Pray, Intercede & Travail,
Daughters of The King, Bertha Rumble

A Word From The Lord

This tract has been written to emphasize the importance of prayer in the lives of His daughters.

The Lord spoke the following words into my heart, words to encourage His daughters to pray:

“Come, my dear ones, and spend more time with me. Sit at my feet in prayer.”

The following are answers to questions on prayer that one may ask.

All three of these aspects of prayer can take place while sitting in His presence.

Teach Us How To Pray

His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. The following is a study of His reply to them (Mt 6:9-13).

Hallowed means holy or sacred. God’s word declares:

“Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Pet 1:16)

If there is resentment, bitterness, pride, fear, hatred or any other such sin in our heart, we must first repent and seek forgiveness.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Ps 66:18)

When we approach our Father with clean hands and a pure heart, He can place His burden in our hearts so that we pray according to His will.

Our primary prayer concern should not be for earthly needs, but for the peace and joy of a good relationship with our Father.

“For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rm 14:17)

The first priority in His kingdom is to do His will. Submitting to our Father’s will is the major issue that each one of us continually face. In our minds we desire to do His will; however, because of weakness in our clay vessels it can only take place through much self-denial. We must learn to say with Paul:

“I die daily.” (I Cor 15:31)

God knows about each and every need we have. Thus, our first desire should be to please Him since He will provide for us out of His great abundance.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Mt6:33)

The key to receiving God’s forgiveness is to forgive those who have hurt or offended us. This in not only essential, it is important to do so quickly so that no root of bitterness develops in our heart.

“But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Mt 6:15)

The following scripture is a key truth for resisting the evil one.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you . . . .” (Ja 4:7-8)

This is important; when one is harassed or tempted by the devil, our first response is to immediately turn in submission to God. He will always be right there by our side. What a wonderful God we serve!

The correct emphasis in prayer is always the Lord Himself, His kingdom, His power and His glory. God seeks to reveal His qualities in our clay vessels and so fill the earth with His glory. It is wise to keep this emphasis in mind when we pray.

Teach Us When To Pray

My favorite time of prayer is in the early morning before telephone and household duties interrupt me. The following scripture means a lot to me:

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, my king and my God, for to you I will pray. My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to you, and I will look up.” (Ps 5:1-3)

However, anytime is appropriate for prayer; we should always be ready to commune with Him.

“O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.” (Ps 88:1-2)

“Evening, morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” (Ps 55:17)

Prayer is as important to our soul and spirit as breath is to our body.

Different Kinds of Prayer

All prayer is not alike. The following examples from scripture illustrate several aspects of prayer.

One advantage of secret prayer is that there will be less distraction, making it easier to hear His voice.

The patriarchs often built altars when they sought God in prayer (Gen 12:5-8; 35:1-3). A family prayer altar is essential to seek God’s blessings for the home. In our home this altar was around the kitchen table. Cornelius set a good example for us.

“Cornelius was a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.”(Acts 10:2)

Family devotions that are too regimented can be a failure. The father is responsible to seek God’s direction for his family. Time must be given for the children to express themselves; they should be free to pray for friends and teachers. What a joy when they see their prayers answered. Family prayer should be an enjoyable and inspiring time.

The heart of group prayer is when two or more believers agree together in their petitions.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Mt 18:19-20)

I have found this to be true many times; around my kitchen table, on the telephone or when visiting someone.

The importance of group prayer is made clear by our Lord when He declared that His house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. (Mk 11:17)

There are many examples of group prayer in the New Testament; some in private homes and others in places of assembly. (Acts 1:13;4:24-31;20:36)

“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered (in Mary’s home) to God for Him.” (Acts 12:5)

As a result of their prayers, God opened the prison doors and set Peter free. The faithfulness of Peter and John in going to temple prayer led to the healing of a lame man. (Acts 3:1-8)

However, there must be no hidden, unconfessed sin in the heart, in order for prayers to be the most effective.

“Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man (or woman) avails much.” (Ja 5:16)

One of the most important of all prayer in the Lord’s eyes is intercession. He looks for those who will stand in the gap for Him.

“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor . . . .” (Is 59:16)

Today the Lord is calling many across our land to intercede and stand in the gap. Intercession becomes prophetic when we pray according to the burden of His heart.

There are examples of men who did stand in the gap. Abraham interceded with God to save Sodom and Gomorra (Gen.18:22-23). The fruit of his intercession was saving Lot and his daughters from death. Moses pleaded with God to not destroy Israel because of their sin. Consider his prayer:

“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin . . . but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” (Ex 32:32)

Stephen, the first martyr of the church, died as an intercessor.

“. . . Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60)

The best example of intercession is found in the ministry of our Lord.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

Since His ascension, Jesus has been seated at the right hand of His father interceding for us.

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:25)

There is a depth of intercession known as travail. We are all familiar with our Lord’s travail in the garden of Gethsamene.

“`Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not My will, but Your’s be done.’ . . . . And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Lk 22:42-44)

Paul’s apostolic ministry was marked by travailing prayer for believers.

“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in You.”(Gal 4:19)

In such prayer there is a sense of bringing something to a birth in the spirit somewhat similar to physical travail when a mother gives birth to a child. In some instances, the purpose accomplished by such prayer will be unknown by the one praying; it may involve a spiritual birth, or be in response to a difficult situation somewhere in the body of Christ. In any case, it is prayer initiated by the Holy Spirit for we do not know how to pray. Our responsibility is to wait in His presence in order to hear His voice and to sense his burden.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (i.e. Too deep for words, or inexpressible). Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Rm 8:26-27)

The spirit of travail can sweep over an entire congregation. I believe the Lord is calling many into this ministry of prayer for the days ahead.

My Testimony

Over the years I have prayed much for my husband and our ministry together. Also, I have been greatly blessed to be a part of the women’s intercessory prayer group in our church.

However, most of my prayer life has been for my sons, always holding on to the following verse which the Lord gave me years ago when they were young.

“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Is 54:13)

My eldest son, Alvin, went off to the war in Vietnam. This was a great heartache for me, but the Lord graciously gave me a verse of scripture to assure me that he would return to his own borders; which he did!

Although personal circumstances have been different, each son has required prayer; and I am still praying for them!

When our third son, David, arrived I thought he would be a burden to us. You see, he was born mentally retarded. However, it proved to be otherwise for he became a great blessing in our family. He taught us gentleness and new dimensions of love and compassion. We discovered deeper realms of prayer. Many times, when I did not know how to handle situations, the Lord was right there to reveal the next step. The Lord, David and I developed a precious intimacy!

Sometimes prayer is answered immediately; at other times one must persevere in patience. God encourages us in His word to be steadfast in prayer.

“Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” (Rm 12:12)

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to the end with all perseverance...” (Ephs 6:18)

When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom signifying that we have access to the throne of grace. By faith we can come right into His presence!

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16)

Daughters of the King, I encourage you: come boldly before Him and take up the mantle of prayer, intercession and travail. The glory of the Lord is beginning to rise upon the body of Christ, and we will soon see His glory throughout our land.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks..” (I Thess 5:16-18)

Let us be faithful to the call of our Lord, and stand in the gap.

[All scriptures are from the NKJ Bible.]

AMEN