Ask Immediately

I’ve been heavily influenced by the teachings and lives of D. L.
Moody, Charles Finney, and Charles Spurgeon—great
evangelists from the nineteenth century. In fact, I’ve read many
of their books numerous times, and each time I have walked
away with the impression that they attributed the potency
behind their powerful preaching to the importance and priority
they placed on their personal prayer lives. They were each
adamant that a leader’s personal time alone with God is the
only explanation for any outward success in ministry.

In Charles Finney’s Lectures on Revival, he disclosed a
simple prayer that he believed always released a noticeable,
supernatural power of God upon a person or in a room when it
was uttered:

“Lord, I pray for an immediate outpouring of your Holy Spirit... .”

Since the first day I read of his confidence in this prayer, I
began to pray the same prayer each time I would personally
pray for an individual or open or close a lecture. I am not
suggesting that this is a magic formula, but if you believe God
willingly responds to your requests, it is a prayer that will
change the boldness with which you ask God when you pray.

When you ask God for His immediate outpouring, His
immediate presence, and His immediate power to be released
within a situation, you are asking God to do something NOW
—before you leave each other, before you finish praying,
before the day is over. You can even ask Him to immediately
touch the lives of those who are not present.