Jim Cymbala - Breakthrough Prayer

Resources by Jim Cymbala

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
(book and audio)

Fresh Faith
(book and audio)

Fresh Power
(book and audio)

The Life God Blesses
(book and audio)

The Church God Blesses
(book and audio)

Breakthrough Prayer
(book and audio)

When Gods People Pray
(curriculum)

ZONDERVAN

BREAKTHROUGH PRAYER
Copyright 2003 by Jim Cymbala

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86121-7

This title is also available as a Zondervan audio product.

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

The Library of Congress catalogued the original hardcover edition as follows:

Cymbala, Jim, 1943
Breakthrough prayer : the secret of receiving what you need from God / Jim Cymbala.1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-23626-9
1. PrayerChristianity. I. Title.
BV215.C96 2003
248.3'2dc22

2003014645

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25518-5

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible: NewInternational Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations have been inserted by the author for emphasis. KJV refers to the King James Version, NKJV refers to the New King James Version, and NASB refers to the New American Standard Bible.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to readers. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with the literary agency of Ann Spangler and Company, 1420 Pontiac Road S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506.

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CONTENTS

Since Ive never had the opportunity to attend seminary, God has regularly used theological books to give me much-needed instruction. Of the more than two thousand volumes that line the shelves of my study, none have meant more to me than books on the subject of prayer. They have proven invaluable to my own spiritual growth because they have driven me both to the Scriptures and to my knees.

When I reach heaven, I will want to meet and thank the saints who wrote the books that so affected my life. People like David Brainerd, E. M. Bounds, Charles Finney, and Samuel Chadwick have an investment in my life although they lived decades and centuries ago. They and others did much more than lay out the principles of prayer. Their writings ignited my faith and inspired me to call on the name of the Lord. Countless breakthroughs in my life and ministry can be traced to God using their writings to help this needy pastor in New York City.

Breakthrough Prayer is aimed at more than outlining the important biblical principle of seeking Gods help. It is also about what I call the lost prayers of Scripturethe things we rarely pray for even though God has promised them to all his children. For example, when was the last time you heard others pray for joy or to understand Gods timing for their lives? We individuals and our churches all suffer great loss when we fail to ask God for the blessings he wants to give us. The following chapters are written in hopes that no one who reads this book will suffer the tragedy of a life summed up by these words from Scripture: You do not have, because you do not ask God (James 4:2).

During my pilgrimage of prayer I have also come across a host of books that clinically analyze the subject but fail to draw the heart toward the throne of grace. Although biblically correct in their doctrine, they have fallen short of their purpose. Many also fail to highlight the main pitfalls that most often hinder a spirit of prayer in us. Effective praying depends not just on what to do, but also on what never to do if we want answers from God. By his grace, I pray that this book will instruct, inspire, and assist many in breaking through to a new life of asking and receiving from God.

BREAK
THROUGH
BLESSINGS

It was a sweltering night in New York. My wife, Carol, and I along with a handful of others had gathered around the altar of our little church in Brooklyn. As we stood together in that rundown building, tears flowing freely and our voices lifted in prayer, we knew that our struggling church faced problems only God could defeat. If anything was going to change, if the church was ever going to reach its potential, one critical ingredient was absolutely required. We could not live one more day without breaking through to the blessing of God.

But what exactly was this blessing we sought? As the young pastor of that inner-city church, I was beginning to realize that the blessing of God is something very real and tangible. It can change a mans life, transform a neighborhood, invigorate a church, and even alter the course of history. Often it is given to the most unlikely people, like a friend of mine whose life seemed cursed from the start. He is a great example of the difference God can make.

Perched on a hill high above the village of Las Piedras was a house dedicated to the powers of darkness. Inside lived a family that earned its living through practicing sorcery, holding sances, and trafficking with evil spirits. The father, a large man who was feared throughout Puerto Rico, was known as the Great One. His wife assisted in the work and bore him eighteen childrenseventeen sons and a lone daughter. The house on the hill became a favorite lodging place for mediums and spiritualists throughout the island.

One of the children was especially affected by growing up in that house. He feared the sorcery practiced there and resented the lack of attention he felt as one among so many children. He got into trouble early and often. One day his father caught him stealing from his mothers purse. As punishment, the five-year-old was locked in a filthy little pigeon house. The boy tried frantically to escape but only succeeded in exciting the birds, who slammed into his little body as they flew around in the darkness. After his father released him, the boy cried hysterically for several hours. The ordeal caused him repeated nightmares.

This son, out of all the others, seemed marked for evil. When he was eight years old, his mother proclaimed that he was not her son but a son of Satan, a child of the devil! When he yelled back in anger, I hate you! she merely laughed in his face. He was a cursed child in a house of curses.