Speaking at what will be his final session at WAFBEC 2022, Pastor John Hannah spoke on the topic he tagged The Sound of Prayer. He reasoned that the subject of prayer is so important even in the times of old that the disciples had to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Luke 11:10
He said there is a model of prayer which he tagged ‘ACTS-I’, and stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication and Intercession. He took time to examine them further –
A – Adoration; stands for the act of being thankful to God for who He is.
C – Confession; humbling ourselves before God to ask for forgiveness of sin.
T- Thanksgiving; stands for giving God thanks for what he has done.
S- Supplication; This is telling God a list of things we desire of Him. This prayer is a prayer of faith, for he that comes to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
I- Intercession; This is when you pray for someone else other than yourself. The intercessor stands in the gap for the other person, sitting between the person he is interceding for and God.
Pastor Hannah made it clear that some people will not get what God has for them till someone intercedes for them. The power of an intercessor can make things change, citing the story of Moses who saw the favour of the Lord as he always stands in prayer for the children of Israel. Exodus 13:12-13, 2 Kings 20:1-5
Speaking further, the preacher declared that there is a sound that goes with prayer. God sees the heart, but he wants believers to speak it out. Prayer is a serious business for believers and must be learnt. The preacher reminisced on his early years when an older lady thought him how to pray. He was taught how to go into levels in prayers, entering into deep places in the spirit. He admonished the congregation to get persistent in prayer, to hold unto God in prayers till something changes.
Explaining what he called the prayer circle, from Mark 5:38, Pastor Hannah says everyone cannot be a part of your prayer circle. A believer needs someone in his or her prayer circle who though sees you declare something humanly unbelievable, can take it up by faith in prayer towards its actualisation. Be careful that your circle is not filled with negative people. He reasoned that there is no point in trying to be kind to the devil who is cruel to you. He rang out to the congregation, ‘choose your circle!’.
Speaking further on the power of corporate prayer, the preacher noted from Judges 4:3, Judges 10:10 of how God raises salvation for the children of Israel anytime they cry out to God…always. Reading from 2 Chronicles 17:10, Matthew 12:29 He says the enemy is after believers because he knows if he can get them, he’d get the people in their circle.
Just then, he asked the congregation to open their mouths and begin to call upon Jesus, and they did with all enthusiasm. He prophesied that God is raising men of Valor whose sounds of prayers will go up to heaven. Saying this, he asked the men in the congregation to stand up and raise a sound of prayers up unto God for a few minutes.
He spoke to those seeking the Lord for a word to get into prayers as the word is usually released from heaven after the sound of prayer has gone up. Pastor Hannah declared that there is a sound that goes with praises, there is a sound that goes with prayers and there is a sound that goes with worship.
From the account in 2 Chronicles 20:1-22, the story of Jehosaphat and the children of Israel faced with a battle but released sounds of prayers, praises and worship into God, causing God to send an ambush unto the camp of the enemy and grant the children of Israel victory. Therefore the order is to pray, get a word, worship, praise and then victory.
He encouraged Africa to keep up their prayer life; he called it a loud sound of prayer up to heaven as it is a challenge to the rest of the world, especially the United States of America where he is from. In his words, ‘I came to usher your sounds across the world’.
Concluding on a high, he asked every congregant to take up their phones and write down one prayer point of what they want God to do for them between 30 days, and then raise a sound of prayer to heaven concerning it. It was an undoubtedly charged atmosphere with the spirit of God and the spirit of prayer released.
