Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

but when he prayed, he literally took his time, slowly speaking each phrase and sentence clearly and boldly. He believed this prayer was almost the introduction to his own prayer and intercession that followed. If he did not begin with the Lord’s Prayer, at some point during his prayer he would repeat this biblical prayer, and it never became old to him! 3. P RAYER R EQUIRES Q UALITY T IME Dad seldom prayed under one hour when he was in intense intercession. I cannot count the times when I was sitting at my desk with two laptops, a pile of notebooks, and a Bible; digging into the depths of biblical nuggets to compile a special article, message, or a book; and flowing in inspiration for writing, and Dad would enter my large office, lift his left hand, point his finger upward, and say, “Brother [he always called me brother even though I was his son], do you want to have a word of prayer?” The first words out of his mouth were not “How are you today?” or “What are you working on?” or “How’s everything going?” They were his offer to pray for me! Prayer was literally the main thing on his mind every time he came into my office. Because I am an extremely focused person when studying a subject, his question often interrupted my intended flow. However, I could seldom make any valid excuse to not stop my busy activity and pray. I knew that once he bowed his knees, it would not be a little prayer meeting—a sort of meet and greet with God.