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A Symphony to
God’s Heart
Francis Frangipane
During
seasons of prayer, when congregations unite for intercession or groups meet in
homes to appeal to God, it is important we stay united in Spirit, supportive
and passionate with the goal of touching the heart of God.
Even
though we pray differently or come together with different styles
or burdens, our unity plays an important dynamic in obtaining spiritual
success.
For instance, when my wife and I pray together, I like to pack
all the meaning I can into a couple sentences. I might pray a simple prayer, “Lord
bless and fill my kids,” What I mean, is Lord touch them, forgive them, provide
for them, guide them, use them and protect them.
My
prayer is like a “zip file.” It’s bigger on the inside than it is
on the outside. It appears small, but when God opens it up, there’s a lot of
meaning in my prayer.
My
wife’s prayers are longer than mine. She tells the Lord everything He needs to
know about the kids, as though He were just meeting them for the first time.
She
explains what they need in life and offers suggestions to the Lord on how to
get them into their future. She touches God’s heart because she is so
compassionate about her children.
The
main thing is, we agree with each other when we pray. We
don’t judge each other. We listen and appreciate our different approaches and
styles.
Usually,
when we are finished praying together, she will continue interceding alone.
I can hear her in the background: “Lord, remind the boys to
wash their bed sheets and help them to get enough sleep, and don’t let them eat
junk food.”
It’s
okay, as their mother, she’s consumed by her love for them.
When we
get together in a group at church, the same principles apply: we all agree with
each other.
It
doesn’t matter if one person prays longer or with more detail than another. We
pray for our nation along with other nations and their leaders.
Some
pray for the governmental leaders of nations; another might pray for gang
leaders, while someone else will pray for business leaders.
We’ll
stand in repentance for the sins of our nation, asking God to forgive our
national sins of pride, injustice and murder (especially concerning the
unborn); we ask for mercy concerning our greed and national arrogance, and we
ask for forgiveness for the immoral nature of much of our entertainment
industry.
We each
may have a different burden or focus, but with passion we agree with one
another’s prayer.
Jesus
promised that whatever we agreed upon in prayer, it would be done for us by our
heavenly Father (Matthew 18:19).
Our
agreement is as important as our prayer. It’s okay that we have different
styles: I pace. A dear friend of mine rocks back and forth. Another karate
chops the air. Yet, even though our styles are different, our hearts burn
together in strong agreement.
Interestingly,
the word agree as used in the Gospels was the Greek word sumphoneo.
From it we get the English word symphony.
In
other words, God hears our prayers of agreement not so much as a tolerance of
one another’s quirks, but as a symphony of passionate voices – each voice as a
unique instrument, yet all participating in the same glorious song.
Beloved, let us stay in agreement when we pray. Avoid strife at
all costs. Whether our expression is one of weeping or rejoicing, warring or
worship, our prayer of agreement can be symphonic to the listening heart of
God.
Francis
Frangipane
is the founder of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids IA and has traveled
throughout the world ministering to thousands of pastors and intercessors from
many backgrounds. Francis’ heartfelt prayer is to see established in every
city, Christlike pastors and intercessors, united before God, revealing the
love of Christ to their communities.
Over the
past decades, Francis has served on a number of other ministry boards. However,
in recent years he has gradually resigned from these various boards. As of June
2009, he has also retired from his position as senior pastor of River of Life
Ministries. In this more simplified life, Frangipane is devoting himself to
prayer and the ministry of God’s word.
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/category/men-devotions/frangipane/page/2/
