The Perseverance of Intercession

I think we need to precede every operation that we carry out with intense intercession. To pray. Personally, I am rather doubtful of the need for "balancing" between "practical" and "spiritual" stuff. It's like dividing between the sacred and the secular - but aren't all things ultimately spiritual to God?

'Cos I was thinking about Ps Jo sharing about two pastors. One of them was more skilled and more eloquent than the other pastor. But his church grew to only 3000 people, whereas the other pastor's church grew to 300,000. So the first pastor asked the second pastor what his secret was.

The second pastor asked the first, "How long do you pray for your church each day?"

"Half an hour."

"Oh. I pray three hours each day. The difference between 3,000 and 300,000 is the difference between thirty minutes and three hours."

Some may argue that doesn't 1 John say that we should not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth? I think they miss the point. In fact, the apostle John wrote before that, "we loved, because He first loved us."

Prayer is practising the presence of God. What will make the difference? How did the Israelites conquer the Promised Land? How did the early Church grow so powerfully and dramatically?

The presence of God.

We do not have, because we do not ask.

And when we ask, we need to persevere.

Sometimes our prayers feel weak and limpid, like water. But we shouldn't forget the lesson of the waterfall.

Little drops of water, over time, can carve out the mightiest waterfalls.