“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:20-21

On a Wednesday morning, on August 13, 1727, a special Communion service happened in Herrnhut, Germany. The small Moravian congregation of twenty-four men and twenty-four women gathered. Their young leader was Count Ludvig Nicklaus von Zinzendorf. As they confessed their sins to one another, the Spirit of God fell with incredible power upon them. Count Zinzendorf gave this account later on: “We needed to come to the Communion with a sense of the loving nearness of the Savior.” The men and women were determined that the flame of intercession should burn at the heart of their community continually, and so they divided themselves to pray in succession around the clock. This nonstop “Hourly Intercession” lasted day and night for more than 100 years. And what were the results of their prayers? Within the first two years, the first missionaries, two young men, declared their willingness to become slaves if necessary to reach the slaves in the West Indies with the Gospel. By 1742, the Moravians at Herrnhut had established missions in the Virgin Islands, Greenland, Turkey, the Gold Coast of Africa, South Africa, and North America. During those 100 years, more than 100 missionaries were sent out from that small village to take the Gospel to the world.

Christians win the battle for the hearts and minds of men and women on their knees. Are you praying for others? Today in prayer, pray for those in your family, your church, your work and your neighborhood that they may draw closer to Jesus Christ.

“There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.” – William Law

God’s Word: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16 By Peter Kennedy pkennedy@devotional.com , Copyright 2001, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN JOHN