Prayer Warrior Program

Introduction

Today I am introducing to you a new program. This of course is voluntary, and I hope that it’s simply a refinement of what you’re doing already.

It is centered around an aspect of our Christians walk that is often taken for granted.

It’s about a privilege that is afforded to us as Christians that no one else in the world to which can boast.

I’m speaking on the subject of prayer.

The theme verses for this program are found in 2 Corinthians 10:3–4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”

These verses speak of:

Warfare

The Spiritual vs. Carnal

The Might available through God

An Ability to Conquer

Warfare: Time and again Paul spoke of the Christian life as illustrative of warfare. So many Christians think that this life is one of sunshine & roses, but this is why so many fade & wilt when under the pressure from the opposing army. It’s time that we learn to fight!

The Spiritual v. the Carnal: Paul makes the delineation between the battle - it’s not one that is carnal or in the flesh, therefore, it cannot be won in the flesh!

There’s might for the fight!: Paul says that our weapons are mighty through God!

An ability to Conquer: He finishes this phrase up with an illustration. A strong hold is a base. It is a fortified position. You see, it’s one thing to win victory on a battle field between two armies - it’s another to attack a fortified position - it’s much more difficult to win. BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT GOD SAYS WE CAN DO!

So the first thing that I want to bring your minds to is the truth of Prayer Power

I. Prayer Power

Faithful Prayer makes the Impossible Possible

The Bible tells us of a story in: Matthew 9:27–30 “And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.”

They had a petition. Jesus had a question of his own. And the result of the petition was in direct correlation to the faith Jesus enquired about.

Jesus would go on to say: Matthew 21:21 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”

In both of these instances, there was impossible things mentioned. Yet, ACCORDING TO JESUS that which is impossible is possible THROUGH FAITH.

Prayers of Faith makes the Impossible Possible

Fervent Prayer Avails Much

James 5:16b “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Effectual (def) to work; have adequate power to produce

Fervent (def) to be hot, to boil, to glow

I heard the story of David Brainard, missionary to the Native Americans, how that he was one time in the snow knelt down chest deep praying - and his prayer was so fervent that the snow around him melted.

Let me ask you - when’s the last time your prayers moved your to weep, or caused you to sweat?

Fervent Prayer Avails Much

Now that we see the Power of Prayer, let’s look briefly at Prayer Principles

II. Prayer Principles

Audibly (Mat. 6:9)

Matthew 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

What I mean by that is pray out loud. When Jesus said: “After this manner pray ye… (silence)”. He began to SAY ‘Our Father who art in Heaven…’

Now this is not to say that silent prayer is useless or unhelpful - we know that God knows our hearts & know the story of Hannah in 1Sam. 1. But there’s value in speaking these words out loud.

Question: Has anyone ever prayed for something silently, then their mind wanders off in a hundred different directions? This is the same reason why we can hear someone speaking and not have a clue what they are saying. The opposite is true when you are speaking. It takes focus and effort to speak - this helps you GET and STAY in the right mindset.

There’s only 3 problems with being able to pray audibly:

You can’t speak.

You’re around others.

You don’t have time.

The first one you can’t do much about that, but it doesn’t affect anyone here that I know of.

If your’e around others you have two choices: Excuse yourself to your prayer closet, or lead them in prayer.

If you don’t have time set aside to focus on prayer, you’ve got problems that need addressed. Problems of choices and prioritization and NOT prayer.

Pray audibly

Boldly (Heb. 4:15-16)

Hebrews 4:15–16 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

In these verses we learn a few things:

God knows our state

He knows our temptations, our struggles our needs. He knows what it’s like to be both homeless, hungry, forsaken and alone.

He invites our petitions

He is not ‘a Father who is too busy for their children’. He wants us to come to him. He desires for us to bring our wants & needs unto Him!

We can boldly come to Him, because He knows what it’s like, and He desires to help!

Pray Boldly

Privately (Mat. 6:5-6)

This is not an admonishment against any form of public prayer, (it is a condemnation against public self-edification) but rather it’s a call to private prayer and fellowship with God.

As I made mention, if you’re going to have a fruitful prayer life, then there needs to be a time set aside to the practice thereof.

I think the premise of ‘you reap what you sow’ holds the same for our prayer lives: If you throw up 10 cent prayers, expect 10 cent returns. However, if you spend time in prayer, drawing closer to God, you’ll see a difference in your relationship and your walk.

Pray Privately

Plainly (Mat. 6:7-8)

Matthew 6:7–8 “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

As we pray unto God, there’s no need of pretence or platitudes - just speak to Him as unto someone who cares and forgets not.

Pray Plainly

Acknowledging (Mat. 6:9)

Matthew 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

In this verse we see three things:

His Relation - “Our Father”

His Position - “in heaven”

His Person - “Hallowed - Holy”

Listen - we’re praying to the God of Heaven! He’s our Father! He is Holy! We should approach Him in Reverence but in Confidence, because He’s in a position to help!

Pray Acknowledging

Deferring (Mat. 6:10)

Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

What I mean is we should always defer our will to His… no matter what the situation is.

No greater example than with Jesus Himself in the garden: Luke 22:42 “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

Seek AND ACCEPT God’s Will in each and EVERY situation. God answers prayers, just sometimes, the answer is not what we want.

Pray Deferring

Daily (Mat. 6:11)

Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Notice Jesus didn’t say ‘Give us this day our weekly allotment of bread’. No when we pray, we should be praying DAILY for the need FOR THAT DAY.

Of course, we see the principle played out in concerning manna in Ex. 16:13-27. God desired for them to trust Him daily. Look to Him daily. Be satisfied with the present!

This we should focus on as well. Pray for daily need & grace for all supplications.

Pray Daily

Confessing (Mat. 6:12a)

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts… ”

We live in this wicked flesh in this wicked world. We don’t go through life unspotted by the world. We need our feet washed! In order to stay and remain clean, we must confess & forsake our sins.

Btw, you might as well confess them, God knows you’re doing them already.

Pray Confessing

Forgiving (Mat. 6:12b)

Matthew 6:12 “…as we forgive our debtors.”

Extending forgiveness. Not holding grudges. Not holding anger against anyone. We must be forgiving.

Now understand Jesus is speaking of forgiving others. It’s our job to forgive others for trespasses against us, not the other way around. I have no control over someone forgiving me, but I have full control over forgiving another - and guess what? They don’t have to ask for forgiveness for me to forgive them.

Pray Forgiving

Confidently (Jam. 1:5-7)

James 1:5–7 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Faith is a necessary component to a successful prayer life. And faith is nothing more than trusting God. Believe that God will work and move in the situation.

Passionately (Jam. 5:16)

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

We’ve already spoken about this. It’s amazing that people get passionate when they speak about meaningless things when talking to other people, but talk to God about eternal matters as if they were discussing the weather with a stranger.

Pray Passionately

Thankfully (Ps. 100:4)

Psalm 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

This I think is a no brainer.

Let me ask you this: If you’re a parent, don’t you enjoy the praise of your children? Don’t you enjoy hearing ‘you’re the best daddy in the world’? When you give & bless your children, don’t you enjoy their expressions of thanksgiving?

Pray Thankfully

We’ve examined the Power of Prayer and some Principles of Prayer. Lastly, I want to explain the new Prayer Program

III. Prayer Program

The Program

A couple things about the program that I want to draw your attention to:

‘A.C.T.S.’ Prayer Principles

I believe Mrs. Millie had mentioned that bro. Dillon spoke on this before. What I found was ‘Adoration’, which is fine - but I think the more prudent thing would be ‘Acknowledgement’ in that we recognize who it is that we’re speaking to. What He’s capable of doing.

What is important is not the order, but rather the content. This is not a formula to follow, but a mindset to adopt. One of Acknowledgement, Confession & Thanksgiving (We’ve got the Supplication part down). I oftentimes, if not always begin with Thanksgiving.

Also, many times we ask without being thankful, and without acknowledging our sin, and without acknowledging who God is - but we do so to our own peril.

We Acknowledge to strengthen our Faith

We Confess to remove any barriers that would hinder our prayers

We offer Thanksgiving to keep an appreciative Spirit and remind ourselves of God’s blessings and answered prayers

So we consider the A.C.T.S Prayer Principles

‘Big Picture’ Praying

What I mean by that is that in every trial there is a purpose. In every struggle, there is a truth or reason that we can grow from. All too often when we’re speaking of the physical ailments, we pray for healing, but rarely do we consider the greater purpose behind the trial.

What of the Spiritual can be gained.

What Character traits can be attained, through and in the midst of the trial.

I want us to consider this not only for others, but for ourselves as well.

Big Picture Praying

The Prompts

On most of these sections, along with Scripture, you have ‘prayer prompts’. These are simply to remind you and help you get started in that category. You do not have to use these, they are there to help get you started if you need to.

The Prompts

The Pact

At the bottom of the cover, you will see a place to sign. This is where you enlist in the Prayer Warrior Program.

A couple things to note:

You don’t have to sign it.

You can take this list and use it as you always have - whether that’s been to look & pray over the needs, or to simply ignore it altogether. This is a voluntary program

If you sign it.

I would expect you to do as the pact says: Agree to set aside time daily to pray for these needs - and any others you feel led to - using the principles that are laid out therein.

You keep the only copy you sign.

You are not making this commitment to me. I will not know you are even part of the program unless I happen to see your copy, or you tell me. This is a pact between you and God. You are committing to God to serve in this capacity.

The Purpose

So why this program? What am I as Pastor hoping to gain from it?

Seeking a Revitalization of the Altar

Just like with anything else, your prayer life can get stagnant. You can go through the motions, but forget the ‘why’. We forget that there’s power in prayer. We mustn’t forget that time spent with God is time well spent! In order for our Christian walk to be lively, our prayer life must have life!

I want us to be a praying people. Not just as an ‘addendum’ to our Christian life, but a profound part of it!

We’re seeking a Revitalization of the Altar

Seeking a Refocusing of Priorities

This is the ‘Big Picture’ praying. I want us to focus more on the physical instead of the carnal. I certainly don’t think it wrong to pray for physical ailments and such, but if we’re neglecting the purpose and usefulness of those trials in the Spiritual lives of those involved, then we’re missing the mark.

Our main focus in life as well as in prayer should be on Spiritual and Eternal matters. If it isn’t, we must refocus. If we don’t understand this, we have MUCH growth to do in our Christians walk and worldview.

I’m Seeking a Refocusing of Priorities

Seeking Revival in the Pews

The ultimate goal is for revival. But revival is not something I can simply prescribe as a doctor does to his patients: Revival is something that must be sought and acquired by the individual.

And make no mistake - YOU can have revival, if you’re willing to do what’s necessary to experience it.

Conclusion