Sometimes God taps you on the shoulder to pray about someone or something.
Wesley Duewel, author of Mighty Prevailing Prayer, calls this a prayer burden. It is the Holy Spirit stirring you to pray.
Often, it is not more than a thought. But occasionally it is more intense.
Duewel says the Spirit "summons you to pray for the need, guides you in your praying, and fills you with holy desire so intense that it becomes not only a deep concern but a consuming spiritual passion to prevail with God and over Satan".
My own experiences of being prompted by the Spirit to pray have not been as dramatic as Duewel describes.
But I have read amazing stories of people who have woken up at night and felt an urgent need to pray.
Sometimes, they feel a need to pray specifically for a loved one and discover later that a family member was in danger and was delivered at that hour. Other times, they don't know what the need is but they pray anyway and find out later why the Spirit touched them at that moment.
"You may never know clearly the reason for your SOS prayer burden until sometime later," Duewel writes. "You may never know. That is not important.
"It is important that you go instantly to prayer. Of this you can be sure - God does not play games with you."
These prayer burdens are not always emergencies. Sometimes they develop over time. At first, you think of these promptings only once in a while. But gradually you find yourself thinking about these matters all the time.
You may not realize at first that it is the Spirit leading you to pray about that person or situation. But eventually you know you have been given a prayer assignment.
There are clear examples of prayer burdens in the scriptures.
Nehemiah, an Israelite in exile, hears about the desperate state of ruined Jerusalem from his brother. He breaks down and weeps. He fasts and prays for days.
God responds to his prayers and clears the way for Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls.
The prophet Daniel had a similar experience, fasting and praying for his exiled people who were living in Babylon.
The key point is that when the Spirit moves us to pray about something, we should pray.
"A Spirit-given burden is a special mandate from the Lord," Duewel says.
If God is prompting us to pray in a certain way, it means he wants to answer that prayer.
Wesley Duewel, author of Mighty Prevailing Prayer, calls this a prayer burden. It is the Holy Spirit stirring you to pray.
Often, it is not more than a thought. But occasionally it is more intense.
Duewel says the Spirit "summons you to pray for the need, guides you in your praying, and fills you with holy desire so intense that it becomes not only a deep concern but a consuming spiritual passion to prevail with God and over Satan".
My own experiences of being prompted by the Spirit to pray have not been as dramatic as Duewel describes.
But I have read amazing stories of people who have woken up at night and felt an urgent need to pray.
Sometimes, they feel a need to pray specifically for a loved one and discover later that a family member was in danger and was delivered at that hour. Other times, they don't know what the need is but they pray anyway and find out later why the Spirit touched them at that moment.
"You may never know clearly the reason for your SOS prayer burden until sometime later," Duewel writes. "You may never know. That is not important.
"It is important that you go instantly to prayer. Of this you can be sure - God does not play games with you."
These prayer burdens are not always emergencies. Sometimes they develop over time. At first, you think of these promptings only once in a while. But gradually you find yourself thinking about these matters all the time.
You may not realize at first that it is the Spirit leading you to pray about that person or situation. But eventually you know you have been given a prayer assignment.
There are clear examples of prayer burdens in the scriptures.
Nehemiah, an Israelite in exile, hears about the desperate state of ruined Jerusalem from his brother. He breaks down and weeps. He fasts and prays for days.
God responds to his prayers and clears the way for Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls.
The prophet Daniel had a similar experience, fasting and praying for his exiled people who were living in Babylon.
The key point is that when the Spirit moves us to pray about something, we should pray.
"A Spirit-given burden is a special mandate from the Lord," Duewel says.
If God is prompting us to pray in a certain way, it means he wants to answer that prayer.
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