Teach Me to Pray 2
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God wants to teach us how to pray effective prayers
Definition of Effective prayer - prayer that gets results
where you can see that God answered your prayer
others watching, know it was God
something happens that you could not do by your own power
Review of Part 1
Review of Part 1
Good news is that even before you pray, God already knows and God already cares
Good news is that you don’t have to sound impressive when you pray, because effective prayer is not about using religious sounding phrases
That good news and a review of the Lord’s prayers allowed us to see that effective prayer is not about us giving God a to do list, instead effective prayer is about God sharing his to do list with us
God has a list of things he is going to do
Jeremiah said it this way, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord
God has a list of what, when, how, where
and when we pray according to his list/plans, then we see God work
that’s why prayer is for us, but about him
prayer is a tool God has given us, but we use it to build something for his kingdom
Today we will get a look at someone who prayed according to God’s “to do list”
Scripture Background
Scripture Background
The king of Israel, Ahab, and its people had stopped following the Lord, and had started following a false God
as punishment for breaking their promise to serve the Lord, the Lord had Elijah the prophet, tell King Ahab that it would not rain for three years . . . . and the lack of rain caused a famine in the land
and since Elijah is the one who foretold of the lack of rain and famine, he is blamed for it, and his life is in danger . . . and he goes into hiding
And you will see in these verses, that Elijah comes out of hiding, and this prophet calls for a prayer contest between him and the prophets of the false God
21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
23 “Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.
24 “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “That is a good idea.”
So the contest is that you will set up a sacrifice to your god, and I will set up a sacrifice for my,
you pray to your god, and I will pray to my god
and whichever god rains down fire to burn up their sacrifice is the true God
Elijah let the 450 prophets of the false god for first, and they put on a show!
all morning, they called out to their god, and they leapt around - but no response
by noon, Elijah began to make fun of them - maybe you all need to call out louder, you god might be busy, on a trip, asleep
so from noon to evening, they cried out louder, and then began to cut themselves to show their devotion
I bet those prayers sounded powerful and convincing . . . but again, no response, no fire came down
Finally Elijah said it was his time. Elijah added to the difficulty to the situation, by having water poured all over his offering three times.
Then Elijah prayed . . . he didn’t leap, or cut himself, or put on a show. It was a short prayer, I timed myself saying it and it would have taken about 30 seconds
But when he finished praying, fire from heaven came down so hot and strong that it burned up the offering, the water, the wood, the stones that the altar was made up of, and even the dust.
and when the people saw this, they confessed, the Lord, He is God
That’s effective prayer, powerful prayer, and now let’s take a look at it
36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.
Effective prayers are prayers to the real God - O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob)”
Effective prayer starts with praying to the right God, specific God, person of God
Elijah uses the personal name of God, and connects Him with those who have served Him, leaving no doubt in the people’s minds which god he is praying to
If you want to pray an effective prayer, you must pray to the real God
it does no good and makes no sense to appeal to gods who cannot answer - the prophets of false god Baal learned that lesson
It’s not popular to say - but only one God can answer your prayers, only one God is real
That God is the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the God of the Bible
Don’t let the ways of the world confuse you, and you end up like the people in this story stuck between various opinions, theories, practices - only the God of the Holy Bible can answer prayer
not a god of another religion, not some spirit guide
not positive energy, not good vibes
not forces of nature, healing crystals, good luck charms
not a favorable horoscope
no, always turn to the God who sits on heaven’s throne!
the creator, the one who called Abraham, kept Isaac, and saved Jacob
used Moses, promoted David, and in the fullness of time sent his only begotten son, Jesus the Christ!
Commercial: Don’t be tempted to think, All I have to do is say the words, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I pray! . . . that’s vain repetition
Remember, this was a contest between two gods, so Elijah uses this phrase to make sure that the people know which god he represents
Effective prayers are focused on the spiritual - today let it be known that You are God in Israel
the whole purpose of this exhibition/contest/competition that Elijah set up, was to show that the Lord indeed was God
So these words, “today let it be known that You are God in Israel” is the heart of the prayer!
may these people know that you are God
may you be recognized as God on this day
the focus of his prayer is spiritual change
Elijah is using prayer as a tool for to build the kingdom of God
prayer is a spiritual thing, so spiritual purposes take priority
too many of our prayers have no spiritual purpose, and thus they are not effective
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James is saying that your prayers are not being answered because your prayers are always about you and your wants
last week we talked about Hannah, she prayed many years for a child, but God did not move
When Hannah was: I want a child for me!!! I need a child for me! . . . God did not answer
but once she got to a spiritual purpose for having a child: God, if you give me a child, I promise to give him right back to you . . . . then God moved
once she moved from personal agenda to kingdom agenda . . . God moved
once she moved from her list to God’s list . . . God moved
God gave her Samuel, whom she dedicated to the Lord . . . and some others for herself
if you your material and physical needs are always the center of your prayers, it’s not surprising that your prayers are not effective
Yes we should cast all of our cares upon the Lord, but our cares should not just be our personal physical and material well being
Yes, we can take everything to God in prayer - but we don’t take everything, we just take our personal finances, personal health, personal problem type things to God in prayer
But effective prayers are focused on the spiritual - spiritual purposes come first, God’s list takes priority
We are often like distracted shoppers when we pray. You know, that’s when you go into the store for specific items, but so much in the store catches your attention that you end up at the register with everything except the main things on your list
and we do that in prayer: we pray for a lot of things, but not the most important things . . . the eternal things, the kingdom related things, the ministry things
it’s like sending someone grocery shopping, cause we are going to have baked potatoes . . . and they return with butter, salt, pepper, cheese, sour cream . . . but no potatoes.
and our prayers often have everything, but the main thing - spiritual purpose
And don’t worry . . . . don’t get me wrong, your personal needs are important to God and on God’s list
last week we looked at how Jesus said your Father knows what you need before you ask Him
the Bible also says, for my God shall supply all your needs . . .
God will take care of you, he is your shepherd, he is your light and your salvation
and when you truly understand that, and have faith in that fact
you will put more effort into spiritual things, kingdom things
it is really an insult to God’s love for you
an insult to God’s knowledge of your situation, if all you pray about is you and yours . .
instead of spending 30 minutes praying about the person on the job that gives you trouble, use at least half of it praying about all the unsaved people at the workplace
instead of spending 30 minutes praying about your physical health, spend about 15 minutes of it praying about your spiritual health, spiritual growth, developing Godly character
instead of spending 30 minutes praying for your personal finances, spend some of that time praying for the church’s finances
Effective prayers are prayers to the real god
Effective prayers are focused on the spiritual
Effective prayers are tied to obedience - I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word
in other words, Elijah says, I am simply following orders
Elijah is saying that before this whole contest thing began, I was a fugitive from the King
this whole contest thing was your idea, God
the let the true god answer by fire idea, giving the false prophets all day, pouring extra water on my sacrifice, . . . three times . . . that wasn’t bravado on my part, You told me to do all of these things, O Lord
God it wasn’t me who who said, I am going to show them who is the true God.
that was you
you told me that you were going to do this and that, and that you wanted to do it through me
So God it’s time . . . you got me out hear on a limb . . . it’s time
So we see that Elijah’s obedience, led him to this position . . . his obedience led to this prayer
Elijah’s obedience has put him into position to witness a miracle from his prayer
Effective prayers are tied to obedience
Think about Moses, how do we get to the amazing miracles and wonders that Moses was a part of? (10 plagues, Red Sea, bread from heaven, water from a rock)
obedience! it started when Moses was obedient and returned to Egypt.
Even though he was a fugitive and very reluctant, he was obedient
and take note that Moses was known for spending a lot of time with God, getting instructions, getting things from God’s list
many times, the problem is not that our prayers are lacking, it’s our obedience that is lacking
On God’s list, He wants to do a a miracle at point B, but we don’t want to move to point B, and so we don’t move to point B
Instead, we pray that God would do the miracle at point A . . . and guess what, it ain’t gonna happen
we fast, pray, gather the saints . . . but it ain’t gonna happen at point A
the words of your prayer could be perfect, but since you won’t obey, you’re not in the right position . . . and God won’t move
remember that on his list is not only what, but the how, when, where
for some of us, there is nothing wrong with our prayers, there is something wrong with our obedience
Example - leper named Naaman, was told to go prophet
prophet didn’t even meet him, just told him wash in the JOrdan river
he didn’t like that (I t hought the prophet would do some great thing, we got better rivers in my hometown), and almost missed his blessing . . . . but he did obey . . got in the right position . . . and was healed!
sometimes obedience is simple things - keep your mouth shut, treat people right, go to church, give a little more
Effective prayers are prayers to the real god
Effective prayers are focused on the spiritual
Effective prayers are tied to obedience
37 “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”
This is the conclusion of his prayer, it took me 30 seconds to read verses 36 and 37
short prayer - it doesn’t take many words when you are being led by God’s will
notice that Elijah never asked for fire to come down?!!!
he just said, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God
answer God, so that they hearts will turn back to you
Elijah is still focused on the spiritual . . . for when the spiritual is lined up properly, miracles will manifest in your life!
Effective prayers are prayers to the real god
Effective prayers are focused on the spiritual
Effective prayers are tied to obedience
in the book of James, it says . . .
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
there’s that word - effective (fervent) prayer can accomplish much
in other words, Just in case you think Elijah was a special situation, the Bible says Elijah was like us, normal like us . . . but he accomplished much through effective prayers
and it reminds us of another powerful prayer situation
Elijah prayed, and it stopped raining on a whole country for over three years
Elijah prayed again, and the sky poured down rain
one man’s prayer brought a whole country to its knees
one man’s prayer restored a country’s welfare
but he was just following orders, he prayed that the rain would stop because God told him to
and after 3 years, he prayed for rain . . . and it began to rain again
because that’s what God told him to do
1 Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”
This is church anniversary month, so let’s look at some of our church history
a man shows up to talk to my father, and wants to walk the neighborhood and pray for it
first of all, pastors are busy, walking the neighborhood is, and my father didn’t know him
but wait a minute . . . this is a spiritual requests
apparently Pastor Caver believed God wanted him to go with this stranger
so they walk the neighborhood and pray, and a friendship is born
I don’t know if you caught it at our Family Reunion, but Pastor Echols mentioned how much this neighborhood has changed, it’s rough but it’s been rougher
after that prayer Habitat for hummanity came in, new houses, better streets, lamplights
after a man was LED to pray, pray for spiritual things
years later this stranger became wealthy - the one concerned with spiritual things became wealthy
so, that means now that WMBC is in position to be friends with a wealthy person
it started with doing spiritual things, being obedient to God’s leading
we were praying for money for our ministries (spiritual) . . . my father felt led to ask God for $100 for our ministries (spiritual, God’s leading)
it was that wealthy friend who gave us a total of $300K over the course of three years!
and SIs. Montgomery said that my father had worked so hard and been given so little, that we should use that money to give him a car . . . Escalade
put God first, and God added all these things
God has called us to be an effective praying church
that’s why the enemy has come so hard after us
imagine the trouble for him, when we prioritize spiritual things in our lives, in our homes, at our church
if you are not saved, I know what God wants you to ask him
