HOW GOD TAUGHT ME TO PRAY FOR LONG HOURS – Part One!!!

– Bimbo Animashaun

First, let me say emphatically that if you’re not baptized with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, it will be “difficult” for you to pray for long hours at a go.

Most people who “pray for long hours” without being filled with the Spirit are full of vain repetitions in prayers, and sometimes they wear themselves out by such.
But in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul taught that LONG PRAYERS can be done when a believer is filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

I CORINTHIANS 14:18
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

EPHESIANS 6:18
PRAYING ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication IN THE SPIRIT, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

JUDE 20
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST,
Now it would appear that to carry out the New Testament instruction to PRAY WITHOUT CEASING – 1Thess.5:17, one would need to be filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
You never run out of inspiration praying in the Spirit. You never run out of words praying in the Spirit. You never run out of “prayer points” praying in the Spirit.

And also you never run out of spiritual energy, nerve and verve plus motivation praying in the Spirit.
As a matter of fact, I believe that praying in the Spirit brings you to a place where this popular maxim becomes evident in your devotional life, “YOU CANNOT FINISH PRAYING; YOU CAN ONLY STOP PRAYING”.
I remember the very first time I prayed at stretch for seven hours, it was a huge delight. Not a burden at all but it was “fun” all through.

One vital truth you discover while praying in tongues is that the more you pray, the more you want to pray – your propensity to pray increases at an exponential rate.
I had discovered this truth as far back as Sunday, 18th March, 2001 when I became filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

Over the years, by God’s Grace, the Lord has taught me the secrets of long prayers without being tired and I intend to share one of the lessons today and then the second one in Part Two of this teaching.
First, the Lord showed me this scripture and it came alive in my heart:

1 CORINTHIANS 14:14
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, MY SPIRIT PRAYETH, but my understanding is unfruitful.
The Lord asked me to look intently into it and asked me who’s doing the praying. I said, “My spirit”. God told me, “Notice it didn’t say MY BODY or MY MIND”.
Oh, I got the message. Anytime I’m praying in the Spirit, it’s MY SPIRIT that’s doing the praying – the man on the inside – my reborn, recreated and regenerated human spirit.
It was this scripture that liberated me. I discovered that it’s not MY BODY or MY MIND that’s praying but MY SPIRIT, even though in the process MY BODY and MY MIND may get along.

Here’s the gist; a lot of believers pray with THEIR BODIES and they get tired and exhausted along the line.
How do I mean? Somebody wants to pray for let’s say seven hours at stretch but in the first thirty minutes, he’s screaming at the top of his voice to the point that he starts coughing and sweating profusely.

He’s swinging his head, arms, neck, waist, buttocks, and legs as if he involved in acrobatics. You see, most often with time such people become tired.
There’s this notion that tells you that if you pray silently, your prayer is not powerful but nothing could be farther from the truth.
Some people also believe that if you’re praying sitting down or lying down, you’re not serious and your prayer is not as powerful as when you kneel down but these are fallacious ideas.

Your physical postures do not invalidate your prayers because you aren’t praying with your BODY but with your SPIRIT.
It is wise to get a posture that will help you sustain the momentum of prayers, not one that will distract you or make you physically exhausted.
The principle I operate in prayer and as well spiritual activities is that, “DON’T COME TO A PLACE PHYSICALLY THAT WILL MAKE YOU INEFFECTIVE SPIRITUALLY”.

For instance, I do most of my praying walking around. I love prayer walk. It suits me well and by extension it’s a form of physical exercise for me.
But when I pray to a point where my legs are aching me (notice it’s not my spirit that is feeling pain but my body), I sit down to continue praying while I relax my physical muscles and then I stand up again.

There’s no ironclad rule to this. There’s no point getting to a level in prayer where your physical posture is distracting you from the spiritual exercise and you don’t change that posture. No, that’s religion!
We hold vigils in our church where we pray for seven hours. I remember a scenario at a particular edition; when we started, I noticed a brother praying with acrobatic displays and I just knew within me that that brother might not really go far in the vigil.
And so it was; it was like the third hour when some of us were just starting, the brother had logged off – he had slept off.
Now let me balance this here; it’s not in all cases that people who have physical displays get exhausted.

There’s need for that balance. Sometimes it’s just a function of the level of “spiritual temperature”.
By “spiritual temperature” I mean the progression of the anointing as it’s rising in prayer. You know we respond to the anointing differently.

But I TOTALLY AGREE that sometimes, you start your praying in the Spirit in a cool and calm manner but with the progression of time, YOU JUST EXPLODE.
At such instance, it’s a function of the anointing and not a display in the energy of the flesh that is wearisome.

The truth however is that as we all become acquainted with the operations of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we should endeavour to become MORE SKILFUL with them so as to sustain them.

Even with the level of “spiritual temperature”, you still have control over your response depending on the setting that you find yourself, and this is a function of spiritual training.
Let me give an example. I have never disturbed my wife or my children while praying in the midnight NO MATTER THE LEVEL OF SPIRITUAL TEMPERATURE IN PRAYER.

I learnt this from Dad Hagin. I could pray under my breath, gently and silently without disturbing my family or anyone around me and the anointing will still be very strong.
Why do I need to wake all my neighbours up in the midnight with the tone and sounds of my prayer because of anointing?

I mean those who do that have not so learnt Christ – Eph.4:20. There’s order in the things of the Spirit – 1 Cor.14:40.
People also have a right to their privacy and it is childish, juvenile, puerile and unchristian to disturb your neighbours with loud sounds and cries of prayer.

Like I said, you must discover your setting. When I get into the Part Two of this teaching and we look at intermittent praying, we’ll discover for instance that if you pray in your office for instance following some free pockets of time, you don’t disturb the other members of staff.

It’s important that we should be “Christian” not ONLY in church but also “at home”, “at our work place”, “in our community” and “in all places”.
By and large, we have seen that with the understanding of 1Corinthians 14:14, we can pray for long hours, knowing that it’s YOUR SPIRIT that is praying, NOT YOUR BODY, your physical postures notwithstanding.

This is what the Lord taught me and it has helped me over the years by God’s Grace.
In Part Two, I will talk about the secret of PRAYING AT A STRETCH and INTERMITTENT PRAYING.
I trust this is a blessing Sirs and Mas?
Grace!!!

Source: Bimbo Animashaun Teaching Ministries |Published with permission.

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