Today, I want to share an acronym we are using at Ephesus for our 40 Days of Prayer emphasis as we begin 2022.  Thank you to my pastor, Wayne Sullivan, for sharing this devotional/prayer emphasis as we seek God’s direction as His church.  The acronym is   H  E  A  R.  Two phrases from the Bible I take note of (heed), “Incline your ear……” and “He who has an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches…..”  BOTH encourage us to truly listen to what God is saying to His people.

“H” is for HEED (notice, give attention, take note).  “E” is for EXPLAIN (clarify, defend, describe).  “A” represents APPLY/APPLICATION (utilize, employ, put in to operation).  “R” stands for RESPOND (give answer, act/react, return).  We need to HEAR what the Spirit is saying to His church today!  Today is day 15 in our emphasis:

Heed:  Take In God’s Word

The scripture listed includes 1 Samuel 12: 23 – 24:  “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”

Matthew 26: 40:  “And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?”

John 15: 5:  “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Explain: Think It All Through!

Apart from Christ, we can do nothing! With Him, all things are possible! Authentic Christian disciples, true Christ-followers will have a desire to have close intimacy with Christ in prayer. They will pray regularly for their family, church family, and friends.

Unfortunately, desire is rarely enough as we witness in the lives of Jesus’ closest disciples. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His betrayal by Judas, He asked His closest followers to “remain here, and watch with Me.” “Watch with Me,” was Jesus’ way of saying, “stay and pray with me.” Surely these men loved Jesus and desired to pray with Him into the night, especially since He told them that He was very sorrowful, “sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38). Sadly, desire was obviously not enough as Jesus found them sleeping rather than praying, not once, but three times.

How many times have you recommitted yourself to serious prayer only to find that your desire wasn’t enough to sustain you day after day without something more? Jesus expects us to pray! He said, “when you pray,” not “If you pray.” Prayerlessness isn’t just neglecting to do something!  As James taught us, failing to do what we know to be right is sin (James 4:17).  

Our prayerlessness is sin.  Samuel recognized a lack of prayer as sin. In 1 Samuel 12, he said, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam. 12:23).   So should we.

Lack of intimate prayer weakens us because it allows our fleshly desires to overcome the Spirit’s abundant willingness to empower and equip us to know and serve Jesus! Jesus taught us that apart from Him, we “can do nothing” (John 15:5). When we abide in Him, not only are we enabled to bear much fruit, but we get the joy of intimacy with our Bridegroom. As believers, prayer should be one of our greatest priorities.
Flee from the temptation of leaving prayer completely up to chance and emotion.  Overcome the sin of prayerlessness by asking God to help you learn to seek Him daily in prayer.

Apply: Live It Out!

EVALUATE your personal prayer life/your relationship with Jesus.  God created us to have relationship with Him.  Jesus died on  the cross for our sin so that we might restore our relationship with Him.  Evaluate your relationship with Jesus by asking these questions:

1. Have I been missing out on opportunities to pray?
2. Have I grown content to pray only when there is trouble?
3. Do I remember having God’s still small voice calling me to prayer only to fade away as the noise of my busy life drowned it out?
4. Do I feel weak and powerless, could it be because I have neglected to spend quality time at the feet of Jesus?
5. What does my prayer life say about the quality of my faith in God?

Our prayer lives will not deepen based on our desire alone nor will they deepen based on our self-effort alone, our prayer lives will only deepen as Christ speaks into our hearts as we allow Him to take our self-effort and our desire and multiply them by His gracious presence to become a priority that we would not want to forsake. Over the next few days, examine how God deepened the prayer lives of true prayer warriors of old as they made prayer a high priority.

Respond: Pray for God’s Assistance!

“Father, reveal my heart’s desire toward deepening my prayer life by the power of Your Holy Spirit! Help me Lord, to ensure that prayer is a real priority and a real blessing of empowerment in my daily life.

Teach me how to call upon You and spend quality time with You more faithfully and fully, so that my private life will allow You to work in my public life to accomplish Your will.

Lord, help me to hear You when You call me to Your side! Father, minister to our church family as we corporately seek to know Your will and ways as we deepen our daily walks with you! Amen

​Suggested Scripture Readings: Ps. 55:17; Isa. 55:6; Matt. 7:7; Mark 1:35