Devoted to Prayer

New York City was filled with despair. It was 1857, and there were widespread financial problems. Banks were failing. Many were unemployed. Then a remarkable change took place—not through action by any politician or any economic stimulus, but through prayer.

The change began when businessman Jeremiah Lanphier decided to accept the challenge of his church to conduct a visitation program. In the process, he invited people to join him for a time of dedicated prayer. As part of his invitation, he distributed a handbill called, “How Often Shall I Pray?” It said that “in prayer, we leave the business of time for that of eternity and intercourse with God.”

The first prayer meeting was held on September 23 of that year, with only six men present. But these men prayed with intensity and purpose. More people joined them as the meetings continued in the coming weeks.

According to the book, America’s Great Revivals, “within six months, 10,000 businessmen were gathering daily” for prayer. These meetings generated front page stories in the newspapers. Other prayer meetings began springing up throughout America and the world. As a result, more than a million people were saved! These people demonstrated what can happen when God’s people pray!

Paul said we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We’re to pray with perseverance—never stopping. We’re to pray with others and by ourselves. Through prayer, we can commune with God, cry out for His help, and seek answers to the problems in our own lives and the world.

Today, remember the privilege you have to be able to spend time with God in prayer. Seek Him with the issues you face. Seek Him for the problems in your nation, the world, and your family. Make it your commitment to pray without ceasing.