence.”

The more I make time in my life to pray and to read God’s Word, the greater the longing I find in my heart to know God. I also find a growing desire, not just for my own private times of prayer and worship, but a desire to worship God together with others. As I take time to attend prayer meetings and corporate times of worship, like the MyHOP meetings, I find my heart desiring to spend time praying and worshiping God with others. As King David said …
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord.
(Ps 122:1, NLT)

We are saved as individuals but called to live life together with the community of believers. There is a growing expectation in my heart that as we continue to gather together for prayer and worship, we are going to see a great outpouring of God’s presence and power.

How about you? What longings do you find in your heart? Is your longing for God growing stronger than the many other longings you might have? How about your desire to gather together with others to worship God?