Why 24/7 Prayer?

I. Why would there not be 24/7 prayer? If the LORD’s ultimate and most sweeping end for everything is the glory of His own name, that He would have the pre-eminence in everything, then the clearest purpose of our existence would be to give God worship. (Colossians 1:15-18) Night and day worship is an extravagant but fitting expression of God’s unending worth. In our culture, we see the exact opposite of this, self-fulfillment is exalted to no end and the name of God is casually laced as a by-word. This utter insanity and rebellion should provoke in His people, a desire to see God’s name exalted night and day as it is in heaven. God’s zeal for His own name is a devastating topic throughout the scriptures. We are heading towards the Day of the Lord, as prophesied in Isaiah 2, where God will utterly abolish every idol so that He alone will be exalted. In view of the Day of the Lord, God has ordained the prayer movement from the beginning of human history right up till the end. (Genesis 4:26; Exodus 25, Exodus 40; II Chronicles 7:14; Joel 2; Haggai 2; Isaiah 56; Malachi 1:11; Luke 18; John 2; Revelation 5, Revelation 8)

II. It is how it is in heaven. Night and day prayer may seem like an unnecessary or superfluous, but in Revelation 4 we get a glimpse into how God is perpetually exalted night and day in the heavenly sanctuary. He is being exalted right now, He was being exalted in the first century when John received Revelation, and He was being exalted from before Genesis 1. As the writer of Hebrews states, the earthly temple was not given arbitrarily but as a type and shadow of the heavenly temple. It casts a vision for how God intends it to be, and that is where we are headed. King David had a revelation of this, and that His own reign was a shadow of the Messiah’s everlasting reign to come. As King, He invested 100 billion dollars towards the prayer movement, even hiring 4,000 musicians who worshipped as their full-time occupation. (1 Chron. 22:15; 23:5; Psalm 132). Night and day worship and prayer is the vision from eternity past to eternity future, so we would be mistaken to conclude that 24/7 prayer is unnecessary because it doesn’t fit in modern day culture.

III. There is a segregation of duties in the purposes of God. From Abraham’s intercession for Sodom we see a segregation of duties, where we can’t do God’s part, and God won’t do our part. As God’s people, we humble ourselves and ask God for the mercy that He desires to give. In Luke 18, Jesus give us a parable to show us that we ought to pray always and not give up. Historically, all of the church’s revivals were birthed out of night and day prayer. The Moravians held a night and day prayer watch for 100 years. To the Moravians we owe the existence of the modern day missions movement. In recent history, there has been an unprecedented move of prayer throughout all the nations of the earth, from Israel to Korea to Kansas City. Biblically and historically, we see the fruit of prayer as it relates to God’s purposes for redemptive history: the fruition of God’s purposes for Israel, corporate revival and effective witness, cultural impact, personal vibrancy in Christ, unity and community in the body of Christ, eschatological revelation, and apostolic sending.

IV. Jesus is not returning to a prayer-less church. In many parables Jesus hints that there would be a delay between His first and second coming. The delay is for the sake of mercy, so that the fullness of the gentiles would come in, that there would be a witness in every tribe, tongue, and nation. However, Jesus is not just returning for a prayer-less church, but to receive an inheritance of a lovesick bride made ready for Him. Jesus, the Bridegroom is returning for a glorious bride that has cultivated a life of intimacy with Him, and are longing for His return with fasting and prayer. (Luke 5, Luke 12; John 17; Matthew 25; Ephesians 5; Revelation 7; Revelation 19; Revelation 21; Revelation 22)