In Rocky Mountain National Park, a part of Colorado, the weather can change very rapidly. The sun can be out and very warm and then in a moment the clouds can blow in. With very little warning it can rain or even snow. When there is a storm the lightening strikes seem very close and the thunder so loud it shakes you and rumbles on and on through the canyons. If you are on a trail, especially a trail high on a mountain, when a storm springs up, you need to get to a safe place immediately. In some places there is nowhere to go except get down the trail quickly. The experienced hiker watches for storms and knows to move quickly when needed. If you are on a trail you might need to quicken your pace; double time or even triple time pace might be required.
Life is very much like Rocky Mountain National Park, things change very rapidly. Many things in life seem to remain about the same; everyone needs the basics for life and living, like food and shelter. Receiving these daily needs requires faith and prayer. We must believe God has, is, and will provide for our every need. He is our source and provision. As Jesus taught us, we should spend time with Him praying for our daily needs and for those around us. So we pray; “Our Father, give us this day our daily needs”. This is the normal life of the believer and the life of prayer, the basics of faith and prayer, however there is more and things change.
There is so much to pray for and to pray about. Praying for all the situations that an individual faces requires a great deal of time, not to mention the needs of family, friends, and church. At times it seems this is all we can do; this takes our prayer time and our full effort. However, things change, there are storm clouds gathering and we must pick up the pace.
There is a need for men and women who will pray beyond the basics. There are people around us who need prayer, there are mission activities that need prayer, there are nations closed to the Gospel message that need prayer, and there are places in desperate need of revival that need prayer. All around us the situation of people daily grows graver. A generation is being swept into death and destruction; the storm clouds are growing and getting darker.
With these growing storm clouds there is an increasing need for prayer. Just like our climber who moves quickly down the trail to avoid a storm, we need to increase our prayers; to pick up the pace. The threat of the storms of life makes prayer imperative. All around us, in every country and nation there are people desperate for answers and help. They spread out before us like clouds and they are begging us to pick up the pace and pray.
This increase in prayer is not just putting in more time, but growing and maturing in prayer; in our efforts, skills, and faith. We must pick up our pace; not being satisfied with prayer as it has been, but move up to the place and pace the Holy Spirit has been preparing us for. The need is not for more of the same, but for effective, fervent prayers that avail much.
… The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:16 (NKJV)
Just like the man or woman on the trail moving along at a basic pace, when the clouds appear, they must move quicker. The clouds are appearing for us in prayer as well. The need has never been greater and the world is waiting. The world is asking; no it is begging, for you and me to pick up the pace and pray.
