Power of Prayer

Instructions About Prayer

John 14:13 NASB95

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Jesus gives some encouraging instruction about prayer here. He spoke these words to the disciples in the upper room the night prior to the crucifixion. And remember we are all ment to be disciples of Christ.

Lets look at the first part of this verse. Whatever you ask in my name.” The power of Prayer is unlimited. WHATEVER. God wants us to keep him involved in every decision we make. nothing is to small or to large to ask for. it is important that we remember God first. There is a song out now and one of there verses is “ I only talk to God when I need a favor, I only pray when I don't have a prayer. So many Christians fall into this category. We talk to God when things are tough, But when life is good we don’t talk to Him. What we need to understand is the reason things are going well is because of Him. we need to Pray every day all day. That is what the Father wants. As long as we are obedient in our prayer life the whatever will be fulfilled

Matthew 7:7 NASB95

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Again in Matthew 7:7 Jesus says “ask and it will be given to you.”

Lets look at the second part of the verse, “in My name, that will I do.” This is telling us how to pray. not every prayer will answered, only those prayed in the name of christ will be answered. This means more than just saying in Jesus name at the end of your Prayer. It means to pray in the way and will of Christ. If we pray outside the will of Christ god will not answer these prayers. James wrote about this in.

James 4:3 NASB95

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

If your prayers seem to do no good , do not blame God, but blame yourself for not Praying with the pre requisite of prayer.

Here is a guideline to the prerequisites of prayer.

1. Harboring unconfessed sin will put a barrier between you and God (Ps. 66:18).

2. God hears the prayers of those who obey His commands (1 John 3:22-23).

3. God will not hear prayers that have wrong or selfish motives (James 4:3).

4. We are instructed to pray according to His will, not according to ours (1 John 5:14-15).

5. When we pray, we are to ask in faith. Unbelief is a barrier to answered prayer (Mark 11:22-24).

6. An ongoing abiding life in Christ (having regular fellowship with Him) will allow your prayers to be heard. When fellowship is broken, so is communication with God (John 15:7).

7. Sometimes we don’t have answered prayers because we do not ask. We are to pursue appropriate requests regularly and bring them to God (Luke 11:9).

8. Prayer in the Spirit (that is, under the control of the Holy Spirit) is also a prerequisite. This verse instructs us that we must also persevere in our praying. Prayers offered in the flesh will not be heard by God (Eph. 6:18).

9. If you are unable to forgive someone for something that person has done to you, then God says He will not forgive you. Restored and right relationships are essential for open communication with God (Mark 11:25).

10. We are to pray with thankful hearts. Those of us who come before God without a spirit of thankfulness will find our prayers are not heard (Phil. 4:6).

Lets look at the last part of the verse.” so that the Father may be glorified in the son.” Proper Praying and answer will honor and praise God Almighty. This is one reason while we should pray-it praises God There are certainly other reasons for praying, but the greatest reason is to honor God. Everything we do should honor God. what we need to understand is that prayer is just not getting on your knees and praying a formal prayer. Prayer is a line of communication to God, his cell number. We are ment to have conversations with God through are whole day. Nothing fancy just a conversation like you would have with a passenger in your car. a simple thank you or praise when things work out in your favor, see that was Him that worked it out for you, so it is only right that we give Him proper praise and thanks. I heard Steve Harvey once say “remember when you where a kid and you would be shopping with your grandma, she would find something on sale or that she needed and she would say, praise the Lord. That was her way of putting God first and also a form of prayer.” We as Christians need to get back to this form of constant communication with the Lord.

In conclusion. If we pray the way we should and follow the prerequisites of prayer. We will glorify God and He will hear and answer our prayers. Remember to keep your eyes open because He will answer them in His will not yours. example I prayed for the financial ability to be able to purchase outreach Bible. it was not in his will to give me money but in his will to give me the Bibles. He showed me a place where I could get them for free. so even tho i didn't receive a financial answer the end result was the same. I was able to get the Bibles. so keep your eyes and hearts open because He will answer.

Let us pray