This resolution of Daily United Prayer is based on An Humble Attempt, originally put forward by Jonathan Edwards in 1748. Its design is to encourage God's people in the duty of united extraordinary prayer; setting aside some time every day to pray for the revival of His church and the advancement of Christ's kingdom in our homes, in our churches, in our nation, and in the world.
"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come." Psalm 71:18.
This is a prayer. This is my prayer. We're not merely praying that the Lord will not forsake us in our old age. That would be a good prayer, but a "mild" prayer. We're praying that we would demonstrate God's strength and power to our generation. This is a much better prayer, an "aggressive" prayer. One that requires faith to move mountains. This is instructive for our prayer life. Or, to put it another way, we shouldn't merely be praying for additions, we should be praying for multiplications. One of our praying partners, recently wrote to me:
I realized that our prayers for our relatives can be somewhat selfish if we just pray for addition. For example I can pray for my son, that he will be saved, and my motive can just be that he will not go to hell. But if we get this vision for multiplication, our prayers change. I now pray for my son, that he will be saved and then influence all his young friends, that they also may be saved. That will be multiplication! And I also thought of how we bring the gospel to others, that we should share this vision with them from day one, that they are not just saved to escape hell or even to know the Lord themselves, but so that they also can be used by God and can bring in others.
Multiplication, friends. Our God is a God that deals in abundance. Christ Himself said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). In Malachi we read, "Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). Bringing forth fruit an hundredfold!
As we grow older, it is natural for us to have more "mild" outlook on life since our physical energies are declining and diminishing. We convince ourselves that there is less and less we can do for Christ. Not so, Christian! Don't believe it. The devil would love to see all of the older, wiser, more experienced believers sidelined in the battle. But, "what can I do?" you may ask. You can pray! It might surprise you just how powerfully encouraging it would be if wise old saints would but lift up their voice in prayer. And yet, we find so many of the older folks in our churches silent in the prayer meetings. This is a tragedy and, in the words of that parable, "an enemy hath done this."
"Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor 4:16). The Psalmist tells us that the righteous shall "still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing" (Psalm 92:14). Hardly the language of defeat and decline. Though we may be old and grayheaded, may it be said of us spiritually, like Moses, "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated" (Deut 34:7). Or like Caleb, "I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in" (Josh 14:11). Let us make Psalm 72:18 our prayer. That God, through us, would showcase His great strength and power to every one that is to come—to our children, and to our children's children.
"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do" Daniel 9:19.
DAILY UNITED PRAYER unitedprayer.net
Mon-Fri @ 12pm EDT // Sat @ 10am EDT
We invite you to join our dedicated and earnest group of praying participants of all ages from around the world that meet every day over Zoom to pray. At the start of each prayer call, a different individual will bring a brief Scriptural meditation. Here's the most recent:
