Page 10 - Evidence of Things Unseen

and absence of pretense, was both refreshing and revolutionary to me. I knew his method
of praying was right, for we cannot hide anything from God, nor can we deceive Him. He
knows our thoughts from afar, and as I considered what I was hearing a thought began to
grow in my mind. I had been attempting to hide from God the fact that I hated my times of
prayer. I had never thought of confessing the fact to Him that I found prayer to be dry and
lifeless, but as I considered it I understood that He already knew these things.
Some time later when I was by myself I prayed to God and I told Him very frankly how
I felt concerning prayer. I confessed that I was only praying because I felt it was required
of me, but that I found my times of prayer to be one of the least enjoyable events in my life,
that I had no confidence my prayers were being heard, and that I did not want my times of
prayer with the Father to remain this way. I asked God to change my heart and to place
within me a desire to pray.
I cannot say that I had any great expectation that God would answer my prayer, for
up until this time I had very little experience of praying with expectancy in my heart. I think
perhaps that God did not require a great faith to attend my request at this time, for I was
yet a babe in the area of faith, and all I knew to do was simply to make my request known
and to leave the results in God’s hands.
God did answer my prayer, and He did so beyond my greatest expectations. It was not
long after this that I began to find a hunger for prayer arising within me. I was given a key
to the church building, which was located in a quiet spot out in the country, and I would go
out on Friday or Saturday evenings when the church was empty and I would walk around
the sanctuary and pray. I found God placing people upon my heart, attended by a yearning
to intercede for them, and I found a great emotion welling up within me as I did so. No
longer did I struggle to utter a sentence or two on behalf of a person, but an intense
groaning would come forth at times and I often would weep and have tears streaming down
my face as I prayed.
I suppose this type of praying went on for about ten years, and it became the highpoint
of my week as I looked forward to my time alone with the Lord where I could pour my heart
out before Him. Most of the other men I knew from work or church were spending their free
time hunting, or fishing, or going out on the town, or pursuing some hobby. Yet I had no
desire for these things. I wanted only to get alone with the Lord and enjoy His presence.
Oftentimes I would look at my watch thinking I had been at the church about fifteen
minutes, only to find that several hours had gone by.
How I delighted in these times. I would often walk among the rows of chairs and I
would anoint each one and pray for the people whom I knew sat in the chairs week after
week. Sometimes I would be filled with some message from God for the people and I would
go to the front of the sanctuary where the pulpit was and I would preach to the empty
chairs. Oftentimes the Spirit would fill my heart with a longing for a people to be raised up
who would be a praise unto Him, and I would cry out fervently, often with shouting, that
this people would come forth, as I prayed for the specific characteristics that the Spirit laid
upon my heart for this people. At times I would simply sing words of praise and worship
unto God.
How did my prayers change from a dry, lifeless time to something that became the
greatest joy and longing of my heart? It was due to nothing I did. It cannot be attributed to
my taking a course on effectual praying, or to my studying the prayers of Scripture, or any
other such thing. It can only be attributed to a sovereign work of God as He answered the
petition I had brought before Him, even when I had little expectation of an answer.