Consequently, the membership began to grow rapidly. The once dead church was revived. The building was completed and the members began to prosper tremendously. The members also became more dedicated to God. This is what midnight prayers can do. In fact, we extended such programmes to other churches and also got the same results. The glory, power and blessings of God will come down when the church learns how to exploit the power of midnight prayers.
Now let’s go back to Paul and Silas. They were terribly beaten and thrown into that dreaded underground cell. The bible said that around midnight they began to pray and sing praises to God. Unusual! People that were severely beaten with wooden rods, instead of nursing their wounds and pains, decided to sing hymns and praises. Now, when we serve God in an unusual way, in unusual environment, He will begin to do unusual things on our behalf. True!
Again, I also believe that it will only take a man that is filled with the Holy Spirit and has sold totally to God to sing and praise God in such an excruciating, humiliating, harrowing and extreme situation.
What do you do when the enemy strikes? Do you weep and blame everybody, including God? Or do you genuflect and look for a way to escape; even if it means denying your faith? We must ask God to give us the spirit of courage and faith, even in the face of life-threatening situations. The bible said that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.
Then, why would these men of God wait until midnight before doing what they did? I believe they must have known something about the potency of the midnight prayers. They must have known that great battles of life are best fought at midnight hours and it is also possible they have had the experience in the past. After all, the apostles held so much to what they learnt from their master Jesus.
He was also doing it at midnight. They sang and prayed. These are the two main businesses during midnight battles. We will take them one after the other. The first is prayer.
PRAYER
Chapter Four
Prayer
Prayer is communicating with God. Making your requests to God and receiving answers from Him. It is a two-way communication between man and God. God variously in the bible encouraged us to commune or pray to Him. In fact, the word of God said that we did not receive because we have not asked. Jesus Himself said that,
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you asked for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”
And this is exactly what we do in midnight prayers. It is a time to commune, relate, and communicate with God. It is a time to ask, seek, knock and make our request known to Him. If fact, I see the midnight prayer more as a time to knock vehemently and violent on the doors of heaven. And you heard what Jesus said, that it is when you knock that the door will be opened for you. So, if you have been asking and seeking and have not had your breakthrough, now you must begin to knock.
Through prayers we birth the will of God on earth. Through prayers we break the yokes, chains and bondage in our life and around us. Through prayer we stand in the gap for others. And through prayer, we draw souls into the kingdom of God. We must go into midnight prayers with all these in mind. Praying is like admitting that as humans, we are limited, but God remains infinite and omnipotent. He can do all things.
Abraham Lincoln, the former American President understood this very well when he said,
“I am oftentimes driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”
True! He knew that it was only from God that he could find help at the time of need. Thank God for such men. America is blessed to have had such godly men as leaders. These are the people that laid the solid foundation for that most prosperous and most powerful nation on earth today. I pray they retain this foundation. (Read my recent article In God We Trust? on www.ezinearticles.com/gabrielagbo).
There are numerous great men and women in the bible who knew, sought and received God’s deliverance at their time of need through prayers. Look at the accounts of Samuel, Jehoshaphat, Esther, David, Moses, Joshua, Elijah and Daniel. Let’s take a look at a few of the very powerful ones. See the account of Samuel in 1Samuel 12:16-18,
Samuel
“Now stand here and see the great thing the LORD is about to do. You know that it does not rain at this time of the year during the wheat harvest. I will ask the LORD to send thunder and rain today… So Samuel called the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain. And all the people were terrified of the LORD and of Samuel.”
Jehoshaphat and Judah in danger
“After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat ‘A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar.’ (This was another name for En-gedi.) Jehoshaphat was alarmed by the news and sought the LORD for guidance. He also gave orders that everyone throughout Judah should observe a fast. So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD.”
2 Chronicles 20:1-4
Esther
“Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I am willing to die.” Esther 4:15-16
Joshua
“On the day the LORD gave the Israelites victory over Amorites, Joshua prayed to the LORD in front of all the people of Israel. He said. ‘Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun and moon stood still until the Israelites had defeated their enemies. .. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day. The LORD fought for Israel that day. Never before or since has there been a day like that one, when the LORD answered such a request from a human being.”
Joshua 10:12-14
Truly, there is nothing impossible for a man that prays. Prayer is also acknowledging that God is your source at all time. He should be consulted in the minor as well as on the major issues. He wants to commune, relate and partner with us in all issues.
Another thing we want to bring in here is faith. You cannot achieve anything in prayer, especially midnight prayer without faith. You must believe that God exists. You must believe that He can do all things. You must believe that He loves you and is willing to answer your prayers. You must have faith in His promises and His words. And the bible comes in to say that this faith comes by hearing the word of God. And this takes us to the role of the word of God in making an effective prayer.
Word of God
For our prayers to be effective, we must pray God’s words. Praying God’s word is knowing what the word and promises of God are, then offering them back to God. To do this, we must read, meditate and appropriate His word to our life and needs. The power and glory of God comes when we appreciate and personalize His words. The word of God is the will and mind of God. And He does nothing outside His will.
“We can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with His will.”