Seven Keys to Cultivating a Consistent Commitment for Daily Prayer!
Keepers of the Flame
An Invitation to Serve as a Watchman on a Continuing Wall of Prayer!
A Call to the Wall!
Foundational Scripture:
Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit.
Luke 18:1 (MSG)
O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
Isaiah 62:6-7 (NLT)
Give Aaron and his sons this command: “These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar…
The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”
Leviticus 6:9, 12-13 (NIV)
The Lord said to Moses, “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. This is the lampstand that stands in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation. Aaron and the priests must tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand continually in the Lord’s presence.
Leviticus 24:1-4 (NLT)
Voices from the Past:
“Fire is the motivating power in prayer. We need to have the live coal from God’s altar in our hearts. The flame is not mental power or fleshly energy. It is the very being of the Spirit of God. Prayer ascends by fire. There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame.”
—E. M. Bounds
Keepers of the Flame
A Case for Continual Prayer
The Example of David’s Tent
The Tabernacle of David
Scripture:
So he left Asaph and his relatives before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required.
1 Chronicles 16:37 (NASB)
“Continual Prayer”: A Definition
Hebrew Word: TAMIYD
Meaning “regularly” or “____________________”
(Tamiyd literally means “to ______________.”)
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words says of tamiyd: “Tamiyd signifies what is to be done regularly or continuously without interruption.”
Scripture:
After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.
Acts 15:16-17 (NKJV)
Note:
Verse 17 in the New Living Translation reads:
“…so that the rest of humanity might find the Lord…”
Seven Keys for Becoming a “Keeper of the Flame”
A Call to the Wall!
Key One:
___________________ the critical necessity of maintaining a ___________ prayer habit.
Scripture:
[Samuel said to the people of Israel:] Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
1 Samuel 12:23 (NKJV)
Two Principles for Consistent Prayer
Principle One:
“You will never _________ time for daily prayer; you must _________ time for daily prayer!”
Principle Two:
“Something _______________ when I pray that does not happen if I don’t. Therefore, if I have not prayed today, something has gone _____________ in God’s Kingdom ___________ for my life and for the lives of those for whom I may have been ________________.”
Voices from the Past:
“I care not what bleak perpetual crisis we may come through, or what delightful spiritual Canaan we may enter, no blessing of the Christian life becomes continually possessed unless we are men and women of regular, daily, unhurried, secret lingerings in prayer.”
—J. Sidlow Baxter
Key Two:
_________________ a set time for developing _____________________ in daily prayer.
Scripture:
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
Psalm 5:2-3 (NLT)
Voices from the Past:
“Those who have no set time for prayer do not pray.” —Andrew Murray
Key Three:
_________________ a daily reminder to help you keep your prayer _____________________.
Scripture:
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.
Joshua 4:4-7 (NIV)
Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.
Jeremiah 2:32 (NIV)
Post a small 3×5 card on a bathroom mirror:
“Don’t forget your appointment today with Jesus!”
Key Four:
_________________ a specific ____________ to meet God daily in prayer.
Scripture:
Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
Matthew 6:6 (MSG)
Key Five:
______________ a plan for personal prayer that is balanced and _________________.
Scripture:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Amplified Translation:
“…all manner of prayer.”
Prayer Planning Suggestions…
- Use the book The Hour That Changes the World.
- Use the EHC World Prayer Map.
- Sign up as a Watchman Warrior.
- Keep an up-to-date prayer list.
Key Six:
_________________ your prayer tools and lists by keeping them in a convenient prayer _______________ (plastic bag).
Key Seven:
____________ all interruptions _______________ that might disrupt or hinder your times of prayer.
Scripture:
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.
1 Peter 5:8 (MSG)
Voices from the Past:
“When you… decide to practice a more abundant prayer life, Satan will start a new stratagem of making your busier, piling on your works, occupying your time with such needs that you have no opportunity to pray. The enemy will use matters such as duty, mission, and responsibility to create his best arguments for stopping our prayer.”
—Watchman Nee
The Moravian 100-Year Wall of Prayer!
A Case Study in Perseverance in Prayer
Herrnhut, Saxony (Modern Germany)
“The Watch of the Lord” (1722)
Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf
May 12, 1727 — Revival Comes
Voices from the Past:
“The whole place represented truly a visible habitation of God among men.”
—Nikolaus von Zinzendorf
The August Decision…
August 27, 1727 — A covenant of 24 men and 24 women is entered into to sustain continuous prayer.
Decades later, an entry in a journal documenting the
Moravian prayer movement reads:
“The sacred fire was never permitted to go out on the altar (Leviticus 6:3) so in a congregation which is the temple of the living God, wherever He has His altar and fire, the intercession of his saints should incessantly rise up to Him.”
—from The Memorial Days of the Renewed
Church of the Brethren (1824).
Join Every Home for Christ’s Global Wall of Prayer Today
Scripture:
“Could you not watch with Me one hour?”
Matthew 26:40 (NKJV)
Afterthoughts...Ponder and Pray
Ponder Points:
Discuss (or ponder) which of the seven keys to cultivating a consistent prayer life are most essential to you in being an effective “Keeper of the Flame.” What do you think you could do personally to enlist other believers to join a continuous wall of prayer in your church or community?
Personal Afterthoughts
Prayer Points:
Ask God to help you become a “Keeper of the Flame” by having a consistent daily prayer life as well as by spending a minimum of at least one full hour each week as a part of a wall of prayer (168 hours). Pray for your pastor and other pastors to help raise up another Moravian-like prayer movement that focuses continuous prayer on the harvest of lost souls globally.
