E. M. Bounds wrote, "Fire is the life of prayer; heaven is reached by flaming importunity rising in an ascending scale." For years, I have been calling Christians to pray and seeking to lead an example of being a man of prayer. I confess that I am not the man of prayer I want to be, but I am seeking to become more disciplined in my prayng. I desire fire in the life of my prayers.

With this already going through my mind I was reminded recently of a theme in the Pauline letters, that could help me and you. In writing to the Christians at Rome, Ephesus, Colossae, and Thessalonica, Paul clearly requested their prayers for him and his ministry. While I ask you to pray for others, I need your prayers for me and the ministry we share together, too. Throughout my many years of ministry I have been blessed with several people who have told me that they pray for me every day.

From The Message I want to reread our passage from Romans:
I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously for me- to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit- that I will be delivered from the lion's den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I'll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God's peace be with all of you. Oh, yes! Romans 15:30-33

Description of Prayer Requested

I. Persistent

This is a typical of prayer described in the Bible, but maybe not so typical of our praying. Paul used strong language here to describe the prayer he was requesting: "I appeal to you ... to strive together with me..." "I urge you... to strive together with me in my prayers to God for me..." "I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously for me..."

The request is obviously for praying with some intensity, perhaps like the PUSH prayers that I spoke of a few weeks ago, "Pray Until Something Happens." I do not believe that Paul was merely asking for a prayer like, "God bless Paul." While that may be a sincere prayer, it does not sound like strenuous prayer too me. As long as I am making a request I might as well let you know that I would really appreciate more than, "God bless Pastor Bruce" if you are going to pray.

Along with persistence we might describe these prayers requested as petitioning.

II. Petitioning

We bring our petitions to our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the love of the Holy Spirit. A petition of these personal prayers Paul requested was for deliverance from unbelievers.

William Barclay suggests, "When Paul went to Jerusalem he knew what he was doing. He was well aware of the dangers that lay ahead. He knew he was going into the lion's den and putting himself into the power of those who hated him."

The petitioning here includes spiritual warfare for the Apostle Paul. He faced dangers as he proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While some were very responsive and longed to hear his preaching and teaching, others were not at all interested and wanted Paul's ministry to be silenced.

I am not Paul, but God has called me to serve Him as a pastor. As such, I request your prayers. Certainly, the deliverance needed for me and our ministry here is a little different from what Paul faced 2000 years ago, but our God is the same, so I call upon you to petition God on my behalf, on behalf of my family, and on behalf of the ministries God has entrusted to us. This request continues with petitioning prayers also being purposeful.

III. Purposeful

The petitions for which Paul requested prayer and for which I humbly request your prayers are purposeful. While I ask for your prayers for me, for my family and for our ministries, I do not do so selfishly, but purposefully. I want to live well for Jesus' sake. It is the desire of my heart, not merely to live, but to have my life count in the scope of eternity. I long to see children, youth, and adults come to know Jesus Christ personally, and mature in their faith. As a result, our love for Christ should become evident in our families and communities and we will bring others to Christ. If we really love God, we want those who may not yet know Him personally, to come to know Him.

This is the purpose of the church, and should be a purpose by which we live. Please pray with me that You and I will more intentionally reach out to others and share our faith. Pray specifically for individuals that you and I might influence for Christ. Pray for a passion in our congregation for those who do not yet know Christ personally. Pray for me to be able to devote a little more time and energy to outreach rather than primarily maintenance ministries. Pastoral care and other maintenance ministries are important to me, but to fulfill God's purposes, I believe He clearly wants us to pray not only for needs within our church family, but for outreach also. Pray that we walk with integrity, faithfully standing up for our Lord. You see, as I request your prayers, they are not merely for me, but for us, and for those whom God may touch through us.

Sue and I have had a few opportunities to see and visit with Grandma Holt, founder of Holt International Children's Services. She was a remarkable woman who went to her eternal home a couple of years ago. We adopted Jonathan and Hannah through Holt. I quote from her article in a Holt magazine that came out 12 years ago, when we last saw her. She clearly requested prayer.

"Some of you know that I jog a mile and a quarter every day. I am such a slow jogger, but I am 92 years old. When someone suggested that I run in a race to raise money for the children, I was excited.

In June, the city of Eugene, OR, will host the Hayward Masters Track and Field Championships, a track meet for folks over thirty-five years old. I plan to run, but I haven't decided which event yet.

I don't plan to run too hard, but I am praying that this will bring in lots of money for Holt's Adoption Fund for children with Special Needs. This fund helps pay for the adoptions of older children, children with disabilities and sibling groups.

I hope to be in good health for this run, but a problem is the weather. June in Oregon can be so beautiful, and we usually have a spell of 90-degree plus weather. I am allergic to sunshine and heat, so I can't run if it's too hot.

However, I know the answer to this problem. Tell everyone to pray for cool, cloudy weather the day I run. It would be no problem for God. He commands the clouds. In Exodus, He ordered a daytime cloud to cover four million people in the blistering Sinai Desert for forty years. He can cover the race track with a cloud or cold weather with no trouble at all. But He wants us to ask for it.

Please, everyone who reads this, put a reminder on your mirror or refrigerator today, to pray for cool, cloudy weather for Eugene, Oregon, on June 29 and 30. It will help me jog and raise money, and it will be proof of God power. Prayer takes only a minute, costs nothing, brings us closer to the Lord and gives us pleasure in seeing the results. Every prayer will count; so don't neglect to do your part."

Conclusion

Grandma Holt requested prayer, and today I am requesting your prayers, persistent, petitioning, and purposeful. Before I close, I share a story of such a request.

Wesley Duewel, an OMS missionary wrote:
"OMS International began its work in India in 1941. The first twenty-five years of hard labor, sweat, tears, prayer, and fasting saw an average of one or two new local churches per year. As I flew across the Pacific to furlough in 1964, I was praying about what more we could do to see India's harvest reaped. God led me to ask for at least one thousand prayer partners to spend fifteen minutes a day for India and our work."

Several years ago Duewel was back in Allahabad, India, with their senior leaders during a day of prayer and report. One by one they told him how mightily God was working. One of them turned to him and said, "Duewel Sahib, all of us are seeing results beyond anything we have known."
"Praise the Lord! Duewel said.
He continued, "Duewel Sahib, are you surprised?"
"Yes, Praise the Lord!" Duewel replied.
"You ought not to be!" He immediately responded. "Did you not go to America and get one thousand people to pray fifteen minutes a day for us?"
"More than that."
"Then why are you surprised?"
"Thank you George. I needed that reminder," Wesley Duewel said.
"Why should we be surprised when God answers prayer!"

Wesley Duewel then gave a summary. Now our churches number about three hundred with twenty-five thousand believers, and with twenty-five or more new churches established every year. One thousand prayer warriors united in praying for harvest was the secret!

Brothers and sisters in Christ. Will you make the commitment to pray daily for me, for my family, and for our ministries?

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