Lord, Teach Me To Pray: The Nations Are Calling
As we grow in the Lord and our prayer journey continues, God uses numerous methods to assist that growth. People who pray cross our path. Books, other media, and teachings are highlighted to us to glean from and study. Along my journey I met many wonderful believers that influenced my prayer life.
One person I will always remember is Mary. She would go to lunch with me at the job where we worked together. Just before eating Mary would always ask to say grace. I loved hearing her pray before the meal. Mary would talk to Jesus and thank Him for our day, thank Him for the fellowship, thank Him for the food, and occasionally make a request.
Mary’s words exposed her heart and from them I knew she had a wonderful heart and an intimate walk with God. Just listening I would feel Mary’s love for her Lord and her desire to please Him. It was Mary’s lunchtime prayers that sent me on a search to experience more of the Lord for myself. I wonder how many people we could influence today if we prayed over our meals from our heart like Mary did. I know for a fact that her mealtime prayers certainly changed my prayer life!
Once a friend of Mary’s invited me to a Women’s Aglow meeting to hear a woman speak about prayer and intercession. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads us to meetings, seminars, Bible studies, or to specific people and we do not even realize it. This was one of those times of divine encounter for me.
That night at the Aglow service, a woman was preaching on Moses and the power of intercession. Most of the message was far beyond my spiritual understanding at that time in my life, yet I could tell there was power in the room and in her words.
At the end of the message the minister gave an altar call to pray for all those who wanted to be intercessors for the Lord. I wanted to go up, and I could feel my heart pulling on me to do so, but as I looked around the room I judged all the people going forward. Knowing many of them and recognizing many of them were emotional, weak in areas, or not the “cream of the crop” so to speak, I decided not to go forward. I did not think I was like them and I certainly did not need prayer. Of course, my whole attitude was disgusting, prideful, judgmental, and definitely ungodly. But little did I realize God could deal with me anyway!
Leaving the meeting, walking down three flights of stairs, and crossing the parking lot, I kept thinking I should have gone to the altar. The moment I reached my car the audible voice of God spoke to me and said, “Get back up there!” I thought everyone in the parking lot heard Him.
Looking around I realized no one else heard what I had just heard. His voice seemed so loud, ringing in my ears, both outside and inside of my body. There was no question as to Who was talking to me. Immediately I turned around, ran across the parking lot, leaped up those three flights of stairs, and burst into the meeting room. Yelling at the speaker to lay hands on me, she did so and I was slain in the Spirit, lying on the floor and speaking in tongues.
Later that night as I was driving home from the meeting, I could not stop speaking in tongues. Walking into my home and into my bedroom, tongues were flowing out of my being. Throughout the night I spoke in many languages, and through prayer I traveled from country to country around the world. Somehow I knew every time the language changed I was in another nation interceding.
I now call this my “baptism in tongues” night! I had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit before, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, but this night was different. Nations were birthed into my heart by the power of prayer, and personally I felt my life would never be the same.
And truly, it has not been!
Dr. Sharon Predovich
